Songs About Fruit

A few weeks ago, I was brainstorming some ideas for new music posts, and my wife asked if I'd ever done one about songs with fruit in their titles. I replied that of course I had, and that it had gone over quite well. And then I began to second-guess myself. So I looked over my previous music posts and – to my surprise – I was wrong! I had never done a fruit songs post. So here it is. Twenty-five songs, twenty-five different fruits. Every one of them juicy. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Tori Amos  ~  "Raspberry Swirl"

2)  Angus and Julia Stone  ~  "Mango Tree"

3)  Sarah Jaffe  ~  "Clementine"

4)  Mista  ~  "Blackberry Molasses"  (I included this one for my friend, Eric. He knows why.)

5)  First Aid Kit  ~  "Tangerine"

6)  Fats Domino  ~  "Blueberry Hill"

7)  Goldfrapp  ~  "Black Cherry"

8)  The Presidents Of The United States Of America  ~  "Peaches"

9)  Margot & The Nuclear So And So's  ~  "Cold, Kind, & Lemon Eyes"

10)  Tom T. Hall  ~  "(Old Dogs, Children, And) Watermelon Wine"  (The actual song starts at the 4:00 mark.)

11)  Lady Gaga  ~  "Orange Colored Sky"

12)  Harry Belafonte  ~  "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)"

13)  Islander  ~  "Coconut Dracula"

14)  Neil Diamond  ~  "Cherry, Cherry"

15)  The Andrews Sisters  ~  "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree"

16)  Coldplay  ~  "Strawberry Swing"

17)  KT Tunstall  ~  "Honeydew"

18)  Los Campesinos!  ~  "Avocado, Baby"

19)  Diana Krall  ~  "Peel Me A Grape"

20)  Elvis Presley  ~  "Queenie Wahine's Papaya"

21)  Dwight Yoakam  ~  "3 Pears"

22)  Brooklyn Roebuck  ~  "Lemon & Lime"

23)  Peter Frampton  ~  "Fig Tree Bay"

24)  Herbie Hancock  ~  "Cantaloupe Island"

25)  Kate Nash  ~  "Pumpkin Soup"  (Yes, it's a fruit. I looked it up.)

Songs About Prodigals

Continuing my on-again, off-again series of posts featuring faith-based songs centered around a single theme, here's a small collection of tunes about prodigals. I wasn't able to find a music video or decent performance video for a few of the better ones here. In those cases, I substituted the highest-quality, audio-only tracks available. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Crowder  ~  "Lift Your Head, Weary Sinner (Chains)"

2)  Sidewalk Prophets  ~  "Prodigal"

3)  Jason Gray  ~  "The Golden Boy & The Prodigal"  (If you don't want to hear the story behind the song, skip to 3:38 in the video.)

4)  Sean C. Johnson ft. L-Squared & Kadence  ~  "Prodigal Son"

5)  Casting Crowns  ~  "Prodigal"

6)  Manafest  ~  "Avalanche"

7)  Lincoln Durham  ~  "Ballad Of A Prodigal Son"

8)  Amy Grant  ~  "The Prodigal (I'll Be Waiting)"

9)  Judah  ~  "Prodigal Son"

10)  The Gatlin Brothers  ~  "Prodigal Son"

11)  Chasing Delaware  ~  "Prodigal"

12)  Keith Green  ~  "The Prodigal Son Suite"

"Useless" Songs

These songs are good for nothing...but a listen. Indeed, many of the songs included aren't half bad (which means they're at least half good, if my math is correct). All of them have one thing in common: the word "Useless" in their titles. Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Imogen Heap  ~  "Useless"

2)  This Century  ~  "Young And Useless"

3)  Rose Redd  ~  "Perfectly Useless"

4)  Depeche Mode  ~  "Useless"

5)  Insomniac Folklore  ~  "Useless"

6)  Phil Fill  ~  "Words Become Useless"

7)  New Order  ~  "Guilt Is A Useless Emotion"

8)  A Sunny Day In Glasgow  ~  "In Love With Useless (The Timeless Geometry In The Tradition Of Passing)"

9)  The Fireflies  ~  "It's Useless"

10)  Cloud Nothings  ~  "Useless"

11)  Oingo Boingo  ~  "Can't See (Useless)"

12)  Tiny Animals  ~  "Useless"

13)  The Neopolitins  ~  "Useless Arguments"

14)  Elvis Costello  ~  "All This Useless Beauty"

15)  Suntears  ~  "Useless"

16)  Extra Blue Kind  ~  "Make Yourself Useless"

17)  Emmy J Mac  ~  "Useless Shade Of Man"

18)  Friska Viljor  ~  "Useless"

19)  Mikey Smith  ~  "Useless"

20)  Patty Griffin  ~  "Useless Desires"

Songs With Nationalities In The Titles, Vol. 3

People keep asking me when I'm going to post the "American" songs. All these other nationalities and not a single "American" song?!? Okay, I lied. Not one person has asked me that. But here are the "American" songs nonetheless. Part 3 of 3 in the series. Done and done. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Green Day  ~  "Last Of The American Girls"

2)  MKTO  ~  "American Dream"

3)  Carrie Underwood  ~  "All-American Girl"

4)  Skillet  ~  "American Noise"

5)  Counting Crows ft. Sheryl Crow  ~  "American Girls"

6)  Rihanna  ~  "American Oxygen"

7)  Don McLean  ~  "American Pie"

8)  Grand Funk Railroad  ~  "We're An American Band"

9)  Lady Antebellum  ~  "American Honey"

10)  Lenny Kravitz  ~  "American Woman"

11)  David Bowie  ~  "Young Americans"

12)  Estelle ft. Kanye West  ~  "American Boy"

13)  Bruce Springsteen  ~  "American Land"

14)  Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young  ~  "American Dream"

15)  The Henningsens  ~  "American Beautiful"

16)  Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP  ~  "We No Speak Americano"

17)  Dave Matthews Band  ~  "American Baby"

18)  Faith Hill  ~  "American Heart"

19)  Casting Crowns  ~  "American Dream"

20)  George Thorogood & The Destroyers  ~  "American Made"

21)  Sister Sledge  ~  "All American Girls"

22)  Phil Vassar  ~  "American Child"

23)  Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors  ~  "American Beauty"

24)  COLD  ~  "American Dream"

25)  The Guess Who  ~  "American Woman"  (Yes, this is the same song as the one by Lenny Kravitz above, but the two versions are distinctive enough to merit including both. Besides, this one is the original.)

Songs With Nationalities In The Titles, Vol. 2

Here's part 2 in what will be a 3-part miniseries featuring songs with nationalities (or demonyms) in their titles. This time, it's "Italian," French," "German," "Russian," "Indian," and "Chinese" songs, plus a few one-off songs with other nationalities in the titles. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Dean Martin  ~  "Mambo Italiano"

2)  Billy Joel  ~  "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant"

3)  Fergie  ~  "Be Italian"

4)  Caro Emerald  ~  "Excuse My French"

5)  Camera Obscura  ~  "French Navy"

6)  Joan Jett and the Blackhearts  ~  "The French Song"

7)  The Passions  ~  "I'm In Love With A German Film Star"

8)  Margot & The Nuclear So And So's  ~  "German Motor Car"

9)  Rihanna  ~  "Russian Roulette"

10)  Sting  ~  "Russians"

11)  Sinead O'Connor  ~  "A Perfect Indian"

12)  Manic Street Preachers  ~  "Indian Summer"

13)  Lily Allen  ~  "Chinese"

14)  R.E.M.  ~  "Seven Chinese Brothers"

15)  Joni Mitchell  ~  "Chinese Cafe / Unchained Melody"

16)  Neon Indian  ~  "Polish Girl"

17)  The Beatles  ~  "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"

18)  Frankie Smith  ~  "Double Dutch Bus"

19)  Chris De Burgh ft. Elissa  ~  "Lebanese Night"

20)  The Bangles  ~  "Walk Like An Egyptian"

21)  The Vapors  ~  "Turning Japanese"

22)  Ernest Tubb  ~  "Filipino Baby"

23)  The Seekers  ~  "I Am Australian"

24)  Dream Theater  ~  "Peruvian Skies"

25)  Michael Jackson  ~  "Liberian Girl"