Grunge Music, Vol. 1

Here's a miniseries of posts that I can certainly relate to – and I'm sure I'm not the only one! This is the first set in what will be a four-part retrospective of some of the best, most influential, and most memorable songs from the "grunge rock" era of music. Which was both not that long ago and ancient history, depending on your perspective. Before we get started, I will concede that we're not all going to agree 100% on whether or not certain songs herein are legitimately "grunge," "post-grunge," punk, pop, or something else entirely – and that's okay. Let's just jam to some good music and don't waste time fighting about the genre ascribed to the songs (by myself or others). Ready...set...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Nirvana  ~  “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

2)  Pearl Jam  ~  “Animal”

3)  Soundgarden  ~  “Black Hole Sun”

4)  Alice In Chains  ~  “No Excuses”

5)  Stone Temple Pilots  ~  “Vasoline”

6)  Mudhoney  ~  “Touch Me I’m Sick”

7)  Screaming Trees  ~  “Nearly Lost You”

8)  L7  ~  “Pretend We’re Dead”

9)  Paw  ~  “Couldn’t Know”

10)  Veruca Salt  ~  “Seether”

11)  Silverchair  ~  “Tomorrow”

12)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Today”

13)  Hole  ~  “Miss World”

14)  Bush  ~  “Everything Zen”

15)  Candlebox  ~  “Far Behind”

16)  Sponge  ~  “Molly (16 Candles)”

17)  Our Lady Peace  ~  “Superman’s Dead”

18)  The Presidents Of The United States Of America  ~  “Lump”

19)  Blind Melon  ~  “No Rain”

20)  Days Of The New  ~  “Touch, Peel, And Stand”

21)  Babes In Toyland  ~  “Bruise Violet”  (It's almost scary how much the lead singer of this group looks like a crazed Reese Witherspoon.)

22)  Melvins  ~  “Honey Bucket”

23)  The Gits  ~  “Second Skin”  (There's a very sad-but-true story about the untimely demise of this band's lead singer. I won't rehash it here, but you can Google it.)

24)  Hum  ~  “Stars”

25)  Local H  ~  “Bound For The Floor”

“Lucky” Songs, Vol. 2

Here's another set of "Lucky" Songs for your listening pleasure. Ready... set... enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Madonna  ~  “Lucky Star”

2)  Vince Gill  ~  “Old Lucky Diamond Motel”

3)  Ace Of Base  ~  “Lucky Love”

4)  Bright Eyes  ~  “Easy / Lucky / Free”

5)  Aurora  ~  “Lucky”

6)  Crowded House  ~  “Twice If You’re Lucky”

7)  Nadia Reid  ~  “Some Are Lucky”

8)  Elvis Presley  ~  “I Got Lucky”

9)  ’Til Tuesday  ~  “(Believed You Were) Lucky”

10)  Jimmy Eat World  ~  “Lucky Denver Mint”

11)  Meiko  ~  “How Lucky We Are”

12)  Dean Friedman & Denise Marsa  ~  “Lucky Stars”

13)  Dreamcatcher  ~  “Lucky Strike”

14)  Keaton Henson   ~  “You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are”

15)  Faith Hill  ~  “The Lucky One”

16)  Nerina Pallot  ~  “Stay Lucky”

17)  Little River Band  ~  “If I Get Lucky”

18)  Kerli  ~  “The Lucky Ones”

19)  Amy Grant  ~  “Lucky One”

20)  The Who  ~  “Be Lucky”

21)  Nicola Roberts  ~  “Lucky Day”

22)  Emerson, Lake, & Palmer  ~  “Lucky Man”

23)  Laura Branigan  ~  “The Lucky One”

24)  Alison Krauss & Union Station  ~  “The Lucky One”

25)  Kylie Minogue  ~  “I Should Be So Lucky”

"Lucky" Songs, Vol. 1

I was surprised to find that I had never posted a collection of "Lucky" Songs before now. I was less surprised to find that there were dozens of good songs with that fortuitous word in their titles. Here's part 1 of 2... Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat  ~  “Lucky”

2)  Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers  ~  “You Got Lucky”

3)  Britney Spears  ~  “Lucky”

4)  Dokken  ~  “Just Got Lucky”

5)  Cardinale  ~  “If I’m Lucky”

6)  Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers  ~  “Get Lucky”

7)  Alba  ~  “Lucky”

8)  Waterparks  ~  “Lucky People”

9)  New Young Pony Club  ~  “Get Lucky”

10)  Radiohead  ~  “Lucky”

11)  SHeDAISY  ~  “Lucky 4 You (Tonight I’m Just Me)”

12)  Ryan Adams  ~  “Lucky Now”

13)  Moksi & Chace ft. Yade Lauren  ~  “Lucky”

14)  Loverboy  ~  “Lucky Ones”

15)  Fazerdaze  ~  “Lucky Girl”

16)  Joe Walsh  ~  “Lucky That Way”

17)  Basia  ~  “Third Time Lucky”

18)  The Luckies  ~  “Happy-Go-Lucky”

19)  Mary Chapin Carpenter  ~  “I Feel Lucky”

20)  John Lee Hooker ft. Robert Cray  ~  “Mr. Lucky”

21)  Taylor Swift  ~  “The Lucky One”

22)  Bruce Springsteen  ~  “My Lucky Day”

23)  Speedy Ortiz  ~  “Lucky 88”

24)  The Verve  ~  “Lucky Man”

25)  Kat Edmonson  ~  “Lucky”

Songs About Swallowing

These songs aren’t all about the act of allowing food or drink to pass down one’s throat. Some of them are about the metaphorical swallowing of intangible things, like pride and such. Still others are about swift-flying, migratory songbirds. Just call it Triple-Meaning Friday. Which isn’t a catchy phrase at all, actually. Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Bush  ~  “Swallowed”

2)  Rhys  ~  “Swallow Your Pride”

3)  NewSong  ~  “Swallow The Ocean (Coming Alive)”

4)  The Hearing  ~  “Swallow”

5)  Bombay Bicycle Club  ~  “How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?”

6)  Jewel  ~  “Jupiter (Swallow The Moon)”

7)  The National  ~  “Don’t Swallow The Cap”

8)  Yo-Yo Ma & Wu Tong  ~  “Yanzi (Swallow Song)”

9)  Wailin’ Jennys  ~  “Swallow”

10)  Coldplay  ~  “Swallowed In The Sea”

11)  Crystal Fighters  ~  “Swallow”

12)  Toni Gibson  ~  “She’s Like The Swallow”

13)  Pearl Jam  ~  “Swallowed Whole”

14)  Judy Collins & The Muppets  ~  “Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly”

15)  morgxn  ~  “Hard Pill To Swallow”

16)  Wolf Alice  ~  “Swallowtail”

17)  Ramones  ~  “Swallow My Pride”

18)  brokeMC  ~  “Swallow You Whole”

19)  The Lennon Sisters  ~  “When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano”

20)  The Autumn Defense  ~  “The Swallows Of London”

21)  Souleen  ~  “Swallow”

22)  Hank Williams, Jr.  ~  “Pride’s Not Hard To Swallow”

23)  Teach Me Equals  ~  “Swallow The Smoke”

24)  Eve 6  ~  “Inside Out”  (Nope, the word “swallow” doesn’t appear in the title of this song. But it’s all over the place in the chorus, which is repeated multiple times, of course. So here it is…)

25)  Della Lupa   ~ “Storm Of Swallows”

26)  Brandon Flowers  ~  “Swallow It”

27)  Lorena B  ~  “Swallow My Gum”

28)  Lorena B  ~  “Swallow My Gum 2”  (Rarely if ever have I posted a “sequel” to a song, especially within the same post. But frankly, they’re fairly unusual, so I suppose it’s no real wonder after all.)

29)  Billy Bragg  ~  “Swallow My Pride”

30)  Hilary Grist  ~  “Swallow Me Up”

31)  Ólafur Arnalds  ~  “Gleypa Okkur (Swallow Us)”

32)  Shreddy Krueger  ~  “The Sky Will Swallow Us Whole”  (I don’t usually go for songs in the “screamo” genre – or whatever they’re calling it these days – but this was really well-done. Nice mix of “clean” and “unclean” vocals.)

33)  Laura Gibson  ~  “Crow/Swallow”

34)  Teenage Wrist  ~  “Swallow”

35)  Katie Melua & Gori Women’s Choir  ~  “The Little Swallow”  (You may hear the tune of this song and correctly recognize it as identical to the “Carol of the Bells.” However, this Ukrainian-language version came first. An American songwriter penned English lyrics to the tune sometime later.)

36)  Postcards From Mars  ~  “Swallow”