Songs About Sunshine

It's rare that someone suggests a particular theme for me to explore in a music blog post. But usually when they do, it turns out to be a great idea. Such was the case with this post – thank you very much, Ben Lilley! Fellow Eastern North Carolinians, let this fun bunch of songs with "sunshine" in the titles be your soundtrack for the next couple of days while we actually have a bit of sunshine to enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Katrina & The Waves  ~  "Walking On Sunshine"

2)  Aqualung  ~  "Brighter Than Sunshine"

3)  Cream  ~  "Sunshine Of Your Love"

4)  Natasha Bedingfield  ~  "Pocketful Of Sunshine"

5)  Bill Withers  ~  "Ain't No Sunshine"

6)  Len  ~  "Steal My Sunshine"

7)  Stevie Wonder  ~  "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life"

8)  The Corrs  ~  "Summer Sunshine"  (It's not quite summer yet, but still…)

9)  The Brady Bunch  ~  "It's A Sunshine Day"  (Campy? Yes. Classic? Not exactly. Essential to this grouping of songs? Absolutely!)

10)  Matisyahu  ~  "Sunshine"

11)  The Beatles  ~  "Good Day Sunshine"

12)  The 5th Dimension  ~  "Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In"

13)  Sheryl Crow  ~  "Soak Up The Sun"  (I think "sunshine" is clearly implied in this one, though it doesn't appear in the title.)

14)  a-ha  ~  "The Sun Always Shines On TV"

15)  John Denver  ~  "Sunshine On My Shoulders"

16)  The Walker Brothers  ~  "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)"

17)  Owen Campbell  ~  "Sunshine Road"

18)  Donovan  ~  "Sunshine Superman"

19)  Axiom  ~  "A Little Ray Of Sunshine"

20)  Fishbone  ~  "Everyday Sunshine"

21)  Lesley Gore  ~  "Sunshine, Lollipops, And Rainbows"

22)  The Fratellis  ~  "Look Out Sunshine"

23)  Ray Charles  ~  "You Are My Sunshine"

24)  Johnny Nash  ~  "I Can See Clearly Now"  (The word "sunshine" may not in the title of this one, but its most memorable lyric is: "It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day." And it's an awesome song. So…yeah.)

25)  The Temptations  ~  "My Girl"  (The actual word isn't in this title either, but, hello! "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day..." It was meant to be here.)

Songs About "Us"

This may or may not be the first part of yet another "Opposites" music post – knowing me, I probably will follow it up with a collection of songs about "Them." For now, though, enjoy what I think is a really good set of songs, by both well-known and lesser-known artists.  ~  JH

1)  Snow Patrol  ~  "The Planets Bend Between Us"

2)  Sophie Ellis-Bextor  ~  "Today The Sun's On Us"

3)  Joe Jackson  ~  "Breaking Us In Two"

4)  Paloma Faith  ~  "Never Tear Us Apart"

5)  Passenger  ~  "What Will Become Of Us"

6)  Fallulah  ~  "Give Us A Little Love"

7)  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis  ~  "Can't Hold Us"  (I posted the official music video of this song a mere 3 months ago [on my original blog]. But I decided to include it here because it was interesting to see such a multi-layered song performed live – usually rap songs don't sound nearly as good in person as they do when they were recorded.)

8)  Sade  ~  "Nothing Can Come Between Us"

9)  B.o.B. ft. Taylor Swift  ~  "Both Of Us"  (Interesting collaboration between two über-talented, yet very different artists.)

10)  Christina Milian  ~  "Us Against The World"

11)  Daft Punk  ~  "Something About Us"

12)  t.A.T.u.  ~  "All About Us"

13)  Will Smith  ~  "Just The Two Of Us"

14)  Within Temptation ft. Tarja  ~  "Paradise (What About Us?)"  (Two powerhouse symphonic metal female vocalists in one song? Blisteringly intense!)

15)  Angel  ~  "Us"

16)  Regina Spektor  ~  "Us"

17)  Alabama  ~  "Angels Among Us"

18)  He Is We ft. Owl City  ~  "All About Us"

19)  STRFKR ~   "Bury Us Alive"

20)  Taylor Swift  ~  "The Story Of Us"  (Yeah, another song by Taylor Swift in the same post. What's your point? I like her, so what?)

21)  Joy Division  ~  "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

22)  Kelly Clarkson  ~  "People Like Us"

23)  Elvis Costello & The Roots  ~  "Walk Us Uptown"

24)  Joan Osborne  ~  "One Of Us"  (I have some issues with this song lyrically, but it's a surefire classic from the mid-'90s that belongs in this collection.)

25)  Keith Urban ft. Miranda Lambert  ~  "We Were Us"

"Rough" & "Smooth" Songs

At it again, eh? Yep. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Anna Nalick  ~  "In The Rough"

2)  Santana ft. Rob Thomas  ~  "Smooth"

3)  Bananarama  ~  "Rough Justice"

4)  Big Daddy Kane  ~  "Smooth Operator"

5)  Dreams So Real  ~  "Rough Night In Jericho"

6)  Michael Jackson  ~  "Smooth Criminal"

7)  ZZ Top  ~  "Rough Boy"

8)  Lake Street Dive  ~  "You Go Down Smooth"

9)  Paulini  ~  "Rough Day"

10)  Sade  ~  "Smooth Operator"

11)  Endangered Speeches  ~  "The City Is Rough"

12)  Shara Nelson  ~  "Rough With The Smooth"

13)  June Allyson, Mickey Rooney, & The Stafford Sisters  ~  "Treat Me Rough"

14)  David Garrett  ~  "Smooth Criminal"  (Two versions of the same song in one post? Yep, this is MJ's song, too – but violinist Garrett gives it a whole different sound and feel in his instrumental version.)

15)  Jennifer Knapp  ~  "Diamond In The Rough"

"New" & "Old" Songs

Why? Why more "Opposites" music posts? Because maybe, just maybe, I can't stop. No matter how hard I try. Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Flyleaf  ~  "New Horizons"

2)  Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton  ~  "You Can't Make Old Friends"

3)  Patti LaBelle  ~  "New Attitude"

4)  Black Mountain  ~  "Old Fangs"

5)  Céline Dion  ~  "A New Day Has Come"

6)  Neil Young  ~  "Old Man"

7)  Leeland  ~  "New Creation"

8)  Froggy Fresh  ~  "Same Old Kid"  (I'm not sure what to make of this one – the dude seems dead-serious, and his lyrics are pretty dang good, but the whole thing comes off like a parody of "real" rap – maybe not?)

9)  Paloma Faith  ~  "New York"

10)  Kenny Chesney  ~  "Old Blue Chair"

11)  Deadeye Dick  ~  "New Age Girl"

12)  Maps & Atlases  ~  "Old Ash"

13)  INXS  ~  "New Sensation"

14)  Ben Howard  ~  "Old Pine"

15)  U2  ~  "New Year's Day"

16)  Ólafur Arnalds ft. Arnór Dan  ~  "Old Skin"

17)  Alicia Keys  ~  "Brand New Me"

18)  Our Last Night  ~  "Same Old War"

19)  Wreckx-N-Effect  ~  "New Jack Swing"

20)  Brad Paisley ft. Alabama  ~  "Old Alabama"

21)  Tamar Kaprelian  ~  "New Day"

22)  Lupe Fiasco ft. Ed Sheeran  ~  "Old School Love"

23)  Yael Naim  ~  "New Soul"

24)  Redlight King  ~  "Old Man"  (Does this chorus sound familiar? Yep, they sampled Neil Young's song – see #6 above – but this song was sufficiently unique in its own right to merit inclusion here.)

25)  The Stylistics  ~  "You Make Me Feel Brand New"