THE FIVE SONGS: THIRTEENTH INSTANCE

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY BACK IN 2008, I BEGAN AN (INFREQUENTLY) REOCCURING FEATURE ON THIS BLOG CALLED "THE FIVE SONGS".  I sadly haven't done a new one since 2010.  But since this is the 10th anniversary of this here blog, I thought I'd revive it.  Now, I doubtless let it fall by the wayside after I created my audio blog "BATHED IN THE LIGHT FROM ANDROMEDA" where I could post all the songs I wanted.  However, the actual concept of "The Five Songs" wasn't about posting audio but conceptually choosing a block of five songs which somehow went together.  If you click on the label "The Five Songs" at the bottom of this post, you can see all the previous instances as well as a "Mission Statement" explaining the concept.  Basically, the idea was inspired by Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Five Mystical Songs", the songs must be carefully handpicked by me from only songs I actual own and any reader of this blog may suggest a "subject" for a future "Five Songs" post which I may choose to "accept" if I think I can choose five appropriate songs for said subject.  

Since this is the 10th anniversary of this blog, I thought songs about the past would be apropos.  Some of you reading will no doubt think "Does ever look in any OTHER direction?"  The simple answer would be:  Nope, not really.  And until the present gets less tedious and more interesting (and as long as this 10th anniversary is going on), I don't see that changing anytime soon.  With that, "The Five Songs" brings you a group of ditties which I really resonate with and capture that "reminiscing about bygone days" vibe I'm looking for.  And for this week, you'll be able to listen to "The Five Songs" over in that box on the right hand column over there.  Just click on the first sound file and listen away (you can also have them play one after the other by selecting that little sprocket-looking icon and clicking on the autoplay thang.

1. REMEMBER (CHRISTMAS)  by Harry Nilsson  -  Ever since I was a child I've loved this song.  And it happens to be from one of my favourite albums of all time, too.  Me parentals bought this album new upon release and it spun quite often in the old wood-paneled living room on Linwood Avenue in Maple Surple.  The song, contrary to the parenthetical in the title, has nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas.  I suppose the word appearing in the parentheses is due to the use of "sleigh bells" in the song.  These are not meant to evoke the yuletide season per se but are instead, I think, meant to drum up feelings of nostalgia which are readily triggered by the sound of these sleigh bells and their associations with childhood Christmases.  But this is not a Christmas song, I swear!  It's also not about STAR WARS despite it's opening line:  "Long ago/Far away/Life was clear/Close your eyes".  These words hopefully cause the listener to immediately open themselves up to remembering as the dreamy instrumental piano brings us to the line:  "Remember/is a place from long ago/remember/filled with everything you know/remember/when you're sad and feeling down/remember/turn around".  This, to me, warns that in our seemingly endless surge towards this "future" that everyone's so concerned about, it's important to stop and turn around towards our past so that we don't forget what brought us to this point and what formed us as human beings.  I have to stop myself from simply printing ALL the lyrics to this magnificent song but here's the next important line:  "Remember/life is just a memory/remember/close your eyes so you can see".  There's something of the "stop and smell the roses" philosophy going on here which I think is very important.  This is such an exquisite jewel of a song that I'm still shocked to this day that it's not as famous as the Beatles' YESTERDAY.  And no, that overplayed song will not appear in this "Five Songs" list.  The endless, blind drive toward setting goal after goal after goal (which this current society seems to value above all else) does not leave room for what it means to be human; and what is the use of working yourself to death if you're not living an actual conscious life every day?  It's not getting to some end goal that's important; it's how you live your life on the way.  "Remember/life is never as it seems/Dream".
   
2. LOOKING BACK by Nat King Cole  -  This 1958 song has Nat seemingly veering into a little country and western area.  If that might seem a little odd, it's also quite odd that this is the only song in these five "looking back" songs which is about regret and the mistakes we make throughout a lifetime.  "Looking back over my deeds/I can see signs a wise man heeds/and if I just had the chance/I'd never make that same mistake again".  Songs about looking back might seem the opportune time to think about where we went wrong or what we'd do differently but that's not what I wanted this "five songs" group to be primarily about.  There may be a small aspect of that to it but overall these songs to me are more importantly about memories and what make us who we are. 
   
    
3. NIGHT MOVES by Bob Seger  -  This is exactly what I'm talking about.  Probably the ultimate "coming of age" song, Seger raps rhapsodic about his teenage years.  That time when we're somewhere between being a kid and being an adult.  This theme will be revisited in the very next song, funnily enough!  But right here, Bob Seger really takes us on a trip in the wayback machine to the high summer of life.  In fact, the frequent repetition of the lines:  "in the summertime/in the sweet summertime" drives this point home quite vividly.  This is an intensely summery song; however, Bob Seger is looking back into his past so he doesn't leave it all rosy-coloured glasses on bright sunny summer days. At the song's three minute mark, he seems to break from his reverie: "I woke last night to the sound of thunder/how far off I sat and wondered/started humming a song from 1962/ain't it funny how the night moves/just don't seem to have as much to lose/strange how the night moves/with autumn closing in".  And at that moment in the song, where he's brought it down to an almost hushed quiet with no accompaniment but a softly strummed acoustic guitar, Bob Seger brings the song to an complete stop for a few seconds.  One of the most arresting moments in pop music.  Before once again restarting the song.  This particular song goes out to my friend and co-worker Angel who likes to torment his girlfriend by randomly breaking out into a chorus of this song at the most unexpected moments!
   
4. 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins  -  Once again, we're back to that "coming of age" thing and vivid flashes of memory this time from Billy Corgan's adolescence.  Corgan too has said that this song arose from a vivid memory of him sitting in his car in the rain at a traffic light during his teenage years (between being a kid and being an adult once again) with the strong feeling of waiting for something to happen but nothing's quite happening yet.  "The street heats the urgency of now" really captures that odd moment at the end of high school when we seems to be idling (like Corgan's car in the rain) in a momentary holding pattern before we burst forth into the "real world" of forming a grown-up life for oneself.  The future stretches out before us at that age and we have that feeling of immortality:  "With the headlights pointed at the dawn/we were sure we'd never see an end to it all". 
   
5. IN MY LIFE by the Beatles  -  And I'd like to end the five songs with this perhaps obvious but I think vital choice of perhaps the finest song about looking back at one's life.  "There are places I remember/all my life/though some have change/some forever not for better/some have gone and some remain".  We all know the song.  There's really no need to quote the whole thing; which I could very easily do.  The crux of the song, to me, is sort of a conquering of death through memory.  There's that old cliché that those we've lost live on through our memories of them and, to me, that's something of the truth.  It's the closest we can get to still having them with us.  That's why our memories are so vitally important.  To me, the song loses its way when John Lennon veers off into the rather typical "love song" territory that Bob Dylan criticized the Beatles about; that is, how he suddenly starts singing to a girlfriend that, above "lovers and friends I still can recall/some are dead and some are living" he loves her more than any of them.  I think he'd find, after the passage of time and the probability that whomever he was singing too probably didn't stay in a relationship with him for very long (at that young age) and that those "people and things that went before" are still just as important memories as they ever were.  A momentary infatuation which hasn't lasted the test of time can't really compare with those past important people and events which remain with us in our memory throughout a lifetime.  If this momentary woman Lennon is singing to, in fact, lasts to become that important, she will still not supercede those others but will join their ranks as equally important.  There's more than enough love in the human heart to go around!

So there you have it:  The Five Songs look back into the past.  As I've said, it is our memories that make us who we are.  Our memories also keep alive those who are dead and past places and events which don't exist anymore.  Please consider making a donation to the fight against Alzheimer's Disease.  This terrible disease not only robs a person of the very memories that make them who they are but it also robs those of us who love them of that very person we love long before they leave us.  Please make a donation today.   

THE FIVE SONGS: TWELFTH INSTANCE. It's been almost two and a half years since I did the last "Five Songs" post; some of you long time readers with longer memories might remember such a thing. But I thought that it's about time to revive the tradition. So here I am with five songs. And this time you'll be able to hear them all by clicking on this link right here! So this time around I have chosen for my theme: "Epistolary Songs".

1. A DEAR JOHN LETTER by Ferlin Husky & Jean Shepard. We're starting off honky-tonkin' with this country duet from 1953 which no doubt graced quite a few juke boxes. Getting a "Dear John" letter is bad enough; but when your gal is leaving you to marry your brother!?! Ferlin Husky was never a particular favourite; he's most famous for his pseudo-gospel "Wings of a Dove" which I never liked. However, here he's teamed up with the bona fide honky tonkin' Jean Shepard and this was her first and only chart topper.
2. I CAN'T HOLD YOUR LETTERS (IN MY ARMS) by Jack Scott. Still deep amidst the dark fifties, Rockin' Jack Scott brings us this half-country/half-rock n roll 45. "Your sweet love letters will help me dream of what the mailman cannot bring."
3. THE LETTER by The Nirvana Sitar & String Group. We all remember the hit single by Alex Chilton's The Box Tops. However, in 1968 wackiness reached new heights with the Indian sitar craze produced an instrumental sitar cover that is enough to permanently damage your sanity!
4. I'M GONNA PAPER ALL MY WALLS WITH YOUR LOVE LETTERS by Dean Martin. It's now time to swing with the coolness of Dino in this 1955 ditty. Is this devotion or blackmail?!?
5. I'M GONNA SIT RIGHT DOWN AND WRITE MYSELF A LETTER (LIVE) by Sarah Vaughan. And there's no better way to end than with the Divine One. This Fats Waller standard was recorded live at Mr. Kelly's nightclub in Chicago on the night of August 6, 1957 and it's probably my favourite rendition of the song. So hang your hat and stay a spell.

THE FIVE SONGS: ELEVENTH INSTANCE. On this Independence Day, I'm not gonna drag in Bill Pullman. Instead I've been reflecting on independence and the fact that we're never truly independent. We rely on the support and company of friendship. I've been lucky to have more friends than I deserve who put up with my wacky ways. Far from being a little ray of sunshine, I have described myself more as "a squirt of lemon to the eye". I'm acidic and I like it that way. Hell, at least I'm entertaining in my malfunctions. But since I have only five songs here to work with, I have chosen to list five songs which I strongly associate with certain people in my life who I'm grateful to call friends. There are many more, of course, but if you're not here it's no slight; it's just that as yet there is no one song I associate ironclad with you. So get to work on that. And meanwhile, with little comment, here they are -- the songs I cannot escape instantly recalling one person every time I hear it.

1. QUESTION by THE MOODY BLUES -- Person associated with: Cheeks. "Why do we never get an answer when we're knocking at the door?" Good question. Good song. It also has special meaning for Cheeks.

2. 4TH OF JULY by X -- Person associated with: Daddy Pax. How appropriate for today! This just happens to be my favourite X song. And I'm pretty sure it's his too. "On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone. / Mexican kids are shootin' fireworks below. / Hey baby! / It's the 4th of July!" This song has a lot of energy, it really rocks and it's really punk in the best, most admirable sense. And so is he.

3. WISH I MAY by ANI DIFRANCO -- Person associated with: Ilsa*. "I wonder what happens if i get to the end of this tunnel and there isn't a light / I've worn down the treads on all of my tires." I can relate with the world beating you down. We've both had that. "Don't tell me it's gonna be alright / you can't sell me on your optimism tonight / it's a stiff competition to see who can stay up later / the stars or the street lights / and all they really want is to be alone with the darkness." But the fact remains that through it all she remains fucking strong! How's that for something to aspire to?

4. THIS BITTER EARTH by DINAH WASHINGTON -- Person associated with: Rob. This is also my favourite Dinah song and I first heard it because of this guy. "And if my life is like the dust That hides the glow of a rose / What good am I Heaven only knows / This bitter Earth Can it be so cold." Life is a series of hard knocks and it's realistic to see it that way. However, the song ends on an up note. "And this bitter earth may not be so bitter after all." And still always remains an optimist.

5. GRAVEDIGGER by DAVE MATTHEWS -- Person associated with: Fink. I thought it would be appropriate to end the list in the grave. It would certainly take friendship for me to include a song by Dave Matthews on my list because I am definitely not a fan (Oh, it's SUCH a dark day here in the ole blog). "Gravedigger / when you dig my grave / will you make it shallow / so that I can feel the rain?"

THE FIVE SONGS: TENTH INSTANCE. It's 97 degrees outside. The air outside is like sitting in front of a panting dog: hot and humid. Welcome to Joisey. Since keeping cool is really the only thing on our minds, there really couldn't be a better time to feature five cool songs. And that's what we're gonna do on the ole Five Songs this time around: songs that be cool. Not necessarily "Fonzie" cool, you understand. But COOL cool. Dig?

1. COOL DRINK OF WATER BLUES by Tommy Johnson. Mesmerizing early blues side featuring Tommy Johnson's haunting wail. "I asked for water and she gave me gasoline." Hmm, wonder if David Bowie ever heard this song?

2. IN THE COOL, COOL, COOL OF THE EVENING by Dean Martin. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Song 1951 for the otherwise forgettable film HERE COMES THE GROOM, Dino's pretty much is the definitive version of this cool and swinging song by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer: two titans of the songwriting craft. "In the cool cool cool of the evening/Tell 'em I'll be there/In the cool cool cool of the evening/You better save a chair." You really get the feeling of a cool summer night after a blazing hot day when the family gets out the potato salad. "Sue wants a barbecue/Sam wants to boil a ham/Grace votes for bouillabase stew/Jake wants a wienie bake/steak and a layer cake/he'll get a tummy ache too."

3. COOL WATER by Hank Williams. One of my all-time favourite cowboy songs. "All day I've faced the barren waste without a taste of water/cool water." Immediately draws attention to the dry, parched dust in your throat. This one also sports a classic rendition by The Sons of the Pioneers but here I've chosen the man himself: Hank Williams riding across the burning sand. "And way up there He'll hear our prayer/and show us where there's water/cool clear water."

4. SOMETHING COOL by June Christy. The ultimate depression song for lonely hearts drowning their sorrows in the corner bar. Also one of the greatest album covers of all time. Play this side and you can just FEEL the hot summer weather and the hankering for that tall, cool glass of "something cool". June Christy's first rendition of this song (and album) was in mono but a couple years later, when hi-fi stereo came in, the vogue was to re-record entire albums in stereo. However, I actually prefer the mono version -- the stereo version has less "feeling" in Ms. Christy's voice than the original for me. Lovelorn June sits alone in a smoky bar when a stranger offers to buy her a drink. "Something cool", June croons, "I'd like to order something cool. It's so warm here in town and the heat gets me down. Yes, I'd like something cool." The song really conveys the loneliness of the city in the summer. And besides that, the mono version (the one I like best) was recorded on what would years later become my birthday (August 14) way back in 1953. It's definitely an "August" song.

5. AS COOL AS I AM by Dar Williams. This song just makes you jump around and blows through your speakers like a soothing breeze. There's "freedom" in this song. "And so I’m leaving/you can find out how much better things can get/And if it helps/I’d say I feel a little worse than I did when we met/So when you find someone else you can try again/it might work next time..." Dar sings about "cool" not in the "Fonzie" sense but in the "keep cool" sense. "But truth is just like time, it catches up and it just keeps going."

So there we have it. Hopefully these Five Songs will help to keep you a little cooler during the heat wave. So pour yourself a tall frosted glass of something cool and start the wienie bake! Until the next time The Five Songs rolls along.

THE FIVE SONGS: NINTH INSTANCE. FRANK SINATRA DIED EXACTLY TEN YEARS AGO TODAY. Now, I've never really counted myself as a particular fan of Ol' Blue Eyes and I'm still not a raving Frankie-phile. However, I have come to enjoy his singing more and more over the years; particularly the suicidal, "Ava Gardner left me" stuff on his classic albums "IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS" and "ONLY THE LONELY". So it is in this spirit of inclusion that I decided to make the next installment of THE FIVE SONGS a list of my favourite Sinatra performances on platter. These are, in my opinion, five of the slambangingest, ring-a-ding-dingiest vocals Frankie ever committed to disc.

1. PLEASE DON'T TAKE YOUR LOVE FROM ME (Henry Nemo) - My favourite Sinatra song, I think. Vulnerable Frankie pleading not to be dumped...crooning: "Would you take the wings from birds so that they can't fly?/Would you take the ocean's roar and leave just a sigh?/All this your heart won't let you do/This is what I beg of you/Please don't take your love from me." And of course, there's that killer line: "Tear a petal from a rose and the rose weeps, too."

2. DANCING ON THE CEILING (Rodgers/Hart) - Useta be my favourite Sinatra song until I heard that one up there. Again an obsessive, lovesick Frankie from the very first LP record EVER: "IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS". That's right; this album was the very first 33 1/3rd long playing record. Here we have Frankie is practically certifiable and will surely be locked up in a rubber room before the week is out -- because he's laying awake in bed staring at the ceiling where all he can see is his love dancing. "She dances overhead/on the ceiling near my bed/in my sight/all through the night." You'd better have that looked at, Frankie. And of course, the greatest line in the song: "I love my ceiling more/since it is a dancing floor/just for my love." Ella Fitzgerald does a version of the song which is almost as good. But not quite.

3. TIME AFTER TIME (Cahn/Styne) - the perfect match between a song and a singer. Old Blue Eyes debuted this in the movies way back in the 40's -- and he was singing it to JIMMY DURANTE of all people. But even then, the beauty of the song was arresting. Let's just hope Frankie and Jimmy didn't get arrested! "I only know/the passing years will show/you've kept my love so young, so new."

4. YOUNG AT HEART (Leigh/Richards) - probably the most well-known of the standards here, there's just something about Ol' Blue Eyes crooning this song that gets me. Oh, and tellingly, this is the only non-ballad, non-suicidal, more "ring-a-ding-ding" song on this list. "And if you should survive to 105/look at all you'll derive out of being alive/and here is the best part/you'll have a head start/if you are among the very young at heart". The only version of this song that rivals Sinatra's is Wild Man Fischer's. Don't ask. But it is even BETTER!!!

5. WHAT'S NEW? (Burke/Haggart) - This one's from one of those suicidal albums: FRANK SINATRA SINGS FOR ONLY THE LONELY. And it's appropriate because Frankie seems ready to take a header off the nearest Vegas casino. The story of the song find the singer encountering a former love after some time. Unfortunately, he's still kinda hooked on her. "What's new?/How did that romance come through?/We haven't met since then/Gee, but it's nice to see you again/What's new?/Probably I'm boring you/But seeing you is grand/And you were sweet to offer your hand./I understand. Adieu!/Pardon my asking what's new/Of course you couldn't know/I haven't changed, I still love you so." Oh come on, Frankie! Haven't you heard The Streets' "DRY YOUR EYES" yet???

THE FIVE SONGS: THE EIGHTH INSTANCE. It's been a while. This time around it's black songs -- since that is usually my mood. Black. Now the topic of these songs isn't really the colour -- it's all about blackness. And I thought what would be a more appropriate way to start of this particular topic than to choose as my first black song:

1. BLACK EYED DOG by NICK DRAKE. We all know (or SHOULD if we're reading this blog) that ole Nick suffered greatly from depression. This is his song about depression: the black-eyed dog following him around constantly. Poor ole Nick had a crush on Francoise Hardy. Poor ole Nick produced three superb albums that sold nothing in his lifetime. Poor ole Nick struggled long and hard with depression. Poor ole Nick took too many pills and died. "A black eyed dog he knew my name/a black eyed dog he knew my name".

2. PAINT IT BLACK by THE ROLLING STONES. One of my favourite Stones songs. Not my favourite but it's up there. The ultimate denial of the hippy 60's sunshine and flower power schtick. "I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes/I have to turn my head until my darkness goes". My sentiments exactly.

3. FADE TO BLACK by METALLICA. OK there seems to be a pattern here. Like every teenager worth his salt (and especially teenage metal fans), there's nothing I like better than a good suicidal song. "Things are not what they used to be..." And for those who don't really know me that well, you must be thinking I'm sending up some red flags with these song selections. Well, cool your jets. "Yesterday seems as though it never existed/Death greets me warm/now I will just say goodbye". But as those of you who know me REAL well already know, there's nothing to fear. I'm not gonna drink lye. I'm in love with death. . . .but that doesn't mean I want to MARRY her!

4. BLACK by PEARL JAM. "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life/I know you will be a star in somebody else's sky/but why/why/WHY/can't it be mine." This is my favourite song. Those who know me very well will already know that. It's been my favourite song since the year 1992. Which will also disprove those of you who think you know WHY it is my favourite song.

5. DRY YOUR EYES by THE STREETS. This has quickly become one of my new favourite songs lately. And yes, while it does demonstrate a blackness of mood it also peeks in with a little righteous indignation (very cleansing) as well as a small dab of that thing that some people refer to as hope. And as we all ALSO know, there has never been anything as cruel and brutal inflicted upon humankind than that insidious thing called "Hope". Basically, he loves her. She doesn't love him anymore. He's desperately trying to keep the relationship and she just doesn't wanna know. Then his friend tries to get him to let go and literally tells him "there's plenty more fish in the sea". And for the record, those of you who thought you knew why Pearl Jam's "BLACK" is my favourite song but were wrong, you would be RIGHT concerning why I like THIS song. "Dry your eyes, mate/I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts/but you've got to walk away now/it's over".

So, there you have it. Because none of you slackers have come up with any interesting topics for The Five Songs (or any topics at all), I have inflicted this one upon you all. Gnash your teeth in despair, mortals because the next five songs could be EVEN MORE HORRIFYING!!!! Who knows, I might get even MORE negative.

THE FIVE SONGS: THE SIXTH INSTANCE. This time around I'm choosing five songs that remind me one way or another of my grandmother who turned 90 years old in January. And I thought I'd start off a little silly. . .

1. SHORT PEOPLE by RANDY NEWMAN. Yep. She's short. Really short. And back in the 70's (and ever since) we've played this song for her to make sure she doesn't forget it!

2. CHOCOLATE by THE CHENILLE SISTERS. Yep. She's a chocoholic. MAJOR chocoholic. Anything with chocolate on it is living on borrowed time when my grandmother's around. And you know what? She's already made it to 90 so that shows you how much the doctors know.

3. SEND HER MY LOVE by JOURNEY. Yep. My grandmother was an MTV junkie back in the day when MTV first came on the air. You know, back in the early 80's when MTV played music videos. And she loooooooooves Journey! There was no one song she liked better than another so I just picked one we both like. She still calls Steve Perry her boyfriend.

4. THERE! I'VE SAID IT AGAIN by BOBBY VINTON. This one happens to be her favourite song. At least that's what she's said in recent years. When I was a kid, I remember her saying it was DEEP PURPLE but whatever. And yes, the only reason I own this song is because it's my grandmother's favourite. You got a problem with that?!?!

5. 75 SEPTEMBERS by CHERYL WHEELER. This one is actually solely my choice since I'm pretty sure she's never even heard it. It's basically a love letter to Cheryl Wheeler's father who was born in 1915. The song came out on her DRIVING HOME album at about the time my grandmother was 75 (give or take -- she was 3 years shy) and I always associated the lyrics very much with her since they apply rather nicely: "In the year of the yellow cab/shadow of the great world war/the third kid grandma had/came into this world/on a rolling farm in Maryland/when Wilson was the president/as summer blew her goodbye through the trees/a child of changing times/growing up between the wars..." Basically the song is about the vast changes experienced through a long life time. "Now the fields are all four lanes/and the moon's not just a name/are you more amazed at how things change or how they stay the same/and do you sit here on this porch and wonder/how the time flies by/or does it seem to barely creep along/with 75 Septembers come and gone." If you don't already own ALL of Cheryl Wheeler's cds, you need to seriously rectify that situation. Go ahead. I'll wait. At least until the next five songs.

THE FIVE SONGS: FIFTH INSTANCE. As promised, I'm going to use this installment of the five songs to put up five songs I've simply been listening to a lot this week. They've got nothing else in common other than they are all fairly new additions to my musical archives and I kinda like 'em.

1. LOVECRAFT IN BROOKLYN by THE MOUNTAIN GOATS. Recently acquired their album HERETIC PRIDE and it's pretty keen. I suffered heartbreak trying to choose between this song and MICHAEL MYERS RESPLENDENT but I finally went with this one because it's a real cruncher. "I cast my gaze towards the pavement/too many blood stains on the ground/Rhode Island drops into the ocean/no place to call home anymore". Smashing drums and grinding guitar-driven song where the singer complains of feeling like Lovecraft in Brooklyn. Now, for those not in the know, horror author H.P. Lovecraft briefly moved to Brooklyn from his beloved Providence -- and he absolutely hated it. So basically, this song is the new 21st century version of saying you're "Feeling Minnesota". Here's a site about 'em and here's another one.

2. STRING OF RACEHORSES by HOTEL LIGHTS. Next we have a more laid back, strummy groove from former Ben Folds Five member Darren Jessee's band. The 6 song EP "Goodnightgoodmorning" is solidly packed with longing while keeping an open, layered sound to the music. You can visit their rather minimalist site (more to be added later) here. "String of Racehorses" is one of those songs you can get lost in or ride in the warm weather in your car with all the windows open or just sit there and sigh like a poozer.

3. THE NAZIS HAD TINY GENITALIA by THE FISH BROTHERS. Total change of mood here as we move to a band that sounds like a turn-of-the-20th-century English music hall band morphed into a punk band. The musicians are surprisingly tight while the lyrics are without fail irreverant and sometimes offensive. All the better. They have a much more extensive website you can click on here to experience the insanity. This song postulates that the Nazis lost the war because they had tiny johnsons. The brothers' cd "NUMBER TWO" features songs running the gamut from a really authentic-19th century-sounding song about SWEENEY TODD to a song describing a strange monster called the PENIS MONSTER OF BRUNSWICK SQUARE. Can't be missed.

4. SECOND CHANCE by LIAM FINN. Former member of Kiwi band Betchadupa and more famously the son of Split Enz/Crowded House founder Neil Finn, Liam Finn has finally struck out on his own with his first solo album recorded at his own Dad's analog studio. While Liam's voice is almost a dead ringer for his father's, the songs are more psychedelic-sounding. "Second Chance" actually begins sounding very much like the start of a Manu Chao song but quickly spins itself out into almost a train-like rhythm. Liam's ethereal double-tracked vocals sail out over the rhythm track. The entire album is an interesting listen which owes a little something, I think, to Sufjan Stevens' sound. However, the songwriting is quite different. A paradox but true. Take a peek at his own website where you can see videos for this song and the follow-up single "Gather at the Chapel".

5. SLEEPING DEAD by EMILY JANE WHITE. Another total change in sound and feel as this loping, almost cowboy-like graveyard song. The tone of the album is set before you hear it: Emily Jane is pictured on the front of the cd covered completely in a shroud. The quickest way to my heart, to be sure! "I had a dream last night/there were ravens above my bed/and they took my newlywed." I can hear Johnny Cash covering this song, I really can. The weird part is that this introspective-sounding mainly acoustic album was made by a woman who apparently used to front an extremely loud punk band. Go fig. All the songs on this great new album sound like they're folk songs dating back a couple centuries. Visit her website here.

All five of the five songs are readily available so check them out. That about wraps it up for this installment of the five songs which are pleasing to the ear. Sometime soon, when you least expect it, you may encounter another installment of the five songs.

THE FIVE SONGS: FOURTH INSTANCE. This time around I've decided to take inspiration from the world wide web that we seem to be swimming in at this very moment and think about five songs which to me are particularly "spidery". This should strike a nerve with those of you who are fond of barking wall spiders (Hi Cheeks!) and those of you who are terrified of any sort of insect life whatsoever (Hi Fink!). So let me spin you a fable of five songs:

1. SPIDERMAN by THE FRANK AND JOE SHOW. There are of course many version of the classic Spider-Man cartoon show theme song ("Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can...") particularly the Ramones version. However, I didn't feel like being that obvious so I went with an instrumental version from a jazz album by The Frank and Joe Show (yeah, you heard me!). Now, the Frank and Joe Show album 33 1/3 is a fantastic cd which features jazz instrumentals as well as guest vocalists on some songs (Hi, Jane Monheit!). This frenetic instrumental seems like it's twice as fast as the regular cartoon theme and features only guitar and drums. The guitar playing is lightning fast and the drum playing features frantic brushwork. A really classic, unusual jazz update of the Saturday morning tune.

2. THE SPIDER AND THE FLY by THE ROLLING STONES. This bluesy number is from the Stones' 1965 album "Out Of Our Heads" and is a harmonica-driven blues featuring a wandering-eyed singer (Mick Jagger, of course. . ."sittin', thinkin', sinkin', drinkin', wonderin' what I'll do when I'm through tonight/smokin', mopin', maybe just a-hopin' some little girl will pass on by") with an eye for the ladies. Unfortunately, his girlfriend at home warns him not to take up with strange women. "Don't wanna be alone but I love my girl at home/I remember just what she said/She said 'My, My, My/Don't tell lies/Keep fidelity in your head". What a way to cramp Mick's style. And some hopes he's gonna follow that advice!

3. SPIDER by THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS. Incredibly bizarre song. . .well, it's TMBG what did you expect. This incredibly short song sounds like it's sung by anime characters dubbed into English (think Speed Racer, folks): "Shpider!/He is our hero!/Shpider!/Get rid of!/Shpider!/Step on spidah!/Shpider!/We love you, spidah!" Bizarre instrumentation veers from drums and tambourine to mariachi trumpets. And after about 45 seconds of this madness, the song ends.

4. BORIS THE SPIDER by THE WHO. Yes, this is my favourite Who song. Yes, I don't particularly like the Who. Yes, it's a perennial favourite around Halloween. Yes, he's one of the coolest spiders I know. Yes, he's crawling up my wall.

5. SPIDERMAN LULLABYE by ZACHERLEY. The Cool Ghoul himself, the original horror host with the most, provided this oddly touching yet warped lullaby which I wish my mom had sung to me. A Brahms-Lullaby-like harmonica softly eases us into the tune as Zach croons: "Hushabye, rockabye, the spiderman is comin' by/to spin a web of dreams for you/casket high, casket low/Daddy rocks you to and fro/the spiderman will make your dreams come true." The song spins a dreamlike land where monsters and goblins walk -- and this is meant to be soothing! It is if you're a little monster like me. And we're not talking about the Marvel Comics superhero here -- we're talking about something more like a man-spider, I like to think. My favourite rhyme of the song: "If you're good/pretty soon/the creature from the Black Lagoon/will come and guard you while you dream away." Zach later soothingly hums the lullabye tune -- which degenerates into a diabolical, sinister yet quiet laugh. "Dream about a tiny hearse/drawn by a fuzzy bat/and by your side some mummies ride/think how you'll like that!" A perfect way to bring our five spidery songs to a close and rock you gently to sleep until next time when we present another five songs.

THE FIVE SONGS: THIRD INSTANCE. Well, I'm back with another five songs to end the week. This time (and for the first time) I'm the one who actually came up with the "theme" for the songs and they're probably in honour of Finkmaster Flash who turned a big quarter century a couple days ago. So, in that spirit I've decided to group together five songs about drums and drumming.

1. DOCTOR WORM by THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS. At first you might be thinking "what's that got to do with drumming" but our dear Dr. Worm (who is an actual worm) has decided to take up the drums. Here's the lyric: "I like to play the drums/I think I'm getting good/But I can handle criticism/I'll show you what I know/And you can tell me if you think I'm getting better on the drums/I'll leave the front unlocked 'cause I can't hear the doorbell." Well, that's alright, Wormy -- unless of course you're cookin' chicken wings and forget about 'em!

2. BANG THE DRUM ALL DAY by TODD RUNDGREN. Who among us has not sung (or sympathized with) this song? "I don't wanna work/I want to bang on the drum all day."??? I for one "want to bang that sucker" too. So, I'm calling out Monday!

3. THE DRUM by BONGWATER. "Get in line, keep in time with the Drum and don't forget you're nothing yet but bongwater." Actually a Slapp Happy tune recorded in 1973 but re-recorded by Ann Magnusson and her hubby as the duo Bongwater. And with a slight lyric change from "and don't forget you're nothing yet but water" as the original lyric goes. What the hell's this song really about. I don't know. But I get the distinct impression of a school football game somewhere in the vicinity. "We watched a distant drummer flashing/on the beat in all his parrot fashions/Get in line keep in time with the Drum/Don't move your feet until the next beat comes/One of the laws says pause between/Though I would hate to make the game seem mean/Hey my pretty flower can you guess where I've been?/Can you guess at all?/Well I've been to your rooms and learned/you have all the mirrors turned against the wall." Bongwater always had the most INTERESTING choice of covers, didn't they???

4. JOHN PLAYS DRUMS by JANDEK. And John, presumably. If you don't know anything about Jandek (and why don't you when I have the Jandek link right over there on the right) and you have never seen the enticing documentary "JANDEK ON CORWOOD" (and shame on you if you haven't) I have to explain that Jandek made album after album of just him, by himself, singing and playing the guitar on song after song -- album after album -- for years. All alone. Sociopathically so -- or at least that's how the song's sounded. And suddenly one day A SECOND MUSICIAN is heard on one of his songs. It's somebody playing the drums. You jump up and look at the back of the album at the song list and -- sure as shootin' -- the song's entitled "John Plays Drums". Jandek is very literal sometimes. The same thing happened more famously when a new vocalist suddenly appeared on a song called "Nancy Sings". John plays the drums with wild abandon as Jandek strums his guitar absently and sings. . .wait for it. . . . . . . .the same lyrics as "Nancy Sings". Indecipherable, that's our old pal the representative from Corwood Industries.

5. THE DRUMMER AND THE COOK by HARRY BELAFONTE. This is an old old song. So old that it's one of the 45's I played at my grandparents' house as a wee little 'un. I played the 45's on one of those old 50's era record players which ONLY played 45's and which closed up like a suitcase the size of a bowling ball bag. It was green and cream coloured with a cloth cover over the speaker on the front. The needle MUST have been a knitting needle because all those 45's are scratched to perdition by now. And I still have the thing. The song itself was a treat and I loved it as a kid. It's a story song: "Oh, there was a little drummer and he loved a one-eyed cook/he loved her Oh/he loved her though/she had a cockeyed look/with her one eye on the pot/and the t'other up the chimney with a bow wow wow/Fa la la la la la dee dee bow wow wow." You know, it was one of those kinds of songs which naturally appealed to kids. But after all these years, I'm still not sure what's going on in THIS song EITHER. "When they went to church to say I will/the drummer got a knock/her one eye killed the parson/and the other stopped the clock." What the hell does THAT mean?!?!? Actually, research has revealed that Belafonte (or more probably the record company) sanitized the song a little since the original version of the folk song collected in 1908 seems to be a murder ballad. Ah well. The song's STILL fun. As I listen to this song (or ANY of those songs on those long ago 45's) I am instantly transported back to the enclosed porch on Westfield Avenue. And that's a really REALLY good thing!

So those are my five songs revolving around the drum. And yes, I'm well aware that I left off some songs such as "Different Drum" and the like. But these five are the drum songs I chose for the five songs this time around. Remember, if you find you have a suggestion (the more imaginative the better), leave your suggestion in the comment section and who knows -- I may choose YOUR theme for the NEXT five songs. Until then, keep the music playing.