Throwback Tracks -- July 6, 2017
David R. Smith
Greetings from Lethbridge! I have arrived safely, and my house is full of internet-y goodness! So all is well on that front!
I'm writing this on Tuesday, because as of tomorrow (Wednesday, not Friday. This is confusing.) my time gets stupid busy this week. I get to drive back to Calgary, Wednesday, go to Vernon on Thursday, wedding stuff (my cousin's not my own) until Sunday, then back to Lethbridge Sunday night. It's going to be... fun!
As it's wedding weekend for my cousin, here are some songs that are wedding-y. I guess.
Your Song - Elton John
You know; every now and then I put on a song and think "surely this is the first time this artist has been on TBT!" and am usually wrong about that. I guess it makes sense that in the year and a half we've been doing Throwback Tracks, that many of the standard artists that were popular in the was-before would be on here a few times.
Anyway, I was certain Sir Elton wouldn't have been on here yet. But I was wrong. Tiny Dancer. Of course Tiny Dancer! That song, am I right?
But also, this song! This might be the best love song ever. It's simple, but man does it evoke all the emotions. It just has such a wonderful feeling about it. I wish I could play the piano, and one of the reasons I wish I could play the piano is so that I could play Elton John songs. And (aside from Tiny Dancer) this is the song I really wish I could play.
Also, this song is forever tainted for me because all I can think as the chorus plays is "Your gift is my song and, this one's from Apu..."
When I'm Sixty-Four - The Beatles
I recently (and by recently, I mean literally a week ago, as of my writing this) got into a debate with a pal of mine about the Beatles.
Full disclosure: I don't have the unbridled passion for the Beatles like many people do. And this was the basis for the debate. I don't mean to say that I dislike the Beatles. I think they're fine. And I appreciate what they did for music on a whole. I just said their early stuff was very simple, and not too deep. (Not that there's anything wrong with that; I Want To Hold Your Hand is simple but amazing.) I also said that if I was going to listen to a band from the UK, I'd rather listen to the Stones than the Beatles. (Granted, without the Beatles, would we have had the Stones? I know some people might make that argument, and to that I say thhbbbbbtttt.)
This song is also very simple. But it's so good, and the message is the best. When I get older, and I'm less "attractive" than I used to be, will you still love me? And ultimately, that's what everybody wants. Love when they're old. So yes, this song is simple, but who doesn't love it? Plus more pop songs need the clarinet.
White Wedding - Billy Idol
Okay, so in contrast to literally every other song on this list this week, we have Billy Idol. He's not really "wedding" related, but his song has the word wedding in it, so I'm putting it in there. Plus I couldn't have a full list of just sappy songs. Where's the fun in that?
This song hauls. I wouldn't say it's my favourite song by Billy Idol song; I prefer Dancing With Myself, or Rebel Yell. But as far as 80s punk/rock/pop type songs go, this one is pretty great! And you know what? It's also pretty great acoustically! I love being able to hear people who are generally "screamers" actually be able to sing!
Is it just me, or does Billy look like he's had some facial work done?
Sister Golden Hair - America
It's Independence Day week. Seems rather fitting to have a song by America on here. This is the first (woo!) but not the last of their songs I'll be putting on here. It's one of my favourites of theirs, though!
I actually don't know if this is a wedding song or an un-wedding song. "I ain't ready for the altar" sure seems like the singer doesn't want to get married. But then he sings "But a woman sure can be a friend of mine" which seems to imply that he's grateful to have her in his life. It's confusing. It's even ambiguous in this interview...
I suppose it's all open to interpretation and I interpret it as though this is a love song and fine to be played at a wedding. If you don't like it, you can suck it.
Let's Stay Together - Al Green
The first time I ever heard this song was in Pulp Fiction. It seemed so out of place, and yet so perfectly juxtaposed the scene, which is quite likely what Tarantino was going for. Once I actually heard the lyrics (quite likely when I got myself the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, I fell in love with the song.
It's just so damned sexy. What is it about horns that instantly make songs sexy? (With the possible exception of Ska music. While good music, I wouldn't label ska as sexy...)
I don't know a lot of other Al Green music. The only reason I really know this song is because of its usage in pop culture. As a result, I don't know how good the rest of his stuff is. But I would wager that if it's anything like this song, it's probably also sexy and tremendous.
Time to do some digging!
I don't have the June playlist ready yet. It's been too chaotic. It'll happen soon, just not yet. It was literally one of my least prioritized items as far as the move went. I didn't even think about it until just now. You should all be happy that I remembered to do a Throwback Tracks this week! It should be ready for next week.
Until then, here are all the other ones for you to listen to!
Throwback Playlist for Dec 16/Jan 17
October 2016 Throwback Playlist,
September 2016 Throwback Playlist
-D (@davidronn)