The Favorites prt. 2

In my last "Favorites" playlist I was going to explain the meanings (some have more than others, some just have lyrics that resonated) to me behind each song but as you can imagine, it became a bit drawn out. In the end I was kind of bummed that I didn't just go for it, wax nostalgic and bear little pieces of my soul through song, so this time I am! Here's "The Favorites Part 2" (with commentary by yours truly)-

1. "The Sun Was High, So Was I" by Best Coast- I just think this is what a crush sounds like. It is waking up with the sun on your face and going through your day with one person in mind the whole time. It also really makes me want to sit at the beach and breathe in that salty air.
2. "Dry The Rain" by The Beta Band- One day I came home from what I assumed was "the worst day ever" (although I have these about once or twice a month, so take that with a grain of salt) and I was just...done. I threw myself on my bed ready to marathon cry like a champ and when I turned up my c.d. player this song came on. By the time Steve Mason came through with "if there's something inside that you want to say/
Say it out loud/it'll be okay/I will be your light/I will be your light/I will be your light/I will be your light", the tears stopped. I picked myself up off my bed with those lines running on repeat in my head and walked to Eegee's for a sandwich and suddenly the world was back on it's axis. To this day, if I need an instant pick me up I flick on this song.
3."A New England" by Billy Bragg- My dear friend and fellow music junkie/pusher Tyler put this on a mix for me about a year or two back and I've been in love with it ever since. I love the rawness and echo of the guitar and his voice. It sounds like he's playing to an empty auditorium and you're the lucky sucker who just happened to walk by. The lyrics are awesome too- "I saw two shooting stars last night/I wished on them but they were only satellites/ Is it wrong to wish on space hardware/I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care."
4. "At The Bottom Of Everything" by Bright Eyes- I was a Bright Eyes FIEND in high school. I had every c.d., knew every lyric. But this song, I think, can speak to everybody. Conor Oberst still stands out as one of the best songwriters of our generation and I'll forever love him for his words.
5. "Lovers Spit" by Broken Social Scene- Not much to say about this one. It just feels like a wave washing over my body every time I hear it.
6. "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl" by Broken Social Scene- It's all in the title. This song takes all the feelings of a crush, of adolescence and growing up and mixes them into an ear orgasm. When I listened to this song for the first time I went out and bought "The Virgin Suicides" (Jeffrey Eugenides) and read it cover to cover. My heart felt like it was going to break.
7. "Robbers" by Cold War Kids- This reminds me of walking downtown on an empty weekday afternoon for some reason. As a result, I listen to it often.
8. "Bad Girl" by Devendra Banhart- If you've been reading for the last couple months it's no secret that I'm bloody obsessed with this man and the music he makes. The thing that sticks out in this to me is the almost self-mocking "wah wah wah wah". It's totally endearing and heartbreaking in equal measure and the "mama I ain't waiting/I ain't waiting/but I'm still holding on"? My chest almost seizes up every time I hear it. His voice is absolute perfection and he uses it with a beautiful conviction that resonates almost too loudly.
9. "Gloria" by The Doors- If you're a Doors fan you're either damned if you do, damned if you don't when you talk to people about them. We'll I do. Or at least I did. Jim Morrison awakened a sexual energy at 17 that I didn't know I had. He took the wallflower and provoked her enough to be the one who calls the shots. And in this song, well, it's quite obvious that he does the same with others as well. That build up and explode, that was teenage erotica at it's finest.
10. "The Old Days" by Dr. Dog- If those keys at the beginning don't pull you in instantly I don't know you.
11. "Opus 23" by Dustin O'Halloran- The beauty I find in this song is the simplicity. There is no pretense, just a beautiful and haunting piece of music.
12. "Rose Parade" by Elliott Smith- When we were trying to figure out what to name Jack, "Elliott" almost won for his middle name ("Lee" won in the end, it's a tribute to Greg's family, fine by me!). I pretended the idea didn't derive out of my love for Smith and T.S. Eliot...but I'm a damn liar. It totally would have, for good reason.
13. "Orange Blossom Special" by Johnny Cash- Why wouldn't Cash be on here?
14. "It Ain't Me Babe" by Johnny Cash and June Carter- If you don't sing along to the "nah nah no" part you aren't listening to this song properly.
15. "The Rain Song" by Led Zeppelin- Listening to this, on top of a mountain in the rain, on my 18th birthday, was, to put it simply- a moment.


And there you have it. Part 2. I'll be working on these when I can't find anything else to write (sometimes that happens...). Here's hoping you don't get sick of them!