A Change at Christmas

Eventually, Glee will do a theme show.

Someone once accused me of hating Christmas music. Not true. What I hate is boring, overplayed, cheesy novelty songs, and sadly, this is almost exclusively what they play on those all-Christmas music stations this time of year, and that I cannot abide. As a general rule, when an artist comes out with a Christmas album, it's the same old tired crap, with nothing new to bring to the table (the B-52's new album is an exception to this, but it is borderline unlistenable). It's very difficult to write an original song and have it be at all good anyway, let alone when you don't get to choose the subject or theme. And as such, yes, I end up not caring for most Christmas music.

But certainly not all. What I have here, for you (Happy Christmas!) is a few songs that may or may not be timeless, but certainly songs that I keep coming back to year after year. Some are classics (thanks, Vince), some are remixes of classics to help keep things fresh, some are only tangentially related to the season at all, some emphasize the worst parts of the season. But they work for me.

Update: sorry, I don't know why Mediafire wasn't working. Go here for a zip file.

1. Johnny Mercer & Margaret Whiting - Baby, It's Cold Outside
2. The Weepies - All That I Want
3. Vince Guaraldi - Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)
4. Joni Mitchell - River
5. Count Basie and His Orchestra - Good Morning Blues (The Real Tuesday Weld Clerkenwell Remix)
6. Dean Martin - Jingle Bells (Dan the Automator Remix)
7. The Kinks - Father Christmas
8. The Flaming Lips - A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn't So)
9. Neko Case - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
10. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - Last Christmas

Commercial music

It's weird when you hear a song on TV or a commercial that you know and love, right? I don't mean like back when The Who was selling shiny new cars with "Bargain," I'm talking about something you just didn't expect in that context. So, here are the Top 3 songs in a commercial that I just did not expect:

1. Bibio - Lover's Carvings
(Amazon Kindle, 2010)


2. The Dodos - Fools
(Miller Chill, 2009)


3. Matt & Kim - Daylight
(Bacardi, 2009)


Is the music cheapened, or lose its message when used to sell crappy beer? Discuss.

Top 100: Epilogue

Whelp, that's about it, hope you enjoyed that as much as I did, and I hope you got to discover some new music. I'll have to think about my next project, but for now expect updates... sometimes. Thanks, all!

-Jack

Top 100: #1: Stifle Copies of Myself

Number 1: Mates of State - My Only Offer
Album: Re-Arrange Us, 2008.
Added 5/23/08, 99 plays.



Hey, the Amazon link is free today. Grab it!

Of course my most listened is a catchy breakup song. Haven't you been paying attention?

Settling down, growing apart, infidelity, and the good face we put on to try to fool everybody. To an infectious piano riff.

you might also like...
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
Tegan and Sara - Relief Next to Me
Stars - One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead)

Top 100: #2: Just Traces of Something

Number 2: School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep
Album: Alpinisms, 2008.
Added 12/3/08, 91 plays.



This song is mesmerizing. This is about how apathy, anxiety and lethargy are so difficult to overcome in our day-to-day routines, and how looking back at months or years spent uninspired, tired and unproductive can be so sad as we've stopped making new memories and only look back at the old ones as they fade. "I long to feel again" - trying to wake up from apathy and move and experience things again.

you might also like...
Asobi Seksu - Thursday
Animal Collective - Brother Sport
Toro y Moi - Blessa

Top 100: #3: We Can Hitchhike to Maine

Number 3: Matt & Kim - Daylight
Album: Grand, 2009.
Added 5/9/09, 89 plays.



I wouldn't look for any kind of deeper meaning in this one, I would just sit back and allow it to make you happy. This is pure sonic joy.

you might also like...
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Vampire Weekend - Horchata
Stars - Take Me to the Riot

Top 100: #4: I'll Be Your Mouthpiece

Number 4: Arcade Fire - (Antichrist Television Blues)
Album: Neon Bible, 2007.
Added 12/22/07, 85 plays.



This is basically just a song about what a creep Joe Simpson is for whoring out his daughters making his daughters (Jessica & Ashlee) famous ("so they can see themselves inside my little girl"). But it's done in typical Arcade Fire genius, and I think it's the best song on their best album.

you might also like...
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
Feist - Past in Present
The Shins - Sleeping Lessons

Top 100: #5: I Muffled My Scream on an Oxnard Beach

Number 5: Bright Eyes - Cleanse Song
Album: Cassadaga, 2007.
Added 9/4/07, 84 plays.



A friend of mine did a cleanse recently - no alchohol, no sugar, no caffeine, no salt, that sort of thing. I think this may be a step above that, either rehab or some other change in your life. Or any change in your life. Every once in a while, I (and others too) get this nagging feeling to change something in my life. Anything. Everything. Here, it looks like Conor saw things in his life that he just couldn't stand, split for SoCal, and became a vegetarian. Profound changes in your life. Rebirth.

you might also like...
Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
Elliott Smith - Somebody That I Used to Know
Death Cab for Cutie - Passenger Seat

Top 100: #6: Blue, Bright Blue Saturday

Number 6: Goldfrapp - A&E
Album: Seventh Tree, 2008.
Added 5/6/08, 84 plays.



Probably my favorite song about a suicide attempt. For those who don't know, A&E is the UK version of the ER - Accident and Emergency. I imagine that she wanted someone who didn't want her back, took some pills to numb the pain (been there), and woke up in a hospital (not yet). Once again, she's using some fantastic songwriting here - who would describe a hospital gown as a "backless dress?" And when he doesn't even show up to see her... heartbreaking. Okay, it's also one of my favorite breakup songs.

you might also like...
Brazilian Girls - Don't Stop
Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X
Moby - We Are All Made of Stars

Top 100: #7: I Just Won't Tell You About It

Number 7: The Bridges - Pieces
Album: Limits of the Sky, 2008.
Added 1/5/09, 81 plays.



This about the mistakes we make in a relationship and how it can ruin everything, but said in the nicest way possible. The lead here has got one set of pipes on her, and great at making this fairly common phenomenon sound earnest and heartfelt, like this is the only time it's happened to her. Except that she's smart, she has a strategy for delaying the inevitable - she just won't tell you about it. Trust me, someone will crack.

you might also like...
Charlotte Sometimes - How I Could Just Kill a Man
Jamie Lidell - Another Day
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - The Day We Met

Top 100: #8: "You're Running Down My Thigh," She Said

Number 8: Born Ruffians - Hummingbird
Album: Red Yellow & Blue, 2008.
Added 5/22/08, 77 plays.



Another one of those indie pop-rock bands I seem to get tired of after a while. Here's a pretty good song about a girl being lost in a relationship with a high-energy backtrack that sounds a lot like Vampire Weekend. Which is fine, those guys know how to wrire a pop song. But I haven't heard anything from Born Ruffians in a while, nothing to hold my interest.

you might also like...
Black Kids - Hurricane Jane
Architecture in Helsinki - Do the Whirlwind
Yeasayer - O.N.E.

Top 100: #9: Deer Might Fly, Why Not? I Met You

Number 9: The Weepies - All That I Want
Album: Happiness, 2003.
Added 11/18/07, 76 plays.



Someone once accused me of hating Christmas music, which is simply not true. However, I really can't stand tacky sentimental crap I've heard over and over my whole life. You gotta mix these things up.

So, yes, the Weepies. For a band with such a sad name, they sure can write some cute pop songs. It's a romantic idea, having everything you want for Christmas (or life) already in another person, even as unlikely as that sounds. Lovely.

you might also like...
Alexi Murdoch - All My Days
Jack Johnson - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Griffin House - The Guy that Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind

Top 100: #10: Do You Want to Fuck?

Number 10: Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Album: Vampire Weekend, 2008.
Added 7/17/07, 73 plays.



I first heard of Vampire Weekend when I saw this song on the iTunes music store, and only clicked on it because of the Cape Cod reference. And my life was never the same. The key to this song is (obviously) the simplicity. There's just not a whole lot going on, particularly when you look at some of the other stuff on the album. It's easy. Which sounds like a cop out, but I think is (well, was) a nice change of pace. A simple backbeat with slightly quirky lyrics? It works.

you might also like...
Passion Pit - Little Secrets
Death Cab for Cutie - No Sunlight
Feist - Mushaboom

Top 100: #11: Never Gonna Let You Down

Number 11: Loney, Dear - I Am John
Album: Loney, Noir, 2007.
Added 6/13/07, 72 plays.



I get the feeling that this song is about his turbid relationship with himself - like those nights where you just have a crisis of identity and get "lost" so to speak, losing track of who and where you are. The end of the song to me represents the feeling of falling back in love with yourself, at least for a little while, even though you know you're probably just going to continue to disappoint yourself again anyway. It's beautiful and bittersweet, and it says so much through so few words.

you might also like...
Josh Ritter - Wolves
Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have to Leave It
Jens Lekman - And I Remember Every Kiss

Top 100: #12: The Way She Looks in Her Underwear

Number 12: Josh Ritter - To the Dogs or Whoever
Album: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, 2007.
Added 12/22/07, 69 plays.



I love all the historical/literary references here. Everyone in here are strong figures that took a stand for their beliefs, even if it killed them. It's about taking risks.

you might also like...
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Airline to Heaven
Ryan Adams - Pearls on a String
The Avett Brothers - Kick Drum Heart

Top 100: #13: Don't Let Anyone Stand in Your Way

Number 13: Jens Lekman - A Postcard to Nina
Album: Night Falls Over Kortedala, 2007.
Added 11/8/07, 68 plays.



Jens tells the story of how he was an accidental beard. It's a pretty hilarious story, over a simple (at first) rhythm. At the end when it crescendos, and we get to the moral of the story, that just kills me every time. This is the song that really got me into Jens.


Also, check out my recording from when I saw him at the Paradise a couple years back, with a far more detailed version of the story:


you might also like...
Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rise Up With Fists!!
David Byrne & Dirty Projectors - Knotty Pine
Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You

Top 100: #14: How to Gracefully Disappear in a Room

Number 14: The National - Secret Meeting
Album: Alligator, 2005.
Added 7/31/07, 68 plays.



I think this song is more about creating a mood than any particular subject. They dabble with notions of paranoia and mental instability, and when you put that over a gloomy and brooding backtrack, well, that seems to work very well here.

you might also like...
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs Bad Arms
Wilco - Kamera

Top 100: #15: A Change of Mind, Then a Change of Position

Number 15: Choir of Young Believers - Action/Reaction
Album: This Is For the White in Your Eyes, 2009.
Added 7/6/09, 66 plays.



Despite the upbeat rhythm and soaring vocals, this is one of the saddest songs I know of. It's about heartache and loss, all over a girl ("a monument") who, despite your actions, will not give you a reaction.

The thing about monuments; they're hard to move. Or remove.

you might also like...
The Cave Singers - Leap
Elizabeth & the Catapult - Taller Children
Fanfarlo - Harold T. Wilkins, Or How to Wait for a Very Long Time

Top 100: #16: No Reason to Be Scared

Number 16: Walter Meego - Forever
Album: Voyager, 2008.
Added 7/15/08, 66 plays.



You know, I'll be honest, this song doesn't really hold up after repeated listenings, and I'm getting tired of it. It's repetitive, uninspired, and unchallenging. It's just got a simple message and a decent hook. There was a time and place for this in my life, but that time has past.

you might also like...
Chairlift - Evident Utensil
Coconut Records - Nighttiming
VHS or Beta - Can't Believe a Single Word

Top 100: #17: The Noise You Make When You Sleep

Number 17: Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running
Album: Neon Bible, 2007.
Added 12/22/07, 65 plays.



Probably the best Bruce Springsteen song that wasn't written or performed by Bruce Springsteen. It's a great rollicking abstract tune about death. Or a terrorist. Or maybe about not being able to settle down. I don't know. It's just fun to listen to.

you might also like...
Interpol - Evil
TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
Animal Collective - My Girls

Top 100: #18: Maybe Tomorrow, Maybe Someday

Number 18: The Pretenders - Talk of the Town
Album: Pretenders II, 1981.
Added 5/21/07, 65 plays.


Pretenders Talk of the Town

Unrequited love's a bitch, ain't it?

Le sigh.

you might also like...
The Motels - Only the Lonely
Talking Heads - Take Me to the River
'Til Tuesday - Voices Carry

Top 100: #19: Fuck Your Circle

Number 19: Geronimo - Just Like Water
Album: Enlightenment in a Small Town, 2007.
Added 4/27/08, 64 plays.


Just Like Water

Geronimo | MySpace Music Videos

I really have no idea what they're talking about here, I just think it's a fun song. I once heard that it takes eight minutes for the light from the sun to reach Earth, so, there's that little fun fact of the day.

you might also like...
The Postal Service - We Will Become Silhouettes
Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs
MGMT - Time to Pretend

Top 100: #20: Even If I Knew My Place

Number 20: Adele - Chasing Pavements
Album: 19, 2008.
Added 7/6/08, 62 plays.



Adele has one of the best voices I've heard in a long time. Here's another one of those relatable tracks, where we have to decide whether to keep the status quo or do something really hard and shitty. Yeeah.

you might also like...
Sara Bareilles - King of Anything
Regina Spektor - Samson
Missy Higgins - The River

Top 100: #21: I Try to Imagine a Careless Life

Number 21: Beirut - Scenic World
Album: Gulag Orkestar, 2006.
Added 5/25/07, 61 plays.



It's a simple tune with poignant lyrics that try to remind you why it's good to be alive. Really, that's all there is to it... but somehow, it speaks volumes to me.

you might also like...
Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
Iron & Wine - Boy With a Coin
Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone with You

Top 100: #22: Tell Me Where It All Went Wrong

Number 22: Camera Obscura - If Looks Could Kill
Album: Let's Get Out of This Country, 2006.
Added 6/30/07, 61 plays.



In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm kind of a sucker for new music in the style of '60s soul. Camera Obscura always does a great job of this, while still sounding modern and unique.

you might also like...
Belle and Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
Jens Lekman - The Opposite of Hallelujah
Architecture in Helsinki - Do the Whirlwind

Top 100: #23: Let's Pretend I'm Attractive

Number 23: Frightened Rabbit - The Twist
Album: The Midnight Organ Fight, 2008.
Added 7/8/08, 61 plays.



This song uses some great imagery to describe this encounter at the club. I especially love the idea of having to ask if someone blushed, because he can't tell, they "are already red." Also he doesn't care that she messed up his name twice, but at the end he's become more assertive, more confident. He wants her to know his name, and is calling her out - she's just like everybody else, she doesn't want to be lonely, she needs some human heat.

It's a cute little story over a great steady piano riff. It escalates at the end (as these things tend to do) into a frenzy of jubilation and celebration. It's enough to make you twist yourself.

you might also like...
The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
Yeasayer - Madder Red

Top 100: #24: Taking a Nap on Your Lap in the Shade

Number 24: Katie Herzig - Sweeter Than This
Album: Weightless, 2006.
Added 7/8/09, 61 plays.



Yes, it's sweet to the point of being saccharine, but that's okay every once in a while. It's got some cute sentiments, and gives a pretty good feel for how it is to be in love.

you might also like...
Josh Ritter - Kathleen
Ben Howard - Cloud Nine
Jorge Calderón & Jennifer Warnes - Keep Me in Your Heart

Top 100: #25: Punjabi's Finest

Number 25: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Pink India
Album: Stephen Malkmus, 2001.
Added 9/1/09, 61 plays.



Probably my favorite rock song about British colonial imperialism in the late 1800s.

you might also like...
Yo La Tengo - Tears Are in Your Eyes
Mazzy Star - Halah
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Bridges, Squares

Top 100: #26: Spit Out Your Lies and Chewing Gum

Number 26: Phoenix - Consolation Prizes
Album: It's Never Been Like That, 2006.
Added 5/21/07, 60 plays.


Phoenix - Consolation Prizes
Uploaded by sagara-kun. - Explore more music videos.

This was the song that first got me into Phoenix. It's another catchy pop song about the end of a relationship. Here, the girl can't grow up and move on with the narrator. I love the idea of not accepting her as a consolation prize.


you might also like...
Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
Vampire Weekend - I Stand Corrected
Architecture in Helsinki - Maybe You Can Owe Me

Top 100: #27: Strange How Your Mind Burns

Number 27: Pinback - Good to Sea
Album: Autumn of the Seraphs, 2007.
Added 4/4/10, 60 plays.



This is how I've been feeling for the past few months. He is in a relationship that is solid and sound, but the idea of the relationship cannot meet with the idea of what he is driven to do and who he is. He is glad to see her go so he can start living his life the way he wants to, but to break this relationship destroys his life, as least temporarily.

I've had a string recently of amazing and satisfying sex dreams about an ex. It's really not that kind to terrorize one in one's sleep.

Oh no, I've hit rock bottom.

you might also like...
Spoon - Don't You Evah
Minus the Bear - My Time
Stars - Elevator Love Letter

Top 100: #28

Number 28: Santigold - Lights Out
Album: Santogold, 2008.
Added 12/10/08, 60 plays.



Great summer jam, sorry it took until the end of summer for it to come around.

you might also like...
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Phenomena
Tegan and Sara - Walking With a Ghost

Top 100: #29

Number 29: Florence + the Machine - Dog Days Are Over
Album: Lungs, 2009.
Added 8/26/09, 59 plays.



Gorgeous. Unbelievable. About picking up the pieces and making yourself happy. First of all, Florence Welsh is an incredible singer (also, a hot redhead) who cannot help but put her whole self into a song. Secondly, this song has everything anybody could want. Drama, relatability, love, longing, and it's catchy as all hell. I can't help but (poorly) belt this out when it comes on in the car.

It's also a little sad: "I never wanted anything from you, except everything you had. And what was left after that, too." I guess he couldn't give it.

you might also like...
Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
Akron/Family - River
Headless Heroes - Just Like Honey

Top 100: #30

Number 30: Dr. Dog - Heart It Races
Album: Heart It Races [EP], 2007.
Added 1/17/08, 57 plays.



A cover of Architecture in Helsinki, and in fact, from their EP. A huge improvement, I'd say; in the original, it almost sounds like they aren't taking it seriously, while Dr. Dog takes it, strips it down a little, and gives it a more earnest vibe. You get the sense of longing that I think they're going for. Dr. Dog, a master of melody. You just can't be in a bad mood when you hear this song.

you might also like...
Toro y Moi - Blessa
The Dodos - Fables
Architecture in Helsinki - Frenchy, I'm Faking

Top 100: #31

Number 31: Jens Lekman - Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig
Album: Night Falls Over Kortedala, 2007.
Added 1/23/08, 56 plays.



Translation: I think I am in love with you.

One of my most favorite love songs ever. I've used the line "I think I'm going to drop my cool now" as the title of a mix I made for a girl. That's how much I love it. The intro is genius, how many times have you blabbered on about nothing just to talk to a girl? The little stutter he does is fantastic, the words are very literally coming out wrong. And sometimes, yes, the best way to touch someone's heart is to do something daring and stupid, and if you make an ass of yourself, hey, maybe she'll at least smile. It'd be worth it.

Once again, I'm a sucker for horns.

you might also like...
She & Him - This Is Not a Test
Yeasayer - Tightrope
Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You

Top 100: #32

Number 32: Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - As Tall as Cliffs
Album: Not Animal, 2008.
Added 1/6/09, 56 plays.



I've been dreading writing about this song for a while. Not because I don't love it, but because I just don't get it. I love the sing-songy rhythm, the sweet melody, and it's just great music. But I can't figure out the lyrics. Anyone got any thoughts?

you might also like...
Bishop Allen - Rain
Blind Pilot - One Red Thread
Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe

Top 100: #33

Number 33: Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
Album: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, 2007.
Added 12/22/07, 56 plays.



So here's another one of those with an upbeat melody and depressing lyrics. In this one, he's the one doing the leaving. The cherry bomb is fire, passion, excitement, explosion, and they just don't have that anymore. Time to call it off.

God, I just love those horns.

you might also like...
Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat
Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer
The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??

Do You Realize??

Dude, I saw Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne and his wife at Coffee Slingers yesterday. Sweet!



Only love humans that deserve it. Don’t give it to those fuckers who will waste it.
-Wayne Coyne

Top 100: #34

Number 34: She & Him - Change Is Hard
Album: Volume One, 2008.
Added 12/17/07, 55 plays.



She & Him is a collaboration between M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, so you'd think, you know, the musician would write the music. You'd be wrong. Deschanel had been writing songs for years before approaching M. Ward, and in truth, they are just lovely. In style/homage to girl soul bands of the '60s, Volume One was a huge triumph, and I just love it. It's about love and loss, and I don't think it gets more poignant than on this track.

It's about being stupid and losing the one you love, and trying to pick up the pieces afterwards even after they already have. Beautiful.

you might also like...
Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
Belle and Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On

Top 100: #35

Number 35: Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
Album: Middle Cyclone, 2009.
Added 5/21/07, 54 plays.



I've heard that Neko is referring to a literal tornado in this song, but I just can't believe that. It's just got to be a metaphor for how violent and destructive love can be. I love how the tornado killed people, destroyed buildings and train tracks, even carved their lover's name in the ground, all in a completely misguided effort to convince them of their sincerity. Love is hell.

Neko is one of the best singer songwriters of our generation. The melody rollicks along with the very active nature of the song, until she slows down to make a point - when the tornado checks in to see how they are, it calms down (an owl on the sill in the evening), until it finds it doesn't have them yet...

you might also like...
Cat Power - Could We
Blitzen Trapper - Furr
Jenny Lewis - Carpetbaggers

Top 100: #36

Number 36: Psapp - Tricycle
Album: The Only Thing I Ever Wanted, 2006.
Added 5/21/07, 54 plays.



Ah, Psapp, the masters of toytronica. Is this a love song? A breakup song? Something in the middle. The last verse says it all:

You drag your feet
And drag us down
Don't want me around
To tire you out.

So... not exactly positive there. It's about the end of a relationship, almost at the breakup.

you might also like...
Adam Green - Novotel
Dawn Landes - Straight Lines
By Your Side - CocoRosie

Top 100: #37

Number 37: Tegan and Sara - Hop a Plane
Album: The Con, 2007.
Added 7/25/07, 54 plays.



Less than two minutes of some great pop punk rock. It's about moving across the country to get away from somebody, something that happened to somebody I used to know.

you might also like...
Metric - Gimme Sympathy
The Postal Service - Clark Gable
The Raveonettes - Dead Sound

Top 100: #38

Number 38: Soltero - Communist Love Song
Album: Science Will Figure You Out, 2001.
Added 5/21/07, 53 plays.



This is exactly what it says on the tin. An adorable little love song filled to the brim with Russian and Cold War references. I dig the simple acoustic guitar work and the sweet (and historical!) lyrics.

When someone says they'll be your Iron Curtain, how can you say no to that?

you might also like...
The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour
Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet
The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane

Top 100: #39

Number 39: Lavender Diamond - Oh No
Album: Imagine Our Love, 2007.
Added 8/12/08, 52 plays.



Looking at love from a distance; sometimes wistful, sometimes hopeful, going from optimistic to despairing and back again. Amazing what they can do when just repeating the same phrase over and over again.

Becky Stark absolutely makes this song.

you might also like...
Joanna Newsom - Does Not Suffice
Jenny Lewis - Trying My Best to Love You
Taken By Trees - To Lose Someone

Top 100: #40

Number 40: LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
Album: Sound of Silver, 2007.
Added 8/24/09, 52 plays.



This one is a little hard for me to talk about, so bear with me.

I guess you could call this my "favorite" breakup song, in that I find it most listenable and the lyrics most relatable. It's probably because of that that it's still one of the hardest to listen to. How ironic.

This is not like every breakup I've been through, but I have been through this. James hits the nail on the head in regards to the phone call, how you can kinda see it coming a little bit, but that doesn't help. You're devastated, but life keeps going on around you ("the coffee isn't even bitter," "the worst is all the lovely weather"). He'll get through it eventually, ("it keeps coming, 'til the day it stops"), but really, he's not taking this well, to say the least.

In short, this song was written with me in mind.

I wish that we could talk about it, but there: that's the problem.

you might also like(?)...
Grizzly Bear - Cheerleader
Figurine - IMpossible
Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek

Top 100: #41

Number 41: Van Morrison - Real Real Gone
Album: Enlightenment, 1990.
Added 8/20/09, 52 plays.



The other day I mentioned that phenomenon of losing oneself to a relationship, and now that's not always a bad thing. Well, here Van throws himself into it and never looks back, and is absolutely jubilant about it. He's come to realize his dependency on others, and he's come to terms with it. When you invest your love, you invest your life.

I love the shoutouts. Sam Cooke is the most promenant, but the fadeout is awesome too. He's using the poetry of others to express how he feels, which I can relate to.

Have I mentioned that I'm a sucker for a good brass section?


you might also like...
Mark Knopfler - Sailing to Philadelphia
Neil Young - Harvest Moon
Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns and Money

Top 100: #42

Number 42: Jens Lekman - Into Eternity
Album: Night Falls Over Kortedala, 2007.
Added 3/18/08, 50 plays.



Crazy love. Doomed love.

Jens is in that nebulous period during a breakup where they're still... not... something. He says it best when he compares his love with dry grass and a magnifying glass; something that will ignite and burn us all down. A disaster. Something that just can't last.

But it still feels good. You still want it.

I played this for a friend of mine yesterday, who immediately said it sounded like something out of a Disney movie. Maybe. This is one of those great songs I love with an upbeat melody and really depressing lyrics. But what, a guy can't play a recorder and not have it compared to Pocahontas?

you might also like...
Camera Obscura - The Sweetest Thing
Beach House - Zebra
M. Ward - One Hundred Million Years

Top 100: #43

Number 43: Sera Cahoone - You're Not Broken
Album: Only As the Day Is Long, 2008.
Added 3/18/08, 50 plays.



I apologize for the people talking over her in the video above. Idiots! This is great music! Anyway, find it and download it, or you can stream it from NPR.

Stephen Thompson said it best when he called this song the musical equivalent of someone handing you a cup of cocoa and giving you a back rub after a long day. It provides gentle encouragement and comfort without the slightest hint of annoyance or anger, only her own sadness that her person is so worn down. With an amazing coda.

you might also like...
Blind Pilot - One Red Thread
The Cave Singers - Leap
Fruit Bats - Seaweed

Top 100: #44

Number 44: Amber Rubarth - You Will Love This Song
Album: New Green Lines, 2008.
Added 5/22/09, 49 plays.



Third breakup song in a row. Did you notice the name of the blog?

It's a song written for an ex. Like, explicitly, with little stories about days together, and how great those were, and how this song was written specifically to have things that he would like, and she wrote it in her underwear because she knew he would like it. Yeah. Pretty personal.

The last verse uses a magic show as a metaphor for the relationship in a really effective way - it cuts down to the core, when she admits that yes, she knew she was more into it than he was; she volunteered to be misled.

Shit, man. Unrequited love is just the worst. It hurts.

"I like you, a lot... and I think it's worse than that."

you might also like...
Josh Ritter - Kathleen
Aqualung - The Lake
Faces - Ooh La La

Top 100: #45

Number 45: Rilo Kiley - A Man/Me/Then Jim
Album: More Adventurous, 2004.
Added 5/22/09, 49 plays.



Three tales of love lost, from three narrators, telling two stories. The first and last is of how Jim killed himself when he lost Diana, and how that makes others think about the losses in their own lives. Jim tell her, explicitly, that he would die for her, then makes good on it. But he also touches on something that I hear pretty often in music (and life), that of losing oneself in a relationship, to be so completely enamored as to forget all else. I think that's fine for some people, and in fact, it's a great feeling... just not for the object of affection. Hence the rejection, hence the follow-through on the ultimatum.

Someone once said that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I wonder if they ever got their heart stomped on.

you might also like...
Bright Eyes - You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.
Stars - Calendar Girl
Regina Spektor - The Flowers

Top 100: #46

Number 46: Tegan and Sara - The Con
Album: The Con, 2007.
Added 7/25/07, 49 plays.


The Con

Tegan and Sara | MySpace Music Videos

Yes, this is one of the more pathetic and desperate breakup songs out there. Yes, I've written to an ex when I knew I shouldn't have.

Sad, sad, sad. I don't even want to think about this anymore.

you might also like...
Metric - Gimme Sympathy
Death Cab for Cutie - No Sunlight
Bright Eyes - Lover I Dont Have To Love

Top 100: #47

Number 47: Modest Mouse - Dashboard
Album: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007.
Added 5/21/07, 48 plays.



Isaac Brock said it best, "I wanna make a pop band, ya know?" And yes, he certainly did that with this album. It's about the end of a relationship, and I paraphrased him once when I told a woman I loved who told me we were doomed, "Well, gee, I guess I better enjoy this while I can." She smiled, and said I was cheating. Maybe I was.

We scheme, and we scheme, but we always blow it.

Even needs have needs.

you might also like...
Beck - Girl
The Strokes - Last Nite
Pixies - Where Is My Mind?

Top 100: #48

Number 48: Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
Album: Vampire Weekend, 2008.
Added 12/16/07, 48 plays.



Okay, two Vampire Weekend songs in a row, I will apologize for that. How embarrassing. So... A-Punk. Not really my favorite song, and it's been written about to death at this point, and I'm not good enough of a writer to call it "a little too uptempo to let their disarmingly clever melodies breathe", like Alex Denny did, so I'll just call it a catchy, harmless little pop song and not think about it any more.

you might also like...
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Spoon - The Underdog
Tegan and Sara - Back in Your Head

Top 100: #49

Number 49: Vampire Weekend - One (Blake's Got a New Face)
Album: Vampire Weekend, 2008.
Added 1/31/08, 48 plays.



From what I can discern, it's about being young, wealthy, and arrogant. There's a small scene in a coffee shop when the waitress mixes up the narrator's tea, but that's about it. I'm not going to apologize for all the Vampire weekend on this blog, their debut album was catchy as hell.

you might also like...
Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook
Ra Ra Riot - Each Year
Death Cab for Cutie - Cath...

Top 100: #50

Number 50: Aimee Mann - 31 Today
Album: @#%&*! Smilers, 2008.
Added 6/5/08, 46 plays.



A great sad track about getting older and being dissatisfied with your place in life. She takes up with a man she's not in love with, drinks by herself, mostly eats takeout, and ignores birthdays. A great sad song.

you might also like...
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Lucinda Williams - Are You Alright?
Josh Ritter - Still Beating

Top 100: #51

Number 51: Andrew Bird - Imitosis
Album: Armchair Apocrypha, 2007.
Added 12/22/07, 46 plays.



Yesterday religion as a metaphor, today, biology. The meat of the song deals with how romantic love and intimacy can be... misinterpreted? An illusion? Something that sometimes has to be verified. As much as I hate growing apart, I love that Andy hit the nail on the head when he referred to it as mitosis. Awesome melody.

Sometimes we don't have what we think we do.

you might also like...
Bon Iver - Flume
Iron & Wine - Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

Top 100: #52

Number 52: Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - The Big Guns
Album: Rabbit Fur Coat, 2006.
Added 9/1/09, 45 plays.



Ah yes, the girl from The Wizard Rilo Kiley makes good. Here she's using quasi-religious imagery to describe a troubled relationship. I dig the country feel, the kind of old-timey Americana all over this album. Jenny's got a hell of a set of pipes.

you might also like...
M. Ward - One Hundred Million Years
She & Him - This Is Not a Test
Cat Power - Willie

Top 100: #53

Number 53: Phoenix - 1901
Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, 2009.
Added 7/6/09, 45 plays.



I have no idea what this song is about, I only know that it's catchy as hell. I kinda like Lisztomania better.

you might also like...
Passion Pit - Little Secrets
The xx - Islands
The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight

Top 100: #54

Number 54: Bell X1 - Rocky Took a Lover
Album: Flock, 2006.
Added 11/26/09, 44 plays.




Some great lines in this love song, but that's not why I basically just put this on repeat when I first heard it. There's just something in the melody, the hook just grabs you and will not let go. That being said, the lyrics are fantastic; I've used the opening line several times now ("what a wonderful way to wake me").

Jesus, this is an amazing love song.

you might also like...
Josh Ritter - Wolves
Damien Rice - Dogs
The Raveonettes - Dead Sound

Top 100: #55

Number 55: Lucky Soul - Struck Dumb
Album: The Great Unwanted, 2007.
Added 9/1/09, 44 plays.



I dig Lucky Soul's vibe, in the style of '50s girl doo-wop bands. On the surface, this is similar to those old love songs, about being so enamored with someone you can't find the words to talk to them. That's the chorus. But looking at the verses, there's some real pain here, and not necessarily the good kind. "Don’t let your guard down, the magic don’t touch when you curl into a small ball and cry"? "silent survival has brilliant thoughts turning grey on arrival"? That's some pretty dark and depressing stuff, all over the ridiculously sweet backing of that old soul.

you might also like...
The Pipettes - ABC
She & Him - In the Sun
The Brunettes - Her Hairagami Set

Top 100: #56

Number 56: Billy Bragg - A New England
Album: Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy, 1983.
Added 8/20/07, 43 plays.



We all deal with breakups in our own ways. I'm sure at some point, we all feel like this:

I don't want to change the world,
I'm not looking for a new England.
I'm just looking for another girl.

It's a very simple song, with only the guitar and Billy's voice, but that just serves to drive the point home. We all get angry.

you might also like...
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Accidents Will Happen
Tom Waits - Downtown Train
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?

Top 100: #57

Number 57: David Byrne & Brian Eno - Strange Overtones
Album: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, 2008.
Added 8/20/08, 43 plays.



It's about an aging rocker trying to make a hit. It's catchy as all hell. Brian Eno just had all these beats he'd been doing nothing with for twenty years, and David Byrne writes some lyrics, and bam, instant hit. Good driving song.

you might also like...
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
St. Vincent - The Strangers
Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook

Top 100: #58

Number 58: M. Ward - Chinese Translation
Album: Post-War, 2006.
Added 4/18/08, 43 plays.



This was a pretty important song in my life. I was a freshman in college, didn't know a whole lot of people, and didn't know a whole lot of music outside of classic rock. My sister sent me this, and it was all over for me; I was now an indie kid. First thing I noticed were the visuals, the gorgeous animation and clever jokes in the video. But when I sat down and really listened to it, I just fell madly in love with it (I must have listened to this hundreds of times, but it's low on the list because I replaced it with a higher-quality version two years ago).

I wrote a little bit ago about universal truths, but mostly applied that to common experiences in love and loss. This is probably the most philosophical song in my catalogue, one that deals with finding the some of those truths.

What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart
And how can a man like me remain in the light
And if life is really as short as they say
Then why is the night so long

Those are questions I've asked myself. No, I don't have the answers, and that's kind of the joke of the song. The wise old man doesn't know either, so he tells the story of how he tried to find those answers, and so on and so on. I think we know what's going to happen to the narrator of the story.

Which says nothing about the almost ethereal composition of this piece. Matt's guitar work is almost magical on this, over a great steady beat. Borderline magical.

I would be remiss if I didn't share his performance on Letterman. It picks up at the end:


There are no answers, there is only infinity.

you might also like...
Billy Bragg & Wilco - California Stars
Cat Power - Lived in Bars
Sufjan Stevens - The Dress Looks Nice on You

Top 100: #59

Number 59: Nicole Atkins - Maybe Tonight
Album: Neptune City, 2007.
Added 2/20/08, 43 plays.



Soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics, dreamy atmosphere, wistful intentions. Ah yes, the reunion of two lovers. She's trying hard to be patient for the two to re-kindle, and maybe it worked out for a while, but things are doomed here. She comes around to it at the end though. Gorgeous song.

you might also like...
The Bird and the Bee - My Love
Basia Bulat - In the Night
Sia - Electric Bird

Top 100: #60

Number 60: Ben Folds - Prison Food
Album: Songs for Silverman, 2005.
Added 5/21/07, 42 plays.


Please ignore the stupid slideshow in the embedded video, it's the only one I could find.

I think Ben was going through a divorce when this album was coming out, and I think this is his response to it. As they walk the Earth, they can see the end in sight; she wonders who will leave first, he realizes that they need to both go through it alone. It sucks, but it's what needs to be done. There don't seem to be hard feelings - when she floats by, he can be a distraction instead of a problem (which is in contrast to the preceding song on the album, "Time"). But yeah. It's over.

Prison food is something that will keep you alive, but isn't worth living for.

you might also like...
Rufus Wainwright - California
Cake - Shadow Stabbing
Death Cab for Cutie - A Movie Script Ending

Top 100: #61

Number 61: Ben Folds Five - Fair
Album: Whatever and Ever Amen, 1997.
Added 5/21/07, 42 plays.



Ben has said during shows that this is about domestic violence, but I don't think that's exactly it. Certainly the first verse deals with a domestic dispute, but that's probably the least interesting part of the song. I like the last two-thirds, which deal with the aftermath and breakup. You have no idea how many times during a breakup I'll have a dream about Her and those lines instantly come to mind:

Every couple nights or so you know you pop into my dreams
I just can't get rid of you like you got rid of me
Oh, but I send my best
'cause God knows you've seen my worst

And yes, it's so painful and yes, you do want a crowd to watch and pity you. I think the saddest thing about this song is the justification he provides for all this pain inflicted on each other, the famous "All's fair in love and war." It's not even true, Ben.

This is one of my all-time favorites. Just try not to smile at the chorus.


you might also like...
Guster - Diane
Ben Kweller - Falling
Nick Drake - One of These Things First

Top 100: #62

Number 62: Blink-182 - Dammit
Album: Dude Ranch, 1997.
Added 8/30/09, 42 plays.



On the one hand, this is exceedingly simple song, with lyrics that sound like they were written while watching TV. On the other hand, it's really catchy, and I've gone through a breakup like this, I think most of us have.

He just wanted to go to the movies, and start get on with his life. But then he sees her, and it all comes flooding back. Yes, it is a big deal when the new guy fucks her. It isn't until later on, when things start to settle and you can not be so negative that the chorus really applies.

Also, I emjoy when the name of the song isn't a line from the song, but rather something that captures the mood or essence of a song. Here, it's that moment of resignation, where you know you're not getting the girl back, when you just kinda lower your head and whisper, under your breath, "dammit."

I guess this is growing up.

you might also like...
Green Day - Brain Stew
The Offspring - Why Don't You Get a Job?
Fuel - Shimmer

Top 100: #63

Number 63: Bruce Cockburn - Wondering Where the Lions Are
Album: Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws, 1979.
Added 11/3/09, 42 plays.



Simple guitar folk rock about the apocalypse. For the first time in human history, mankind has the ability to exterminate itself, but for some reason, we haven't yet, and Bruce marvels at this with some of the most beautiful imagery he can muster. Lovely.

you might also like...
Joni Mitchell - Help Me
Tom Waits - (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night
Neil Young - Harvest Moon

Top 100: #64

Number 64: Girl Talk - In Step
Album: Feed the Animals, 2008.
Added 7/8/08, 42 plays.



I've already been over how great Girl Talk is at what he does, but here he does it just a little better. I heard this song before Fergie's Glamorous, and whenever I hear it these days, I can't help but think that Girl Talk did it better.

I do think the Beach Boys at the end is a little out of place, though.


you might also like...
Moby - We Are All Made of Stars
Brazilian Girls - Good Time
Boards of Canada - Roygbiv

Top 100: #65

Number 65: Radiohead - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Album: In Rainbows, 2007.
Added 3/21/08, 42 plays.



Your guess is as good as mine. I think I like this song because of the "arpeggi," that is, the sequence of notes that the guitar does in the beginning and most of the song. It's all about this kind of ethereal atmosphere the band creates. It's hard to put my finger on it. It just does it for me.

you might also like...
The Shins - Phantom Limb
The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
Coldplay - Viva la Vida

Top 100: #66

Number 66: The Tragically Hip - Fireworks
Album: Phantom Power, 1998.
Added 5/21/07, 42 plays.



Some cool imagery here, but this song has little to do with hockey or the Cold War. It's about the temporary nature of things, be it love, life, or mankind's tinkerings. That being said, this is a fun, fun song. Reflective and poignant, but also whimsey and earnest. Oh, the glory of being Canadian in the '70s.

you might also like...
Sam Roberts - Detroit '67
Blind Melon - Tones of Home
R.E.M. - Superman

Top 100: #67

Number 67: M. Ward - Paul's Song
Album: Transistor Radio, 2005.
Added 5/21/07, 41 plays.



A great song about being on the road with the band. I love M. Ward's voice, despite him being better known for his guitar prowess.

you might also like...
Conor Oberst - Sausalito
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Ingrid Bergman
Gillian Welch - Look at Miss Ohio

Top 100: #68

Number 68: Chairlift - Bruises
Album: Does You Inspire You, 2008.
Added 9/18/08, 40 plays.



Very cute. It's about the things we do for love.

you might also like...
The Submarines - You Me and the Bourgeoisie
Ben Folds - You Don't Know Me
Imogen Heap - Goodnight and Go

Top 100: #69

Number 69: Delta Spirit - Trashcan
Album: Ode to Sunshine, 2007.
Added 11/6/08, 40 plays.



Awesome summer driving piano rock. It's about how the band got together.

you might also like...
Alberta Cross - The Thief & the Heartbreaker
Warren Zevon - Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Bruce Springsteen - Jesse James

Top 100: #70

Number 70: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Home
Album: Up from Below, 2009.
Added 7/21/09, 40 plays.



This song has been exploding over facebook lately. Everybody I give it to absolutely adores it. It's one of the best love songs of our time. In the style of some old-timey western music, it's sweet, fun, and just makes you feel good about life, dammit. Just listen to it. I guarantee you'll love it.

you might also like...
The Dodos - Fools
M. Ward - Never Had Nobody Like You
Matt & Kim - Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare