#one of the most beautiful anthems i've heard

[lanceinwonderland]

It looks like the US is gonna abandon Ukraine. Yet again. How could anyone trust their "security guarantee" really ever again? I'm not exactly surprised yet still so disappointed.

Boy oh boy that's not even to mention the West (esp the US) has been supporting another occupying force - Israel - while claiming to stand for rules-based order for ages.

If you want to completely lose hope in humanity just follow international politics. Guaranteed that you'll get there in a few days at most.

[jusalle]

☆ Neymar Jr Imagine ☆

• Hello Meu Amor •

Right now Neymar was at a game. Yes, brazil was playing but it wasn't the men's team playing though. It was the womens brazil team that was playing.

Everyone on the men's team came because it was a company support thing so everybody went, plus the team wanted know how good the girls were.

°••••°

You were standing on the feild with your team, lined up singing your anthem.

Then you get felt your left shoulder get tapped

You turned and it was your teammate grinning as they point at somthing.

You look to where your teammate was pointing at, it was the men's team of Brazil.

Then you remember, your coach told you that they had to come support for some company thing.

You didn't mind it much though, they we're just here to come watch like everyone else here.

Then you noticed one of the guys were pointing at you.

He had white hair and looked like a pigeon, which was odd to you.

But then the guy next to him. Well, he was good looking if you were being honest. He somewhat looked embarrassed as he tried to stop the pigeon from stop pointing at you.

The pigeon stops pointing at you and his friend looks at you.

Those eyes were just so memorizing

He waves at you as if saying 'I'm sorry my friend did that'

You simply just give him a smile and noticed you guys were heading into positions for the game to start.

You were a forward. Of course you were good and always placed you in every game. People always thought you were the "best overall football player in the womens national teams". You never felt like that though, you knew there were people better than you.

You guys started and you just did you stuck to your plans.

You made a goal at the 20th minute which was good.

But when everyone was celebrating, all you could think about was that guy. Those beautiful greenish brownish eyes.

You turn around to look at the men's brazil team. You immediately lock eyes with him.

He was already looking at you.

He gave you a thumbs up and smiled at you.

Your knees instantly fell weak when you saw that gorgeous smile.

For the rest of the game all you could think is about him.

°••••°

The game finished and you guys won. The team was happy and so were you but couldn't get him off your mind.

As you guys celebrated on the field, you saw all of the men's team walk over to your team.

"Hello Meu Amor" a voice said and it instantly made your knees go weak once again.

You turn around and see the same guy you couldn't stop thinking of.

His perfect toned skin and his curly hair and his greenish-brownish eyes.

"I'm Neymar you might know me from the Brazil team." He said as he smiled

"Yeah I've heard of you, but this is my first time seeing you" you said softly.

" I wanted to say, you were very good, your probably the best I've seen, your playing style was the best I've seen in my career and-"

"You sound like a fangirl Neymar" you softly said as you laughed

He gave his signature smile and laughed.

Everything he did made your knees so absolutely weak for him.

"Also sorry for my friend Richarlison for pointing at you" Neymar said apologetically

"The one that looks like a Pombo?" You said quietly

Neymar laughed and even that made your knees go weak once again.

"Yeah that's him" Neymar said out of breath from laughing.

You look up at him as you were completely memorized by him. Then he sees you staring and looks down at you.

Even for him, his knees went weak everytime you looked at him. You were the most gorgeous thing he's seen yet. He couldn't get enough of you.

At that moment he knew he was yours

And you were his.

••••

Hello my lovelies!, this one was eh but once again I hope yall enjoy as much I did also Happy Christmas eve or Merry Christmas! 🤍

[sepetajmikolikomehoces]

I seriously do not know how to make this coherent. I think if we just dive in not expecting it, it won't feel so disjointed.

This was one of the most magical weekends of my life, by far the best one this year so far and I think it will hold up pretty damn well in the long run. I am so, so happy that I didn't end up selling my Saturday ticket, despite it being an upper level seated ticket. I was afraid I'd feel very removed and that the view would be obscured, but it was all but.

Like that is pretty dang good.

Didn't queue for overly long either day, and met some really, really lovely people. If you feel like you at any point talked to me, hi, hello, I am so happy to have met you!!

Openers were really good, I enjoyed both Pilvet pilvet and JC Stewart, and I hope to hear more from both in the future.

Saturday's setlist was a bit of a shock, ngl. No ASTP? No NGVOT? No Barve?? On the other hand: my soul ascended during the Gola opening and I was very emotional during Vem da greš. It's been an anthem for me since last fall, and getting to experience it live, even from my seat, was just... yeah. A Lot. We'd gotten folded paper butterflies to hold up if they played Metulji and it was one of the most beautiful renditions I have heard of it, with Jan on the piano, Bojan singing and a sea of paper butterflies floating. I could be wrong, but Bojan seemed a bit taken by the whole thing in a positive way.

I had maybe had a feeling that Everybody's waiting would be a song that would come into its own right live and it definitely did. This weekend really made me fall even more in love with it, and though Bojan was clearly nervous about it, it was nice to see a bit of humour around the performance, with Jan having to help play the intro notes.

The two new songs they premiered on Saturday were such bangers, I have not been able to get them out of my head. Between Šta bih ja and Bluza, I am leaning more towards Bluza. There is something about it that gives me the same kind of emotional response as Vem da greš, but they are both going to be on heavy rotation, the sound is just... chef's kiss for both.

I know there had been a lot of hype and expectations re: Käärijä and the possibility of him doing a song with them. As much as it would have been fun, I'm actually happy he didn't, and simply got to enjoy the show as a spectator. Getting Häärijä as Hojan was more than enough, I think I pulled something laughing so hard.

We got the band out for a second encore (after Carpe Diem and Novi val), and they did Šta bih ja again, and it made my heart so fucking happy to see them so excited and bouncy.

For Sunday, I had early entrance, and let me tell you... when Bojan announced they were soundchecking ASTP... my soul left me, I was fucking LEVITATING. Getting NGVOT with Kris after that (following a very random rendition of Ring of Fire by Bojan) was just perfection. I also completely froze when Jure came over and talked to the girls in front of me. Like I fully just glitched, couldn't make myself speak, couldn't make myself take a picture, just stood there like the personification of bluescreening. That sunshiney fucker has too much power.

They switched up the setlist for Sunday and as sad as I was at losing out on Vem da greš up close, I felt more than happy about instead getting Barve oceana and Padam, as well as another new song. Setlist said it was called Schlager, Bojan said it might be named Behind Those Eyes OR Galaxy of Me, so it's going to be fun to see what they settle on finally. Either way, the song was a whole damn vibe, and I hope people going to the rest of the tour will get to enjoy both these and other new songs.

Padam had me up in my feels HARD. Again with Jan accompanying on the piano, it was just a really raw and intimate rendition that hit me right in my soul. I've had "Zdaj padam in padam, a me bo kdo ujel?" on my letterboard at home for the last two months, and hearing this line... ooft, my heart.

Having seen recordings of Novi val live is NOTHING compared to experiencing it live. It is one of the best songs out there and the chorus hits me every. single. time. There is something so sweet and gentle about the setup of it, Kris on guitar, Bojan singing and the rest of them just enjoying the moment, taking everything in.

I think the thing that I'll ultimately cherish the most is the easy atmosphere, the connection the band had with the audience, and the fact that I got to be there and that I got to do all of this with friends. This weekend has been a beacon for me since they announced it and since I got the tickets. Going to a JO gig has been on my bucketlist. I got to cross that off and have so much fun while doing it, and you can bet your fucking ass I will try to get tickets to Ruisrock this summer.

[groovesnjams]

"Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl" by yeule

DV:

Scott Pilgrim (the movie) is probably to blame for some of it - maybe all of it - but it's fascinating how much of an afterlife this song has grown over the past 20 years. GNJ put it at #15 when we made our decade list eight years ago (and obviously we were right), but as a point of comparison Pitchfork's list didn't include it at all, in favor of two different songs by the same band. And yet in 2024 there are people who couldn't name Kevin Drew or Broken Social Scene or even Emily Haines, but who could tell you exactly what lines come after "Park that car." It's an anthem for real now, known and beloved by at least two generations. And the most beautiful thing about the original "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl" is that even with its meme-friendly ubiquity and bonafide anthem status, when I listen it still sounds like Haines is whispering into my ear, melting into my thoughts. The song moves so elegantly, its melodrama balanced by its delicacy.

yeule doesn't try to replicate that balance. Instead, they trim the song by a full minute and build it from glitches and edits, not gentle swells. This "Anthems" jumps and skips; it gurgles and bursts into noise and it cuts between verses like you blinked and missed something. If the Broken Social Scene version embodies the obsessive spiral of a crush, yeule zooms in on the anxiety and tension that accompany that obsession. It's the kind of approach that's so perfect that it seems completely obvious in retrospect, once it's been done right. But the thing is, I've heard many bad covers of this song over the years - before this, I would have bet it wasn't possible to make a good one. I'm still kinda amazed that yeule did.

MG:

What I think I've always loved about "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl" is that it sounds aspirational. The original dropped in 2002, the year I turned 17, and I desperately wanted these to be my thoughts. I wanted to know one of the rotten ones, I wanted to demand the car be parked and the phone be dropped. My parents didn't let my friends visit our house during the daylight so, like, LOL, sleeping on the floor. Ok, moving on. I was so fucking far from being a 17 year old girl like most 17 year old girls were that the only part of the song I could feel without longing was the part that yeule preserves in their cover -- that warm, crackly pulse of life. We were all alive, me and the 17 year old girls, and that was where the similarities ended. yeule keenly documents anxiety in all their work and while Broken Social Scene capture some of the restlessness of late adolescence, it's with a yielding gentleness. Their girl is surrendering to change, self-aware and insightful. yeule's girl is bombarded by intrusive thoughts and self-soothing with repetitious behavior. By the song's end the voices become distorted, some sound male, some don't even sound human at all. My thoughts were a lot closer to yeule's -- abandoned, neglected, clinging to the back of life. I don't usually like covers but this one is too tender and poignant for me, it's even realer than the real thing.

[1asbrightasthestars3]

Let me tell you something I think everyone without exception needs to know.

Quick backstory, me and my friends decided to do presentation night, which means each of us will make 3 presentations about topics that we will choose.

I chose, the love of my life, Louis Tomlinson.

And I decided to have a bit of fun with that.

So I made a quiz called "Louis Tomlinson or Shakespeare."

The quiz is about quotes from William Shakespeare, the brilliant playwright and poet from the 16th century & from Louis Tomlinson, the man and the legend.

Going into this presentation I was aware of Louis' writing skills, and I know and have known for years what a lyrical genius he is, BUT.

I wanted to make it as confusing as possible for my friends and for that to work, I had to take the greatest (not the song) Louis Tomlinson lyrics.

And I think I just fell a little more in love with his lyrics. e.j

"pour, mercy, mercy on me, set fire to history, I'm breaking my own rules, I'm crying like a fool. Tall stories on the page, Short glories on the fade, I've been close enough to touch, but I never cared for love." STARTING OFF REAL STRONG,

and then we have the pre-chorus: (which I do hope to get tattooed later in life.)

"it's a church of burnt romances, and I'm too far gone to pray, it's a solo song and it's only for the brave"

And this not only being a literal piece of literature it's also very clearly, to me at least, and sorry for assuming, a queer anthem. Referencing the religious perspective on it, specifically the Catholic/christian opinion on it.

And then of course we have got the chorus.

"if the truth tell, darling, you fell, Like there ain't enough dying stars in your sky. It's a tall tale, and it's only hello, hello, no goodbye."

Which is actually perfect in my eyes. After that we have the second verse.

"pour mercy, mercy on me, I'll fall upon my knees and they'll say 'i told you so, Come on when you know, you know.' "

Which, help me god, once again sounds very clearly like a queer anthem, this time referencing the family/social circle of the person.

Then we have the rest of the second verse which is not only the most heartbreaking line I have ever heard, it is also the quote I meant to use because it reminded me of a popular Shakespeare quote.

"All the lonely shadows dances, from the cradle to the grave. It's a solo song, and it's only for the brave."

Do you understand what I'm talking about now? This man is THE poet of the century (you can also add Taylor swift to the list, the woman is a genius.) And I don't think you can even begin to understand he said all of these things UNDER TWO MINUTES??

anyways I just wanted to share my love to Louis Tomlinson and I hope you can listen to him in the future if you haven't, and continue to listen to him now if you have. Because I only spoke about 'Only the brave' but his songs are the most poetic, beautiful thing I have heard. (Yes there are songs about him having flings and taking drugs but don't everyone?;)

So there's a list of my favorite Louis Tomlinson songs that I think you should listen to: Copy of a copy of a copy, the greatest, change (this one!!), angels fly, two of us (about his late mother, bless him), walls, bigger than me, too young and basically the entirety of two his albums 'Walls' and 'Faith in the future.'

Thank you for listening to my rant! ~L

[jennathearcher]

Me listening to all three Sleep Token albums for the first time:

Take Me Back To Eden

Chokehold - by far the most lore-oriented song I've heard so far?? lyrically this is just the band's mission statement and it's SO good

The Summoning - THE iconic song :P I had this thought while vibing to it again, the title is SO apt because this is the song that essentially summoned LEGIONS of fans 8D

Granite - this song has me ALL kinds of fucked up?? this was the point where specific lyrics started to have me SCREAMING, like, "you gave me nothing whatsoever but a reason to leave" HELLO??? not to mention "we'd rather be six feet under than be lonely" THAT HITS

Aqua Regia - MMMM THE VIBES THEY ARE IMMACULATE I believe the title translates to something along the lines of "ocean queen" but don't quote me on that XD I genuinely cannot cite just one lyric that makes me feral IT'S THE WHOLE SONG

Vore - AS A MONSTERFUCKER I AM FEELING VERY SEEN IN THE CLUB RIGHT NOW. TIS IS A MONSTERFUCKER ANTHEM. VESSEL. VESSEL P L E A S E.

Ascensionism - I was told this song would make me cry I WASN'T PREPARED FOR HOW REAL THAT WOULD BE. "Make it real, cause anything's better than the way I feel right now" HOOOOOOOO. This entire song is POETRY.

Are You Really Okay? - I....have A LOT of feelings about this song. Holy shit. From Vessel's lips straight to the ears of my soul. God DAMN.

The Apparition - and now we have the self-shipping anthem :P VESSEL XD "Why are you never real" !!!!!! "Just let me go or take me with you" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DYWTYLM - lowkey I always love when artists genuinely abbreviate song titles like this it's really cute and stylish :P THIS SONG IS S O CUTE??? OH MY GOD the sheer amount of genres this band covers is AMAZING; plus this is another song where the lyrics are DEEPLY SAD but the beat though :P

Rain - from what I'm aware of this might be an underrated song??? instant fave from me 8D IT'S SO ROMANTIC!!! "the vicious cycle was over the moment you smiled at me" I'M SO!!!!!! SOFT!!!!!!

Take Me Back To Eden - TRUE TO ITS NAME THIS SONG IS A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. but also among a million incredible lyrics "I'll take a pound of your flesh before you take a piece of my paystub" has me CHEWING THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE OH MY G O D

Euclid - I have deduced that ST is the masters of ending an album with the most unexpectedly BEAUTIFUL song OH MY GOD. All the nods of their previous songs?? So much TECHNOLOGICAL imagery all across this album too tbh??? "So if your wings won't find you heaven I'll bring it down like an ancient bygone" SCREAMING!!!! and of course "the night belongs to you" I AM EATING THIS

it is at this point I begin to swiftly realize I am listening to this in reverse order which makes a lot of things hit different but REGARDLESS :P WE PRESS ON

This Place Will Become Your Tomb

Atlantic - not only is this song ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL but the lyrics are just.....w o o f. it hits harder the more you think about it.

Hypnosis - I can't get over how this song is ACTUALLY hypnotizing to listen to :P

Mine - ONCE AGAIN TRACK THREE IS WHERE I START CLIMBING THE WALLS XD both of the other albums have direct lyrical connections to this song, and it's also just HOOOOO INTENSE IN THE BEST KIND OF WAY 8D plus the "wasted years" lyric got me thinking about Phantom of the Opera which y'know feels appropriate :P

Like That - this song reminds me of Granite with just how VISCERAL the feelings are when connected to a toxic relationship??

The Love You Want - biased cause I've had this song on repeat but HOOOOO!!!!!! "TOO MANY SWALLOWED KEYS WILL MAKE YOU BLEED INTERNALLY SOMEDAY"!!!!! "MAYBE YOU BELIEVE THAT IN THE END YOU WILL BE BETTER OFF THAT WAY"!!!!!!

Fall For Me - *incomprehensible shrieking* "WON'T YOU FALL FOR ME, FROM REALITY" *somersaults out of window* "MY INSECURITIES SURROUND ME LIKE LIONS IN THE DEN" *puts head through wall*

Alkaline - I am now intimately familiar with the emotions of the girl absolutely losing her shit in the background of the concert video in which I first heard this song XD Another song with one of those verses where every single line is ABSOLUTE POETRY and also :P HORNY. HORNY HORNY ENERGY. VESSEL YOU MENACE I LOVE YOU.

Distraction - at this point I am all but tearing my hair out over how ROMANTIC this is and how it can perfectly encapsulate such a simple idea and make it absolutely HEART-ACHING?????

Descending - ohhhhhh myyyyYYYYYY GOD!!!!!! "YOU COME CRAWLING BACK TO ME BUT I'M ALREADY UNDERGROUND" !!!!!! "AND WE ALL KNOW THAT TALK IS CHEAP SO COME ON AND SAVE ME NOW" !!!!!!!!!!!!!! "AND YOU WONDER WHAT I BELIEVE BUT YOU DON'T WANNA BE AROUND" "SO WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR ME?" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Telomeres - another song I fell in love with on the first listen :P much like Rain it's just so DEEPLY ROMANTIC AND EMOTIONAL??? "I know as you collapse into me this is the start of something" MMMMMMMMMMMM

High Water - I am OBSESSED with this song lyrically, just "it seems my hell is your high water" that's SO!!!! GOOD!!!! but also just the absolute gutpunches all throughout this song; "you are still a perfect reminder of what all these scars on my arms are for" !!!! "I know you still bear the weight of your own existence and you'll never bear the weight of two" I'M SO?!?!?!?

Missing Limbs - I legit GASPED when the soft guitar started???? and the last verse just absolutely destroyed me HOO. The whole song has Bon Iver vibes but better tbh

Sundowning

The Night Does Not Belong To God - it was here when I started to really lose my shit over all the lyrical parallels across the three albums :P SO GIVE ME THE NIGHT!!!!!

The Offering - "YOU'VE GOT DIAMONDS FOR TEETH MY LOVE, SO TAKE A BITE" OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!

Levitate - THIS IS THE ONE of course I find a song that contains the lyric "your body is mostly blood" to be HELLA ROMANTIC :P also very apt considering how ST's music makes me feel like I'm the one levitating XD Saint Maud up in this bitch ahem

Dark Signs - ANOTHER INSTANT FAVE 8D the fucking bassline!! EVERY SINGLE LYRIC HOOOOOO JUST THE PICTURE IT PAINTS!!! also "tear off my arms" sounds like a direct parallel to Missing Limbs don't mind me!!!

Higher - "I AM GRANTING YOU MORE THAN THE DEBT THAT I OWE" *sound of underwater screaming sounds* also idk if it's been said but Vessel lowkey reminds me of Corpse Husband in a lot of ways; I love my faceless anxious endlessly talented cryptid boys!!!

Take Aim - this one had my Archer sensibilities making the eyes emoji :P personally this one really makes me think of the Greek myth of Artemis and Orion but THAT'S JUST ME XD

Give - AND NOW WE HAVE A DARK ROMANCE ANTHEM MMMMMMM DELICIOUS. THIS IS MY ENTIRE AESTHETIC 8D

Gods - THIS SONG IS SO A N G R Y I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!! but also "you want to watch me beg cause I beg so well" VESSEL PLEASE :P

Sugar - PURE HORNY ENERGY. B O N K, TO HORNY JAIL WITH YOU. NONE OF THESE THOUGHTS ARE IN THE BIBLE.

Say That You Will - GOOD LORD I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE BUT WE HAVE GOTTEN EVEN MORE HORNY literally "is that a knife in your pocket or are you just happy to see me" but way more poetic than that XD

Drag Me Under - Once again, the vibes, they are IMMACULATE 8D have I mentioned how much I love all the religious imagery in ST's music because ohhhhhh my god

Blood Sport - I knew I was gonna love this song after seeing part of the live performance of it from last weekend's show <3 This song is absolutely BEAUTIFUL 8D I know Vessel cried while performing it live but I was NOT expecting the actual song to end with him crying too??? I WANT TO HUG THIS WEIRD LITTLE CREATURE MAN SO MUCH!!!!!

So far this is the extent of my journey but I'm definitely going to check out their earlier singles and EPs soon as well <3 I have also listened to the covers they did as well and I need more Vessel doing acoustic covers in my life PLEASE AND THANK YOU :P

[rainbowsky]

Happy International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia

This has been a very distressing year of increased crackdowns on queer people and queer identities globally. Threats and protests at drag shows, queer events being shut down for safety reasons, another devastating mass shooting at a gay night club, transgender people being attacked, maligned and denied human rights and basic health care all over the place... it's incredibly depressing.

I already have a post here and another one here and yet another one here that are more political in nature. I hope you'll check those out and do what you can to spread the word and/or help out. But for this year's post, in the interests of lightening things up a bit from this relentless grief, I've decided to celebrate some of my favorite queer music artists who you might not have heard of before.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of my favorite queer artists. Just a few that I think don't get the recognition they deserve, and that I was able to come up with off the top of my head within the time I had available to make this post. There are so many great queer artists, and I will probably share more of them in the coming months and years.

Anohni

Truly one of the most beautiful voices on the planet. I've been a devoted fan of hers for many years, and she just keeps blowing me completely away and breaking my heart and holding it all together. I love her so damn much. She's a blessing to this world.

RVG

RVG (for Romy Vager Group, after the lead singer Romy Vager) from Australia are my current favorite new band. Romy has a spectacular voice and she knows how to use it. I can't wait for the new album to come out. Squid is my favorite new song so far, but Midnight Sun is a close second. I've shared it here because it has a video - more entertaining than staring at an album cover.

Ethel Cain

I've already talked about her a lot here on my blog. She's amazing, and her album Preacher's Daughter is one of my favorite releases from last year.

Oliver Sim

I've talked about him before on my blog. Some of you might recognize his voice from the XX, one of my favorite bands. He recently came out with a solo album that I also absolutely love. I know I've shared this video before, but it's such a favorite that I had no choice but to share it again.

Perfume Genius

Love him so much. He always manages to have a simultaneously nostalgic, moody, anthemic and totally 'of the moment' sound.

The Irrepressibles

Ugh. So good. Everything Jamie does is amazing - the aesthetic, the sound, the demeanour. Truly a massive, massive inspiration. His voice totally kills me. This particular song is so gutting and beautiful. If you look up the lyrics, you'll cry.

Chris Pureka

They are such a brilliant songwriter. Emotional, powerful songs, and such a unique, expressive voice. Their sound is deceptively simple but everything is memorable and sticks with me.

I'm aware of how painfully white this list is, but I saved a few for another list I'm working on. You'll see that one in a week or two.

[endlich-allein]

"There's a rather remarkable feature on Kovacs' new album: none other than Rammstein's Till Lindemann lends his voice to the hyper-personal title track 'Child Of Sin'. The singer from Brabant explains how that came about. "It turns out that I lived 500 meters from him without knowing it."

Yes, it's quite a gap, from 2018 to 2023. Longer than the intention was to come up with a new album. But yes, as it goes: Kovacs wanted a new manager, a new label, she was struggling with herself, and then covid came. 'Life', concludes the singer, who is currently putting the dots on the i with regard to her album Child Of Sin. "I've come to realize more and more that I just have to be independent. I was with Warner for years, but it didn't quite work. There were too many people with ideas, it was getting further and further away from me. The past few years have been quite intense mentally. Music was always my outlet, and it didn't really work anymore. That means you have to go back to yourself. I now live in a converted pigsty in my parent's backyard. I started painting, taught myself how to sew. And I started making music.”

We first met Sharon Kovacs in 2016, when she debuted with the album Shades Of Black and the beautiful single 'My Love', a cinematic soul pop anthem reminiscent of the great songs of Shirley Bassey and the well-crafted modern soul of Amy Winehouse. And Kovacs is not a far cry from those big stars. It is a special one, you saw and heard that immediately. In interviews she revealed herself and her violent past. She was abused at a young age, which left traces throughout her childhood. “I never knew my biological father, my mother was not ready for children,” she sums up. ‘I was largely raised by my grandparents, but when I was eleven I was removed from home. As I grew up, I became sexually weird and very active, very young. People thought that was gross, and I always had the feeling that there was something "dirty" about me. In recent years I have been going back to the child in me a lot in therapy. I've had to tell that kid over and over that it's okay, that it's not her fault."

Master of suffering

A child for gallows and wheel, or as Kovacs calls it in her song: 'Child Of Sin'. It is her most intimate, vulnerable song to date, as she has to peel off the protective layers she built around herself after being abused at a young age. “Many times I thought I made it all up. I was also misunderstood at the time, and my abuser tried to manipulate me in all sorts of ways. My family now recognizes things retrospectively, and it's a dark thought that many things that have happened in my life were not necessary. I felt unsafe.”

It's no wonder that Kovacs didn't really dare to sing this song on her own. And when her manager asked if she wouldn't mind recording it as a duet, only one name came to mind: Till Lindemann, lead singer of Rammstein. A band where Kovacs felt a connection from an early age - from the time when MTV played 'Sonne' non-stop. And a song like 'Puppe' from 2019, where the main character pulls the head off a doll in a blind rage, hits Kovacs. Till Lindemann, a master at portraying suffering and not afraid to dig deep into himself. But yes, the frontman of just about the largest touring rock band in Europe. “I thought: I know someone who has worked with him in Berlin. I have one chance.”

500 meter

And miraculously, that attempt arrived. There was no record company or publisher involved. It was Lindemann himself who called: 'I heard that we are going to record a duet.' Kovacs: 'He thought it was a beautiful song, and he invited me to his house. It turns out that I lived 500 meters from him in Berlin for a year, and he sometimes visits places in the city where I also like to go. What kind of places? Um, I don't know, haha. Till was very cooperative and interested. He wanted to know the context, he wanted me to feel comfortable with it. We have built a special relationship. He calls me "my crazy friend". If I had been with a label this would never have worked, it would have been printed. I did all this alone.”

Lindemann sings the second verse of 'Child Of Sin', in English. That was what he wanted most, says Kovacs. And the collaboration didn't stop there, because the German also came to Amsterdam to record a video clip. “He was very sweet,” says Kovacs of that day. “He said to me at one point: you flutter like a bat, take it easy! Yes, I know, I replied. I just want the best for your baby. He really understands how important this is to me.”

The album Child Of Sin can be listened to everywhere from today, and the video clip with Till Lindemann will also be released this afternoon."

[music-my-beloved]

With The Beatles: A 16yo's (horrible) album review pt.2 !!

It Won't Be Long 🚆: Erm, the guitar is just *mwah* chef's kiss it really carries the song, she's the backbone. She's like, duh do do duh do and it's so cute. The background vocals are eating so good !! This song I think was the most prominent to me because I remember it from Across the Universe (incredible movie btw) . Really love this song, she's like a sister to me.

All I've Gotta Do !: Honestly would have done numbers in the 2010s because I feel like it has really good "call and response" potential !! Like, uh that one song,,,, I can't remember uhh oh Ain't No Mountain High Enough . I know I keep saying this but this song IS cute ! Also so far I've noticed they're utilizing back up vocals more which is much appreciated, I hope I hear it in the rest of the tracks on this album.

All My Loving 💗: Yay! More background vocals !! I go feral for them. The guitar is also SO good. If It Won't Be Long is a sister to me this song is my brother. Heard this one a lot growing up as well. Background vocals are heavenly the little , "ooooooos" in the background are so dreamy !!

Don't Bother Me 😔: okay first initial listen it reminded me of when my I would lose my mom in the store 😭😭 my forever "lost mom in the store" anthem !! Uhm, didn't quite jive with the rhythm but that's alright !! But it is a good song!! The dude's a little bit too dependent on that lady maybe her leaving was a good thing ??? idk I'm only guessing 😭

Little Child 🚸: uhm, I'm scared. girl they're gonna catch a case !! If a grown men in their 20s sang this to me I'd be like ,"Oh okay I'm gonna groove with y'all 'cause the beat is funky but the lyrics are concerning so idk might wanna work on that"

Till There Was You 🫵: oh. em. gee. La Vie En Rose who???? Girl this song is swoonworthy !! If a guy was like, "I used to never hear the birds singing before I met you, now that's all I hear" I'd cry OMG 😭😭 also it's just paul singing and like, omg it's so simple but it's simplicity totally makes it amazing !! It feels more personal that way !!! EDIT: OMG IM INJECTING THIS IN MY BLOODSTREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so amazingly awesome oh em gee I'm actually addicted it's not funny ! Oh my god I'm gonna explode!! Dopamine is real and I'm experiencing the effects, the world beautiful again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please Mister Postman ✉️: this is a pretty good cover. Background vocals are once again in the spotlight they're just too good. The iconic beatles sound really starts to take shape in this album I've noticed !! Ringo did a good job on drums too !! Total rock and roll vibe. I was gonna compare it to another band it felt weird because it's like saying the parent sounds like the child and like no wdym the kid sounds like the parent !! I forget how much The Beatles really pioneered music !!!

Roll Over Beethoven 🎹: whaaaaa. man this track was a doozy ! They're cocky and it's workin'. Totally can see enthusiastic young couples totally jammin' to this it's so great ! Really loved the energy !!! Also that guitar solo is the beginning was AMAZEBALLS

Hold Me Tight 🥺: Whoa. This song is my second sister. This track was THE song at the beginning of my Beatles beginning when I was but a wee little girl lolll it's just so addictive. Makes me bop my head and smile everytime I hear it. The endorphins swarmed this one guys sorry 😔

You Really Got A Hold On Me 💕: Contradictions left and right !! Rhythm was a gentle little ebb and flow that was kinda refreshing to hear !! Liked the song.

I Wanna Be Your Man ♂️: whoa. Straightforward!! Some girls might like that in a man but uhm, idk the chanting of "I wanna be your man, I wanna be your lover" with the stark black and white of their faces on the album cover got me scared 😭😭 idk it was nightmare fuel I felt like someone was watching me. Uh but overall it was a high energy song maybe a bit too high energy for me 'cause I'm tired while writing this review but it wasn't really my preferred choice in music but I totally see me liking it like, a month from now !!

Devil In Her Heart ���️: Maracas ?? 🤨whaarrrrr but uhm this one just felt like another song honestly. As I'm writing this review it's like, my 10th listen in the span of 3 days she's just not clicking 😭😭

Not A Second Time ⏰: Honestly the first few listens she felt bland like unseasoned chicken but now that I'm really listening it's got a simple little jive to her and I'm here for it !! It's got these vocal runs that I don't think I've heard before it's so unique!! Overall really liked her.

Money 💰: uh pink floyd who ???? But seriously this song rocks. Not the catchiest but it's true, she's REAL. I need MONEY

More album reviews on the way, next up: A Hard Days Night...

[frozen-fountain]

WIP Soundtrack Tag

Thank you for the tag, @vcaudley; in return I offer anyone who feels like sharing their tunes the chance to jump in.

It took me a minute to put this together, and in the meantime, @hrh-spinach requested I do the ten songs one again so I'm looking at this as combining the two. But these are the songs I've been playing the most while working on this thing, a longer story about Tifa and Cloud post-OG canon. But I've also thrown in a few that are anthems for this series as a whole.

Ain't it Funny by Danny Brown This is the vibe. Making up for the teenage years you lost to trauma and imprisonment with reckless sex and drug use is all fun and games until it isn't; the whole album exemplifies this, in addition to just being one of my favourites, but this track. This track! The way the trumpet line keeps on shifting and becomes increasingly urgent and siren-like as the song goes on - it's perfect.

Phenom by Thao and the Get Down Stay Down I chose this to exemplify the anger that comes with any sort of self-awakening or actualisation, aimed at the world and on some level at yourself for not allowing it before. And I apply that to the whole village the story takes place in, compromised mostly of the denizens of an oppressed undercity who barely escaped the near-apocalypse event that made their former home its epicentre. (As an aside, I'd never looked up the video for this before, and I love it!)

Ghosts in My Heart by Mariee Sioux Zooming back in on our protagonists now. Two people who've come a long way from where they were, but whose journey to that increase in self-awareness has given them a whole new set of baggage to work through. And doing that work is even harder when you're surrounded by a slew of people hailing you as heroes, leaders, saviours, and new best friends.

Sleep is a Curse by Maudlin of the Well This one featured in my last fic soundtrack tag post as a default Cloud song, but here it is again. The conflicted and guilty thoughts he's wrestling with while trying his best to implement the healthier ways of being he's learned and to show up for the community they're trying to build.

Hyper-Ballad by Björk Related to the above; when you're finally able to breathe freely in a place that's safe and secure, are you going to do that difficult work of self-examination about the role you were led to place on yourself... or are you going to find a whole new one to sink yourself into? Tifa is no longer working herself to the bone trying to keep the party together - instead, her need to always be providing a service means she's doing it for a whole village instead!

Flower's Grave by Tom Waits I feel like the title alone is completely self-explanatory if you're of even passing familiarity with these characters.

Hello Stranger by Julia Holter This is one of my absolute favourite cover songs I've ever heard. She took the melancholic tinge of the original tune turned into this haunting, surreal, Badalamenti-esque dirge and I absolutely love it. For my purposes, I'm using it to represent Tifa and Cloud's first reunion in Midgar. It's beautiful, dreamlike, soothing - but still an illusion.

Hello Earth by Kate Bush This is the song that to me comes closest to capturing the panoramic feeling of choosing to live; it's even more powerful in context and I really recommend checking out the whole Ninth Wave suite if you've never heard it before. And if here the whole planet chose to live, this makes me think of Cloud reflecting on his moment of briefly glimpsing what humanity dissolving collectively into the lifestream would've felt like - the connection he's been seeking and failing to find all his life. I can't believe there wouldn't be at least a trace of residual regret there.

När Gudarna Kalla by Forndom, Anomaly of Silence by Yikii, Wüste by Einstürzende Neubauten, Song of the Sisters by Hans Zimmer Grouping all of these together, and in contrast to the above entry; these are the songs I draw on for trying to map and convey the experience of being linked to the Jenova memory-hivemind, when it's in both congruence and conflict with itself. The simultaneous fear, revulsion, resentment, and allure of it, and what it means for Cloud to again push away a chance at connection and complete understanding for the better of the rest of the world. Finding ways to convey this in words is the height of "Why do I do these things to myself?" so far - but that's what the second draft is for.

Mary Magdalene by FKA Twigs This whole album has been a go-to for getting into Tifa's headspace here. Going back again to her compulsion to always be busy, to be doing something for someone else, whether it's kicking ass or making drinks or building bars or chairing meetings or simply being hot - anything to avoid being alone with her thoughts. Here specifically, she's trying on different roles and archetypes the same way Twigs does in the song. Taking what works for her and what doesn't from each, all well and good, but who is she when no-one's looking?

Poison by HTRK I haven't gotten to the drugged up, bad-idea sex portion of the story yet, but when I do!

Tuck by Katie Gately Truth be told I have no idea what she's talking about here, but I love the imagery and the whole vibe is darkly horny and intense in the exact way I'm looking for.

Country Rain by Slowdive The deepest sense of isolation is found in feeling alone while in company, and I don't have much more to say about this one than that.

Blind by TV on the Radio And this is the opposite. The long, trudging path towards living authentically and vulnerably, and the more genuine connection that can wait for you at the end of it. The mortifying ordeal of being known and the joy of being seen, I suppose.

Earth Day by Devin Townsend Devin's discography is a really inspirational listen if you're going through any kind of recovery process. Over the course of it - and I've only taken in a small sampling so far - you can track a man who found a way to get his shit together, and he did it with a sardonic humour that I find really refreshing when some recovery talk comes off really platitudinous. And that I think really befits the characters in question. What I love here, aside from the focus on falling in love with the every day and mundane, is the mocking edge I hear in the first "Like a child you're born again" - I don't believe a singer so emotive would put that in there without purpose. But by the chorus comes back, I think he's singing it with his whole heart, and that's what I'm always moving towards.

Monstrously Low Tide by Maudlin of the Well This is where my head's largely at these days, and it's also where I'm trying to get these two. I'm looking at everything I've written here and thinking I've bitten off far more than I can chew - not least because I'm omitting or being vague about so much - and wondering how I can possibly bring it all together into something cohesive and true to canon. But that ringing outro. That's why. I've got to try my hardest.

And let's have a few that I apply to the series overall:

Prelude and Final Fantasy by Nobuo Uematsu Got to have some music from the actual game in here. When it comes to my longer and more involved fics I've found these two pieces fantastic for getting my openings and endings down - if I can try to capture the sense of intrigue and rebirth and crossing into a new world that I get from the prelude, and the series main theme's sense of a grand culmination, I feel like I'm on the right track.

A Part of Us by Fever Ray A walnut tree takes a long time to bear fruit. Something like ten years after it's planted, if I remember correctly. It's a song about finding your joy moment to moment where it arrives, even when you know you're building something you may not live to see in full bloom - and not disregarding the danger that's still waiting at the end.

Lotus by Susumu Hirasawa This man's music has been my closest companion in assembling and writing this project, my partner who enables me excepted. It's so cinematic and evocative. This track especially is like the the very distilled essence of "victory" in audial form. It's my anthem for my thirties, because I don't think you could make a sound as jubilant and transcendent as this if you haven't known some pretty major defeats first.

Grandfatherly Wind by Susumu Hirasawa Neo-Junon theme!

Opus (The Fool's Rose Garden) by Susumu Hirasawa Theme for the village! It feels exciting and soothing all at once to me.

Heirloom by Björk and Severed Crossed Fingers by St. Vincent I remember a post going around a while ago about "your" love song, the song that sounds like love to you. These are mine, and I chose them specifically because they're as applicable to platonic love, familial love, and the love of a culture and a community as they are the romantic kind, and I try my best to give equal importance to all of those in my writing.

Storm by Godspeed You! Black Emperor I want to structure my series like this piece. When I hear the opening notes, I think of a sleeper waking up, slowly, opening their eyes and blinking as if they can't believe the world is still here, or in such an unrecognisable state. And it builds into towers falling, statues toppling, all the signifiers of the old world crumbling to dust. We can mourn the parts we'll miss, and the opportunities that could have been, but one by one we'll learn the new way is better for us all.

And after that... well. It was a really beautiful twelve minutes.

Flower From Hell from Higurashi A friend sent me this OP from an anime I haven't seen (yet) ages ago in relation to FFVII, and she's right. This is breaking the cycle, transcending the role, and taking as many other people with you as you possibly can. It's also me and the woman who's been helping me write this, along with so many other things, if you'll allow me a sappy moment.

It's In Our Hands by Björk If I want you to take any one thing from this...

[celiastjamesoscar]

It's from the God Of War sound track ITS SO GOOODDDD!! ITS ABOUT HOW HARSH THE CYCLES OF LIFE ARE, PARTICULARLY DURING WINTER, AND HOW, EVENTUALLY, EVERYTHING DIES A HORRIBLE DEATH DUE TO MOTHER NATURE'S CRUETLY BUT THAT THERE'S BEAUTY IN IT TOO BECAUSE THE WORLD IS JUST LIKE THAT!!

Ngl, probably Hozier. Mostly because of Like Real People Do. It's my favourite song of his (Sorry TMTC). I've still yet to listen to most of his albums, though. I'm definitely popping those on during class tomorrow. I know he released Unreal Unearth this year, and I've been meaning to give that a listen cuz he made another banger gay anthem this year, too! I have a bad habit of listening to like a few songs of an artist, forgetting they have an entire decade's worth of discography and neglecting all 5 of their other albums, and their other like 15-20 singles.

I've gotten better at it this year though. I listened through all of The Death Of Peace Of Mind by Bad Omens, and all of Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token. I also did it with Save Rock & Roll, American Beauty/American Psycho and some of MANIA by Fall Out Boy. I've still to finish MANIA.

Aww, I love ye too <3 you're my favourite non-discord tumblr ^-^ (and my favourite Scream community member. Don't tell Melrodrigo, Tonyspank, or Rollingsins. Shhh!)

I haven’t played God of War in a FAT minute (like 5 years) BUT THE DESCRIPTION OF THAT SONG?!? I WANT TO CRAWL AROUND INSIDE HOZIER’S MIND!!!

Hozier is such a good album and it definitely has some of my favorite songs on it. AND OMFG I ALSO HAVE THAT SAME BAD HABIT!!! LIKE WHAT DO YOU MEAN AN ARTIST HAS SEVERAL DIFFERENT ALBUMS THAT IVE NEVER HEARD OF?!?

I wish I could listen to albums all the way through, it’s going to be my downfall one day 😭

I’m 19 years old and I have no fucking idea how to work discord 😭 And omg I love Rollingsins so much 😩

[monsata]

5 of 1001

Today's album: Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman (1988)

Right here, this is the heart of why i started this project.

An excellent album that I've never heard. I know the one song that everybody knows by Tracy Chapman.

Yeah, the one that's playing in your head right now as you are reading this.

And it would have been such a shame to have never given this album its due, because it speaks to a lot of things that are very near and dear to my heart.

That Things are Not Good. That Things Could Be Better. That Love is not nearly as easy (or as complicated) as it seems in the movies.

Simply put: this album really blew me away, and here, only 5 days in, I'm so glad i decided to try this insane 3 year long musical odyssey.

Talkin' Bout a Revolution- I really, seriously wish Tracy's revolution had come to pass. What a beautiful sentiment: the uplifting of the downtrodden, everybody getting their fair share. But nowadays, it mostly sounds to me like something that would be used as an ironic backdrop for footage of anti-fascist and anti-police riots from the last decade.

Fast Car- The only Tracy Chapman song that i could name off the top of my head. What more can be said that thang been said dozens of times already? It's such a pretty, sad song about how Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.

Across the Lines- same basic sentiment as Talkin' Bout a Revolution, but not ironic this time. Prescient, in that this album came out a few years before the Rodney King beating would prove her 100% correct.

Behind the Wall- Cops have always been fucking useless parasites.

Baby Can I Hold You- so far the most dated song in instrumentation, this feels VERY late 80s. That said, WAIT, HOLD UP, IS THAT A SITAR!? Nice.

Mountains O'Things- feels very much like "in your eyes"-era Peter Gabriel with all the layered and intricate percussion with synthy "world music"-style woodwinds. "All of those rich guys better watch out once i'm finally one of them!"

Also, in a moment of serendipity, i listened to a podcast about Citizen Kane earlier today (shoutout to The Worst of All Possible Worlds) and i can't help but draw a few parallels to "depressed and unfulfilled poor rich people".

She's Got Her Ticket- wasn't expecting a reggae song today, but it works really well with her voice. That said, there's definitely a recurring theme of "she's gonna get the fuck out of here" throughout the album.

Why?- The other recurring theme on this album: EVERYTHING IS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING TERRIBLE, WHY ISN'T ANYBODY DOING ANYTHING ABOUT *ANYTHING*? WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE EVEN DOING!? Damn, i wish Tracy's revolution had been more than a whisper.

For My Lover- honestly, feels like an anthem for the battered, and that feeling of "if i leave them, I'll have nobody."

If Not Now...- "now loves the only thing that's free, we must take it where it's found, pretty soon it may be costly" damn, what a line.

For You- a beautiful song about being truly lost in love for someone.

Favorite Track: oh it's still gotta be Fast Car. I can see why it was the single, and i can see why it exploded. Incredibly relatable, soulful, coming from a place of hurt, but damn it were gonna make the best of this hurt because it's all we've got.

Least Favorite Track: She's Got Her Ticket. While it's still a good song, it's really the odd one out of the album. The reggae styling kinda sticks out like a sore thumb here, and there isn't much in this song that doesn't get covered in a better way in other songs on the album.

[fbfh]

STAR ANON HERE... I'm just curious what are your fave emo bands....

STAR ANON MY BELOVED!!!!! HOW ARE YOU DOING I MISS YOU <333 first of all, amazing question. I know the defenition of the emo genre is a little loose, but my favorite emo/pop punk bands are currently palaye royale, fall out boy (obvs), and paramore.

palaye royale own this fucking ass okay. remington leith.... ooooh my god. he has singlehandedly made me reconsider my stance on rpf. vampire!remington???? oh my god. oh my god. if I could drown in his voice I would. his cover of closer my nine inch nails actually brought about the second coming of christ. at the very end of no love in la where he goes "I SAID THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS LOVE IN LaAaAyEeee-"????? dead. actually dead. the boom is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard in my life, line it up is my FUCKING ANTHEM, and dying in a hot tub live is my favorite video on the internet. I don't use the phrase "eargasm" every, but I genuinely can't think of any other way to describe remi's voice. Emerson is an amazing drummer and incredible artist (I am SO jelly of his ability to draw architecture) and Sebastian is a brilliant guitarist and is the brain cell posessor (and probably has to routinely keep remi from jumping off stuff and breaking a limb with only partial success.) the grittiness and sincerety and emotion in remington's voice really just scratches my brain in a way that nothing else does. If I could get his voice made into something tangible I would open my skull and rub my brain against it for hours. I fucking love him.

fall out boy need no introduction. "doing lines of dust and sweat off of last nights stage just to feel like you" from 27??????? lives in my head rent free. been into some of their absolute headbangers from american beauty/american psycho and infinity on high recently like novocaine, jetpack blues (i'm sorry but "do you reMEMBER HOW WE USED TO SPLIT. A. DRINK. itNEVermattEREDWHATitwas. I think." I WANT THAT TATTOOED ON MY FOREHEAD!!!!!!!), thriller (OFC) and i've got all this ringing in my ears all singlehandedly describe my brain chemistry. that's what dopamine sounds like. ALSO fourth of july will never not sound like season 3 of stranger things to me. yk all the promo art where they're all turning around???? that but in gif form while the first few notes are playing. I wish someone would make a slightly harringrove centric edit of the starcourt mall incident and the fair and everything. if anyone knows about any season 3 fourth of july edits PLEASE send them to me because "i'm starting to forget just what summer ever meant to you"????? pls

PARAMORE. FUCKING PARAMORE RAISED ME. paramore got me through my teenage years almost singlehandedly. I remember when after laughter came out. I fucking love this is why. It's almost all I've been listening to. all we know is falling???? brand new eyes???? literally paramore have ZERO SKIPS it's insane. also (maybe I just haven't heard of them) but it's really refreshing to have a female lead singer in a pop punk band bc (again as far as I'm aware) that's not as common as having a male lead singer and IF I COULD MAKE MY INNER MONOLOGUE BE HAYLEY WILLIAMS VOICE??????? PLS- listen all I wanted was you is amazing obviously but my heart?????? MY HEART?????? I wanna scream that at someone and mean it. bucket list. I can't even reccommend any paramore songs bc if I try to think of good paramore songs I'm just going to list their discography. no fucking skips and I stand by that. Hayley's solo albums also feel very twilight bella swan depression forest angst core which I FUCKING ADORE. first thing to go is tattooed in my brain, specifically paired with this scene from the greatest romcom of all time french kiss. match made in heaven.

also lip candy don't have a lot of songs out yet AS I AM TYPING THIS I JUST SAW THEY RELASED AN ALBUM????? BRB LISTENING TO THAT NOW but they sound like what I thought teenager music would sound like when I was a kid (like they nailed it fucking perfectly) and have a very nostalgic feeling and sound to them which I adore. if you stay home and never be the same fucking slap. they slap and a half. it's giving demigod adventurecore roadtrip music.

[fruitfulchaos]

i swear to god that maōri haka is a cultural ritual that i find to be one of the most astonishing, beautiful and fascinating, but most importantly POWERFUL. each time i see a haka being performed anywhere i keep rewatching it over and over. the sense of community through joined chant and choreography (especially since almost all NZers are taught some of them from what I've heard) with learned chants for different situations is IMO much more powerful than any national anthem and portrays the maōri culture so strongly!!! love haka and maōri culture in general. can't pull your eyes away from it. luv luv luv

[liugeaux]

Greatest Songs Ever - Part 25 (250 Songs Deep)

It's the big 2-5! There's no big celebration this time around, but you WILL find, at the bottom of this post, the long-awaited (lol) Spotify playlist of the ongoing Greatest Songs Ever. Big ups to my wife for letting me put it on her account.

That's enough pre-amble let's get down to business.

1983 "If This Is It" - Huey Lewis & The News

Unless I am misunderstanding history, there was a short time when Huey Lewis was one of the coolest people on the planet. In 2024, I cannot fathom it, but I guess the standards for "cool" are always changing. "If This Is It" is kind of an underdog in Lewis' catalog. It's not his biggest hit and isn't associated with a movie, but pound for pound I'd say it's the best I've heard from him. Its walking bassline and doo-wop vibe, have an undeniably lounge sound. Even the tongue-in-cheek approach to a break-up keeps the mood light-hearted and cute. My favorite parts are how Lewis plays with the delivery of "You better let me know/go". Jumping from on the beat to a half beat then back. The song keeps you on your feet.

2019 "Cruel Summer" - Taylor Swift

The second Swift song to make this list had an odd journey to hit-dom. It was an immediate stand-out on her 2019 Lover album, and an assumed single, yet oddly it didn't get an immediate wide radio release. Then the pandemic hit and Swift entered another era and "Cruel Summer" didn't get the attention it deserved. When the Eras Tour rolled around in 2023, the song had a new breath of life and a proper radio release. Taylor Swift is at her best when her poetry melts seamlessly into a melody. I could have hours of discussions on how this has affected her grander body of work, but for our purposes today, "Cruel Summer" is the perfect mixture of her perfectly crafted poetry set to a punchy infectious tune.

1971 "Sunshine" - Jonathan Edwards

It's easy to interpret "Sunshine" as a classic conservative anthem. With lines like "He can't even run his own life, I'll be damned if he'll run mine" and "When he tells me I better get in line, I can't hear what he's saying." the message of the song can be interpreted as heavy handed. However, removed from the post-60s anti-flower-children idea and seen with a wider angle lens, "Sunshine" is about taking control of your life and doing what's necessary to get through the tough times. It can even be heard as a man coping with depression. The beauty of the song is its simplicity and the craft of the lyrics. Once that has its hooks in you, you can find whatever meaning you want in the lyrics.

1990 "Hold On" - Wilson Phillips

1990's premiere nepo-baby group Wilson Phillips never really lived up to the hype of this first single, but like "Take On Me" or "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Hold On" is an aggressive snap-shot of a very specific and precious moment in time. 2 years earlier it would have been too boring, 2 years later, not edgy enough or too positive. "Hold On" is also a favorite Hollywood needle drop. It works as both a sincere "I love this song" kind of drop and an ironic "this is funny because it's corny" kind of scene. Rarely does a song with such a positive angle become such a huge hit.

1973 "Drift Away" - Dobie Gray

In it's 54 year history "Drift Away" has become somewhat of an American Standard. Dozens have covered it and the odds you'll hear it at your local bar by a thrown-together blues-rock band are pretty high. Arguably though, the most famous version of "Drift Away" is Dobie Gray's 1973 recording. Is it Rock N Roll, is it Country, is it R&B? It's kind of all three and while every corner of American music tells a piece of the story, "Drift Away" lives in the space between and represents all American music. It's only compounded the fact that Grey was African-American.

2002 "Foolish" - Ashanti

It pains me to include a song whose first line is a whisper of "Murder Inc." from what sounds like Ja Rule ... but whatever. I forgot this song existed for a very long time, but once I heard that piano hook again, I knew it was a contender for this list. After my usual research, I wasn't surprised to find it was a sample from an old Debarge song, which had previously been used by Biggie. Luckily "Foolish" has more than one trick up its sleeve. The chorus is the scientific definition of an earworm and Ashanti's airy voice is perfect for the subtle pop arraignment.

1969 "Kick Out the Jams" - MC5

"KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHA-FUCKA!" Punk music before punk was punk, MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" seems unassuming at first listen, but the song and the band both would influence generations of punk, rock and metal. Recorded live, this track has a rawkus energy to it and the bridge's guitar solo literally sounds like a band destroying their equipment. Rob Tyner's vocals straining to hit notes and keep tempo only adds to the proto-punk attitude so many would fall in love with.

1966 "You Can't Hurry Love" - The Supremes

Another Motown classic hits the list! I really don't have much to say specifically about "You Can't Hurry Love." I love the bass-heavy instrumentation working opposite the super-high vocals of Diana Ross and crew. The other instruments feel like faint suggestions in the background. These sounds coming from Hitsville became a template for artists to reference for decades. This track is such a bold prototype, its tendrils can still be heard in modern music.

2017 "Hoodie" - Hey Violet

"Hoodie" has been on deck for 3-5 lists and finally lands here. Hey Violet hovered in the Next Big Thing category for about 5 years in the late teens. Basically, until they weren't able to release 2-3 solid pop-punk albums in that time. Just last month they released their "last" album and out of their career they managed to record a dozen or so solid tracks and one absolute classic in "Hoodie". When it was released as a single it had a feature from rappers Ayo & Teo. Like many post-release features, it was attention-grabby and superfluous. A young woman clinging to the busted-up Hoodie of a past lover is a universal enough concept that this song should have been massive, but I guess its inclusion here will have to do.

1992 "End of the Road" - Boyz II Men

Everything about "End of the Road" is wonderful. The soulful silky vocals of Boyz II Men, the super-serious lyrical content, the big climactic chorus, and even the cheesy spoken-word bass vocal breakdowns all paint a vivid picture of late 80s-90s dude-fronted R&B. The energy of this song is exactly the energy of Andy Samburg and Justin Timberlake's characters in "Dick In a Box." I didn't mean to include 2 motown produced tracks this time, but I do not regret it. It's catchy and sad and hopeful and sultry. I am sure though, that every kid in the 90s conceived during "End of the Road" now comes from a broken home, lol.

We did guys, we finished Part 25! As promised, here is the Spotify playlist with all 250 songs chosen so far as the Greatest Songs Ever. Til next time! (you'll likely need to click all the way into Spotify to see the entire list.)

Cheers

[lovemesomesurveys]

Did you know that all the fish are dying out? I haven't heard that.

Would you ever wear a white tuxedo? No.

Do you judge a book by its cover? In a literal sense, yes. Some just catch my eye or make me curious so I have to pick up and check it out.

Do you like chips and dips? Yes, anything that comes with a dip I'd be all over. <<<

Last time you went on a rollercoaster: I don't do rollercoasters.

Ever been to a pottery class? No.

Does your milkshake bring all the boys to the yard? Ha, no.

Who was the last person to stay over at your house? One of my aunts.

Do you like red lipstick? Yeah.

Can you recall your country’s national anthem? Yes.

Do you believe in ghosts? i believe in demons and spirits. Not like Casper ghosts.

Which sweets/candy would you put into your dream pic'n'mix? Reese's and the cookie crunch M&Ms.

If you had a boat, where would you sail in your boat? I have no idea.

Can you rap? Ha, I'm definitely not a rapper, but I like rap and can "rap" along.

Are you a light sleeper? Sometimes.

When you were young, did you ever pretend to “marry” somebody? No.

What is your favourite Disney film? Toy Story, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, A Goofy Movie.

Do you prefer brown or white bread? I'll eat either one.

Have you ever spent an entire day in bed? That's how I spend most of my time.

Don’t you just find it annoying when people get too much plastic surgery? I wouldn't say it's "annoying", but I wonder why they do it.

How high’s your pain threshold? Low, hence the need for my pain meds.

What would you wear to a red carpet event? I see myself declining the invitation, lol. <<<

Whose birthday is next, out of all the people you know? My cousin's is today.

What kind of coat are you going to wear in the winter? I wear my puffy coat most of the time.

Did you ever go through a Goth phase? I had my emo phase, but let's be real it's not just a phase even if I dress and look differently.

Do you find architecture interesting? Not really.

When on the computer do you ever think about how it all works? It's probably crossed my mind.

How many songs are there in your iTunes library? I haven't used iTunes in over a decade.

Describe the worst date you’ve ever been on: I've hardly been on any dates, but the few I had weren't bad.

When did you last go to the park? Uhhhhh.

Which two animals would you breed together to make a hybrid? Nah.

Do you ever forget how to walk? I can't walk, soooo.

Do you own a Jesus bracelet? I own a cross bracelet.

How far out can you stick your tongue? Not far at all.

Do you like David Bowie? I like some songs. Nothing against him, I just wasn't like a stan or anything.

Would you eat a live cockroach if it made you a millionaire? fskdfjkjffjdkfkdj no.

Does it annoy you when you feel like people aren’t really listening? I hate when I'm trying to talk to someone and they're all deep into something on their phone and they're clearly not really listening.

Are you the type who usually plays it safe? Yeah.

Do you want what you can’t have? Don't we all.

Ever been copied by somebody, clothing or style-wise? Ha, no,

Is there a point to clear nail varnish? A nice shine, I guess? *shrug*

What is the latest time you’ve ever woken up? Like almost 5pm.

Ever gotten into trouble over something you didn’t really do? I don't think so.

Are you currently ill? In a way cause of health stuff I generally crappy.

Don’t you just hate being corrected? If it's done in either a condescending or a really harsh reprimanding tone, then yeah. <<<

Are there any really beautiful buildings close to where you live? Sure.

Who do you think about most? My mind feels like such a jumbled mess.

Do you have embarrasing parents? No.

How often do you use the word “poltent”? Never?

How’s your grandmother? My paternal grandma is doing okay. My maternal grandmother passed away 15 years ago.

What in your opinion is the most annoying noise in the world? Kids. "<<< Hahaha. I'd say also excessive beeping.

Are you any good at writing? Probably not now.

Can you speak any Spanish? A little bit.

What’s your favourite type of cloud? I don't have one.

What’s something that really matters to you? My family.

Did that pass some time? A little.