Category: Favorite Songs

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #19: “Ride” by twenty øne piløts

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs5 Comments

My favorite duo twenty øne piløts are back with “Ride“, their fourth song on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s (“Chlorine” ranks at #87, “Jumpsuit” at #67 and “Heathens” at #61). It’s also the first of three songs from their spectacular fourth album Blurryface that will dominate the remainder of this list. Released in May 2015, Blurryface is one of the greatest albums of the decade in my opinion, and ranks among my all-time favorites. I had the CD in my car stereo, and played it every time I went anywhere for months on end, turning multiple friends onto it as well. It’s of such high caliber that literally every track could be a hit song and, in fact, in 2018 it became the first album in the digital era to have every track receive a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. It spent 279 weeks on the Billboard 200 Album chart – nearly five and a half years.

“Ride” was the fourth album cut to be released as a single. It’s a wildly upbeat alternative hip hop song with strong reggae elements, and features their signature lively mix of instruments, including piano, organ, guitar and bass. Josh Dun’s power drums are fantastic, and I love Tyler Joseph’s extraordinary vocals that go from earnest to rapping to falsetto to impassioned wails. He’s a really talented rapper, with an ability to deliver lyrics in a hard, staccato-style of fast-paced rapping that only a handful of artists like Eminem are good at.

The lyrics speak to uncertainties and anxieties over the meaning of life, with references to thinking about death, which Tyler Joseph raps about at high speed: “‘I’d die for you,’ that’s easy to say / We have a list of people that we would take a bullet for them, a bullet for you, a bullet for everybody in this room / But I don’t seem to see many bullets comin’ through / See many bullets comin’ through / Metaphorically, I’m the man / But literally, I don’t know what I’d do / ‘I’d live for you,’ an’ that’s hard to do / Even harder to say when you know it’s not true.” At the end, he concludes “I’ve been thinking too much, help me.”

EML’s Favorite Songs – “All Around the World” by Lisa Stansfield

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs5 Comments

My fellow blogger William, who has a terrific blog a1000mistakes, recently did a series of posts about songs beginning with the word “All” (of which there are literally a ton), and it reminded me of one of my favorite songs “All Around the World“, by soulful British singer-songwriter Lisa Stansfield. The gorgeous song was released in the UK in October 1989 as the second single from her marvelous first solo album Affection, both of which were breakthrough hits for her. It was subsequently released in the U.S. in January 1990. The song was a massive worldwide hit, topping the charts in the UK, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Netherlands, Norway and Spain. In the U.S., it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the R&B and Dance Club charts. Stansfield received two Grammy award nominations for the song and album.

Stansfield co-wrote the song with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, former bandmates from her previous band Blue Zone. In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, she recalled “I came into the studio, and Ian was messing around at the piano. He had a melody, and I just started singing: ‘Been around the world and I, I, I…’ Everyone laughed but Ian said, ‘Wait, it’s really good, that.’ It just came into my head – it was nonsense, but had a really good feel to it. “I, I, I” became the main hook. We’d no idea how massive it would become.”

The song is both sexy and heartbreaking, with lush, swirling strings and a soulful melody creating a sensual backdrop for Stansfield’s sultry, emotion-packed vocals that cut to the core. She’s an incredible singer, and her vocals are utterly convincing in conveying the torment and pain expressed in the lyrics. She brings goosebumps as she alternately coos, purrs, and cries out over the guilt of hurting her former lover, and now that he’s gone, of her desperate search to find him and hopefully win back his love.

I don’t know where my baby is
But I’ll find him, somewhere, somehow
I’ve got to let him know how much I care
I’ll never give up looking for my baby

Been around the world and I, I, I
I can’t find my baby
I don’t know when, I don’t know why
Why he’s gone away
And I don’t know where he can be, my baby
But I’m gonna find him

We had a quarrel and I let myself go
I said so many things, things he didn’t know
And I was oh oh so bad
And I don’t think he’s comin’ back, mm mm

He gave the reason, the reasons he should go
And he said thing he hadn’t said before
And he was oh oh so mad
And I don’t think he’s comin’ back, comin’ back

I did too much lyin’
Wasted too much time
Now I’m here and cryin’, I, I, I

Been around the world and I, I, I
I can’t find my baby
I don’t know when, I don’t know why
Why he’s gone away
And I don’t know where he can be, my baby
But I’m gonna find him

So open hearted, he never did me wrong
I was the one, the weakest one of all
And now I’m oh oh so sad
I don’t think he’s comin’ back, comin’ back

I did too much lyin’
Wasted too much time
Now I’m here and cryin’, I, I, I

Been around the world and I, I, I
I can’t find my baby
I don’t know when, I don’t know why
Why he’s gone away
And I don’t know where he can be, my baby
But I’m gonna find him

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #20: “We Are Young” by fun. ft. Janelle Monáe

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs6 Comments

The song at #20 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “We Are Young” by New York-based band fun., featuring Janelle Monáe. The second song by fun. on this list (their follow-up single “Some Nights” ranks at #81), “We Are Young” is a life-affirming, fist-pumping anthem celebrating the hope and promise of young adulthood, as well as touching on regret for past mistakes. Released in September 2011, the track initially gained attention from only online media, though it did receive its first commercial radio airplay on Tampa Bay alternative radio station 97X upon its debut. But it was soon covered by the hit television show Glee, then licensed for use in a Chevrolet Sonic commercial that aired during Super Bowl XLVI, which propelled it, and fun. to mainstream success. The song became a huge hit around the world, reaching #1 in more than 10 countries, including Canada, Australia, the UK and the U.S.. It became a crossover hit, spending many weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Top 40 and Alternative charts.

The band teamed up with producer, songwriter & instrumentalist Jeff Bhasker (who’s produced albums and songs for Kanye West, Alicia Keys, P!nk, Jay-Z and Beyonce, among others) for their album Some Nights, of which “We Are Young” was the lead single. Together they used a rich palette of orchestral instrumentals and keyboard synths, and layered them over a thumping drumbeat that starts off like a military march, then slows to a pounding, bass-driven hip hop groove, highlighted by a repetitive banging piano riff. Lead singer Nate Ruess’ vocals are lovely, with an almost tender vulnerability as he sings the poignant opening lyrics:

Give me a second I
I need to get my story straight
My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State
My lover she’s waiting for me just across the bar
My seat’s been taken by some sunglasses asking ’bout a scar, and
I know I gave it to you months ago
I know you’re trying to forget
But between the drinks and subtle things
The holes in my apologies, you know
I’m trying hard to take it back
So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down
I’ll carry you home

Tonight
We are young
So let’s set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun

He told Rolling Stone that the lyrics were inspired by “my worst drinking night of all time.” He said he was kicked out of a taxi for vomiting all over it, and all he could do was stand on the street corner with his head against the wall. Singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe, a personal friend of Bhasker, provided guest vocals for the chorus, but some felt her considerable talents were wasted by giving her such a small presence on the song. That said, “We Are Young” is a great track overall.

The music video, directed by Marc Klasfeld, was filmed at David Sukonick Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and touches on youthful angst, young love and raging hormones. The band is shown performing on a stage in a bar, which erupts into a slow motion bar fight.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #21: “Ex’s & Oh’s” by Elle King

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs5 Comments

The song at #21 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the utterly delightful and bawdy “Ex’s & Oh’s” by American singer-songwriter Elle King. Born Tanner Elle Schneider (and the daughter of actor and comedian Rob Schneider and former model London King), the wildly-talented spitfire blew us away in 2014 with her wickedly-funny breakout single “Ex’s & Oh’s”. Released as the first single from her debut album Love Stuff, the song was a huge hit, peaking at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Hot Rock, Alternative and Adult Top 40 charts, as well as in Mexico, Iceland and the Czech Republic. It was nominated for Grammys in the categories of Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance.

The song is a ballsy, foot-stompin’ mix of blues and alternative rock, with generous amounts of Country swagger thrown in. The hard-driving beat is infectious as hell, and when paired with a pummeling bassline, lively banjo and those distorted guitar riffs, the result is positively electrifying. With her sexy dominatrix-style persona and raspy ‘don’t fuck with me’ vocals, King plays the alpha figure here, turning the tables on men by objectifying them as sexual playthings to be used and discarded: “One, two, three, they gonna run back to me / ‘Cause I’m the best baby that they never gotta keep / One, two, three, they gonna run back to me / They always wanna come, but they never wanna leave.”

The fantastic video, directed by Michael Maxxis, is one of the best and funniest I’ve ever seen, and perfectly brings the lyrics to life in a way that most other videos fail to do. King is the only female, surrounded by hordes of adoring, scantily clad beefcake, all romping about in the Mojave Desert. I love it!

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #22: “Lonely Boy” by The Black Keys

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs5 Comments

The song at #22 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the rousing “Lonely Boy” by Nashville-based duo The Black Keys. I love their bluesy garage rock sound, and “Lonely Boy” is one of two songs by them on this list (“Fever” ranks at #57), as well as my favorite of their many great songs. It’s also one of their biggest hits, reaching #1 on the Billboard Rock, Alternative and Adult Alternative charts, as well as in Canada, though it peaked at only #64 on the stupid Billboard Hot 100. It won Grammys for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance of 2012.

“Lonely Boy” is from their seventh studio album El Camino, and was co-written and produced by Danger Mouse. Dan Auerbach’s grimy, bluesy riffs are fantastic, chugging along to Patrick Carney’s aggressive thumping drumbeats as he laments about his love that keeps him waiting, making him a ‘lonely boy’.

The quirky but charming video features actor, musician and part-time security guard Derrick T. Tuggle dancing, lip-syncing and acting out the lyrics to the song in front of the Pepper Tree Motel in North Hollywood, one of the many communities that make up the city of Los Angeles. The video, shot in a single take, went viral upon its release on YouTube. The original video produced for the song had a script and a cast of more than 40 people, but the guys were not pleased with the results. Auerbach recalled, “A couple of weeks after we shot it they sent us the edit and it was awful. We sent it back… they sent us another edit and it was terrible. That’s when we said ‘what about that one guy, the extra who had that one dance scene’ and that’s the video – the most expensive single shot ever recorded.”

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #23: “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs4 Comments

The song at #23 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Pumped Up Kicks” by Los Angeles-based alternative pop-rock band Foster the People. The second song by them on this list (“Coming of Age” ranks at #65), “Pumped Up Kicks” was their debut single, and became their breakthrough hit and one of the most popular songs of 2011. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending eight weeks at that spot, and was the #1 song of 2011 on the Alternative chart. The track was later included on both their self-titled EP and their marvelous debut album Torches. 

“Pumped Up Kicks” has a breezy and upbeat synth-driven melody accompanied by cheerful whistling, in sharp contrast to the dark lyrics describing the thoughts of a troubled and delusional youth who’s contemplating shooting up his high school. Mark Foster wrote and recorded the song in about five hours, playing all the instruments himself and arranging and editing it using music software. He also electronically altered his vocals, giving them a menacing, almost creepy vibe. The demo he recorded was ultimately the version of the song the band released. He posted the song on his website as a free download in early 2010, and after Nylon magazine used it in an online advertising campaign, and an influential German music blogger shared it on his website, the song grew in popularity.

Foster later told CNN.com “I wrote ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ when I began to read about the growing trend in teenage mental illness. I wanted to understand the psychology behind it because it was foreign to me. It was terrifying how mental illness among youth had skyrocketed in the last decade. I was scared to see where the pattern was headed if we didn’t start changing the way we were bringing up the next generation.” He wanted to raise awareness of gun violence among disaffected youth. The subject also hit close to home for the band. Foster was bullied in high school, while then-bassist Cubbie Fink has a cousin who survived the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. The song was temporarily pulled from several radio stations after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. And in a recent interview with Billboard, Foster stated he continues to wrestle with the song’s legacy in light of the ongoing epidemic of mass shootings in the U.S., and is considering retiring the song and no longer performing it in their shows.

Robert’s got a quick hand
He’ll look around the room
He won’t tell you his plan
He’s got a rolled cigarette
Hanging out his mouth
He’s a cowboy kid

Yeah he found a six-shooter gun
In his dad’s closet, boy, in a box of fun things
I don’t even know what
But he’s coming for you, yeah he’s coming for you

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, outrun my gun
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, faster than my bullet

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, outrun my gun
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, faster than my bullet

Daddy works a long day
He be coming home late, he’s coming home late
And he’s bringing me a surprise
‘Cause dinner’s in the kitchen and it’s packed in ice

I’ve waited for a long time
Yeah the sleight of my hand is now a quick-pull trigger
I reason with my cigarette
Then say, “Your hair’s on fire, you must’ve lost your wits, yeah?”

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, outrun my gun
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, faster than my bullet

The lighthearted video does not make reference to the dark subject, instead showing scenes of the band performing the song and having fun and socializing.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #24: “Pain” by The War on Drugs

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs2 Comments

The song at #24 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Pain” by Philadelphia alternative rock band The War on Drugs. The second single from their magnificent, highly-acclaimed 2017 album A Deeper Understanding, as well as the second of their songs on this list (“Holding On”, also from that album, ranks at #71), “Pain” is my favorite of their many incredible songs. As I’ve alluded to on several previous posts about songs on this list, I know I love a song if it gives me chills, and “Pain” brings them in spades. It boggles my mind that people are capable of writing and creating music as exquisite as this. The layered guitars and sparkling synths are so breathtaking, they bring tears to my eyes. And that deep, resonant bass line is fantastic. Lead singer Adam Granduciel’s vocals, which bear a striking resemblance to Bob Dylan’s, are brimming with a heartfelt urgency that touches the soul.

He told Q Magazine that “Pain” was inspired by the physical agony he endured from a ruptured disc. (Having suffered myself with intense pain from just a back sprain, I can empathize.) It’s one of several tracks on A Deeper Understanding where he touches on the excruciating experience. “I couldn’t sit to work and I couldn’t stand up to play guitar,” he said. “The idea of chronic pain and what it does to the mind is scattered throughout the songs.”

Go to bed now I can tell
Pain is on the way out now
Look away and domino falls away

I know it’s hard looking in
Knowing that tomorrow you’ll be back again
Pin your head and let me in
I’m waiting
So long

I was staring into the light
When I saw you in the distance, I knew that you’d be mine
Am I moving back in time
Just standing still

I met a man with a broken back
He had a fear in his eyes that I could understand
I can even shake the hand
When I break it in

I’ve been pulling on a wire, but it just won’t break
I’ve been turning up the dial, but I hear no sound
I resist what I cannot change
But I wanna find what can’t be found

I’m aware you’re tired and lost
Like a demon in the doorway, waiting to be born
But I’m here all alone, just begging

Pull me close and let me hold you in
Give me the deeper understanding of who I am
Yeah, I’m moving back again
I’m waiting here

I’m just pulling on a wire, but it just won’t break
I’ve been turning up the dial, but I hear no sound
I resist what I cannot change, own it in your own way
Yeah, I wanna find what can’t be found

The official video, directed by Emmett Malloy, shows the band performing the song as they float on a cargo ship down the Schuylkill River in their native Philadelphia.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #25: “The Less I Know the Better” by Tame Impala

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs6 Comments

The song at #25 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “The Less I Know the Better” by Tame Impala. The achingly beautiful song about young lust and love makes me wish I was 18 again, and is so fucking gorgeous it stirs the hopeless romantic in me, bringing a tear to my eye and a lump in my throat every time I hear it.

Tame Impala is the music project of Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker, who writes, records, performs and produces all his own music, although he collaborates with a number of musicians, many of whom are members of his other psychedelic rock band Pond, for live shows. “The Less I Know the Better” is one of the singles from his stellar, critically-acclaimed third album Currents (which ended up on many critics’ best album of 2015 lists). I could just as easily have chosen “Let It Happen”, another equally beautiful song from Currents, for this list, but I think I love “The Less I Know the Better” more.

Parker stated in an interview with Under the Radar that the song “shouldn’t be on a Tame Impala album, because it has this dorky, white disco funk. I wouldn’t call it cheesy, but it’s not trying to be too cool, because the lyrics are pretty dorky and the groove is pretty dorky. But at the same time, for me, I love that kind of music.” So do I. Swirling, glittery synths are combined with a strong bass groove and gorgeous layered chiming and gnarly guitars to create a stunning and dreamy backdrop for Parker’s ethereal falsetto vocals. I love this song so much that I’ve literally listened to it on repeat more times than I can recall. Why this song was not a huge #1 hit is a complete mystery to me. It only appeared on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, where it peaked at a paltry #35.

The lyrics express the protagonist’s intense longing for a girl he can’t have, which Parker so beautifully expresses with his enthralling vocals:

Someone said they left together
I ran out the door to get her
She was holding hands with Trevor
Not the greatest feeling ever
Said, “Pull yourself together
You should try your luck with Heather”
Then I heard they slept together
Oh, the less I know the better
The less I know the better

Oh my love, can’t you see yourself by my side
No surprise when you’re on his shoulder like every night
Oh my love, can’t you see that you’re on my mind
Don’t suppose you could convince your lover to change his mind
So goodbye

She said, “It’s not now or never
Wait 10 years, we’ll be together”
I said, “Better late than never
Just don’t make me wait forever”
Don’t make me wait forever
Don’t make me wait forever

Oh my love, can’t you see yourself by my side?
I don’t suppose you could convince your lover to change his mind

I was doing fine without ya
‘Til I saw your face, now I can’t erase
Giving in to all his bullshit
Is this what you want, is this who you are?
I was doing fine without ya
‘Til I saw your eyes turn away from mine
Oh, sweet darling, where he wants you
Said, “Come on Superman, say your stupid line”
Said, “Come on Superman, say your stupid line”
Said, “Come on Superman, say your stupid line”

The unusual and entertaining official video brings the song to life with an imaginative and humorous blend of romance, surrealism and colorful animation. It shows a high school basketball player lusting after a cheerleader, who soon begins a relationship with the team’s gorilla mascot named “Trevor”, who’s referenced in the lyrics. The video was filmed in Barcelona at the visual arts collective CANADA, and the two primary characters are played by Spanish actors Laia Manzanares as the cheerleader and Albert Baro as the basketball player.

Rather ridiculously, the video has been age-restricted by YouTube due to a couple of provocative scenes, so click on the “Watch on YouTube” link to watch it.

Or, just listen to the song on this Official Audio:

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #26: “Burn the Witch” by Radiohead

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Favorite Songs7 Comments

The song at #26 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Burn the Witch” by legendary British alternative rock band Radiohead. Formed in 1985 while they were in high school, the band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass), Ed O’Brien (guitar, backing vocals) and Philip Selway (drums, percussion).

The release of their amazing ninth studio album A Moon Shaped Pool was one of the music highlights of 2016. The brilliant lead single from that album “Burn the Witch” is one of the most eerily beautiful and innovative songs of the decade. The band had worked on the track on and off for over 10 years, considering it for inclusion on several of their previous albums, but were never satisfied with the results until it was given this gorgeous arrangement by their guitarist Jonny Greenwood, with lush strings performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra. What gives the strings their dramatic percussive effect was the use of guitar plectrums, rather than bows, on the orchestra musicians’ strings. The sounds produced by the strings go from lushly beautiful to deathly chilling, like the sounds we’d expect to hear in a horror film.

The dark lyrics, hauntingly sung by Thom Yorke’s beautiful falsetto, are an attack on groupthink and authoritarianism: “abandon all reason / avoid all eye contact / do not react / shoot the messengers / burn the witch“. Yorke stated in an interview with BBC Radio that the lyrics were inspired by a 2000 article he read in News of the World that published the names and addresses of sex offenders.

The clever, stop-action animation video, directed by Chris Hopewell, pays homage to the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man.