Reasons I Love 22 Songs

(Editor's note: I started this in October of 2022. That time I only got as far as 22 songs, but I'm going to post this unchanged as an insight into my mental/emotional state 2 years ago. Enjoy.)

I had fun last year trying to answer the above questions for my twitter, though I only got about as deep as #7. So ahead of a longer and more intense post about two all-time great bands coming to this blog, I figured I'd share some short, sweet reasons why I like these forty songs. Here we go.

1. A song that made you cry multiple times
"A Day in the Life of a Tree" by the Beach Boys

I cry almost every time to this one. Beach Boys producer Jack Rieley's vocal makes it sound like the tree is really dying. I also can't help but feel like humans are a disease, and it's disturbing.

2. A song that brings back a lot of memories
​"Cabinessence" by the Beach Boys​

Unfortunately it was absolutely necessary that I do two Beach Boys songs in a row. This song transitions back and forth from understated folk to psychadelia brings me back to my days and an agoraphobic depressive living on Bainbridge Island. I discovered it at my heaviest and it helped me out.

3. A song that you like with a number in the title
​"36 Inches High" by Nick Lowe

The apocryphal nature of the lyrics and the ancient-sounding drums give this song the air of religious parable or epic tale, and the first two verses address topics old as dirt: death/war and class/taxes. Then the song subverts your expectations utterly with the final verse, which could be a very silly joke if it weren't delivered in a way that's honestly affecting.

4. A song that makes your heart flutter
​"Song for John" by Yoko Ono

I was originally going to choose a Paul track but Yoko is vastly underrated. She is also a sweet woman with a beautiful soul. She had a greater understanding of classical music than any Beatle and has composed some real beauties. John Lennon also plays wonderfully here. It was recorded before the Beatles breakup was announced.

5. A song that hypes you up
"The Rhinohead" by Von Sudenfed

I don't listen to all that much electronic music and there are a lot of non-electronic tracks that fit this description, but I find it interesting how the producers managed to combine the vocals of someone who always sounds like he doesn't give a fuck and could collapse at any moment with music that is designed to make you take stimulants and dance frenetically. It's done wonderfully here by the boys from Mouse on Mars.

6. A Song you'd listen to when stargazing
"Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild" by Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Richman is a real sweetheart. For a long time I didn't listen to singer-songwriters because the production was often too sparse and there wasn't enough going on to grab my attention. But Jonathan can captivate me with just a guitar, a cymbal, a drum, and his voice. The openness of the song is what makes it perfect for hot summer nights.

7. A song you'd dedicate to your best friend
"Lovely" by Riese

It's sort of cheating but I wrote this song about my longtime best friend. Not only have I loved them for many years but there were times when they were my only friend. It's significant, and this song is significant as well to me.

8. A song you'd dedicate to your lover
"Do You Love Me Now?" by The Breeders

I was going to go with something overwhelmingly sweet like "I Will" but this song is more indicative of the kind of sickening, pathetic neediness I often slip into. But there can also be something romantic about that itself. Sometimes you just really need someone.

9. A song in a different language you love
"Aguas de Marco" by Elis Regina

This was the only song I knew in Portuguese for a long time. It's catchy, fast and lovely. Later on I dated a girl who spoke the language and I grew an even greater appreciation of it. She introduced me to Gal Costa and Carla Morrison, who are also great.

10. A song that gives you "I can do anything I want" vibes
"Really Bees" by Ovlov

I can't make out any of the lyrics but come on. This song is freedom to me. Maybe the aggression of it is indicative of the kind of things I want to do. I don't know. 

​11. A song that you enjoy playing on the piano
"With My Face on the Floor" by Emitt Rhodes

Emitt Rhodes has been described as the one man Beatles, I think. I believe I read that somewhere. This one has the makings of a piano-driven Rubber Soul-era track. It's hard to play anything overly complicated while I'm singing but this one still lets me show off a bit.

12. A song that you enjoy playing on the guitar
"I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5

I have a lot of go-to songs on guitar, at least a couple dozen, as I'm sure most guitarists do. I find this more interesting though- learning to play the different piano lines but on guitar. It was a fun challenge and the melody is great fun to sing.

13. A song that you'd listen to over and over again
"Hire" by Girlpool

This one is a guitar go-to for me. Avery's range aligns with mine nicely. Something about the vocals and the feeling that Avery was going through early transition and everything that comes with that really captivates me. According to last.fm I've listened to this song 89 times, but of course it's more than that. And unlike songs I've listened to over a hundred times, I can see myself listening to this song for a long time to come. Maybe it's how the delivery taps into some inner anger at myself or the world I can't otherwise access. Or maybe it's that the lyrics are really hard to decipher and I'm legitimately committed to spending weeks of my life trying to understand them.

14. A song that you'd play at your wedding
"Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush

It turns out I already have a funeral playlist made, but I don't have one for my wedding. I'm sure that says something about me, I'm sure it isn't good. Anyway if I was getting married tomorrow this song would have to be on the list. Even if it's a little more sad than joyful. Whatever. There's a good mix and Kate Bush is perfect, unless it ends up being a straight wedding. Hm.

15. A song with vocals that shocked you
​"Last Caress" by the Misfits with Glenn Danzig

The lyrics are pretty shocking and gratuitous, even more so as a young teen but of course I latched on to their shocking morbidity. The chorus does justify the (repeated) verses well, and the speedy punk suits the simplified and muted nihilism nicely. This song more than most is a certain mood, a pit in your gut that won't let you feel anything else. That's my favorite kind of pain, the numb kind.

16. A song you'd play at the beach
"Ski Surfin'" by the Avalanches

This song isn't by The Avalanches who did "Frontier Psychiatry", but rather the band who inspired their name, and also a short and unremarkable "Ski Surf" trend in 1963. There are plenty of great surf instrumentals but this has to be one of my favs.

17. A song that you'd play while driving
"If I Ever Was a Child" by Wilco

The two most important ingredients for road trip music are an acoustic guitar and a steady snare drum. Maybe a falsetto vocal here or there. Wilco does it all here, and I feel like they must have known they were making a perfect driving song. This one is a must for any such playlist.

18. A song that you'd like to make a cover of
"Let's Save Tony Orlando's House" by Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo feel difficult to cover to me, but this song has so many distinct musical elements that could be re-interpreted in interesting ways.

19. A song you like with a color in it
"Blue Boy" by Mac DeMarco

This was the first Mac DeMarco song I hard, on KEXP one afternoon. Salad Days had just come out. I listened to the whole album and shortly after started a band for which Mac was our main musical touchpoint and the artist to whom we were most commonly compared. I'm not sure why he hasn't shown up on this list sooner, really. Oh well. BLUE boy.

20. A song you'd listen to when it's raining
"Song of the Highest Tower" by Cut Worms

The amount of reverb and the distantly pattering rain-like drums just seem perfect to me. There's no time better than a rainstorm to contemplate the smallness of your inconsequential life. And to distill some sense of what's really important. Maybe the things you pour all your energy into are meaningless and create no joy, who knows?

21. A song that reminds you of your friends
"Birdhouse in your Soul" by They Might Be Giants

Not only does the song begin with several repetitions of the word "friend", but there is no better band to bond with other nerdy outcasts over than They Might Be Giants. They are or were often described as nerd rock but I think the loneliness or the difficulty of forming connections are more important to the band and fans. My friends and I were teenagers so who better to relate to these themes? And they run rampant on this semi-charting work of genius.

22. A song that makes you want to fall in love
"Class Historian" by BRONCHO

I'd really rather not fall in love again right now, as I'm still in love with several people and it's difficult. But if anything were to inspire me to give it a try it's the free, open euphoria BRONCHO musters for this track. That's what can motivate me to pursue love time and time again, not the artifice of it but the euphoria that's at the heart of love, and makes it feel real and exciting, like you can really feel the air on your skin and in your lungs for the first time. Maybe it's just chemical.