Wednesday, February 18, 2009

songs that compel me

compel |kəmˈpel|
verb ( -pelled , -pelling ) [ trans. ]
force or oblige (someone) to do something : a sense of duty compelled Harry to answer her questions.
bring about (something) by the use of force or pressure : they may compel a witness's attendance at court by issue of a summons.
• poetic/literary drive forcibly : by heav'n's high will compell'd from shore to shore.


last nite my wife went to bed early so i went to bed early, too. she begged me not to turn on the tv in the bedroom... or at least to give her 10 minutes to fall asleep first. i decided to go get my iPod and listen to some music as a precursor to falling asleep.

i put on The Best of Simon & Garfunkel and the entry way to my lucid sleep was nothing short of blissfulness.

i began to think about the songs of old and about how much passion was in them. some of the music these days seems to be nothing but fluff... no substance. i suppose there are plenty of songs throughout the history of modern music that have been shallow... but none-the-less, i lay there in bed last night and i was compelled.

i am not sure what i was or am compelled to do... maybe that'll be worked out. first, i thought i'd list songs old and new that compel me.

Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer
Simon & Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy in New York (thank you to Zach Braff and the film Garden State)
Simon & Garfunkel - Dangling Conversation
Bod Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan - Only a Pawn in their Game
Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna
Bob Dylan - Gotta Serve Somebody
The Beatles - Because
The Beatles - Medley at the end of Abbey Road (You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, She Came in Through the Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End, Her Majesty)
The Beatles - You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
Elton John - Tiny Dancer (thank you to Cameron Crowe and that scene in Almost Famous... hearing that song makes you realize that things are going to be alright.)
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down
Neil Young - Heart of Gold
The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
The Talking Heads - Take Me to the River
U2 - Bad
U2 - Elvis Presley and America
Radiohead - Gagging Order
Explosions in the Sky - The Only Moment We Were Alone
Elbow - Scattered Blacks and Whites
Keane - Try Again
Travis - Blue Flashing Light
Nada Surf - Always Love
Over the Rhine - Latter Days
Squarepusher - Tommib (thank you to Sophia Coppola and it's use in the film Lost in Translation)
Underworld - Pearl's Girl
Sigur Rós - Untitled 8 (a.k.a. "Popplagið")
The Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
Sixpence None the Richer - Bleeding
The Sundays - Can't Be Sure
Muse - Unintended

i could go on but i've already wasted to much time this morning.

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