Songs of the Week Volume VII
Welcome to the luckiest playlist yet! Number 7! Maybe this one is lucky enough to start getting a bunch of submissions from readers! Any input is appreciated, even if it's one song with one sentence about it. Special thanks to all the band members who submitted! Consider sending me songs and why you like them at 16murphyc@peabodystu.org or on Facebook or in the comments below. And as always, the playlist is on Spotify here, and the archive playlist here.
Nick McLaughlin:
Rebecca Black - Friday
According to Buzzfeed, this is the number one song to get stuck in your head. Enjoy the pain
Anthony Landry (Alum):
Lil Dicky - $ave Dat Money feat. Fetty Wap and Rich Homie Quan
This song has one of the coolest premises.
Joe Fialkowski:
Blue Swede - Hooked On A Feeling
Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
Harry Belafonte - Jump In The Line
Those are just the songs that have been stuck in my head for the past month.
Matt Smith:
Bliss n Eso - Life's Midnight
There's something about Australian artists that I really like. One of my new favorites from Bliss n Eso. If you don’t enough time to listen to all of it i’d at least listen to the first 30 seconds, one of my favorite verses.
Dan Bull - The Staircase
Dan Bull is a british rapper, most commonly known for is comedic raps about politics, video games, etc. However, a few years ago he released an Album called “Face”. All these songs have great messages and a feel good feeling all over. This is probably my favorite, but I encourage you try them all.
Ted Poley and Tony Harnell - Escape From The City
From one my favorite games when I was younger, the song Escape From The City from Sonic Adventure 2 always take me back.
Edgar Castro:
Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best
What stands out the most about this song, the second off of the album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, are the lyrics. They're packed, persistent, and consistently clever, flowing, and self-deprecating. Take the following lyrics, for example: "I love you, I hate you, I'm on the fence, it all depends, whether I'm up or down, I'm on the mend, transcending all reality ... I want to wash out my head with turpentine, cyanide, I dislike this internal diatribe ..." The words and Barnett's delivery are vaguely reminiscent of a hip-hop song, though the song itself is very indie rock - behind Barnett's vocals are short, two-note or two-chord bursts of electric guitar and a steady, beating drum, both of which intensify during the choruses. It's a very fun and catchy song.
Deltron 3030 - 3030
I might as well mention an actual hip-hop song since I mentioned the genre. Deltron 3030 is an interesting album. The whole thing is written as a dystopian adventure starring Del tha Funky Homosapien - the MC - as Deltron Zero, a soldier who defected against evil overlords and boasts great skill with technology, and Dan the Automator - the producer - as Deltron Zero's equally technologically-gifted sidekick. It's an interesting concept that you don't usually come across in the world of hip-hop. 3030 (the song) also boasts an orchestral arrangement, complete with a horn section and chorus, something that also isn't very common in hip-hop and that is very impressive when you see videos of it in action. Del's very well-crafted, eccentric rhymes and unique style augment the album's novelty, making the whole thing a very good experience.
Joanna Newsom - Emily*
Continuing our focus on lyrics is Joanna Newsom's Emily, off of Ys. Newsom's lyricism is different from that of Del and Barnett's, sounding more like old English literature than modern, upbeat hip-hop or hip-hop-esque lyrics. The instrumentation sounds like it's from about the same era as the lyrics, which is pretty neat, too; Newsom's voice and harp are the center of the track, complemented only by a quiet violin (or similar instrument). Interestingly enough, despite how "old" the song feels, the lyrics, which deal with the speaker's interactions with her sister dealing with astronomy (those of you taking astronomy will probably notice the errors about meteors in the chorus), don't particularly feel like they're meant for a certain era, though they do include "old" words like "kingdom"; they fit well enough in any one.
Connor Murphy:
Wilco - Jesus, etc.
What I get from this song seems to be very different from what many others feel. The lyrics seem to allude to a sort of comradery spawned from a resigned view of the world. The speaker seems to have started off with a positive outlook on life, but had it ripped away by things like greed. I think the goal in this song is to convey finding solace in another, but I get a sense of what I can only call "resigned companionship".
Junip - Far Away
A short, sweet song about distance. I feel that writing too much about this song would take away from it.
Sam Roberts Band - Brother Down
Ever feel like your aspirations aren't your own? Like your living for other people? And that no matter how hard you work, you can't get there? There are complexities to life for everyone of every class in these areas. This song encapsulates all those feelings into a beautiful, driving rhythm that I feel ends well what I'm now realizing is weird kind of folky week for me.
Richard Moore:
Sam Smith - Writing's On The Wall
This song is featured in the newest James Bond Film, Spectre.
Shirley Bassey - Goldfinger
This song was featured in an old James Bond Film.