R.I.P. Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain died 17 years ago today.

From 1993-1995, Nirvana (and a host of other grunge rock) was the soundtrack of Centennial Hall - my dorm at Truman State University. Listening to Kurt’s scratchy tone reminds me of coming back from class in the late afternoon or getting ready to roll out on a Friday night.

This acoustic version of Come As You Are is one of my favorites. My favorite lyric? It's simple:

Come as you are,
As you were
As I want you to be
As a friend


Enjoy!

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday All These Things That I Have Done, The Killers

For the past six weeks, I had songs for MFLT all planned out. Last week I finally caught up to myself and I've been scrambling a bit for this weeks installment.

As I sat at my computer listening to Pandora, it came to me ... The Killers.

I'm not a die-hard Killers fan, but I have definitely enjoyed the singles that have been released on radio. This particular one, All These Things That I've Done, is a definite favorite. It peaked at No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, so not exactly a monster success. But still a great hit.

Back to Pandora ... I was just singing along to the tune and my favorite part came up.

I got soul, but I'm not a soldier

I thought to myself, "I love this part of the song. Of course, it's a MFLT blog entry!" So check it out in the video posted below (click on View Original Post if you are reading this on Facebook). This is an amazing live performance that appears to be the closer to the set. Amazing climax and musical drama. My favorite lyric shows up at 3:25, well at least that's when this crowd of what looks like 100,000 starts singing it.

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday King of Anything, Sara Bareilles

I have yet to hear a Sara Bareilles song that I dislike. I'm not so sure why her other singles have not caught on like her 2007 hit, Love Song. There have been subsequent releases such as Bottle is Up and Love on the Rocks that are equally as groovy and catchy.

But perhaps King of Anything is headed in the right direction. Sara is all talent. Great voice, great personality and great on the piano.

My favorite lyric is in the chorus:

Who cares if you disagree
You are not me
Who made you king of anything
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything

There's an interesting behind the scenes video that shows the making of the King of Anything music video. It's a nice video that shows off Sara's personality.

But check out the full video below and get ready to tap your toes.

My Favorite Lyric Some Fantastic, Barenaked Ladies

Ten years ago I was a fanatic for the Barenaked Ladies. Between 1998 and 2001 I saw them live in Dallas, San Diego, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Irvine and Washington D.C. Crazy huh? This was at the height of their popularity and they were packing big venues. It's ironic that I missed them when they played a 1,200 seat venue, last month, about 10 minutes from where I work.

While I'm not as fanatical, I still enjoy their music. I was always impressed with the songwriting talents of Stephen Page and Ed Robertson. It's sad that personal issues have caused Page to depart from a band that he fronted for more than 20 years, but their track record of great songwriting remains.

One of my favorites was off their 1998 release, Stunt. It was the album that contained the hit, "One Week," and was chock full of other great numbers. One such song was called "Some Fantastic." It had a great melody and even better lyrics.

These are my two favorite lines:

There's a lot I will never do
Some fantastic, I know it's true
But none as much as my want to be with you

Bye-bye self-respect
I haven't had much of it since you left
I missed out on the best of you

I've always thought the song was about someone who was no longer complete without his other and can't even respect himself without that other. It's sad really.

But the song still has an upbeat tone to it. Check out this acoustic version performed by Page and Robertson.

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday Speechless - Lady Gaga

Say what you want about Lady Gaga, but calling her a "no-talent, Madonna wannabe" is just plain wrong. Some people can't see the forest through the trees, or in this case the art through the wacky clothes.

Certainly many may object to her pop-dance smash hits such as Just Dance, Poker Face, Bad Romance -- well basically her entire Fame and Fame Monster album -- as just passing dance fads, but it's hard to hate on pure lyrics. Really good lyrics.

I think I first heard "Speechless" when Gaga performed it on the Oprah Winfrey show. I had seen her perform stripped down versions of her aforementioned pop tunes, but it was the first time I heard her sing a song that was originally intended for just vocals, piano and maybe some percussion.

I was impressed. Even more impressed when she said she wrote the song for her Dad, who was seemingly oblivious to a major medical scare a few years ago. It's easy to interpret the whole song as a typical relationship destined for failure. But when you know that it is a story of a daughter, heartbroken because she cares more about her Dad then he cares for himself, it's that much more heart wrenching.

The climax of the song comes in it's last verse, when Gaga, who shares that her gift is to love and to write song, will diminish if her Dad decides not to take care of himself.

Would you give it all up
If I promise to you boy
That I’ll never talk again
And I’ll never love again
I’ll never write a song
Won’t even sing along

I’ll never love again
So speechless
You left me speechless, so speechless

Good stuff. This is a great, full acoustic version. Below is a performance on the Ellen Show, with additional instruments. Watch both ... in either case, get ready for some chills and maybe a few tears.

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday Stay (I Missed You) - Lisa Loeb

I've never hid the fact that "Stay" by Lisa Loeb is one of my all time favorite songs. Not only is it lyrically amazing, but it has a great story behind it.

Going back to they early 90s, Loeb tells the story of hanging out with actor/director Ethan Hawke among a group of mutual friends. Around this time, Hawke was working on a film, Reality Bites, with Ben Stiller. Hawke played the "Stay" track for Stiller, who decided to put it on the movie soundtrack. Local radio started playing it, and eventually the song made it all the way to No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart. Loeb was an unsigned artist at the time, and still holds the distinction of having a No. 1 single without benefits of being signed to a major record label.

While I'm sure you are all enlightened, she actually tells the story better.

Really, this whole song is pretty awesome and every line just flows right into the next. It's hard to pick just one line, but since I really should here you go.

I like how the words "some of us hover when we weep for the other" sound together.

Here it is in context:

Some of us hover when we weep for the other who was
Dying since the day they were born
Well, this is not that
I think that I'm throwing, but I'm thrown

And I thought I'd live forever, but now I'm not so sure
You try to tell me that I'm clever
But that won't take me anyhow, or anywhere with you

I've had the opportunity to see Lisa live a few times. It's always been a treat. Nothing like a genuine singer/songwriter just belting out tunes and strumming on a guitar. No crazy drum machines or synthetic sounds. Just all natural talent.

There are a lot of great live, acoustic videos on YouTube of this song -- including the link I posted earlier. But I thought I'd embed the original music video, which itself is a mini-masterpiece. It was directed by Hawke and was shot in one continuous take. Pretty cool! My favorite lyric comes in at 1:37.

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday Just Like Heaven - The Cure

Not to long ago I had the pleasure of busting out this classic Cure song at a wedding. It's tough to fit the Cure's new wave, 90s punk sound into a wedding, but the bride at this gig was a huge Violent Femmes fan and it only seemed natural to play "Just Like Heaven" as "Blister in the Sun" had concluded.

It's one of those songs, especially for anyone in their mid 30s to early 40s, that must evoke memories of high school proms when you would twirl around the dance floor to the great drum beat and rhythmic guitar riffs.

The song has so many great lines, but it's the one that appears near the end that I have always loved "... a raging sea, that stole the only girl I loved and drowned her deep inside of me."

Here it is in full context.

Daylight licked me into shape
I must have been asleep for days
And moving lips to breathe her name
I opened up my eyes
And found myself alone alone
Alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl I loved
And drowned her deep inside of me

And here is an acoustic performance.

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday All You Wanted - Michelle Branch

I love alliteration. In fact, I like to say the word "alliteration."

Some of my favorite lyrics "consist in repeating the same consonant sound at the beginning of two or more words in close succession." **Thanks Wikipedia.**

And one of the best examples is from this great pop song, All You Wanted, by Michelle Branch.

The lyric:
I'm sinking slowly so hurry hold me

And then it continues with a few more powerful words:

Your hand is all I have to keep me hanging on
Please can you tell me
So I can finally see
Where you go when you're gone

I love the "where you go when you're gone."

Michelle Branch is not an artist I commonly scan for much on YouTube. So I was very pleased to find some great versions of this song. And it reminded how much I really enjoyed her music.

Here's a nice acoustic version of "All You Wanted." My favorite lyric shows up right around 1:33.

Remember if you're reading this on Facebook, be sure to click on view original post. But then again, you should have this on RSS feed or subscribe my now! :-)

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday Your Song - Elton John

If someone wrote you a song, I bet you would consider it one of the greatest honors ever bestowed upon you. The beauty in this classic Elton John piece, written by his longtime musical partner Bernie Taupin, is -- like the song says -- it's simplicity.

A rather simple piano melody and simple words. It comes from a person that has nothing, but because of having that special someone, could not imagine needing anything more.

Forgive me while I tug at some heartstrings. But I know this feeling well. A big smile from my daughter as she stares right at me as we are nose-to-nose pretty much captures how "wonderful life is" with her in my world.

And that's my favorite lyric this week. Here it is in context.

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

For this weeks sample I must share with you what I believe is the greatest live musical performance ever. When Elton John was honored at the 2004 Kennedy Center Honors, Broadway star Heather Headley graced the stage with this magical performance.

Imagine what she was asked to do that night. Perform "his song" in front of "him" and Taupin, not to mention President Bush, the Kennedy family and a handful of Hollywood's biggest celebrities. And she delivers.

She was in another zone. It was like needing just one run to win a baseball game, but hitting a grand slam instead. When she closes out her final note, she let's out a relieving breath, like she sang the whole song on one breath.

It was over the top and to this day I still get choked up watching it. And perhaps the only thing better than someone writing you a song, is seeing a performance like this of that very song.

Enjoy.

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday Airplanes, B.o.B.

If you're a sick of this song, I'm sorry. But I just wanted to give it it's due, after all it currently sits at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. And lyrically, it's not bad.

B.o.B, a native of Decatur, Georgia, has a great flow and I'm more than elated to finally hear a rapper from the South not spit out that horrible dribble that you hear from the likes of Soulja Boy, Young Jeezy, Lil Jon etc. The rap has some terrific angst and tells a good tale of a young boy growing up trying to get into the rap game.

The Part 2 mix with Eminem will probably be one of my favorite rap songs of 2010. Slim Shady does what he does best by talking about all that angst he had growing up in Detroit. The beauty of it is that both his lyrics and B.o.B's do any amazing job staying true to the theme of the song.

We all need to have a sense of wonder to keep challenging ourselves to achieve that next goal.

And when you’re growing up in the inner streets of Detroit or perhaps in a less than perfect inspiring atmosphere of Decatur, you need something to keep those dreams alive.

Enter Paramore’s Hayley Williams.

She belts out one of the greatest messages in music so far this year.

Can we pretend that airplanes
In the next sky are like shooting stars
I could really use a wish right now, wish right now

Maybe the night skies of Detroit and Decatur were polluted with broken dreams to see real stars. The metaphor of airplanes to stars is something that is quite poignant. A lost soul just needing something, anything to keep their hopes and dreams alive.

(If you're reading this on Facebook, be sure to view the original post, since embedded videos do not import into Facebook "Notes.")

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday Man in the Mirror, Michael Jackson

With the poignant one year anniversary of MJ's death, I thought it was appropriate to dedicate this weeks MFLT to one of my favorite Jackson songs, Man in the Mirror.

It was hard to pick one particular set of lyrics, because there really isn't anything too profound, each verse tells it like it is. But I love this song so much because of the melody and the climax when the choir starts to sing along. It's an inspiring song with an incredible beat.

And it's these lines that really start to pick up the emotion:

A willow deeply scarred
Somebody's broken heart
And a washed out dream
They follow the pattern of the wind ya' see
'Cause they got no place to be
That's why I'm starting with me

Did you just start tapping your toes?

On the Sunday after Michael passed away, I closed out my gig with this song. It was amazing to see everyone singing along and holding candles in the air that they had grabbed from the tables. It's one of the most memorable moments I have ever experienced as a DJ.

Here's a cover version I found from an episode of The X Factor. I like the acoustic vibe: (If you're reading this on Facebook, be sure to view the original post, since embedded videos do not import into Facebook "Notes.")

My Favorite Lyric Tuesday You and I Both - Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz is an amazing lyricist and I have a feeling he will make his way onto many, My Favorite Lyric Tuesday entries. I have so many favorite lines of his, but I thought I'd pick this line from You and I Both, a cut that Mraz had been singing in San Diego coffee houses many years before his 2002 debut album was released.

See I'm all about them words
Over numbers, unencumbered numbered words
Hundreds of pages, pages, pages forwards
More words then I had ever heard and I feel so alive

I selected this not only because it really is one of my favorite Mraz songs, but I recently was watching his "Tonight Not Again" DVD, and he talked about writing the song. I was always intrigued by the pattern and how he managed to romanticize the word "words." And the word "unencumbered" also always struck me.

Mraz explained that he wrote the song for an ex-girlfriend, someone who inspired his path to songwriting. She loved the word "unencumbered" and he tossed it in there as a salute to her; so she would know the song was for her.

And as sweet as the song is, it has its bittersweet ending.

And it's okay if you have go away Oh just remember the telephone works both ways And if I never ever hear them ring If nothing else I'll think the bells inside Have finally found you someone else and that's okay Cause I'll remember everything you sang

Great song ... enjoy the video; one of my favorite live version of the song. The "unencumbered" line is at 1:10.