16. Here Comes the Sun – Nina Simone
Remember when you first found out Nina Simone was a she and not a he? What a pleasant revelation. Gender confusion aside, this was one lass with a set of lungs. If you’ve ever been brave enough to move through ‘Blue For You’, you will also know that she knows a lot about a lotta things, and especially the ones you can sing about.
Here Comes the Sun, while not a traditional Motown number, nor arguably is it a representative tune for Nina, is one of the songs I love best. I think it would make a brilliant funeral song (even pre-Heath, I thought this, I swear) and it’s on my list (note to self, write down list and pass on to reliable family member/s).
17. F.I.G.J.A.M. – Butterfingers
If you are not familiar with Butterfingers, an Aussie hip-hop/rock band (to wander precariously into the murky waters of genre-assignment which the boyz from Brisbane would most certainly not appreciate) that have had success in the indy music charts. Having seen them live a couple of times (2006 and 2008) I can attest to their ‘rock the house’ attitude, and their crowd pleasing antics. These guys are a lot of fun to sing along to (and yes, their lyrics made me ‘want to read the book-a-let’) and I have been known to headbang/thump the steering wheel/sing aloud to this track while waiting in traffic lights in Sydney’s peak hour traffic. Be warned, their lyrics are not for everyone, contain explicit content, and may offend some listeners. Which is a prerequisite for any hip-hop-ish band, I would think. I mean, where would Eminem be without his scandalous yet cleverly rhyming beats? Oh, the pondering...
18. Scared As You – The Cure
Ah, Mr Smith and his spikes are back at number 18. This track is one I heard first in the “join the dots: rarities and b sides” collection, and it was stuck on repeat (even I’m sensing a pattern here…) for a number of weeks. The fragility of relationships has been providing inspiration and content for The Arts for as long as I can remember, and even longer than that, and for even longer than I think even history can remember if I start thinking about things like The Bible, the Valley of the Kings, Urdu poetry, November Rain etc. etc. etc. While my timeline might be a bit skewiff, I think we’re heading in the same direction.
Now also might be the time for me to mention that when I’m down and out, feeling like I’m being kicked and trodden on, or have been shoved in the washing machine on the Super Spin Dry setting even though I come with a label saying Delicate Material: Hand Wash Only And Dry In The Shade, I like listening to songs which prove to me that someone else knows exactly how I feel, and often with much more clarity, self-expression, humour and self-pity. While the humour bit is missing in this tune, all the others are there.
I also like that this track is not fussy, and doesn’t carry a lot of The Cure’s bells and whistles, though does not sound acoustic in any way. It’s what I would call a good “Beginners Guide to The Cure” song as it won’t offend most viewers. And let’s face it, Pornography is really hard to like the first, fourth, fifth and even fortieth time round unless you were alive when it came out and if you were alive and able to choose your own music you were probably so out of it that frankly anything would have sounded great if it made a lot of noise and blended in and out of your skull. Not to make sweeping generalisations or anything.
I promise, this is nothing like Pornography, and hints at the magic The Cure are really capable of. Oh, and it made me cry a bit.
19. Innocent When You Dream – Tom Waits
I guess this is the place where I thank Mr Waits for removing from me the desire to ever eat an ashtray full of stubbed out cigarettes after going on four benders in a row with no sleep while suffering an extreme bout of tonsillitis and perhaps a bit of TB as well.
Pathetic jibes about the ratchety nature of this man’s voice aside, this is a man who knows how to cobble together a good tune while managing to avoid the excessively cheesy nature of so many late night blues-bar tracks. ‘You’re Innocent When You Dream’, apart from having a great title, is a great lullaby that starts out in a tune which takes me back to traveling side shows or carnivals, the kind where 'persuasive' ringmasters coaxed people to part with their hard-earned cash to leer at David Lynch’s Elephant Man. Or maybe it doesn’t take me back exactly, but I do picture Tom in a top hat when I hear this. A spectacular image.
Finally, some of the lyrics are great too, like ‘it’s memories that we’re stealing’, and a stack of others I will leave for you to discover. At only 3mins10, it won’t even take up your whole lunch break!
20. Heroin – The Velvet Underground
Once upon a time I had four little tropical neon fish named John, Maureen, Sterling and Lou. It wasn’t long before trouble brewed, and I was down to three little neons. I am sure you can see where this story is headed, much like this track when all you can hear is Lou’s voice somewhere in the background between screeching strings.
Sometimes it’s important to remember just where things can lead.
21. I Wanna Be Adored – The Stone Roses
Pray do tell, who doesn’t want to be adored on their coming of age??? I most certainly did, and there is something so very earnest, so very “can I sit at the big people’s table now? Puhleeeaassee….” about this song. It is perfectly placed as the opening track to the brilliant debut album by The Stone Roses who made music in that bubble of the ‘music scene’ yet still managed to do what no one else was. Even more remarkable is the listenability (not a word but it stays) of this album even before 80’s music was cool again.
22. Off You – The Breeders
It’s time for a bit of girl power (can you tell I was a teenager before Posh Spice became one half of the world’s most well-matched matrimonial unions?). Thought Not. Oh how the Deal sisters would curse at me for that little segue.
In any case, I am a Breeders fan, and this song is perhaps one of the first by The Breeders to strike a chord. It’s simple, slightly obscure, not fussy in terms of instruments or playing and is not pretentious in the slightest. No lofty ideals to be found anywhere here. It’s really just a good song. Their new album “Mountain Battles” is also a gem. Go on, give them a go. I did!… do you trust me??? (Ok, it’s late, or early, and I should be tucked up in bed since it won’t be long before the call to prayer can be heard through the early morn sounds of the holiest day of the week where I am, and if I’m not well asleep by then I won’t be getting any sleep and a plumber is coming to fix my loo before 12 so my chances of getting a decent bash at sleep are becoming ever slimmer so I wouldn’t trust me either. But rather than reading this you could have already listened to a sample of the song on the ‘preview’ feature of itunes or something similar since I don’t promote music piracy and discovered for yourself that this is a good song, or at least has the potential to be a good song since you only hear a snippet.). Ok, I’ve stopped.
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