My Favorite Songs Of The Year(s)

Above you will see my iMix (available on iTunes) of my favorite songs from the last two years.

Some history is appropriate here. Since I was fifteen years old I complied at the end of the year my compliation of favorite songs of the year that had passed. Some years I skipped the compliation in order to create a "all-time" list of songs from all the years. Last year, I released my favorite 100 songs of "all-time." So this year's list goes back a couple of years. For the last six years I have burned a CD of these favorite songs of the year for my close friends and family. These songs strike an emotional chord for me as an avid music listener. These songs described where I have been, where I was, and where I am going to in my life intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally in the last year(s). These songs given in CD form at Christmas time are like my musical version of the dreaded family Christmas card "letter of events of the last year." Except my version is musical, truthful, and (hopefully) have more emotional depth.

Some comments on the songs on the list:

#29 "We Used to Vacation" by Cold War Kids

This song that elaborates on an family's dysfunction as it's protaganist deals with alcoholism and it's effect on the family. I have dealt with alcoholism in my family for a number of years. It keeps raising it's head from the sand--as it always does.

#25 "All My Friends" by LCD Soundsystem

I discovered this song last summer as I was veering into my mid-life crisis. This song captures that period absolutely perfectly. The protaganist in this song is lamenting the fact that now he is a white collar professional and is more invested in doing the "have-to's" that come from being upwardly mobile as opposed to living the party life with his friends. For me, my lament that I am getting older, wiser (maybe), and further away from my freer youth.

#19 "Rest My Chemistry" by Interpol

For most of the last two years and particularily in the last year my life has been an exhausting whirlwind of personal and professional growth borne through intense crises. There were many days where I did not truly "rest" as my mind, my heart, and body were constantly moving through the days and weeks of challenging crises. Most of the year I was exhausted.

#15 "Wrecking Ball" by Interpol

As you may have guessed one of my favorite bands now-a-days is Interpol. Some people fell off the bandwagon this year claimin they are now big label sell-outs. I do not have the same opinion as I like them as much now as I did before. For me, this song talks about the people that cross our paths and make sudden, wonderful, and deep impacts on who we are and where we are going. The past two years have seen many people cross paths into my world and I into them. I deeply thankful for what they have brought to me in my life no matter what the result.

#12 "Ghosts of You" by Chantal Kreviazuk

This song is fairly self-explantory as it's protaganist is pleading for a loved one to not leave

who is "the only one that will stay the same." We have relationships that we create, rise, and fall

that have deep impacts as this song illustrates.

#10 "Slow Show" by The National

You did not think that I would have a list of favorite songs that did not include The National, did you? The National came out with what I believe the best album of the year with Boxer. This song for me expressed my wishes to be near the one I love. The classic lamenting line is: "You know I dreamed about you for 29 years before I met you." Dream on.

#8 "Are You Alright?" by Lucinda Williams

Lucinda Williams is one of the best songwriters around these days as she mixes country folk and rock with lyrics driven by love and loss. I dedicate this song to a friend who drifted away and I often wondered how they were doing and wishing I could be there to at least be present on their journey.

#7 "Pace Is The Trick" by Interpol

This song speaks directly to my experiences over the last year and how without knowing it I can cause my own crises and chaos. It also illustrates that there were times that I also created the crises willingly in order to follow my heart. Important line: "You don't hold a candle."

#4 "All The Wine" by The National

I do have a narcissitic side as I think we all do. This year I found my true self (warts and all) and what I wanted out of life. I also discovered that I also deserve what I want out of life just like anyone else. There are times where I truly believe that "all the wine" is for me. This song for me opens up my deep narcissitic side to the world. "I'm a festival. I'm a parade."

#2 "Breathe Me" by Sia

The "Six Feet Under" fans out there will recognize this song which is absolutely perfect for a soundtrack involving discovery, love, deep need, passion, and loss. This was the past year for me. My year was a year of finding love, discovery of a passion that I thought was dead, finding who I was when all the chips were down, losing friends and family, and rediscovering life all over again. This song fits that journey perfectly.

#1 "Santa Clara" by The National

I am not sure that this song is available on The National's CD or not. It is only available on iTunes if you buy the whole album. The opening pounding of the drums catches you in a grasp as it opens this song about love and loss. This year I gained a great deal. I was fortuneate in many ways. I also lost a great deal as well. I also rediscovered things that I thought were lost. There was a time where I thought the walls were closing in and all the chips were on the table. I was celebrating a birth and mourning a loss at the same time. This soing fits that part of the journey for me.

"I don't worry anymore..cuz it's all right, all right to see a ghost..

Gonna run to the river, kiss my hand and wait. Gonna run to

the river, going to throw a blue bouquet...." The National (2007)

My Vote For Best Band Of The Year

You probably have never heard of them. Frankly, prior to this summer, neither did I. They started in Brooklyn in the late 90's and released their first album in 2001. They released ambitious albums in 2003 and 2005. In May of this year they released the best album of the year, Boxer, a stunningly beautiful, melodic, dense, and textured set of songs that describe existentialism in the mid-00's like no other. Their influences include country-rock, British pop, Leonard Cohen, folk, and Nick Cave.

The band is called The National.

Led by vocalist, Matt Berninger, and two sets of brothers, The National continued their upward momentum with Boxer that is both full of depth and emotion as well as being melodic and charming to listen all the way through more than once. The lyrics illustrate romanticism mixed with the yearning that comes from a mid-life crisis. The National is one of the only bands who clearly put their drummer front and center as opposed to necessary background dressing.

The hallmark of an excellent album is whether that album has three or less "throw away songs." Throw away songs are simply mediocre or worse filler songs that artists use to fill up to make a whole album. Most artists have at least five or more. Some have eleven or twelve throw away songs after their hit. The fewer the number of throw away songs the better the album. Boxer has no throw away songs. Period.

My more selfish criteria for a great album is whether or not the album represents a soundtrack to my world at the current moment. U2's Achtung Baby is one of my favorite albums because it was the soundtrack of my life in the year that it was released (1991). Incidentally, Achtung Baby had only two throw away songs.

In 2007, I had my "mid-life" crisis. The National's Boxer was my soundtrack.