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That's not to say I don't enjoy listening to music, I do, it's just that I don't have the same burning, all consuming love of it that some people seem to have. I have friends who can name every song or album by a particular artist. Who can name any song just from hearing a ten second clip of it.
I'm not that person.
When I love a song, it's usually because it's linked in my mind to something. I'll always love "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" thanks to an ex-boyfriend who serenaded me with it (and by serenaded, I mean warbled all the bits he could remember in a decidedly off-key manner ... but it was still sweet). And there definitely more songs that have a place in my heart thanks to their connection to a TV show or movie than I'm entirely comfortable admitting to.
See that's the thing, I really only love a song if it prompts an emotional response in me, and that emotional response usually has nothing to do with the song itself. And the songs that have the biggest responses?
AC/DC.
I know, it's a weird choice. Late 70's early 80's rock. But for some reason in my mind they're connected with being little. I'm guessing they played on the radio a lot when I was a tot and I've subconsciously linked them to being safe and contented.
Because nothing calms a scared toddler more than a good dose of "You Shook Me All Night Long", don't you agree?
So what are your go to comfort songs?
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've heard that one, I'll have to youtube it.
DeleteI don't think it's weird at all. Maybe a but unconventional for comfort music but who wants to be conventional? :)
ReplyDeleteOh and to answer your question: Anything by Jason Mraz
DeleteNo one will ever be able to accuse me of being conventional :D
DeleteFun post!
ReplyDeletefor me, it depends on what you mean by comfort. ;) I was in high school during the late 70's so a lot of that period rock is ingrained into my psyche. "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent was a particular favorite at one point. Also have a definite sweet spot for the epic, long heavy jamming Neil Young with Crazy Horse ("Down By the River" "Cortez the Killer" "Cowgirl in the Sand" etc). And then there are my favorites by the Grateful Dead ("Dark Star"), the Allman Brothers ("In Memory of Elizabeth Reed?), Jimi Hendrix ("Machine Gun"). Or if in a jazzier mood, some Miles Davis is perfect. Or if I want some soulful soothing, there's Marvin Gaye (the "What's Going On" album is stellar), or perhaps some old Van Morrison. The list could go on and on...
And yes -- AC/DC can also always get my head to shaking. "Back in Black" "Highway to Hell" "Whole Lotta Rosie" "Let there be Rock" and also the later "Thunderstruck" are all great.
I do love me some Marvin Gaye :D
DeleteAC/DC freaking rocks! I love the rock from the late 70's and 80's. So what if I was born in 83, I'll take Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, AC/DC, Def Leppard and the likes over anything that is put out in todays music industry.
ReplyDeleteI am also a 90's child at heart though, comes from being a teen then. Some of my favorite comfort (zone out) music is from the Wall Flowers. Jacob Dylan and his dreamy blue eyes can sing to me any night of the week. I also love the Volcano Girls when I need to let go of some steam.
I was late teens early twenties in the 90's so I have a lot of fond memories of the songs of that decade too. Lots of memories of singing along in the car as we drove around, not a care in the world.
DeleteI like songs from the "big band era"--I enjoy being able to understand the words!!
ReplyDeleteI love 30's and 40's music too, anything that brings WWII to mind. There's something so romantic about that era ... although I imagine it was decidedly less romantic to actually live through it.
DeleteThe song I put on that instantly cheers me up and can also calm me down is Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya". It's what mom used to put me to sleep as a baby. Okay that last part maybe a fib.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Oh you!
DeleteStrange old songs from the misty past that no one else would know but me...like "Daisy" and I'm Lookin' Over A Four-Leaf Clover", classics like Amazing Grace, fun stuff like Kalija.....other than Amazing Grace I'm sure not one of you will know the other ditties.
ReplyDeleteI love those old 40's WWII songs!
DeleteI always fall back onto Tom Jones.
ReplyDeleteWell you can't go wrong with Tom!
DeleteI'd be happy to give you the name of a song or artist, but I don't ever remember the names of singers, and I certainly can't match the name of the song to a singer. However, I can sing just about every song that comes on the radio if I'm listening to a station dedicated to any decade between the 60s and the 2000s. And I'll be able to come up with a memory to go with most of them. After 2000, it's pretty much just kid songs.
ReplyDelete"You shook me all night long" is a great song. A very popular one at the high school dances.
LOL! I'm a bit like that too. I'm always saying "You know that song? The one that goes do de doo do dooo?"
DeleteClassic rock is my thing. Queen, AC/DC, Zeppelin are just a few. Hells Bells is up there on my list!
ReplyDeleteAh Queen, everyone loves Queen :D
DeleteRight there with ya girl on emotional connections to songs. I'm partial to AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds" and "Thunderstruck". Since both my kids have lots of AC/DC songs on their ipods, I figure I've done my job well.
ReplyDeleteYou should be proud :D
DeleteI agree that there is something comforting about the music that was playing when you were little. As I love music...I am totally that type of person...I could name a hundred songs that were out in 1958 and 1959 for example. I was a first grader so I especially like things like the Witch Doctor (ting tang walla walla bing bang) or Purple People Eater (she was a one eyed, one horned flyin' purple people eater) but I like most of the popular music that came out in every era.
ReplyDeleteI loved those songs when I was little! I guess they're classics.
DeleteI'm really into heavy metal and new age music (two polar opposites), but as far as "comfort" music goes, my current favorite song would have to be "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal.
ReplyDeleteOh god, that is definitely one of my karaoke favourites!
DeleteAC/DC IS my comfort music, the louder, the better. I won't give 10 cents for what passes for music now. Rock music is just a sonic sludge, and pop is dominated by auto-tuned teenyboppers with no talent other than looking good.
ReplyDeleteOnly group I've heard in the last 10 years that I've liked is Airbourne, who not coincidentally, sound just like Highway to Hell-era AC/DC.
Just about anything from the 60s-70s makes me feel good. I particularly like Roy Orbison.
ReplyDeleteI love early Seventies prog - the worse the better! Genesis, Jethro Tull, generic Italian prog, it doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteI also like black metal and Pakistani Qawali music... I might have a focus problem when it comes to my comfort tunes.
Late Seventies/ early Eighties hard rock is an interesting choice for comfort music, though. That was an ugly time, visually, in rock. That whole period immediately pre-MTV. They used weird reverb in a lot of that era, too. Some of it sounds like it was recorded in a bucket. I'll get around to more of it eventually...
I have a distorted view of reality that Prince wrote the soundtrack for my life because there's a song I normally link to a pivotal moment. However, I love music and actually the music more than the lyrics half the time. It lets my mind wander in a good way so that and I enjoy that.
ReplyDeleteThe Beatles are my comfort rock.
ReplyDelete