Day-Long iPod Shuffle

I was a housewife all weekend. I’ve been so busy during the week that my entire household was a disaster. I played music all weekend as I 409’d my head off and did laundry and cooked. The shuffle has been saved. Maybe it will be interesting. Shuffles always kind of make me laugh. I laugh at my own music collection, and revel in the randomness. Much off-line writing happening right now, so my time is a bit taken up. But these shuffle posts always engender some fun discussion.

Here we go. The shuffle begins on Saturday morning with:

“Get Down (You’re The One For Me)” – Backstreet Boys. Laugh if you will, but this song has a good beat for working out.

“Heart of the Country” – Paul McCartney – from the awesome album RAM, given to me by my brother Brendan

“Together/Fireworks” – Sally Mayes on her album of Comden & Green songs

“Time to Blow” – Del Paxton, from the That Thing You Do soundtrack, speaking of which ….

“She Stood Up” – Pat McCurdy. Give names, check in.

“Rabbit Run” – Eminem. Relentless. No chorus, meaning there’s no break in the momentum.

“You’ve Got a Friend” – Carole King and James Taylor, live at the Troubadour – a wonderful album

“Careful” – Paramore. She’s got one of the best voices in the business right now. I’m talking rock-and-roll voice. Not crazy about her songs, though, which is a shame.

“I’ve Got Feelings Too” – Pat McCurdy. And the domination of the Shuffle begins.

“Only Our Rivers Run Free” – The Irish Tenors. Oh shut up. You exaggerate.

“My Immortal” – Evanescence. Talk about a great voice.

“Gary, Indiana” – little Ronnie Howard from Music Man

“Weenie Beenie” – Foo Fighters, from their first album. I’m still excited when I listen to that album.

“All Apologies” – Sinéad O’Connor. Speaking of Foo Fighters … well, indirectly.

“Finale” – of Anastasia, the Disney movie.

“After You’ve Gone” – Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall.

“Life Has Been Good To Me” – Bonnie Raitt (this is from Randy Newman’s wonderful musical Faust)

“Star Spangled Banner” – Jimi Hendrix, live at Woodstock

“Kisses” – Tracy Bonham. She just came out with a new album and I’m glad. It had been a long wait.

“The Fly” – U2. Normally they dominate the Shuffle to a degree that is almost annoying. I love U2 but I am pleased that they held themselves back a bit in this particular shuffle. I like this song. Great guitar riff.

“Keep Young and Beautiful” – Annie Lennox. With the scratches put into the recording, you would think you were listening to a record from the 1920s on a victrola.

“Silent Night” – Shawn Colvin, from her suicidal Christmas album. Every carol sounds like a dirge, or a song you’re singing on your LAST Christmas because you know you’re about to blow your brains out the next day.

“Young, Gifted and Black” – Nina Simone. Incredible.

“Jitterbug” – Cab Calloway. Love Cab Calloway.

“Look Down” – from Les Miserables. “‘Ow do you do, mi-name’s Gavroche …” Not sure why French peasants speak in Cockney accents.

“Bad Day” – Daniel Powter

“Come Back Baby” – Ray Charles. Hot.

“Jingle Bells” – Sammy Davis Jr. Now this is how to sing a Christmas song, Ms. Colvin.

“Better Be Home Soon” – Crowded House. This song is a big ol’ heart-crack.

“Suddenly I See” – KT Tunstall. One of my most-listened-to songs. Great song for when you’re driving.

“If I Had” – Eminem. A brutal song of poverty. Early Marshall.

“Good People” – Jack Johnson. I am a late convert to the Jack Johnson love-train. He’s wonderful.

“Many Shades of Black” – The Raconteurs. Love them. Hi, boys!

“The Lamb’s Book of Life” – Sinéad O’Connor. She sounds ready to blow some shit up. Great hatred in little rooms.

“When You Were Mine” – Cyndi Lauper. What a voice. Blows me away.

“Judas’ Death” – from Jesus Christ Superstar (the movie)

“Driven By You” – Queen

“Tomorrow Never Knows” – The Beatles. Freaky.

“Elvis on Velvet” – The Stray Cats. God, we were so into them in high school. Hell, I’m still into them.

“The Boys Are Back in Town” – Everclear. I’ve been into these guys for years, but last year my love for them went to another level. Their songs were somehow feeding something in me, a bottomless pit. It’s hard to listen to some of this stuff now because I so associate Everclear with last year, and everything that happened, and the intense intimate correspondence I had last year with a certain former actor. Well, sort of former. If you’ve been reading me, it won’t be hard to figure out who it was. I was a mess then. Grieving. And somehow Everclear got all wrapped up in that correspondence which lasted 3 months exactly: March to June. Weird how that happens, how songs get attached to experiences.

“Secretly Dainty” – Pat McCurdy He could be a cult leader. Actually, he already IS a cult leader, but it’s a benign cult. I should know, I was a member of it for years.

“The Fool on the Hill” – The Beatles

“Fathers of Fathers” – from Closer Than Ever, the yuppie musical. Amazing songs, although so much a product of its time. The Thirtysomething of musicals. This is a beautiful song. I love men singing harmony.

“Kill You” – Eminem. It’s still exciting to listen to.

“Cruisin'” – Stray Cats. Hello again, boys.

“Stranger in a Strange Town” – Pat McCurdy. Okay, it’s on the border of being obnoxious now.

“Leeds” – Indigo Girls. Gorgeous.

“Summertime Blues” – Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

“Red Red Red” – Fiona Apple.

“All I Can Do” – Dolly Parton. It is not possible for me to love her any more than I already do.

“Galileo” – Indigo Girls. One of my favorites of theirs.

“They Can’t Take That Away From Me” – Robbie Williams & Rupert Everett, from Robbie’s swing album which I LOVE.

“Versions of Violence” – Alanis Morissette. Good song, dear. I find you very problematic at times but sometimes you are quite wonderful.

“Because” – from the Across the Universe soundtrack: Dana Fuchs, Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, etc. Loved the movie, love the soundtrack.

“Let Me Be There” – Olivia Newton-John. Classic.

“Numb” – Pink. Who knows what will happen, but I imagine I will be a fan of this girl for life.

“Bad” – U2. This is from their “live from Paris” album. The crowd is amazing, clapping along as one, a massive sound.

“Nosey Joe” – The Brian Setzer Orchestra

“Sweet Dreams” – The Eurythmics. That creepy robotic-sounding opening is still pleasing and I have heard the song 4,921 times.

“Heartbreak Express” – Dolly Parton. Love. This. Song.

“Tonight I’ll Be Lonely Too” – Alison Krauss

“Elephant Love Medley” – Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. Oh, Ewan.

“All I’ve Got To Do” – The Beatles

“You Know You’re Right” – Nirvana

“Freakshow” – Britney Spears. You said it, Brit-Brit, not me.

“Safety Dance” – the Glee cast

“Play With Fire” – Rolling Stones

“I’ll Be Waiting” – Lenny Kravitz. I’ve been a fan since the beginning.

“I’m Going Slightly Mad” – Queen. A mix of Phantom of the Opera and British music hall.

“Overture” – to Thoroughly Modern Millie, Broadway. A real old-fashioned overture.

“1000 Umbrellas” – XTC. I have so many personal associations with this song that it’s actually hard for me to listen to it.

“River Of No Return” – Marilyn Monroe. I love her voice, and I love her style of singing.

“Astronomy” – Metallica. I wondered when the boys would show up.

“Thank You Girl” – The Beatles

“Anyone’s Guess” – Pat McCurdy

“Who Cares (As Long As You Care For Me)” – Rufus Wainwright doing Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall

“Save Me” – Queen

“Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For a Sunbeam” – Nirvana, from their subdued and slightly depressing MTV Unplugged album

“It’s a Disaster” – OK Go. I am in love with every one of their songs.

“Lookin at Chyx” – Pat McCurdy. A crowd favorite. He spells it “chyx” because he wants to be sensitive to women as he ogles them inappropriately. Dude cracks me up. Obviously.

“Everything’s Cool” – Lit. I have no idea why I have this song. I had no idea until this moment that I even owned it.

“A Piece of Sky” – Barbra Streisand from Yentl. This song always makes me think of Jayne, a.k.a. Barefoot Kitchen Witch. She’ll know why.

“Sisters of Avalon” – Cyndi Lauper. Terrific song.

“Over the Rainbow” – Eva Cassidy. If you want to sing this song, you must compete with Judy, and also with Eva. That’s the deal. Eva owns it as much as Judy does.

“Somethin’ Stupid” – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman. Freakin’ adorable.

“One Man Guy” – Rufus Wainwright. Kinda country. I like it.

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” – T.V. Carpio’s slowed-down version from Across the Universe (as the football players fly through the air all around her)

“Steamroller” – James Taylor. This song frightened me as a child. (I grew up in a house where James Taylor was played all the time). I thought it was violent and my head filled with scary images. I would think to myself, anxiously, “Why does he want to roll all over her???”

“Perfect Lover” – Britney Spears. Brit, don’t worry about being “perfect” in this area of life, okay? It’s not healthy.

“Generator” – Foo Fighters

“Love Somebody” – Robbie Williams. I’m trying, Robbie. Stop yelling at me.

“Day and Night” – Nina Simone

“John Henry” – Pete Seeger. Crazy banjo. I grew up listening to this guy.

“Calamari” – from the musical A New Brain, which is terrific. Malcolm Gets is the lead and Kristen Chenoweth has a small part, and this is her big number.

“Grade 9” – Barenaked Ladies

“Eight Days a Week” – The Beatles

“Somewhere That’s Green” – Ellen Greene as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Dame’s got some major pipes.

“Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem (featuring Rihanna). Unless you were in a tent in Turkmenistan for the last year, you have heard this song. Fantastic video, too.

“Times Like These” – Foo Fighters. Rock anthem.

“You Never Get What You Want” – Patty Griffin. This is from Living with Ghosts, which is certainly in my Top 10 albums from the last 20 years.

“When the Music Stops” – Eminem, and a host of others. Goosebumps from this song. It is so intense.

“I Know Him So Well” – Whitney Houston and her mother Cissy Houston sing this duet from Chess

“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” – The Beatles. Do yourself a favor and listen to this song and just listen to what Ringo is doing. If you don’t laugh, there is something wrong with you.

“Wilkommen” – Alan Cumming as the emcee in the Roundabout production of Cabaret. I wrote about it here, on the sad occasion of Natasha Richardson’s untimely death. One of the best live productions I have ever seen.

“Elevation” – U2. Best played very very loud.

“Cure” – Metallica, from their much-maligned album Load. I love Load. I don’t care what anyone says.

“I’m Going Home” – Tim Curry from Rocky Horror Picture Show

“A Little More Love” – Olivia Newton-John. I am not ashamed to admit that this song is in my Top 25 Most-Played.

“Born to Hand Jive” – Sha-Na-Na. Hilarious.

“He Moved Through the Fair” – Sinéad O’Connor. Her voice goes right through me.

“Selfless, Cold and Composed” – Ben Folds Five. These guys always make me think of Jean and Pat.

“Tiny Grief Song” – Sinéad O’Connor. Oops, a Sinéad cluster!

“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga. Love this chick.

“The Honeydipper” – Cab Calloway

“St. Judy’s Comet” – Paul Simon. So beautiful.

“Hard to Say” – Dan Fogleberg

“Dogs of LA” – Liz Phair

“Baby You’re a Rich Man” – The Beatles

“Tu Vo Fa L’Americano” – the awesome Puppini Sisters

“She Came Along To Me” – Billy Bragg & Wilco – love this album: they sing the songs of Woody Guthrie.

“Llorando” – Rebekah Del Rio. From that scene in Mulholland Drive. You know, that scene from which there is no recovery.

“Time and Tide” – Basia. This makes me think of college, and that is not always a good thing.

“Falling into Place” – the awesome Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers

“Óró, Sé do Bheatha ‘Bhaile” – Sinéad O’Connor. I think this is from her most recent, the album of traditional Irish songs. Thank God that reggae phase didn’t last, Sinéad. I am particularly interested in this song because it is dedicated to one of my ancestors (my sister Jean’s middle name is Grania, named for our pirate ancestor): Gráinne Ní Mháille (or Grania O’Malley). Wrote about the song here.

“We’d Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover” – the Hooverville-ites from Broadway’s Annie

“I Will” – The Beatles. I have a strange memory associated with this song. The Beatles are full of memories like that. The line goes: “sing it loud so I can hear you” – even now, so many years later, when I think of that memory, and think of those lyrics, I feel a stab of faint pain.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” – Mariah Carey. And this, my friends, by a wide margin, is the #1 most-played song on my iPod. Nothing will ever catch up. I have no shame about it. To quote Mitchell, “This is a classic song.” Not sick of it yet. Obviously.

“One After 909” – The Beatles

“Drunken Boat” – The Pogues

“King of the Road” – The Proclaimers

“Your World Turns Upside Down” – Tracy Bonham. She kills me.

“Who’s the Thief?” – the cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream-Coat. “Go, go, go Joseph … to the other window …”

“Do You Wanna Touch Me?” – Joan Jett. Maybe my favorite of hers.

“Sally Dances” – Longpigs. I love this album, but I’ve lost track of them as a band. Should check if they are still around.

“Supernova” – Liz Phair. As a matter of fact, this song always reminds me a lot of the relationship I had with the dude who crawled through my window in the dead of night repeatedly while I was asleep (see here for story). The song describes what was going on there perfectly. Here she is performing it on Letterman, with the pertinent swear bleeped out.

“Gimme Gimme” – Sutton Foster, from Thoroughly Modern Millie

“Yes Yes Yes” – The Raunch Hands. My entire childhood is in this album. My brother can say it better than I can.

“One More Last Chance” – Vince Gill. Kinda dumb, but I like it anyway.

“Airbag” – Radiohead. Boy this album calls up such a specific time. The Soho photographer’s studio I was hanging out at all the time back then, parties, talking, charades, getting no sleep, dancing on the cyclorama until 3, 4 in the morning, falling in love, staying up all night. Radiohead (and this album in particular) calls up that whole manic time.

“Cad É Sin Don Té Sin” – The Cassidys. You’re right. It isn’t anyone’s business.

“The Ball Game” – Wynona Carr. What a voice. Rough and raw and perfect.

“Say Yeah” – Pat McCurdy. There’s more I could say about this song, but I will restrain myself.

“Johnny Allen’s/Sporting Nell” – Billy McComiskey. And here comes the inevitable Irish jig cluster.

“Diamonds and Pearls” – Prince. Beautiful, romantic, sweet, he can do anything.

“Sweet Child o’ Mine” – Guns and Roses. Hell to the yes.

“Under the Influence” – Eminem. He’s such a brat.

“All Night Long” – Eagles (live).

“Báidin Fheilimi” – The Cassidys. I told you! Here come the Irish!

“Cool Change” – Little River Band. I love this song.

“Your Mother Should Know” – The Beatles

“Back to Black” – Amy Winehouse. I was wondering when she would show up. She’s so talented. It’s a shame.

“Maybe This Time” – Kristen Chenoweth (from Glee). She does this last show-offy note which doesn’t go with the theme of the song at all.

“Three Cool Cats” – The Beatles. As you can see, the Beatles are relentless. I love it, though – there is so much of their stuff I don’t “visit” regularly, so I love it when a song like “Three Cool Cats” shows up on shuffle.

“Ease on Down the Road” – Stephanie Mills (and cast) from Broadway production of The Wiz

“Killing Time” – Metallica

“Winter, Fire and Snow” – Katie McMahon, she of the piercing soprano voice from the original Riverdance. This is from her first solo album.

“Happiness” – Elliott Smith. This guy haunts me. I love this album, but still. It’s hard not to think of his horrible end.

“Matchbox” – The Beatles. See what I mean?

“Everlong” – Foo Fighters. This is a live version. I almost like it better because the crowd is so into it, singing along. It’s quieter than the recorded version, acoustic, and so you can hear everyone, the big crowd, singing gently in unison. It’s amazing.

“You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me” – The Miracles. Hands down, one of my favorite songs of all time.

“Truly Scrumptious” – from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Okay, the shuffle has almost been ruined. We’ve been on a pretty good roll so far.

“A Fool For You” – Ray Charles. There is no better makeout music than this.

“The Man Who Sold the World” – Nirvana

“Jessie’s Girl” – Rick Springfield. You know what? The song holds up.

“Misery” – Brendan Benson. I truly believe he is incapable of writing a bad song. I am a huge fan.

“Winds of Morning” – The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Lovely.

“Devil Inside” – INXS. College. College. College.

“Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway” – Billy Joel. You know, I haven’t bought a Billy Joel album in years, but my affection for him remains. This is my favorite of his albums.

“Are You Receiving” – Clint Mansell, from the Moon soundtrack, discussed here

“If I Fell” – The Beatles

“Love in an Elevator” – Aerosmith. Uhm, “love” in an elevator? Really?

“We Can Work It Out” – The Beatles

“Luck In My Eyes” – kd lang. I like her best when she’s country. Other than that, I find her incredibly self-indulgent.

“Mercy” – Alanis Morissette. Alanis, I have no idea what’s going on here, it sounds like you might be covering something from The Lion King, but whatever it is, I like it.

“Beyond the 7th Sky” – Lenny Kravitz. He is so awesome.

“Take It All” – the wonderful Marion Cotillard from the Nine soundtrack

“Plush” – Stone Temple Pilots. You know what, I still like this song. Yes, total time and place, but I do like it.

“A Place to Crash” – Robbie Williams. He’s fearless, campy, what a rock star should be.

“Sweet Baby James” – James Taylor. Sigh.

“In the Bleak Mid-Winter” – Shawn Colvin. Another one from her suicidal Christmas album. “Bleak” is the operative word here.

“Geek Stink Breath” – Green Day. God, I love these guys.

“The Long Black Veil” – Johnny Cash. This album makes the hair on the back of my neck rise up.

“I Want Your Sex” – George Michael. Well, I don’t care if you want it, George, I’m not givin’ it.

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – U2. Live. I’m not sure, I fluctuate, but this might be my favorite of theirs.

“You’ll Be Mine” – The Beatles. Hysterical.

“Fashion Victim” – Green Day. Rockin’.

‘Drama!” – Erasure. Oh God, I forgot about these guys. We were so into them in college. This song is so over the top.

“Coconut” – Harry Nilsson. “Now lemme get this straight …”

“Auld Lang Syne” – John McDermott. Great maudlin Irish voice. It’s a bit much.

“Worlds Apart” – Bruce Springsteen – from his phenomenal album The Rising

“Take It Slow” – Ruth Gerson. Amazing voice, great songwriter. Thanks to Siobhan for introducing me to her music.

“La Vie Boheme” – from Rent. Good music, but you know what, kids? Time to get jobs. It’s not “injustice” that you have to pay rent.

“Isolation” – Beth Hart. Incredible anthem of rage and fear. What a voice. A Janis Joplin voice. Fearless.

“Chattanooga Choo Choo” – Tony Burgos & his Swing Shift Orchestra. Wonderful.

“You’ve Got You” – Eric Hutchinson. Love his voice. Siobhan saw him play at The Knitting Factory shortly after Perez Hilton randomly promoted him (he rocketed to #1 on iTunes in just one day because of that promotion), and Siobhan couldn’t believe what he was like in person. His voice is robust, earthy, and he was this skinny guy in an argyle sweater.

“Museum Song” – Jim Dale as PT Barnum from Barnum. Jean and I can sing this song beginning to end, and if you are familiar with the song you will know that it is quite a challenge.

“The Road” – Tenacious D. They sing “The road is fuckin’ hard …” Guys, relax. You are not the Eagles. LOVE THEM.

“Gold Dust Woman” – Fleetwood Mac. Haunting.

“Give Me the Creeps” – Siobhan O’Malley, my beautiful and talented sister!! Love this song! Her new album is coming out in a couple months and I can’t wait.

“Shameless” – Garth Brooks. Yes. I am shameless.

“Drop the Pilot” – Joan Armatrading. I have Mitchell to thank for introducing me to this amazing songwriter and singer. She was always in constant rotation in college.

“Baby One More Time” – the Glee cast. Of course I buy all the Glee songs, even though cousin Mike (so far) is not represented on any of them.

“It Ain’t Necessarily So” – Bobby Darin. Yum.

“Get Outta My Room” – The Donnas

“The Rain Song” – from 110 in the Shade, which I saw with Audra McDonald.

“Get Over It” – OK Go. I can’t.

‘”World of Trouble” – Lou Rawls. Lou! I’ve been waiting for you! This song is mostly monologue. It’s so brilliant and funny. Love the talk-back from the audience.

“Porte En Arriere” – Emmylou Harris, Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Awesome.

“The Summerhouse” – The Divine Comedy

“Love Shack” – The B-52s. Everyone on the dance floor!

“(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding?” – Elvis Costello. This is up there with one of my favorite songs of all time. And then there is the strangely melancholy and wonderful version of it Bill Murray does in the karaoke bar in Lost in Translation

“In My Life” – Bette Midler. She OWNS this well-known and well-loved song. Makes it her own.

“Dance: Ten, Looks: Three” – Pamela Blair from A Chorus Line. This song was a revelation to me as a kid when I first got into this musical. Tits? She’s singing about her “tits”? Scary!!

“It’s Raining on Prom Night” – Cindy Bullens, from Grease (the movie)

“Take a Chance On Me” – Julie Walters & Stellan Skarsgard, from Mamma Mia. Now that’s not a duo you see often.

“Just In Time” – Dean Martin

“The Revolutionary Costume For Today” – Christine Ebersole, from Grey Gardens. I feel so lucky that I saw her do this.

“Only the Good Die Young” – the cast of Glee. Still no cousin Mike. There is no justice in the world.

“And Your Bird Can Sing” – The Beatles

“Kyle Quit the Band” – Tenacious D. Never stop making music you two. NEVER.

“God Bless the Child” – Lou Rawls and the Les McCann Trio. Smooth as molasses. Gorgeous.

“Be That Way” – Pat McCurdy. As Ann Marie says, “One of his angry minor-chord songs”. I sing a duet with him on this album. Where’s my song, dammit?

“Hot Stuff” – Donna Summer. As grade school children, we loved this album. The cover is hands on a wheel, with money clutched in said hand, prostitutes seen out the front window. I had no idea what any of it meant. I just knew I liked to make up dances to these songs. About whores and doing blow.

“Crimson and Clover” – Dolly Parton. A beautiful cover. A real re-imagining of this song. You would believe that she wrote it. Incredible.

“Am I Blue” – Billie Holiday

“So Bad” – Eminem. This is from his latest album, which is growing on me.

“Heart-Shaped Box” – Nirvana. Intense.

“Act One Finale” – from Urinetown

“Fuck Her Gently” – Tenacious D. So ridiculous. “I will screw you discreetly …”

“Bohemian Rhapsody” – the cast of Glee, sans cousin Mike.

“Science Fiction / Double Feature” – Richard O’Brien, from Rocky Horror Picture Show. LOVE. A song that mentions Claude Rains???

“Mother” – The Police. Yeah, this song is a laugh-riot. It’s like the inside of Anthony Perkins’ mind.

“Colonel Fraser” – Jerry O’Sullivan. Guess what kind of music this is.

“Ten Million Slaves” – Otis Taylor. Awesome guitar.

“Luck Be a Lady” – Frank Sinatra

“Beer Run” – Garth Brooks. Love the guy, no apologies.

“Joga” – Scala & Kolacny Brothers. A female Belgian choir. If you remember the trailer for Social Network, you heard their cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”.

“You Can Bring Your Dog” – Tori Amos. Thanks so much, Tori, but I don’t have a dog.

“Soldier of Love” – The Beatles

“Baby It’s You” – The Shirelles

“Shelf in the Room” – Days of the New. First heard this song at karaoke night in a cold bar out on Block Island. The guy singing it was great, sounded just like this guy.

“Cuz I Can” – Pink. Awesome song. Great for workouts. She’s such a brat.

“Cyanide” – Metallica. I love it when they sing cheerful songs.

“Jackie” – Sinéad O’Connor. Chills.

“Chess Game #1” – London Philharmonic, from the beautiful Chess In Concert album

“Magic” – Pilot. Yay!!

“Naturally” – Huey Lewis and the News. Yay, again. My first concert was going to see Huey Lewis at the Civic Center in Providence Rhode Island. Years later, I would be in one of his videos with my friend Ann Marie. We danced on scaffolds around Huey and his band, a la American Bandstand. (Picture of us in our American Bandstand garb in this post here). I have never seen the video, though. I’ve looked for it.

“Crying in the Rain” – The Everly Brothers

“Small Batch o’ Nod” – Freddie Stack

“Silent Night” – Jane Siberry, from her incredible INCREDIBLE Christmas show at the old Bottom Line. Get it if you don’t have it. It’s absolutely magical.

“Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” – Julie Andrews from My Fair Lady

“Danny Boy” – The Irish Tenors. It gets a bit tiresome after a while.

“Beautiful” – Amber Riley from Glee. I remember this number. It was very well done and emotional.

“Here Comes the Snake” – Cherry Poppin’ Daddies

“Confusion” – ELO. I was hoping they would make an appearance. Love them more than words can say.

“Get Back” – The Beatles

“Express” – Christina Aguilera from the Burlesque soundtrack. This is the kind of music she should be doing. It’s a great soundtrack. They both (Cher and Christina) sound incredible on it. Haven’t seen the movie yet. Dying to.

“Lost Count” – Ebba Forsberg. What happened to her? I love this album.

“Killing the Blues” – Robert Plant & Allison Krauss. Love every moment of this great album. Mitchell read somewhere that one of the reasons Plant wanted to do it was because it gave him the opportunity to sing the harmony-line as opposed to the melody-line, and he had never done that in his long career. I love that. He knew he needed to challenge himself. So when I hear him take the harmony-line, I smile, happy for him.

“I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” – The Soggy Bottom Boys

“Muddy Water” – Huck and Jim from the Broadway musical Big River.

“Middle of the Night” – The Clovers

“What Kind of Woman” – Marin Mazzie (she’s so awesome), from Ragtime, the Broadway musical

“Hailie’s Song” – Eminem. I love this, because he sings so much in it.

“Stars and Planets” – Liz Phair. This song got me through some rough months.

“Great Balls of Fire” – Jerry Lee Lewis. Okay, this shuffle is getting hysterically weird.

“Keep Holding On” – the cast of Glee. Lovely.

“I’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without You” – Elvis Presley. That soprano in the background cracks me up.

“Do Somethin'” – Britney Spears. This is pretty hot, I won’t lie.

“Wake Me Up When September Ends” – Green Day. Heartcrack, and I still am surprised every time I hear the drums come in.

“Voyeur” – Cliff Eberhardt. I’ve written about him before. This album is almost too associative for me to listen to it. My first boyfriend and I discovered Eberhardt together. Then we broke up and Eberhardt became too painful for me to listen to for YEARS. And you know what? There are still echoes. Muscle memory.

“Mama” – My Chemical Romance. Boys, I want you to take a deep breath and relax. Mkay?

“Drum Boogie” – Gene Krupa. Hooray! Always makes me think of Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire.

“All of Me” – Michael Bublé. I do like some of his arrangements. He strikes me as a bit of a tool, but I like him anyway.

“Gas Panic” – Oasis

“Hag” – The Breeders. I listened to the cassette tape of this album so much that it literally fell to pieces in my hands and I had to buy another copy.

“Eyesight to the Blind” – The Who (from Tommy)

“Stranded in a Limousine” – Paul Simon. This was one of those albums my parents owned, so I grew up listening to it. I found this song frightening. Who was this “mean individual”?

“Kyrié Eléison” – Sinéad O’Connor

“Hot N Cold” – Katy Perry. Not sure about this one, Katy.

“Deck the Rooftop” – the Glee cast. Wow, they’re showing up a lot, aren’t they?

“Relax” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Even with the explicit lyrics, even with the video showing FIRE HOSES exploding with water onto the crowd, I did not understand this song as a teenager. I assumed they meant “relax” like, you know, just chill out. And “when you want to come” … I wasn’t sure what that meant, and didn’t really think about it. Maybe “when you want to come (over)” is what they meant. Yeah, that’s right.

“Bombay” – Timbaland

“Come Rain or Come Shine” – Eric Clapton and BB King

“Oh, It Is Love” – Hellogoodbye. This song is all wrapped up in 2007 for me. I listened to it constantly. It is a song of great hope for me. Hence, rather painful at times.

“Even Flow” – Pearl Jam

“King of Swing” – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

“Aurore” – Scala & Kolacny Brothers

“Don’t Ever Change” – The Beatles. “Your kisses let me know you’re not a tomboy …” Ha.

“Stuck To You” – Hellogoodbye. More goodness from them. This whole album is good.

“This Is Mine” – Lucy Kaplansky. She’s so good, I’ve seen her live a bunch of times.

“My Boyfriend’s Back” – The Angels

“Kiss This Thing Goodbye” – Del Amitri

“Minstrel Boy” – The Irish Tenors. Oh for God’s sake.

“Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” – Foo Fighters. Amazing strumming.

“Get Into the Groove” – Madonna. Before she had a British accent and got all snooty.

“One Vision” – Queen. God, I love them.

“Johnny B. Goode” – The Beatles. They are omnipresent, as you can see. And I uploaded all of my discs – this was before the amazing announcement that the Beatles were finally going to be on iTunes.

“Good Boys” – Yipes! (Pat McCurdy’s old band)

“Over at the Frankenstein Place” – Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon and Richard O’Brien, Rocky Horror

“Mr. Blue Sky” – ELO. Oh God, this SONG.

“Not Afraid” – Eminem. An anthem.

“You Want to Lose Your Only Friend” – the incredible Judy Kuhn (what a voice) and Philip Casnoff in the Broadway production of Chess

“I Ain’t Movin'” – Des’ree. You know what? She’s amazing. One-hit wonder? Perhaps. But the whole album is good.

“When I’m Sixty-Four” – The Beatles. I love when they really play up their Britishness.

“Rocky Road to Dublin” – The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Fierce.

“Powerman” – The Kinks

“To Know Him is to Love Him” – Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt. Incredible album (Trio). I wish they would do more. We were obsessed with this album in college.

“Rent” – opening number of Rent. Again, kids: it’s not totally unfair that you have to pay rent. Grow up.

“John Henry” – Bob Gibson. I know there are so many versions of “John Henry”, but I grew up listening to this one. The song haunted me as a child.

“Jerkin’ Back and Forth” – Devo. High school. High school. High school. They’re still cool to me.

“In My Head” – No Doubt

“Reilly’s Daughter” – The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem – this is from the Carnegie Hall album. The way they whoop as they play … it sounds like a war cry. Also, the whole audience clapping in unison, on cue? Heartcrack. Everyone knows the song.

“You’re Nobody Til Somebody Loves You” – Frank Sinatra

“Break of Dawn” – Stevie Wonder

“Hitchin’ a Ride” – Green Day

“I Only Want To Be With You” – Bay City Rollers. No excuse.

“Mr. Brightside” – The Killers

“Too Many People” – Paul McCartney. Fantastic. This is a truly bizarre and brilliant album.

“Star of Wonder” – Tori Amos. I don’t know, Tori. I want to like it, but I am a bit tired.

“And She Was” – Talking Heads

“Under the Tracks” – Creeper Lagoon. I love this song. It doesn’t re-invent the wheel, but it’s adorable and catchy.

“Come On Home” – Franz Ferdinand

“Andy Warhol” – David Bowie

“Ripper’s Sole” – Stomp. This is from the 100% awesome Tank Girl soundtrack.

“Time” – Malcolm Gets, again from this weird and wonderful music A New Brain. Thank you, Mitchell, for turning me onto it.

“Forget About the Boy” – Sutton Foster and cast, in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Here they are performing the number on the Tony awards. Exciting.

“Don’t Wanna Talk” – Brendan Benson. God. CATCHY.

“Hello Little Girl” – The Beatles. “When I see you every day, I say ‘Mm-mm’ …” Sexual harassment lives. And it’s glorious.

“The More I See” – Metallica. Hard and fast, just like I like it.

“The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)” – Duran Duran. Absolutely preposterous.

“Thank God I’m Old” – one of the best numbers from the Broadway show Barnum – this is Terri White. She’s amazing. I saw this on Broadway, with Tony Orlando (yes, that Tony Orlando) in the lead role. He was fantastic. FANTASTIC. When he walked across the stage, on a wire, with no net – and the audience hovered, nervously, afraid to clap until he was safely on the other side – it was one of the most brazen displays of courage I have seen onstage. This is TONY ORLANDO we’re talking about. So Tony, wherever you are out there, I saw you as PT Barnum when I was a kid and thought you were incredible.

“The Honeymoon Sing” – The Beatles. Okay, boys, maybe it’s getting to be a bit much now.

“The Sidestep” – Charles Durning, from Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

“No One Knows” – Queens of the Stone Age. It always gets me going.

“Welcome to Burlesque” – Cher. This is close to “Dark Lady” level of awesome.

“Fuck You” – Cee Lo Green. Can’t stop listening to this song. My favorite part of it is the lyrics “I’m like …” It’s so conversational. “I’m like, ‘fuck you’!” And Miss Gwyneth kicked some butt with it on Glee.

“Anna (Go to Him)” – The Beatles. Starting to feel harassed now. No, just kidding. I love how often they always show up.

“It’s Only Love” – The Beatles. Hm.

“Nothin’ Will Ever Change” – the anthem-prone L.E.O. A band made up of Bleu and Mike Viola. Obviously nodding to ELO in the title. I love this album.

“Chet Baker’s Unsung Swan Song” – David Wilcox

“Bring It On” – Seal

“Let It Will Be” – Madonna. She is snooty and British now, apparently, but I do like this album.

“The Happiest Days of our Lives” – Pink Floyd

“20th Century Boy” – Placebo

“Jeepster” – T Rex

“Count Grassi’s Passage Over Piedmont” – The Divine Comedy

“You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)” – The Beatles. I have accepted my fate. It is useless to resist.

“At the Zoo” – Simon & Garfunkel

“Pale Green Stars” – Everclear

“Well Did You Evah” – Deborah Harry & Iggy Pop doing the Cole Porter song, for the wonderful Red Hot + Blue album way back in the day. I believe the proceeds went to AIDS research. This was in the early days of AIDS. It’s a Cole Porter tribute album, and … if you haven’t heard it, it’s really worth it to check it out.

“To Know Her Is To Love Her” – The Beatles

“The Girl With the Weight of the World In Her Hands” – Indigo Girls. I actually can’t listen to this song. I skipped over it, but my honesty forces me to list it here.

“Blitzkrieg” – Metallica. In the Beatles onslaught, have I mentioned how much I love these guys?

“To Know Him Is To Love Him” – Amy Winehouse. Okay, that’s weird. She’s so soulful, so good. Again, what a shame.

“Tempted” – Squeeze. College.

“Jennifer” – The Eurythmics. This song is terrifying.

“Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds” – The Beatles. Who else?

“Obviously Five Believers” – Bob Dylan. Rockin’.

“Dreamgirls” – from the movie Dreamgirls: Anika Noni Rose, Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson

“Daddy I’m Fine” – Sinéad O’Connor. Love it.

“Where Did You Sleep Last Night” – Nirvana. This all is rather ominous.

“Make Me” – L.E.O. This song kills!

“Ride” – Liz Phair. My soul sister.

“God Won’t Get You” – Dolly Parton. She’s so passionate, so original, so American. Love her so much.

“It’s Only Make Believe” – Conway Twitty

“Espionage” – Green Day

“I Know Someday God’s Gonna Call Me” – Wynona Carr. She’s so good. She died in obscurity. Check her out if you are not already aware of her. She’s amazing.

“The Riviera” – big production number from original Broadway production of The Boyfriend

“I’ve Had the Time Of My Life” – the cast of Glee (very nice arrangement)

“Besame Mucho” – The Beatles

“Kashmir” – Led Zeppelin. This song scares me. I feel like I will lose myself in it. I will break apart.

“Make You Feel My Love” – Bob Dylan. Ouch.

“You Talk Too Much” – Joe Jones. Adore this song.

“I Want To Belong To You” – Katie Herzig. A gift from cousin Mike. It’s all connected to my script.

“Give Back My Heart” – Lyle Lovett. I saw him open for Rickie Lee Jones.

“Rodeo” – Garth Brooks. Ridiculous, I know. But a good song.

“Legion of the Rearguard” – The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. You hear a song like this and you can see why they inspired an entire generation of folk singers.

“Tear Me Down” – John Cameron Mitchell in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I think I saw this three times.

“Irish Heartbeat” – Van Morrison & The Chieftains

“Love Me Do” – The Beatles

“Livin’ On a Prayer” – Bon Jovi

“Lose That Long Face” – Judy Garland

“Everybody In This Town Is Drunk” – Pat McCurdy. He wrote this after performing at the Milwaukee Summer Fest one night, and on his way home he thought to himself, “Everybody in this town is drunk tonight.”

“Blue Jay Way” – Secret Machines cover the (what else) Beatles song

“Sk8er Boi” – Avril Lavigne. Wow, she was a flash in the pan, wasn’t she? But I do like this song.

“Don’t Go” – Yaz

“Mecca Flat Blues” – Albert Ammons, good piano boogie-woogie, scratchy recording. Awesome.

“Dark Lady” – Cher. Speaking of “Dark Lady” as I was! Insanely stupid song, and also quite brilliant.

“Her Mantle So Green” – Sinéad O’Connor

“All Along the Watchtower” – Jimi Hendrix

“Everybody Loves Me, Baby” – Don McLean. My whole childhood is in this album. In kindergarten, on “show and tell day”, other kids brought in their pet gerbils or their Barbies. I recited “American Pie” in its entirety.

“Seven Bridges Road” – The Eagles

“Speechless” – Lady Gaga. She sings the shit out of this song.

“Give Up All Desires / Hail Mary / Roll Call” – from the Broadway revival of Hair

“She Wouldn’t Be Gone” – Blake Shelton

“I’m Not That Girl” – Idina Menzel as Elpheba, in Wicked

“You Really Got a Hold On Me” – The Beatles

“Show Me How You Burlesque” – Christina Aguilera. No.

“Picture” – Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow

“Manhattan” – Kings of Leon. Boy can sing, man.

“This Hard Land” – Bruce Springsteen. Weird: the Kings of Leon guy reminds me of Bruce.

“She Still Loves Him” – Jellyfish. Terrific song. I love them. Jellyfish is a total time-machine for me.

“Let It Be” – The Beatles. Wow. I guess I have a lot of Beatles, huh?

“Mrs. Robinson” – Simon & Garfunkel

“Go” – Bleu. This guy is the best thing going right now.

“Hey, Hey, Hey” – Stevie Wonder. Sheer liquid joy, this man.

“Fifteen Minute Intermission” – Cab Calloway. I love all the guys singing in unison. Swingin’!

“Dig My Grave” – Chaim Tennenbaum, Lily Lanken, Kate & Anna McGarrigle

“Roi” – The Breeders

“Somebody’s Miracle” – Liz Phair. Another song that got me through some rough spots. And people bitch that she “sold out” with this album. God forbid she try to make some money or get a wider audience. I’ll buy whatever this girl makes. Her latest album is, so far, QUITE perplexing to me … but that’s her right. It’s her art. I’m the fan, she’s the artist. What I’m trying to say is her “loyal” fans bitch about this album in particular and I think it’s stupid, frankly. I love this album.

“Whirlpool” – Seal. Years and years ago, slow dancing to this song, with my ex-boyfriend (he’s the nerd in these pictures) in his apartment in Boston at 6 in the morning. It wasn’t really a romantic mushy slow-dance, we were more swinging with it, laughing and a little bit giddy and sleep-deprived. We hadn’t been involved for years, and I had been dating someone else for 4 years, something like that, and I was in the process of breaking up with that person. It was a bad breakup. But the ex-boyfriend and I re-connected for one crazy magical night in the middle of that awful time, and through some strange alchemy, that night (where all we did was meet up in Boston and have some drinks and then talk and smooch all night) catapulted me into the next phase of my life. It leap-frogged me over the SHIT into possibility. I had been living in LA and I was miserable. I promptly moved to Chicago a month after the night in Boston, I stopped having a nervous breakdown almost overnight, and I was fine, dating from that night with that ex-boyfriend. We woke up at dawn, or maybe we never even slept, that sounds more likely, and my flight back to LA was at 8:30 a.m. or something ungodly like that. We had coffee, and blasted Seal, and danced in his living room. Then I left and I never spoke to him again. This was before email/Facebook. When you said goodbye to someone like that, you were really saying goodbye. And that was okay. I will always be grateful to him for that night, and I always think of him when I hear this Seal album.

“Something” – The Beatles

“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” – Joe Hurley, my buddy

“I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” – Dean Martin

“Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song)” – Fiona Apple. Dad loved her.

“Mockingbird Girl” – Magnificent Bastards

“Live with Jesus” – Wynonna Judd

“Vine Street Bustle” – Pete Johnson. Roll back the rugs, let’s dance.

“West Point” – the lovely Jonatha Brooke. Every song on this album is about 2 minutes too long, it’s very over-produced, but she’s a wonderful songwriter.

“The Train Kept Rollin'” – Johnny Burnette & The Rock and Roll Trio

“No Leaf Clover” – Metallica, crazy, orchestral – this is the live album they did with the San Francisco Symphony

“Jerkwater Country” – Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers

“Barracuda” – Heart

“God Is On the Radio” – Queens of the Stone Age

“Need You Tonight” – INXS. No, hon, you don’t “need me tonight”. You don’t need to have sex every night. Read a book. Go for a walk. Believe me, you’ll thank me later.

“You Know How I Feel” – Nina Simone. She just kills me. She’s sometimes too intense for me to deal with.

“Cool Jerk” – The Go-Go’s

“Soul Free” – George Michael

“Bill” – Audra McDonald. One of my favorite songs from a musical. Thank you, PG Wodehouse.

“Frantic Boogie” – Jack McVea. Can you tell I like random piano boogie-woogie albums?

“Peace Like a River” – Paul Simon

“The Sadder But Wiser Girl’ – Robert Preston in The Music Man. I know just what you’re saying, man, and I sympathize.

“Save Me” – Marc Broussard

“Requiem, K. 626, Lacrymosa” – Mozart

“Jerry” – Sonya Kitchell

“Amie” – Pure Prairie League

“What To Do With Michael” – Mike Viola. Love the song. It gives me hope, but it also makes me wonder if I’ll ever get there. It seems so far away.

“The Wind That Shakes the Barley” – The Chieftains

“To the Pirates’ Cave” – Klaus Badelt, the ridiculously fun Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack

“Fack” – Eminem. Ew, Marshall. Get it together.

“Meant to Be” – Squirrel Nut Zippers

“Pack, Shack and Stack” – Billy Nelson and The Five Wings

“Through a Long and Sleepless Night” – Bobby Darin

“I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water” – Lou Rawls

“Sugaree” – Rusty York. Just hot. That’s all.

“Boogie Woogie Blues” – Jimmy Blythe

“I’m Only Sleeping” – The Vines covering The Beatles song

“Highway 57” – the opening number from the Broadway show Pump Boys and Dinettes

“I Will Love Again” – Lara Fabian

“Blood Brothers” – Bruce Springsteen

“That’s The Way Love Is” – The Cox Family. Great album.

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – the cast of Glee

“Someone To Watch Over Me” – Melissa Manchester. What a voice.

“Clarabella” – The Beatles. I’ve missed you guys!

“Johnny Sunshine” – Liz Phair

“Rocky Mountain High” – John Denver. I forgot I had this on here!

“Everybody” – Backstreet Boys.

And because this is a symmetrical place to stop, I will stop. But the shuffle goes on.