Stuck In Our Heads - Beta Version

Last week, I sent the following e-mail message to my favorite person in all the world:

Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007 14:02:01 -0500

Subject: New Music Monday

So, I have found myself in a mild musical renaiassance lately. Through a variety of methods, I have gradually been introducing myself to some stuff which, if I ever heard of it before, I certainly had not invested any time getting to know. There's no great surprise there; my musical development is almost defined by lengthy periods of stagnation punctuated by occasional bursts of extensive exploration. (Ask me about the seven-year stretch when I listened to nothing but Pink Floyd.)

I thought perhaps I should energize this burst of exploration by stealing an idea from a friend who recently put together a CD-length musical compendium for a small group of people by asking them to answer a short series of questions, and drawing the playlist from their responses. Me? I'm not planning on putting together a CD for us to enjoy, but I am hoping perhaps your responses to the following two questions will point me down some new musical paths to walk for a while to see what I might be missing out there. I expect your responses will also lead me to decide whether or not I ever really liked you.

1 - What is your favorite song?
2 - What is the last song that got stuck in your head? Or, the last song you felt compelled to listen to again and again for hours or days at a time?

Many thanks for your help in informing my musical journey, and thank you thank you thank you for always being my favorite.

Much love,
Eq

--

"To be a good friend, a jolly man, a good boozer, to me, that spells honor and glory." - Francois Rabelais

I know Question #1 is a bullshit question. I knew that before I asked it. As noted in many of the responses I received, any answer to that question is subject to change over time, mood, situation, and - in one of the more passionate objections - footwear. As you may divine from the rest of my message, I am feeling my way along this process. I knew I wanted to pose a question that would elicit a strong response from the questioned, and I knew that question would elicit such a response. Of course, I had further hoped part of that response would be a song title and not just an attack of the question and - more often than I would care to admit - the questioner, but let's not dwell on missteps.

I am not going to post the suggestions I received in answer to Question #1. I know there are a lot of people with a lot invested in the question of favorite songs. I think posting that list will invite - indeed, demand - dramatic clashing of opinions. Frankly, I have no interest in hearing such drama, much less having a hand in it.

Besides, the responses I got to Question #2, in addition to being inherently circumstantial and, therefore, less controversial, are infinitely more interesting. Based on accompanying anecdotes, I think there are basically two classes of answers to Question #2: 1) Songs that got stuck in your head in a good way because they're damned good songs, and 2) Songs that got stuck in your head in a bad way because you cannot, in the name of all that is holy, banish them from your head. I have not yet listened to all of these songs, much less used this as a playlist to listen to all of them as a group, but I am fascinated by the idea of listening to songs that have recently been stuck in my friends' heads. It's like I'm trying for myself the oh-so-good songs that have already been auditioned for me while simultaneously daring the painfully-persistent songs to try to get stuck in my head. It's like a treasure hunt, musical thrill-seeking.

I like the idea so much, in fact, I think I am going to make this a monthly routine. On the first Monday of each month, I am going to send out an e-mail request similar to the one above; however, Question #1 will be "What is the song that most recently got stuck in your head because it is such a damned good song that you just couldn't get enough of it?" and Question #2 will be "What is the song that most recently got stuck in your head and, no matter how hard you tried or how impassionedly you bargained with your Higher Being, you could not shake it?" I will then spend the week compiling any responses and post them here for all to see. I am also hoping to acquire as many of the songs on that list as possible and then spend some time listening to the resulting playlist throughout the month.

(As a sidenote, this line of thought has brought me to a possible breakthrough in my heretofore unresolved feelings toward iPod-brand MP3 players and others of that ilk. In order to make this Stuck In Our Heads playlist idea a reality, I may finally have discovered for myself a use for such a device.)

The inaugural Stuck In Our Heads playlist is below. I apologize for the lack of formatting. I will try to come up with something a little more useful in the future. I further apologize for the awkward sorting by artist first name and, in many cases, by "The." It was an unfortunate short-sightedness that guided me as I was compiling this month's list, and I don't feel like fixing it today. Finally, I think better defined guidelines will result in an even more robust cross-section in coming months.

And, lest you think I'm strictly a scavenger in this process, my answer to Question #2 is also included below.


Title - Artist
Talisman - Air
Funny How Time Slips Away - Al Green & Lyle Lovett
You're the Biggest Part of Me - Ambrosia
Hesitation Blues - Asylum Street Spankers
The Funeral - Band of Horses
Copacabana - Barry Manilow
Electric Music and the Summer People - Beck
Elephant Gun - Beirut
Mount Wroclai - Beirut
The Gulag Orkestar - Beirut
Two Hands of a Prayer - Ben Harper
Juicy - Better Than Ezra
Irreplaceable - Beyonce Knowles
Kick My Ass - Big and Rich
Like Castanets - Bishop Allen
Tornado - Black Crowes
This Modern Love - Bloc Party
Into the Water - Blue October
Train of Love - Bob Dylan
Buffalo Soldier - Bob Marley
Angel from Montgomery - Bonnie Raitt
Bowl of Oranges - Bright Eyes
Swingin' on a Star - Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello
Circumstance - Buju Banton
Cruel - Calexico
Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken - Camera Obscura
Ridin' - Chamillionaire
Where the Boys Are - Connie Francis
Nine Crimes - Damian Rice
Life on Mars - David Bowie
Transatlantism - Death Cab for Cutie
Tell Me - Diddy feat. Xtine Aguilera
Not Ready to Make Nice - Dixie Chicks
New York Minute - Don Henley
I Believe in You - Don Williams
A Song for You - Donnie Hathaway
Breakfast in Bed - Dusty Springfield
September - Earth, Wind & Fire
Fake Your Way to the Top - Eddie Murphy
My Girl Wants to Party All the Time - Eddie Murphy
Sunday Kind of Love - Ella Fitzgerald
Mushaboom - Feist
Fergalicious - Fergie
Breathe In - Frou Frou
See the World - Gomez
Chicago - Groove Armada
Madder - Groove Armada
Superstylin - Groove Armada
The Warning - Hot Chip
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Constellation - Jack Johnson
La flaca - Jarabe de Palo
99 Problems - Jay-Z
Big Pimpin' - Jay-Z
Shade and the Black Hat - Jeremy Enigk
Eternal Flame - Joan as Policewoman
Feed the Light - Joan as Policewoman
Game of Life - Joan as Policewoman
My Gurl - Joan as Policewoman
The Ride - Joan as Policewoman
Peach, Plum, Pear - Joanna Newsom
Sprout and Bean - Joanna Newsom
The Book of Right-on - Joanna Newsom
Ordinary People - John Legend
Stereo - John Legend
1983 - John Mayer
California - Joni Mitchell
River - Joni Mitchell
The Last Time I Saw Richard - Joni Mitchell
A Case of You - Joni Mitchell
What Goes Around...Comes Around - Justin Timberlake
SexyBack - Justin Timberlake
Dick in a Box - Justin Timberlake & Adam Samberg
Back That Azz Up - Juvenile
Shoot the Runner - Kasabian
Grave - Kate Havenik
Cadillac - Keller Williams
Why Me - Kris Kristofferson
Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem
Smile - Lily Allen
Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynrd
Lay Lady Lay - Magnet featuring Gemma Hayes
Silver Thunderbird - Marc Cohn
Born to Be Adored - Momus
Menomena - Muppets
Awnaw - Nappy Roots
Carry On Tradition - Nas
I Hear Them All - Old Crow Medicine Show
Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show
Oh, Boys - Onelinedrawing
Acid Raindrops - People Under the Stairs
The District Sleeps Alone - Postal Service
Nothing Better - Postal Service
Ignition (Remix) - R. Kelly
Run - Ratatat
Round and Round - Ratt
1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Reckless Kelly
Buildings - Regina Spektor
Fidelity - Regina Spektor
No One - Regina Spektor
On the Radio - Regina Spektor
Feel - Robbie Williams
Gay Messiah - Rufus Wainwright
Go or Go Ahead - Rufus Wainwright
Harvester of Hearts - Rufus Wainwright
Change Can Do You Good - Sheryl Crow
The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkel
One More Hour - Sleater-Kinney
Daydream - Smashing Pumpkins
Your Ex-Love In Dead - Stars
Copperhead Road - Steve Earle
Let's Give a Party - Steve Goodman
Golden Brown - Stranglers
John Wayne Gacy - Sufjan Stevens
San Diego Zoo - The 6ths
The Sporting Life - The Decemberists
Heartbeats - The Knife
Kissing the Lipless - The Shins
Born in the Water - The Tragically Hip
Roosevelt and Ira Lee - Tony Joe White
White Rhino - Trans Am
Bang a Gong - T-Rex
Candy Cane Crawl - Twilight Singers
After Hours - Velvet Underground
Emotional Rollercoaster - Vivian Green
Push the Little Daisies - Ween
Buddy Holly - Weezer
White & Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
California Stars - Wilco
Know How - Young MC

Enjoy.