Songs By Noteworthy New Zealanders

Okay, so here's a post that I manufactured for the express purpose of having an excuse to post the second song in this list, with which I am currently obsessed. That being said, I discovered several heretofore unknown-to-me singers here and was pleasantly surprised to find that a couple of singers I was already familiar with just happened to hail from New Zealand. So, yeah...enjoy them!  ~  JH

1)  Elliot Brown  ~  "Shiloh"

2)  Lorde  ~  "Royals"

3)  Glenn Aitken  ~  "Ordinary People"

4)  Brooke Fraser  ~  "Something In The Water"

5)  Vince Harder  ~  "Far From Here"

6)  Flip Grater  ~  "Ring Around The Rosie"

7)  Lakyn Heperi  ~  "Are You There"

8)  Ladyhawke  ~  "Blue Eyes"

9)  Matt Joe Gow  ~  "Come What May"

10)  Kimbra  ~  "Cameo Lover"

11)  Princess Chelsea  ~  "The Cigarette Duet"

12)  Stan Walker  ~  "Take It Easy"

13)  Gin Wigmore  ~  "Man Like That"

14)  Anna Coddington  ~  "Bird In Hand"

Onomatopoeia Songs

Merriam Webster defines onomatopoeia as "the creation of words that imitate natural sounds," or "the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it," or "the use of words whose sound suggests the sense." Common examples include "buzz," "hiss," or "hiccup." All the songs in this collection contain at least one word of onomatopoeia in their titles. I've highlighted the word (or words) in italics in the the title of each song. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Dave Matthews Band  ~  "Crash Into Me"

2)  The Black Eyed Peas  ~  "Boom Boom Pow"

3)  Architecture In Helsinki  ~  "That Beep"

4)  R.E.M.  ~  "Bang And Blame"

5)  Katy Perry  ~  "Roar"

6)  LL Cool J  ~  "Mama Said Knock You Out"

7)  Dionne Bromfield ft. Mz Bratt  ~  "Ouch"

8)  Beyoncé  ~  "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"

9)  Ludacris  ~  "Slap"  (I think we all have days where we feel like slapping somebody – Ludacris wrote a whole song about it)

10)  Devo  ~  "Whip It"

Songs By Musicians Who Died In Plane Crashes

Morbid theme, I know, but whatever. It interests me, and hopefully it will interest you as well. I gave some details about the incidents involving these artists' deaths whenever I felt like it. As for the rest, if you want to know more, Google it!  Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Buddy Holly  ~  "Peggy Sue"  (Known as "The Day The Music Died," the crash which killed Holly also took the lives of fellow rock-and-rollers The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens – see below)

2)  The Big Bopper  ~  "Chantilly Lace"

3)  Ritchie Valens  ~  "Come On, Let's Go"

4)  Patsy Cline  ~  "I Fall To Pieces"

5)  Otis Redding  ~  "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay)"

6)  The Bar-Kays ft. Otis Redding  ~  "Try A Little Tenderness"  (This performance was filmed just days before the crash which killed 4 members of The Bar-Kays and Otis Redding – the band's trumpeter and their bassist [who was aboard a different plane] survived)

7)  Jim Croce  ~  "Operator"

8)  Lynyrd Skynyrd  ~  "Free Bird"  (Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines – all of whom can be seen here – passed away in the crash)

9)  Ricky Nelson  ~  "Travelin' Man"

10)  John Denver  ~  "Leaving On A Jet Plane"  (It wasn't a jet plane that killed Denver, but a single-engine plane that he himself was piloting)

11)  Aaliyah  ~  "One In A Million"

12)  Chase  ~  "Open Up Wide"  (Crash killed bandleader Bill Chase and 3 other band members)

13)  Jenni Rivera  ~  "Por Que No Le Calas"  (Rivera is the latest "member" of this dubious "club")

14)  Stevie Ray Vaughan  ~  "Texas Flood"  (Vaughan actually died in a helicopter crash, but still…)

15)  Keith Green  ~  "I Can't Wait To Get To Heaven"

16)  Randy Rhoads  ~  "Paranoid"  (Rhoads was Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist on this song; he also played with Quiet Riot)

Songs By Blind Musicians

I am constantly amazed by people with physical disabilities who are able to transcend their disability and create beautiful things. The majority of the visually impaired folks in this collection have already sung and played their way to stardom, and in several cases, superstardom – and one up-and-comer here has a very promising future in the music industry. Enjoy!  ~  JH



1)  Ray Charles  ~  "I Can't Stop Loving You"

2)  Ginny Owens  ~  "If You Want Me To"

3)  Andrea Bocelli ft. Sarah Brightman  ~  "Time To Say Goodbye"

4)  Terri Gibbs  ~  "Somebody's Knockin'"

5)  Ronnie Milsap  ~  "Smoky Mountain Rain"

6)  Stevie Wonder   ~  "I Just Called To Say I Love You"

7)  Doc Watson  ~  "Deep River Blues"

8)  Clarence Carter  ~  "Slip Away"

9)  The Jeff Healey Band  ~  "Angel Eyes"

10)  Jose Feliciano  ~  "Feliz Navidad"  (I know it's not Christmas yet, but this is one of Feliciano's most well-known songs)

11)  The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama  ~  "Too Close To Heaven"

Video wouldn't load properly – click link to view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5OnA6JOacE

12)  Heather Hutchison  ~  "I Can't Make You Love Me"

"Found" Songs

As promised the other day, here's the second (and final) installment of my "Lost" and "Found" miniseries of "Opposites" music posts. Hope you'll enjoy these as much as you did the last ones. Or even more, if you hated those.  ~  JH

1)  Delerium ft. Jael  ~  "Lost And Found"

2)  Lindsey Stirling ft. Alisha Popat  ~  "We Found Love"  (Nice cover of a Rihanna song – BTW, Lindsey's the violinist, Alisha's the vocalist)

3)  The Fray  ~  "You Found Me"

4)  The Wanted  ~  "I Found You"  (I don't really understand the parental advisory here – there's a fight scene and some kissing, but it's far from rated R)

5)  Sia  ~  "Soon We'll Be Found"

6)  Sade  ~  "Love Is Found"

7)  U2  ~  "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

8)  Mariah Carey, Joe, & 98 Degrees  ~  "Thank God I Found You"

9)  Gin Blossoms  ~  "Found Out About You"

10)  Terri Clark  ~  "Now That I Found You"

11)  Saigon ft. Lecrae & Corbett  ~  "Best Thing That I Found"

12)  MYHRE ft. Saima Iren Mian  ~  "Love We Found"

13)  Ashford & Simpson  ~  "Found A Cure"

14)  Honor By August  ~  "Found"

15)  Cher  ~  "I Found Someone"

Stories # 62 - 65: "Stopping Mid-Sentence," "Underwear Is For Sissies!", "Mostly Dead," & "It Hits The Fan"

For those of you who may have forgotten, I actually occasionally write stories and post them here. I know it's been mostly music posts for awhile now, but that's all I've had time for. Recently, I wrote these 4 extremely short pieces which I hope you'll enjoy. If you don't enjoy them, please don't tell me. I'd rather not know. If you liked any one of them, please let me know. It's encouraging, ya know? Here goes nothing...  ~  JH



STOPPING MID-SENTENCE

I was convicted in a court of law by a jury of my peers for – well,  you don't need to know why. I was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of – I can't even say the word. The thing is, I'm innocent of the – but then everyone says that, don't they? But they'll see, they'll find out they were – I don't even think "wrong" is the appropriate word. I'll never give up hope that one day – that's a laugh, isn't it? The law may say I'll  never get out of – but what do they know, they're the ones that put me in here in the first place! The evidence will surface, sooner or – how much time will have elapsed in the interim? I'm so weary of –


UNDERWEAR IS FOR SISSIES!

I'm not wearing underwear today, and you can't make me! Who do you think you are, anyway? You're not the boss of me, you just act like you are! Besides, underwear is for sissies! I'm not a sissy, I'm a big boy! I don't care if you tell Mommy or not. She can't make me wear 'em either! And if she does make me wear 'em, I'll just take 'em off as soon as I get to daycare. I'll show her. I'll show all of you! My name is Captain Commando! I can do whatever I want. I'm three years old!



MOSTLY DEAD

I can feel my pulse and hear my labored breathing. I'm thinking, so my brain must still be functioning. I can't move my arms or my legs. It's soft underneath me, but maybe that's just the blood pooling up to form a cushion. (Is that even possible?) I don't know what's happened, but I know it isn't good. If only I could remember five minutes ago. Or five hours, or five years. Five seconds ago, I opened my eyes to this. The sky above, my lifeblood beneath. If I manage to get out of here alive, I'll be extremely surprised. And more than a bit relieved.



IT HITS THE FAN

The count is 0 and 1. Wilkinson is hitting just .246 with runners in scoring position this season. Here's the pitch. A ball inside, it's 1 and 1. Tied ballgame, bottom half of the 9th inning, Walt Wilkinson at the plate, runners are at the corners. The pitch. He swings and fouls it off down the first base side. Looks like a souvenir for some lucky fan. Oh, and it hits the fan! Oh my goodness, that was ugly! I hope that gentleman is all right. Oh, wait! Is that his eyeball? No, it can't – oh my goodness, the baseball must have hit the fan squarely in the face, and it appears, folks, that the gentleman's eyeball is hanging from its socket. Can we see that on instant replay, guys? Okay, I'm told they're working on that. Try to slow it down frame-by-frame, guys. My, my, my! Our thoughts and prayers go out to that young man and his dangling eyeball. The count is 1 and 2 to Wilkinson…

"Lost" Songs

And...I'm back to doing "Opposites" music posts again. There were too many relevant "Lost" and "Found" songs to fit into one post, so this will be a two-parter. Obviously, the second installment will be "Found" songs. Enjoy!  ~  JH



1)  Christina Aguilera  ~  "You Lost Me"

2)  Linkin Park  ~  "Lost In The Echo"

3)  Air Supply  ~  "Lost In Love"

4)  Michael Bublé  ~  "Lost"

5)  The Temper Trap  ~  "Love Lost"

6)  Bastille  ~  "Things We Lost In The Fire"

7)  Anouk  ~  "Lost"

8)  P.O.D.  ~  "Lost In Forever (Scream)"

9)  Kenny Chesney  ~  "I Lost It"

10)  Delta Goodrem  ~  "Lost Without You"

11)  Beck  ~  "Lost Cause"

12)  Lianne La Havas  ~  "Lost & Found"

13)  The Head And The Heart  ~  "Lost In My Mind"

14)  Travis Tritt  ~  "If I Lost You"

15)  Debbie Gibson  ~  "Lost In  Your Eyes"

Days Of The Week Songs

Here we have a collection of songs with the days of the week in their titles. Consider yourself lucky, dear Reader/Listener. I originally considered making individual posts for each day of the week – with 10 or so songs for each day – and posting them on the actual days that the songs covered. But that seemed excessive, and I lost interest in searching that long and hard anyway. So I ended up doing just two songs for each day of the week. Enjoy?  ~  JH



1)  U2  ~  "Sunday Bloody Sunday"

2)  No Doubt  ~  "Sunday Morning"

3)  The Bangles  ~  "Manic Monday"

4)  Carpenters  ~  "Rainy Days And Mondays"

5)  Lynyrd Skynyrd  ~  "Tuesday's Gone"

6)  The Rolling Stones  ~  "Ruby Tuesday"

7)  Crash Kings  ~  "It's Only Wednesday"

8)  Lisa Loeb  ~  "Waiting For Wednesday"

9)  Matt Costa  ~  "Sweet Thursday"

10)  Asobi Seksu  ~  "Thursday"

11)  Eric Paslay  ~  "Friday Night"

12)  The Cure  ~  "Friday I'm In Love"

13)  Steam Powered Giraffe  ~  "Me And My Baby (Saturday Night)"

14)  Chicago  ~  "Saturday In The Park"