Songs With Directions In The Title, Vol. 1: "Up" Songs

Okay, so since I'm obviously obsessed with doing music posts lately, why don't I just start a whole series of them? (This is where you say, "Hey, what a great idea!" Or don't. Whatever.) This is part one of what will be a five-part miniseries. The unifying theme is that each song contains a direction within the title, whether that be up, down, left, right, or all directions. First up – appropriately – songs with "Up" in the title. I've been compiling the songs for these posts for a while now, and I hope you'll enjoy seeing/hearing them.  ~  JH

1)  Ariana Grande  ~  "Put Your Hearts Up"

2)  Chris Brown  ~  "Don't Wake Me Up"

3)  Josh Groban  ~  "You Raise Me Up"

4)  Yellowcard  ~  "Hang You Up"

5)  Green Day  ~  "Wake Me Up When September Ends"

6)  Andy Grammer  ~  "Keep Your Head Up"

7)  Paula Abdul  ~  "Straight Up"

8)  J-Min  ~  "Stand Up"  (NOTE: If you can't make out most of the lyrics here, it's for good reason – it's in Korean. Still, it's a very good song – whatever they're singing about...)

9)  Paloma Faith  ~  "Picking Up The Pieces"

10)  The Afters  ~  "Lift Me Up"

11)  John Legend & The Roots ft. Common & Melanie Fiona  ~  "Wake Up Everybody"

12)  Laura Bell Bundy  ~  "Giddy On Up"

13)  Foster The People  ~  "Pumped Up Kicks"  (A quick bit of trivia for you: Christian singer Rebecca St. James is married to the bass guitarist in this band)

14)  Technotronic  ~  "Pump Up The Jam"

15)  Kelly Clarkson  ~  "I Do Not Hook Up"

16)  Ben Howard  ~  "Keep Your Head Up"

17)  Amelia Lily  ~  "Shut Up (And Give Me Whatever You've Got)"

18)  James Morrison ft. Jessie J  ~  "Up"

19)  Eliza Doolittle  ~  "Pack Up"

20)  Fever Ray  ~  "When I Grow Up"

Songs By Bands With Gerunds In Their Names

For the grammatically challenged, a gerund is a verb that ends in "-ing." Many popular bands have used gerunds in their names, usually in one of two ways. Either the gerund serves as an adjective for the noun that comes after it (i.e., The Rolling Stones), or the gerund is used to describe an ongoing action (i.e., Counting Crows). This small collection of songs includes 10 prominent examples of thusly-named bands. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Smashing Pumpkins  ~  "Rocket"

2)  Counting Crows  ~  "A Long December"

3)  The Flaming Lips  ~  "Do You Realize?"

4)  The Rolling Stones  ~  "Paint It Black"

5)  Breaking Benjamin  ~  "The Diary Of Jane"

6)  Talking Heads  ~  "And She Was"

7)  Thriving Ivory  ~  "Where We Belong"

8)  Casting Crowns  ~  "Does Anybody Hear Her?"

9)  Throwing Muses  ~  "Bright Yellow Gun"

10)  Stabbing Westward  ~  "What Do I Have To Do?"

Songs By Guys Named Ed, Eddie, Eddy, Edwin, & Edgar

Okay, so here's another one of those music posts where I wanted to post a song by a specific singer (in this case, Ed Sheeran, whom I've recently "discovered" and really like), so I created a blog topic specifically to have a reason to post that song. That being said, most of the songs in this collection are really good. One of them is basically a novelty song – you'll quickly figure out which one – but even that one is entertaining. Enjoy!  ~   JH

1)  Ed Sheeran  ~  "Lego House"  (Yes, that is the guy who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, and no, he isn't Ed Sheeran – in the video, he plays an Ed wannabe.)

2)  Ed Kowalczyk  ~  "Grace"  (Fans of early-to-mid-1990s rock may recognize this guy as the lead singer of the band Live – Kowalczyk is now a professing Christian and is proud to reflect his faith in his music.)

3)  Eddie Vedder  ~  "Longing To Belong"  (Only Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, could make a ukulele song this unmistakably cool!)

4)  Eddie Rabbitt  ~  "Driving My Life Away"  (Rabbitt is another sad case of a great talent who died way too young – in Eddie's case, cancer was the culprit.)

5)  Eddie Money  ~  "Think I'm In Love"  (Eddie didn't think that his real last name – Mahoney – sounded nearly as cool as "Money." I happen to agree.)

6)  Eddie Shin ft. Flowsik  ~  "If Only"  (Whoa! Where's this guy been hiding? He's amazing!)

7)  Eddie Murphy ft. Michael Jackson  ~  "Whatzupwitu"  (Yes, that Eddie Murphy, and that Michael Jackson!)

8)  Eddie Cantor  ~  "Makin' Whoopee"  (I had no idea this song was that old – Cantor sings it gleefully)

9)  Eddy Raven  ~  "She's Gonna Win Your Heart"  (This takes me back to the good ol' days – the 1980s – when I regularly listened to country music on the radio.)

10)  Eddy Grant  ~  "Electric Avenue"  (Funky tune!)

11)  Edwin McCain  ~  "I'll Be"  (This was THE wedding song of choice for a lot of folks in the late '90s and early 2000s.)

12)  Edgar Winter  ~  "Frankenstein"  (And now for something completely different. This was one of the earliest rock 'n' roll instrumental songs to light up the charts.)

Creepy Mascots, Vol. 2: Major League Baseball Mascots

This being part two in a series, I don't feel like writing a brand new intro for this entry, so I copied and pasted mine from last time. Color me lazy. If you missed Vol. 1, you can read it here. Enjoy!  ~  JH

RECYCLED INTRO:

I've always found sports team mascots a bit creepy. Maybe it's the oversized heads, the fixed facial expressions, the in-your-face-ness that's inherent in their interaction with fans like me who'd rather be left alone. (I don't particularly care for clowns for many of the same reasons.) While I'm not explicitly afraid of mascots – that would be ridiculous! – I'm also not fond of them. So consider this miniseries of posts a "face your fears" – or, rather, "face your aversions" – exercise. Perhaps you'll get a laugh out of these, or perhaps a nightmare. Either way, here they are...

 

 

 

How about we score some runs around here? If not, I'll eat you all!

 D. Baxter The Bobcat

(Arizona Diamondbacks)

Most bunnies are cute. This one looks evil!

 Junction Jack

(Houston Astros)

Run, sausages, run! Far, far away from me!

 The Racing Sausages (left to right):  Frankie 

Furter, Guido, Brett Wurst, Cinco, and Stosh

(Milwaukee Brewers)

A mascot that eats his fans? Not a good PR move, in my opinion.

 The Phillie Phanatic

(Philadelphia Phillies)

The Reds have not 1, not 2, but 3 creepy mascots. This one attacks children for fun.

Gapper

(Cincinnati Reds)

Look into my eyes. Now look into my mustache. You are getting very sleepy...

 Mr. Redlegs

(Cincinnati Reds)

No, Rosie, I don't want your autograph. And stop staring at me!

Rosie Red

(Cincinnati Reds)

Zombie Parrot is more like it. Stay away. Stay far away!

Pirate Parrot
(Pittsburgh Pirates)

Dude, don't look behind you! Better yet, run!!!

 Slider

(Cleveland Indians)

A crown-headed lion wielding a life-size hot dog rocket? That doesn't sit well with me.

Sluggerr

(Kansas City Royals)

Father, forgive me, for I am scared of you.

 The Swinging Friar

(San Diego Padres)

I am ominous-undetermined-green-thing. Hear me roar!

 Southpaw

(Chicago White Sox)

See you in your dreams, kiddo! Make that your nightmares!

 Billy The Marlin

(Miami Marlins)

Hanging out with scowly-faced larger-than-life socks is not my idea of a good time.

Lefty and Righty

(Boston Red Sox)

Hold your horses! That is one creepy mascot!

 Rangers Captain

(Texas Rangers)

Not only is this a really strange idea in general, it's also more than a bit unnerving.

 The Pierogis (from left to right): Jalapeño Hannah, 

Onion Oliver, Cheese Chester, & Sauerkraut Saul

(Pittsburgh Pirates)

Songs With "Take" In The Title

I'd love to be able to say – "You asked for it, and here it is!" – but who am I kidding? I'm probably more excited about these random collections of songs connected only by a common word in the titles than any of you, dear readers, are. That being said, I'm even fonder of this collection of songs than I was of the "Give" songs I posted last time around. There are songs for pretty much all musical tastes here. Unless you like reggae. There's no reggae. No rap, either, for that matter. Come to think of, there's also no blues music here. Well, let's just say there are songs for almost all musical tastes. Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  A-ha  ~  "Take On Me"

2)  Rihanna  ~  "Take A Bow"

3)  The Police  ~  "Every Breath You Take"

4)  Carrie Underwood  ~  "Jesus, Take The Wheel"

5)  ABBA  ~  "Take A Chance On Me"

6)  MIKA  ~  "Relax, Take It Easy"

7)  Mary J. Blige  ~  "Take Me As I Am"

8)  Passion Pit  ~  "Take A Walk"

9)  Twisted Sister  ~  "We're Not Gonna Take It"

10)  JLS  ~  "Take A Chance On Me"  (Not the same as the ABBA song!)

11)  Amy Winehouse  ~  "Take The Box"

12)  Berlin  ~  "Take My Breath Away"

13)  Filter  ~  "Take A Picture"

14)  Phil Collins  ~  "Take Me Home"

15)  Fefe Dobson  ~  "Take Me Away"

16)  Karmin Music  ~  "Take It Away"