Random Song of the Moment

I can’t believe I’ve neglected heavy metal so much. Granted, it’s not my favorite genre of music, but … Metallica!

Random Song of the Moment: “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica

Choice lyric: “Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky! Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry! Stranger now are his eyes to this mystery! HE HEARS THE SILENCE SO LOUD!”

Fave part: The fact that this is pretty much metal art (inspired by a novel, touches on poignant themes, REALLY DAMN AWESOME, etc.). If I need to pick a specific moment in the song, the intro. With its ominous bell-tolling and the grinding guitar riff, that must be what going to war sounds like.

With The Avengers premiering tonight, I thought it would be very fitting to include a song about a character who isn’t even in this movie! Cheers!

Random Song of the Moment: “Spider-Man” cover by the Ramones (original version: “Spider-Man” by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris)

Choice lyric: “Is he strong? Listen, bud! He’s got radioactive blood! Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead! Hey there! There goes the Spider-Man!”

Fave part: The way they changed the song from a cheesy-sounding showtune to an absolutely rockin’ punk song! Funny how in their simplicity, the Ramones were actually geniuses

There are so many great songs from this band, especially from their previous album The Black Parade. However, this one has been stuck in my head recently, so I’ll put this up as their first entry.

Random Song of the Moment: “S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W” by My Chemical Romance

Choice lyric: “Heat burns my skin, never mattered ‘bout the shape I’m in, I’ll keep you safe tonight … Yeah-yeah! Move your body when the sunlight dies! Everybody hide your body from the scarecrow … Everybody hide!”

Fave part: The odd sound of the song. The whole album is glam metal, which is really weird since it only came out last year and the genre is distinctly ’80s!

“Indie” is a term used to describe both a certain musical sound and the status of an artist as not being under contract with a studio. Of all the indie bands (both kinds) that have released music, the most famous and (commercially and critically) successful is Arcade Fire, whose album The Suburbs won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2011 over far more commercial acts like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Here’s a song from an older album they did, Funeral.

Random Song of the Moment: “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire

Choice lyric: “Children … wake up! Hold your … mistake up! Before they … turn the summer into dust …”

Fave part: The sound of the track is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. There is a grand scale to it and just this unique way it sounds. I also love the vocalized chanting.

This is a rapping rabbi doing reggae. Trust me, it’s not as bad as it sounds!

Random Song of the Moment: “King Without a Crown” by Matisyahu

Choice lyric: “If you’re drowning out in the waters and you can’t stay afloat, beg to Hashem for mercy, he’ll throw you a rope!”

Fave part: The ending verses

I feel really happy! Join me in my joy!

Random Song of the Moment: “Shout” by the Isley Brothers

Choice lyric: “You know you make me wanna shout! Kick my heels up and shout! Throw my hands up and shout! Throw my head back and shout! Come on now! Shout!”

Fave part: The choruses, of course! I’m dancing as I’m typing this!

The James Bond film franchise is known for the pop songs that always open each flick. This one is as awesome as the movie it’s from, A View to a Kill, is awful.

Random Song of the Moment: “A View to a Kill” by Duran Duran

Choice lyric: “Between the shades, assassination’s standing still!”

Fave part: The sound of the song is this crazy good blend of 1980s synth pop and the typical orchestral soundtrack of the series, which makes sense considering that the band worked with Bond series composer John Barry on the song (what a collaboration)

This is definitely my favorite song of the moment.

Random Song of the Moment: “Tombstone Blues” by Bob Dylan

Choice lyric: “Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain! That could hold you, dear lady, from going insane! That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain of your useless and pointless knowledge!”

Fave part: The lyrics, of course. It’s no wonder he’s been called the voice of his generation. People have interpreted them as being about contemporary events (this being folk rock), specifically how hypocritical it is that leaders fight wars and liars sell “truths” to common folk while the less privileged are left without help. I also enjoy Michael Bloomfield’s guitar work and the line “The sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken!”

George Bellamy, father of Matthew Bellamy (lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of Muse), plays rhythm guitar on this landmark space rock song … from 1962. Before the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the British Invasion in general, this was the first single by a British band to reach number one on the Billboard Top 100 chart in America. Not only that, but it was the first song to use a synthesizer. Talk about pioneering! Its “dawn of the space age” theme is all the more fitting because of that.

Random Song of the Moment: “Telstar” by the Tornados

Fave part: The blaring fanfare “chorus.” It sounds so triumphant and epic! By the way, if you notice similarities between this song and Muse’s history of rock music “Knights of Cydonia” (maybe I’ll explain that another day), you can see how the father influenced the son

Muse is possibly the most innovative band on the planet, or certainly one of the strangest. Their music has become more commercial in recent albums (The Resistance was even able to attain a level of popularity in previously resistant America), and though that does not necessarily mean they’re any worse … Well, people are really missing out on their older albums, like the groundbreaking and mindblowing Origin of Symmetry. Here’s a taste.

Random Song of the Moment: “Space Dementia” by Muse

Choice lyric: “You’ll make us wanna die, ooh-ooh-ooh! I cut your name in my heart … Will destroy this world for you! … I know you want me to … Feel your pain!”

Fave part: The conclusion of the song. It is something that cannot be missed or ignored when talking about this song, or Muse’s achievements in general