Can’t get through all the Can/Can’t songs in a day…but did get the pseudo-Stones!

After taking a exercise breather on Tuesday because we were running all over the place with it being the last day of school. To celebrate, my twins went to see Prometheus and my youngest  (not a fan of scary films or TV shows unless they feature the brothers of Supernatural) attended Rock of Ages. Combine that with my wife working and my oldest daughter participating in her high school’s graduation ceremony, and it led to a lot of running around. To make up for the lack of movement Tuesday, Wednesday was a double-activity day, particularly with the Sox winning Tuesday night:

Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

2+ mile neighborhood walk to commemorate Red Sox victory #34 of the 2012 season

• Campus–Vampire Weekend
• Can I Have This Dance?–High School Musical
• Can I Sleep in Your Arms?–Willie Nelson
• Can You Be True?–Elvis Costello
• Can You Dig It?–WWE
• Can You Feel It–Timbaland feauturing Esthero & Sebastian
• Can You Feel The Love Tonight?–The Lion King Cast
• Can You Feel The Love Tonight?–S Club
• Can You Find It?–They Might Be Giants
• Can You Hear What I’m Saying?–Toto
• Can You Rock It Like This?–Run D.M.C.
• Can You Tell–Ra Ra Riot
• Can’t Be Seen–The Rolling Stones

Always nice starting off a walk with an artist you really enjoy, and for me, Vampire Weekend certainly fits that description. They seem like the perfect band to discover when you get to college, so “Campus” seems like a apt first-album song. Getting through the High School Musical song as quickly as possible is fine by me, particularly when there’s so many more musical questions that need to be asked, starting with Willie Nelson’s “Can I Sleep in Your Arms?”, followed by Elvis Costello’s “Can You Be True?” It seemed like the start of a nice theme, as the questions (even the High School Musical one) seemed like the type you would progressively ask the same person. Not sure if the next question kept the theme going. I listed the artist as WWE as it came from a WWE album, but it was WWE Originals, a release featuring Superstars performing their own hits,so this was Booker T’s first (I think) and last (hopefully) rap number. Nothing against the guy personally, I just don’t think his talents lay in the musical arena.

I heard a Timbaland number from Shock Value II (which I did not enjoy nearly as much as the first) before getting two versions of the famous Lion King ballad “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?” Ironically, neither is the original film version–one is from the Broadway adaptation and one is from one of Disney’s bubblegum pop cover collections. While I know the latter is targeted more at kids, particularly toddlers and preteens, if you’re looking for music for that group, They Might Be Giants is a much better bet. “Can You Find It?” comes from their second “kids” album, Here Comes the ABCs, and is an excellent example of why they’re a much better kid’s act than most–their songs are intelligent and both kids and adults can enjoy them.

After my TMBG, I traveled back to the magical world of the ’80’s for a pair of songs, first the boys of Toto, then the pioneers from Run D.M.C. As a rule, I think I’m going to love any song that uses the term “homeboy” as they do here. Things got a little more modern with Ra Ra Riot, then took a term for the confusing when things went from the positive (“Can”) to the negative (“Can’t”) with the last song on the list, “Can’t Be Seen.” When listening to my songs, I like to quiz myself with the question “who is the artist?” I’m pretty good at it, but this song had me stumped. I figured it must have been someone my wife or kids liked or an obscure artist from a soundtrack or compilation. Turns out I was way off–it was a Rolling Stones number. What threw me is that it’s the rare Stones hit not sung by Mick Jagger, which makes me argue that it’s not a true Stones song (and I’m not just rationalizing because I couldn’t get the song right…well, maybe a little).

2.5 miles on the elliptical machine plus upper-arm weight work at the gym

• Can’t Be Tamed–Miley Cyrus
• Can’t Buy Me Love–The Beatles
• Can’t Buy Me Love–The Beatles
• Can’t Buy Me Love [live]–Paul McCartney
• Can’t Cry These Tears–Garbage
• Can’t Fight This Feeling–REO Speedwagon
• Can’t Fight This Feeling–Glee
• Can’t Get Enough–Bad Company
• Can’t Get Around (Flash Funk)–WWE
• (Can’t Get My) Head Around You–The Offspring
• Can’t Get There From Here–R.E.M.

I don’t have a problem with Miley Cyrus (although I do think singing “Can’t Be Tamed” is a little problematic for someone of her age), but I was happy to get multiple listens of a Beatles classic (2 studios and then Paul McCartney live in concert). My oldest daughter has been on a Beatles run recently, which is always nice to see a new generation of fans get into the greatest band in the history of rock music.  After a track by Garbage, it was back to the 80’s and another band my wife would rather not hear, REO Speedwagon. This is the song I use to tease her the most, as I constantly tell the kids that “Can’t Fight This Feeling” was our wedding song, and it never fails to get a rise out of her. It may be to the point where she prefers the Glee version (who am I kidding–it hasn’t gotten to that point!).

Things closed with first a classic hit from Bad Company, a classic wrestling theme, and then music from the Offspring and R.E.M.

 

Pretending to be Zac Efron

Another month is here and it’s another opportunity to push my exercise routine and hopefully finish the “B”s. That’s actually my secondary wish. My primary desire is that I obtain gainful employment before the month ends, so I can go back to enjoying three-day weekends just in time for Independence Day (the holiday, not the movie).

June 1, 2012

3.23 miles on the elliptical machine plus upper-arm weight work at the gym

• Breakdown–Breaking Benjamin
• Breakdown–Guns ‘N Roses
• Breakdown–Scars On 45
• Breaker Breaker–Peter Bjorn and John
• Breakfast in America–Supertramp
• Breakfast in Bed–Train
• Breakin’ At The Cracks–Colbie Caillat
• Breakin’ Up–Rilo Kiley
• Breakin’–The All-American Rejects
• Breaking Free–High School Musical Cast
• Breaking Free [instrumental version]–High School Musical Cast
• Breaking Point–Eric Clapton
• Breaking The Girl–Red Hot Chili Peppers

Just as I closed yesterday with multiple interpretations of a single-word title, I open today with three (instead of two) versions of “Breakdown.” The first is the most obvious, as a group named Breaking Benjamin doing a song that begins with “Break…” (In fact, it’s so obvious that this is the second Breaking Benjamin song to begin that way, as I got one yesterday.) The Guns ‘N Roses “Breakdown” is a 7+ minute opus from the Use Your Illusion CDs, and once again, seemed like a no-brainer as Axl, Slash, and company seem like the type that would “break” things. The last “Breakdown” is the most recent and my favorite of the three, a Scars on 45 single from their self-titled album release this past April. This song was the free iTunes song of the week awhile back and I was already hearing Scars on 45 on our local alternative radio station and liking what I was hearing, downloading this song convinced me to get the entire album.

The Peter Bjorn and John song makes me think of my childhood. Not the sound–they are distinctly modern–but the title. I remember there being a bit of a CB radio craze in the late 70’s with music (“Convoy”), movies (the Smokey and the Bandit series) and TV (BJ and the Bear) among those contributing, and I remember if we’d play CB radio, you had to start your transmitions with “breaker, breaker…” (or “breaker 1-9…”). Keeping the 70’s theme was Supertramp with “Breakfast in America”, a song today’s kids more readily know as “Cupid’s Chokehold”. I hadn’t heard the Train song before, but really enjoyed it. The same can be said for just about any Colbie Caillat song–her voice is just soothing and enjoyable; it’s the embodiment of Light FM.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’d read that Rilo Kiley is no more, which adds a level of sad irony to their song “Breakin’ Up”–it is clearly written about a romantic coupling, but there’s really no reason the lyrics cannot be about a musical bond as well. I guess that makes all of us music fans the children of this messy musical divorce.  I’d say that happily for my kids in particular, the All-American Rejects are still together, but currently none of them are into the band these days. That can obviously change, as we all have musical acts that, while I don’t want to say that we fall in and out of love with them, we do have periods when we listen to their songs intently and other periods where we ignore them.  For some acts, they are lost forever.

I’m guessing that “Breaking Free” was considered one of the big hits from the first High School Musical as our CD of the soundtrack had two versions. I got to hear the normal (with lyrics) version first before then getting an instrumental version (according to the description, it is a karaoke track, so if I ever want to break out the karaoke machine we got some years back as a Christmas present, I could do my best Zac Efron impersonation, and who wouldn’t want that? Luckily I got to close things with an Eric Clapton song from him Journeyman CD and an awesome Red Hot Chili Peppers number. Perhaps I should pretend to be a member of the Peppers, but then again, I think it would be better for everyone if I kept my shirt on.

 

Things are about to get “Big…” around here!

Got May off to a great start by hitting the double exercise today. If I want to do it tomorrow, it will be a freebie as the Sox couldn’t get over .500.

Another side movie note: I was (well, I still am) all excited for The Avengers to release this weekend, thinking it was going to be the summer movie of the year, but then yesterday saw the release of a new trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Returns.  I feel this was deliberately put out this week to remind the world who is still the king of the superhero movies until proven otherwise.

May 1, 2012

2+ mile walk to commemorate Red Sox victory #11

• The Best of My Love–Brooks & Dunn
• The Best of My Love–The Eagles
• The Best of Times–Styx
• Best of You–Foo Fighters
• Bet On It–High School Musical Cast
• Beth–Glee Cast
• Betrayed–Avenged Sevenfold
• Better–Guns ‘N Roses
• Better Days–Elliott Murphy
• Better in Time–Leona Lewis
• Better Live–Keith Urban
• Better Than It Was–Fastball

I was really disappointed with the Brooks & Dunn cover of the Eagles hit “The Best of My Love”–it felt like a simple aping of the song, a feeling even more profound when I hear the two songs back-to-back. It doesn’t help much that while I’m a big fan of the Eagles, it’s one of my least favorite songs of theirs. I actually already had Styx on my mind recently as yesterday when driving to the store, “Come Sail Away” came on and my wife admitted to actually liking it. This was quite the moral victory for me, as my wife is not a fan at all of the late 70s arena rock bands like Styx, REO, Journey, etc.

While working at WWE, when meeting with prospective licensing partners or retailers, we used to open the presentation with a “sizzle reel”, a video that showed WWE’s global reach, our superstars in and out of the ring, their charitable efforts with the military, Make a Wish, literacy, anti-bullying, as well as the spectacle of WrestleMania, international shows, and more. The productions always gave me goose bumps as our TV people did an outstanding job setting the footage to popular rock songs. One of my favorite sizzle reels was set to “Best of You” and it always set a great tone for meetings and presented WWE in the best possible light.

TV films and shows that got kids back into musical theater contributed the next two songs on my list, starting with a Zac Effron-led number from High School Musical 2 and then a Glee cover of a Kiss song performed by the boys in show choir. Kiss was the first concert I ever saw, back in 1980. The funny thing is that I really wasn’t into their music; I loved their theatricality and stage show. I actually own more covers of their hits than originals.

After a sanitized power ballad from one of the classic hard rock bands of all-time, I got back-to-back harder rock songs from the real McCoy’s, although there’s still a little something untrue about that label on the latter group. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the Chinese Democracy album, but I don’t view it as a Guns ‘N Roses album. I feel Axl should have left the band name in the past and created something new.

After nondescript songs from Elliott Murphy, Leona Lewis, and Keith Urban, I closed with a Fastball song from All the Pain Money Can Buy, a favorite of both my wife and I. We originally got it just for the song “The Way” but soon found that we liked the rest of the album as well.

3.46 miles on the elliptical machine at the gym

• Better Than Most–A.C. Newman
• Better Than Revenge–Taylor Swift
• Better That We Break–Maroon 5
• Better Things–The Kinks
• Better Things–The Kinks
• Better Things–Ray Davies & Bruce Springsteen
• Betty Lou’s Gettin’ Out Tonight–Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
• Between a Man and a Woman–Kate Bush
• Between My Legs–Rufus Wainwright
• Between the Lines–Debbie Gibson
• Between Two Lungs–Florence & The Machine
• Between Two Worlds–Tom Petty
• Beyond Belief–Elvis Costello
• Beyond Belief–Elvis Costello
• BFFF–Bowling for Soup
• Bicycle Race–Queen
• Big Bad World–Plain White T’s

Another track from A.C. Newman’s The Slow Wonder kicks off my gym session. If you’re a fan of A.C. Newman, I’d suggest the albums of his group, The New Pornographers, as well (and the reverse is true, too). Just a day after Taylor Swift moved me with one of her songs, she tried to hit me with a follow-up that didn’t generate the same emotional response. Too soon, Taylor, too soon. Not much to say about Maroon 5 again–I promise that will change in the future.

“Better Things” is one of my favorite songs of all time, and it’s a message that I need to hear now more than ever, and hearing the song three times re-enforces the message. The first two versions are the original Kinks song, while the third is an entertaining duet between Ray Davies and Bruce Springsteen from Davies See My Friends album of last year, and it’s one of my favorite tracks from the album. I got a live track from Bob Seger next.

As mentioned earlier, I can always count on my wife to dislike certain rock acts, but she is not a fan of one of the biggest alternative acts of the 80s either. The thing is, I’m not a huge Kate Bush either, but something possessed me to buy The Sensual World CD during college.  It doesn’t get a ton of play these days, but I do enjoy the musical callback of hearing one of her songs from time to time. Another artist that I own some material from but do not usually listen to is Rufus Wainwright, who followed Bush. Then I got another track from a CD that I purchased in college (and there’s far more regret on this one), Debbie Gibson’s “Between the Lines.”

Florence & The Machine is a newer act that all members of the family, particularly my twins, love. I’m always trying to get my kids to love some of my favorites (like Tom Petty, who contributed a track from his Long After Dark album) and my wife probably feels the same way, so she would champion Elvis Costello (who followed Petty with two version of “Beyond Belief”). The music education goes both ways, as my youngest loves to extol the virtues of Bowling For Soup (and as I’ve said before, some times their songs connect (and “BFFF” is one of them), but some times it doesn’t work for me.

It’s always nice to have a Queen song in the rotation, and things closed with the Plain White T’s.