The Music Tag

The Hopeful Pen at With Joy for the Work has very kindly tagged me for the Music Tag! I love tags and I love music, so this is a perfect combination.

Here are the rules:

• Write ten songs that come on shuffle (no skipping) (The very first rule, and I’ll tell you frankly that I broke the no-skipping part. What a rebel I am.)
• Write your favorite lyric from each song (I will share a lyric for each, but no promises on favorite lyrics – favorite things are always a tricky proposition.)
• Tag some people

I don’t use Spotify or any similar music-listening app; I usually just listen to music on Youtube, so I don’t exactly have a music list to put on shuffle. I decided that picking the first ten songs on my Youtube auto-generated ‘mix’ would be a pretty close equivalent, so I went with that.

I’m also giving the year each song was released, just because.

So here goes!

1. “They All Laughed” by Fred Astaire (1937)

They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother
When they said that man could fly
They told Marconi
Wireless was a phony
It’s the same old cry
They laughed at me wanting you
Said I was reaching for the moon
But oh, you came through
Now they’ll have to change their tune

This song is just fun. I think too much modern music is angsty. We need more songs that don’t take themselves seriously.

2. “Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)” by The Crystals (1963)

I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still
(Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron)
Somebody told me that his name was Bill
(Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron)
Yes, my heart stood still
Yes, his name was Bill
And when he walked me home –
Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron

Ditto. Are these inspired lyrics? No, they are not. But it’s such a fun, happy song that I don’t care.

3. “Tell Him” by The Exciters (1962)

Tell him that
You’re never gonna leave him
Tell him that
You’re always gonna love him
Tell him, tell him,
Tell him, tell him right now

I was introduced to this song by the Dreamworks movie Monsters vs. Aliens, believe it or not – this was the opening credits song. I love the opening instrumentation of this one; it gives it a very cool unique vibe.

4. “Always It’s You” by The Everly Brothers (1960)

When I’m dreaming daydreams
Who comes into view?
Who shares all my daydreams?
Who makes them come true?
It’s you;
Always it’s you

The Everly Brothers always have such beautiful harmonies, and this is such a pretty, soft, sweet song.

5. “Island of Dreams” by The Seekers (1966)

High in the sky is the bird on the wing;
Please carry me with you,
Far far away from the mad rushing crowd
Please carry me with you –
Again I would wander where memories enfold me
There on the beautiful Island of Dreams

The Seekers have been a favorite band of mine since I was about ten years old. This isn’t one of my top favorite songs of theirs, but it’s still very lovely and for some reason it pops up in my Youtube mix quite a lot.

6. “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” by Fred Astaire (1937)

You like potato and I like po-tah-to
You like tomato and I like to-mah-to
Potato, po-tah-to, tomato, to-mah-to
Let’s call the whole thing off
But oh, if we call the whole thing off
Then we must part
And oh, if we ever part
Then that might break my heart…

Again, this song is a lot of fun, and it’s also just iconic – I heard it referenced long before I even knew what it was a reference to.

And in the movie it originally comes from it goes along with a cool dance scene on roller skates, so it makes me think of that when I hear it.

7. “Sh-Boom” by The Crew Cuts (1954)

Oh, life could be a dream (Sh-boom, sh-boom)
If only all my precious plans would come true (You, you, sh-boom, sh-boom)
If you would let me spend my whole life lovin’ you (You, you, sh-boom, sh-boom)
Life could be a dream, sweetheart

This is one of my favorite ‘happy songs.’ I love it so much. (Most of the songs on this list are happy songs, I find. I do listen to music that’s more substantial sometimes, really I do.)

8. “Guardian Angel/Guiding Light” by The Seekers (1997)

You and I, we’ve come this far
Through the long and lonely night
You’ve always been my guardian angel
Always been my guiding light

This is a very sweet mellow song, from The Seekers’ one studio album they released after their reunion in the ’90s.

9. “He’s a Rebel” by The Crystals (1962)

When he holds my hand, I’m so proud
‘Cause he’s not just one of the crowd
Why is he always the one
To try the things they’ve never done?

I enjoy this song for itself, and I also enjoy the cool bit of trivia that it’s written by Gene Pitney, another musical artist from the ’60s I greatly enjoy. (I do feel like I’d appreciate a little more context about the eponymous rebel – depending on what and why he’s rebelling, his rebel-ry could be either a good thing or a bad thing. We want information, ladies.)

10. “Goodnight, My Love” by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, vocal by Ella Fitzgerald (1936)

The stars above have promised to meet us tomorrow
‘Til then, my love, how dreary the new day will seem
So for the present, dear, we’ll have to part
Sleep tight, my love,
Goodnight, my love

I love big band jazz music. And this one in particular is so atmospheric…can’t you just picture standing on a moonlit balcony in the 1930s with this wafting in through the open doors behind you?

Now, to tag a few people…I’ll tag

Autumn Grace at Shades of Art
Ava at Always Ava
Cecilia at Craft, Coffee and Cake
Emi at The Idlewood Archives
Ruth at The Bend in the Road

And I think I’ll stop there so as not to exhaust everyone else’s tagging options.

What are your favorite genres/musical artists? Do you know any of these songs? Do you prefer cheerful music or angsty music?