Jul 01

#LOTD2013: December Playlist

#LOTD2013: December PlaylistAfter a long, long, LOOOOOONG delay, I’m bound and determined to post the rest of my Lyric-of-the-Day project playlists from 2013-2014. As a refresher, each day from Jan. 1, 2013 through Dec. 31, 2014, I posted a lyric on my Twitter feed. At the end of each month, I created a Spotify playlist of the songs featured, and throughout much of 2013-14 here on the blog, I was posting links and more information on those lyrics and playlists.

The latest playlist to (finally) get a work-up in my Lyric-of-the-Day project is from December 2013. Here’s that month’s #LOTD2013 playlist (find the Spotify playlist I’ve created from these lyrics linked at the end of the post or on the clickable image at right), with some brief explanations (in italics) for a number of the lyrics.

  • “Jesus was born and so I get presents/Thank you Jesus for being born” #Cartman “O Holy Night” #LOTD2013 12/1 #SouthPark
  • “Then comes that big night/Giving the tree the trim/You’ll hear voices by starlight” #Sinatra “Mistletoe & Holly” #LOTD2013 12/2
  • “We know that Christmas will be green & bright/Sun to shine by day & all the stars at night” #BingCrosby “Mele Kalikimaka” #LOTD2013 12/3
  • “I want to roll around like a kid in the snow/I want to re-learn what I already know” #TheKillers “A Great Big Sled” #LOTD2013 12/4
  • “Chains no longer bind me/Not the shackles at my feet/Outside are the prisoners/Inside the free” #U2 “Silver & Gold” #LOTD2013 12/5 #Mandela (South African apartheid hero Nelson Mandela passed away, necessitating this break from the holiday tunes to drop U2’s homage to him.)
  • “You’ll get a sentimental feeling when you hear/Voices singing ‘Let’s be jolly'” #BrendaLee “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree” #LOTD2013 12/6
  • “Santa’s got to make it to town/Santa make him hurry/Tell him he can take the freeway down” #ChuckBerry “Run Rudolph Run” #LOTD2013 12/7
  • “So this is Xmas/I hope you have fun/The near & the dear one/The old & the young” #JohnLennon “Happy Xmas (War Is Over) #LOTD2013 12/8 #RIP (43rd anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon.)
  • “There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel/One in the park as well” #PerryComo “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” #LOTD2013 12/9
  • “There’ll be parties for hosting/Marshmallows for toasting” #AndyWilliams “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” #LOTD2013 12/10 (The Response team hosted its annual Winter Bash cocktail party in New York City.)
  • “City sidewalks busy sidewalks/Dressed in holiday style/In the air/There’s a feeling of Christmas” #DerBingle “Silver Bells” #LOTD2013 12/11
  • “I’ve been for a walk/On a winter’s day/I’d be safe and warm/If I was in L.A.” #MamasAndPapas “California Dreamin'” #LOTD2013 12/12 (Throwing out some hometown love from a very cold Thursday in New York City.)
  • “Rhymes so loud and proud you hear it/It’s Christmas time and we got the spirit” #RunDMC “Christmas In Hollis” #LOTD2013 12/13
  • “The orange and palm trees sway/There’s never been such a day in old L.A.” #DarleneLove #PhilSpector “White Christmas” #LOTD2013 12/14
  • “She’s candyapple red with a ski for a wheel/When Santa hits the gas/Man just watch her peel” #BeachBoys “Little Saint Nick” #LOTD2013 12/15
  • “Oh that we could always see/Such spirit through the year” #VinceGuaraldiTrio “Christmas Time Is Here” #LOTD2013 12/16
  • “What a bright time/It’s the rite time/To rock the nite away/Jingle bell time/Is a swell time”#BobbyHelms “Jingle Bell Rock” #LOTD2013 12/17
  • “So anxious for your look of joy and delight/Waiting for just your surprise” #SmashingPumpkins “Christmastime” #LOTD2013 12/18
  • “Church bells in town/Ringin’ a song/What a happy sound” #DarleneLove #PhilSpector #U2 “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” #LOTD2013 12/19 (Hopped a plane “home” to Boston to spend the holidays with my future wife’s family.)
  • “Sleigh bells ring, are you listening/In the lane, snow is glistening” #Eurythmics “Winter Wonderland” #LOTD2013 12/20
  • “Through the years we all will be together/If the fates allow” #LouRawls “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” #LOTD2013 12/21
  • “I feel just like I wanna kiss you underneath my mistletoe” #BruceSpringsteen #OtisRedding “Merry Christmas Baby” #LOTD2013 12/22 (Got engaged to my baby in Newburyport, Mass.)
  • “Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time” #BandAid “Do They Know It’s Christmas” #LOTD2013 12/23 pic.twitter.com/aXIsH5YhlL
  • “He knows if you’ve been bad or good/You better be good for goodness sake” #Bruce #EStreetBand “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” #LOTD2013 12/24
  • “And so I’m offering this simple phrase/To kids from one to 92” #NatKingCole “The Christmas Song” #LOTD2013 12/25 #MerryChristmas
  • “Our little group has always been/And always will until the end/Hello hello hello how low” #Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” #LOTD2013 12/26 (Group dinner with Caitlin’s old friends in Boston.)
  • “Me and my cousins/And you and your cousins/It’s a line that is always running” #VampireWeekend “Cousins” #LOTD2013 12/27 (Family party in Maine with Caitlin’s many cousins.)
  • “I used to dream/Of better days that never came/Sorry ain’t nothin’ to me” #BlackCrowes “Seeing Things” #LOTD2013 12/28
  • “I’m goin’ back to Cali/Shakin’em, bakin’em/Takin’em to spots they never before hung” #LLCoolJ “Going Back To Cali” #LOTD2013 12/29 (Flying home to L.A. after a great holiday.)
  • “I feel that ice is slowly melting/Little darling it seems like years since it’s been clear” #Beatles “Here Comes The Sun” #LOTD2013 12/30
  • “As vintage wine from fine old kegs/From the brim to the dregs/It poured sweet and clear” #Sinatra “It Was A Very Good Year” #LOTD2013 12/31

Here’s the Spotify playlist if you’d like to listen along: #LOTD2013: December

Sep 01

#LOTD2013: November Playlist

LOTD Nov 13The latest playlist to (finally) get a work-up in my Lyric-of-the-Day project is from November 2013. Here’s that month’s #LOTD2013 playlist (find the Spotify playlist I’ve created from these lyrics linked at the end of the post or on the clickable image at right), with some brief explanations (in italics) for a number of the lyrics.

Remember, if you want to see the lyrics as they pop up daily, just give me a follow on Twitter!

  • “In your head they’re still fighting/With their tanks and their bombs/And their bombs and their guns” #Cranberries “Zombie” #LOTD2013 11/1
  • “That part of me left yesterday/The heart of me is strong today/No regrets I’m blessed to say” #TI #JT “Dead And Gone” #LOTD2013 11/2
  • “She’s got wonderful eyes/And a risque mouth/And when i ask her before/She said she’s holding out” #TheCars “Let’s Go” #LOTD2013 11/3
  • “Want my opinion? I’d give you 10-to-1/Give me a million, a franchise on fun” #ABC “How To Be A Millionaire” #LOTD2013 11/4
  • “Wanted something better/Wished for something new/Wanted something beautiful/Wished for something true” #FooFighters “Wheels” #LOTD2013 11/5
  • “I’ll be fine/I’ll be waiting patiently/Till you see the signs/And come running to my open arms” #DepecheMode “It’s No Good” #LOTD2013 11/6
  • “Law don’t mean shit if you got the right friends/That’s how the country’s run” #DeadKennedys “I Fought the Law (And I Won)” #LOTD2013 11/7 (The first in a string of Bay Area-tinged lyrics to celebrate the annual USC Bay Area weekender for Saturday’s game at Berkeley.)
  • “Walking down to Market St./Feeling my heart skip a beat/To see someone who looks like you” #ChrisIsaak “San Francisco Days” #LOTD2013 11/8
  • “Living and dying and the stories that are true/Secret to a good life is knowing when you’re through” #Rancid “Time Bomb” #LOTD2013 11/9
  • “Watching the ships roll in/Then I watch them roll away again, yeah” #OtisRedding “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” #LOTD2013 11/10 (Spent some nice time sitting watching boats on the bay near the Embarcadero in San Francisco.)
  • “Put a gun in my hand & you hide from my eyes/You turn and run farther when the fast bullets fly” #BobDylan “Masters Of War” #LOTD2013 11/11 (Happy Veterans’ Day, not necessarily to those who’ve often sent those soldiers rather cynically into questionable battles.)
  • “Changing clothes/Now he’s got ventilated slacks/Bouncing off the walls/Mr. Jones is back” #TalkingHeads “Mr. Jones” #LOTD2013 11/12
  • “Mike D come on and get it on y’all/Talking sh*t about a mile a minute” #BeastieBoys “B-Boys Makin With The Freak Freak” #LOTD2013 11/13
  • “Well you’re dirty and sweet/Clad in black/Don’t look back/And I love you” #TRex “Bang A Gong” #LOTD2013 11/14
  • “There’s a king on a throne with his eyes torn out/There’s a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt” #Police “King Of Pain” #LOTD2013 11/15
  • “I said, ‘Hey, what’s your name?/Maybe we can see things the same?'” #Free “All Right Now” #LOTD2013 11/16 #USC#BeatTheFarm (USC 20, Stanford 17. Best moment of the season for the Trojans. Why not celebrate with a rousing rendition of the Cardinal’s “fight song,” which also stands in as the USC band’s song when the Trojans force a turnover.)
  • “When we bend a new corner/I feel like a sweepstake winner” #BobMarley “Satisfy My Soul” #LOTD2013 11/17
  • “Why don’t you tell it like it is/Why don’t you tell it like it really is/Before you go on home” #Stereophonics “Mr. Writer” #LOTD2013 11/18
  • “Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner/But he knew it wouldn’t last” #TheBeatles “Get Back” #LOTD2013 11/19
  • “I could talk all night/My mind goes sleepwalking/While I’m putting the world to right” #ElvisCostello “Oliver’s Army” #LOTD2013 11/20
  • “So never mind the darkness/We still can find a way/’Cause nothin’ lasts forever/Even cold …” “NovemberRain” #GunsNRoses #LOTD2013 11/21 (Cliche, but I had to wait 2/3 of the month for some rain in order to use it!)
  • “Still I have the warmth of the sun/Within me tonight” #BeachBoys “The Warmth Of The Sun” #LOTD2013 11/22 #JFK #JFK50 (Brian Wilson and Mike Love began writing the song early on the morning of 11/22/63 and finished it that afternoon following the news of JFK’s assassination.)
  • “Had to back up off it & sit my cup down/Tanqueray & chronic yeah I’m f*cked up now” #SnoopDogg “Gin & Juice” #LOTD2013 11/23 #Doggystyle20
  • “You’re still alive she said/Do I deserve to be/Is that the question/And if so/Who answers, who answers” #PearlJam “Alive” #LOTD2013 11/24 (One of my favorite lyrics ever. Special to see it live at the L.A. Sports Arena on this night.)
  • “You don’t have to answer me/You don’t have to call me back” #X “Your Phone’s Off The Hook But You’re Not” #LOTD2013 11/25
  • “Can’t get it outta my head/Miss her, kiss her, love her/Wrong move, you’re dead” #BellBivDevoe “Poison” #LOTD2013 11/26 (Impressive cover by Justin Timberlake at his Staples Center show on this fine evening.)
  • “Your fingers weave quick minarets/Speak in secret alphabets/I light another cigarette/Learn to forget” #Doors “Soul Kitchen” #LOTD2013 11/27
  • “Today my world it smiles/Your hand in mine we walk the miles/Thanks to you it will be done” #LedZeppelin “Thank You” #LOTD2013 11/28 (Happy Thanksgiving!)
  • “All the people/So many people/They all go hand in hand/Hand in hand through their parklife” #Blur “Parklife” #LOTD2013 11/29
  • “Palm trees are candles in the murder wind/So many lives are on the breeze” #BadReligion “Los Angeles Is Burning” #LOTD2013 11/30 (A salute to the annual USC-UCLA football game. And, unfortunately in 2013, its outcome.)

Here’s the Spotify playlist if you’d like to listen along: #LOTD2013: November