Feb 28

#LOTD2013: August Playlist

I will catch up. I will catch up. I will catch up! Much as I continue to forge ahead with completing my 2013 Photo-A-Day project here, so too will I persevere in presenting the monthly #LOTD2013 playlists I cobbled together. In that spirit, here are August’s Lyric-of-the-Day Tweets (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!

  • “Teach our twisted speech/To the young believers/We’ll train our blue-eyed men/To be young believers” #TheClash “Clampdown” #LOTD2013 8/1
  • “You know I can’t sleep, I can’t stop my brain/You know it’s three weeks, I’m going insane” #TheBeatles “I’m So Tired” #LOTD2013 8/2
  • “Wake up it’s time/We need to find a better place to hide/Make up your mind/I need to know tonight” #FooFighters “Razor” #LOTD2013 8/3
  • “Happiness, coming and going/I watch you look at me/Watch my fever growing/I know just who I am” #TheVerve “Lucky Man” #LOTD2013 8/4
  • “The kids want a little fun/The kids all have to get their kicks/Before the evening’s done” #MC5 “High School” #LOTD2013 8/5 (I was able to spend some time catching up with old HS friends in Anaheim before and after attending the Angel game with some work pals.)
  • “There’s a smile on my face for everyone/There’s a golden coin that reflects the sun” #OingoBoingo “Just Another Day” #LOTD2013 8/6
  • “I’ll throw away/A chance at greatness/Just to make this/Dream come into play” #MatthewSweet “Sick Of Myself” #LOTD2013 8/7
  • “Billy Joe shot a man while robbing his castle/Bobbie Sue took the money and run” #SteveMillerBand “Take The Money And Run” #LOTD2013 8/8 (Post-industry event, a group of us were spinning this on vinyl in a friend’s hotel room in Hollywood.)
  • “Ain’t never count me out/Y’all better count me in” #DJKhaled #Ludacris #RickRoss #SnoopDogg #TPain “All I Do Is Win” #LOTD2013 8/9
  • “Bright lights is enticing but look what it did to Tyson/All that money in 1 night, 30 mil for 1 fight” #JayZ “Holy Grail” #LOTD2013 8/10
  • “Perfect strangers when we meet/Strangers on the street/Lovers while we sleep” #SmashingPumpkins “Perfect” #LOTD2013 8/11
  • “You got a job downtown/Man that leaves your head cold/Everywhere you look/Life ain’t got no soul” #Springsteen “Murder Inc” #LOTD2013 8/12
  • “I’m charming and dashing/I’m rental car bashing/Phony paper passing/At Nix Check Cashing” #BeastieBoys “High Plains Drifter” #LOTD2013 8/13
  • “May your heart always be joyful/And may your song always be sung/May you stay forever young” #BobDylan “Forever Young” #LOTD2013 8/14 (A special bond in this song for my dad and I, and we had a great time at the Dodger game on this night.)
  • “Never saw rainbows in my wine/But now that your lips are burning mine” #EllaFitzgerald “I’m Beginning To See The Light” #LOTD2013 8/15 #ORF
  • “We could fly a helicopter/Nothing left to talk about/Entertain you/Celebrate you” #Garbage “When I Grow Up” #LOTD2013 8/16
  • “I went down Virginia/Seekin shelter from the storm/Caught up in the fable/I watched the tower grow” #CCR “Who’ll Stop The Rain” #LOTD2013 8/17 (Spent a rainy Saturday in Virginia Beach/Norfolk — my first visit ever — with friends.)
  • “Devil and the deep blue sea behind me/Vanish in the air you’ll never find me” #ThePolice “Wrapped Around Your Finger” #LOTD2013 8/18
  • “She broke down & let me in/Made me see where I been/Been down 1 time/Been down 2 times” #FleetwoodMac “Never Going Back Again” #LOTD2013 8/19
  • “Time is a string of pearls/See the future just hanging there/A new frame, a new perspective” #Passengers “Your Blue Room” #LOTD2013 8/20
  • “See him drink/From a bottle/See him eat/From a plate/Cute, cute/As a button” #TalkingHeads “Stay Up Late” #LOTD2013 8/21
  • “Hot like a cheetah/Neon mamacita/Eat at tacoria/Pop locking’ beats from Korea” #Beck “Hollywood Freaks” #LOTD2013 8/22 (Took the Metro up to Hollywood for a movie and, suffice it to say, the freaks were out in force.)
  • “Your groove I do deeply dig/No walls only the bridge/My supperdish, my succotash wish” #DeeeLite “Groove Is In The Heart” #LOTD2013 8/23
  • “I’ve got something here/If you give me one more beer/I’m gonna call a runner” #KingsOfLeon “Back Down South” #LOTD2013 8/24
  • “I’m standing here on the ground/The sky above won’t fall down/See no evil in all directions” #INXS “Don’t Change” #LOTD2013 8/25
  • “I got a backstreet lover on the passenger seat/I got my hand in my pocket, so determined, discreet/I pray” #PearlJam “Once” #LOTD2013 8/26
  • “I used to make a living, man/Pickin’ the banana/Now I’m a guide for the CIA/Hooray for the USA” #Ramones “Havana Affair” #LOTD2013 8/27
  • Back from #Hawaii. Time for some #LOTD2013 catch-up. “Vacation/All I ever wanted/Vacation/Had to get away” #TheGoGos “Vacation” 8/28
  • “All hail to alma mater/To thy glory we sing/All Hail to Southern California/Loud let thy praises ring” #USCTMB “All Hail” #LOTD2013 8/29 (I attended USC’s 30-13 win over Hawaii at Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium … and, as is my wont, I sang the alma mater post-game.)
  • “Come a li’l bit closer/Hear what I have to say/Like children sleepin/We could dream the nite away” #NeilYoung “Harvest Moon” #LOTD2013 8/30
  • “I have this dream where I’m down on my knees on the black sand/I’m facing the sea as the wind …” #JennyLewis “Black Sand” #LOTD2013 8/31 (Took the Road to Hana on Maui today and made a stop to take a dip on a black-sand beach.)

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

Jul 07

#LOTD2013: May Playlist

#LOTD2013: MayThanks to the long holiday weekend, I’ve been working on pulling together my Lyric-of-the-Day (#LOTD2013) playlists. Here are May’s Tweets (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!

  • “Start again in the month of May/Come on and blow the wires away” #ArcadeFire “Month of May” #LOTD2013 5/1
  • “The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds cut out of the sun” #TheKillers “Read My Mind” #LOTD2013 5/2 (Another great Killers show, tonight at the L.A. Sports Arena. And this one’s always fantastic live.)
  • “There was so much space/I cut me a piece/With some fine wine/It brought peace to my mind” #JanesAddiction “Summertime Rolls” #LOTD2013 5/3
  • “I’ve got more rhymes than I’ve got gray hairs/And that’s a lot because I’ve got my share” #BeastieBoys “Sure Shot” #LOTD2013 5/4 #RIPMCA (A salute to Adam Yauch on the one-year anniversary of his passing, far too soon.)
  • “Singing songs of passion/It’s the truth they all look for/One thing they must keep alive” #LosLobos “Will The Wolf Survive?” #LOTD2013 5/5 (One of the best from some of L.A’s favorite Latino sons on Cinco de Mayo.)
  • “We’ll be playing and having fun/And it makes me feel so fine/I can’t control my brain” #Weezer “Island In The Sun” #LOTD2013 5/6
  • “Baby, stop me when I’m passin’ by/See now all my flavors are guaranteed to satisfy” #VanHalen “Ice Cream Man” #LOTD2013 5/7
  • “Happiness will make you wonder/Will I feel OK?/It scares the disenchanted/Far away” #SmashingPumpkins “Hummer” #LOTD2013 5/8
  • “Everybody, get on the beat/We’re gonna show U mothers how 2 scream/People everywhere, loosen up your hair” #Prince “D.M.S.R.” #LOTD2013 5/9
  • “Listen to my gearshift/I’m blastin, outlastin/Kinda like Shaft/You could say I’m shaftin” #LLCoolJ “Mama Said Knock You Out” #LOTD2013 5/10
  • “Look now, look all around, there’s no sign of life/Voices, another sound, can you hear me now?” #DuranDuran “Planet Earth” #LOTD2013 5/11
  • “I’m all 6s and 7s and 9s/Say now baby, I’m the rank outsider/You can be my partner in crime” #RollingStones “Tumbling Dice” #LOTD2013 5/12 (This song could be my #LOTD pretty much any day that I hear it. I love it that much.)
  • “Love myself/Better than you/I know it’s wrong/So what should I do?” #Nirvana “On A Plain” #LOTD2013 5/13
  • “And when I look in my window/So many different people to be/It’s strange, sure it’s strange” #Donovan “Season Of The Witch” #LOTD2013 5/14
  • “Free to fly the crimson sky/The sun won’t melt our wings tonight/Oh now here she comes” #U2 “Even Better Than The Real Thing” #LOTD2013 5/15 (On my 42nd birthday, a song from my favorite band relating to how I feel about someone rather special.)
  • “If I could just be/Everything and everyone to you/This life would just be so easy” #INXS “Not Enough Time” #LOTD2013 5/16
  • “Mr. Wendal, a man, a human in flesh but not by law/I feed you dignity to stand with pride” #ArrestedDevelopment “Mr. Wendal” #LOTD2013 5/17
  • “I like you and I’d like to/Be free, be free, be free, be free/Yeah, I like you and I’d like to/Be free” #Travis “Quite Free” LOTD2013 5/18
  • “I got a new suit of clothes, a pretty red rose/And a woman I can call my friend” #BruceSpringsteen “Better Days” #LOTD2013 5/19
  • “Dance on fire as it intends/Music is your only friend/Until the end/Until the end” #TheDoors “When The Music’s Over” #LOTD2013 5/20 #RIPRay (A salute to Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek on his passing. I grew up with The Doors, thanks to my dad, and Manzarek’s sound will always remain distinct.)
  • “Blindly snap the broken beats/Said it’s cut with a dirty trick/It’s taken all these days to find ya” #Kasabian “Club Foot” #LOTD2013 5/21
  • “I’m your conscious/I am love/All I really need is 2 know that/U believe” #Prince “I Would Die 4 U” #LOTD2013 5/22
  • “Turn the crowd up now/We’ll never back down/Shoot down a skyline/Watch it in primetime” #SwedishHouseMafia “Save The World” #LOTD2013 5/23
  • “Keep your head on tight/Make it thru the night/You gotta make a friend along the way” #BlackCrowes “Movin’ On Down The Line” #LOTD2013 5/24
  • “Have another beer/What’d we do without all these jerks anyway?/Besides all our friends are here” #DonHenley “Sunset Grill” #LOTD2013 5/25
  • “I’ll go away/And I’ll turn around this little game/Cuz I don’t need your praise” #Cracker #FlaminGroovies “Shake Some Action”#LOTD2013 5/26 (Saw a screening of “Clueless” thanks to Cinespia at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and remembered Cracker’s version of this little gem popping up in it.)
  • “They send you down to war/When you ask them/How much should we give/They only answer more” #CCR “Fortunate Son” #LOTD2013 5/27 #MemorialDay
  • “Drove down the hwy/Til I came to Los Angeles/Town of the angels/Best this country can do” #Mellencamp “Hotdogs & Hamburgers” #LOTD2013 5/28
  • “How long do I have to climb/Up on the side of this mountain of mine?” #Coldplay “Speed Of Sound” #LOTD2013 5/29
  • “No longer overwhelmed & it seems so simple now/Funny when things change so much/It’s all state of mind” #PearlJam “In Hiding” #LOTD2013 5/30
  • “As it was again it will be/Though the course may change sometimes/Rivers always reach the sea” #LedZeppelin “Ten Years Gone” #LOTD2013 5/31 (My wedding was 10 years ago today. Though things have changed and divorce came down the line, it’s not a day I regret in the least.)

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

Feb 10

#LOTD2013: January Playlist

Along with the Photo-a-Day project I launched on Jan. 1, I also decided to take on a daily Twitter project: sharing a Lyric of the Day (hence the #LOTD2013 hashtag that goes along with each Tweet).

I wasn’t sure which direction this was going to go when I started. Would it be more affected by just songs that popped up that day for me, whether on an iTunes shuffle, on Spotify or in the car? Or would it be something that would speak more often to a happening on that day or some other theme?

Spotify PlaylistTurns out — like most things — it’s fallen somewhere in the middle. Here’s the list of January’s Tweets (find the Spotify playlist I’ve created from these lyrics linked at the end of the post or on the image at right), with some brief explanations (in italics) for a number of the lyrics. I’m planning on recapping monthly in this space, but if you want to see the lyrics as they pop up daily, just give me a follow on Twitter!

  • New on my feed for ’13: lyric of the day. “I want to be with you/Be with you night and day/Nothing changes on New Year’s Day” #LOTD2013 1/1
  • “I go to work/Like a boxer/Train the brain and aim/To outfox ya/Like a punch my rhyme knocks ya” #KoolMoeDee “I Go To Work” #LOTD2013 1/2 — First day back at work in 2013 gets one of my favorite rap songs from way back when.
  • “I’ve got a handful of this/What do I do with it?/I’ve got a barrel of this/What do I do with it?” #Echo “Do It Clean” #LOTD2013 1/3
  • “I’ll eat the lotus and peyote/I’ll want to hear the caged bird sing/I’ll want the secrets of the temple” #REM “Be Mine” #LOTD2013 1/4
  • “Cause he had to run, run, run, run, run/Take a drag or two/Run, run, run, run, run” #VelvetUnderground “Run Run Run” #LOTD2013 1/5 — Ran my first competitive race, a nighttime 5K through downtown L.A. on Jan. 5
  • “Beans and Cornbread had a fight/Beans knocked Cornbread outta sight” #LouisJordan “Beans and Cornbread” #LOTD2013 1/6 — Someone made me homemade chili and cornbread for dinner. 🙂
  • “They call Alabama the Crimson Tide/Call me Deacon Blues” #SteelyDan “Deacon Blues” #LOTD2013 1/7 — Alabama 42, ND 14 in the BCS title game.
  • “Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say/As he faced the sun he cast no shadow” #Oasis “Cast No Shadow” #LOTD2013 1/8
  • “You’re an idea man not a yes man/With a point to make you’re bound to take a stand” #BeastieBoys “Finger Lickin’ Good” #LOTD2013 1/9
  • “I remember running through the wet grass/Falling a step behind/Both of us never tired” #BetterThanEzra “Desperately Wanting” #LOTD2013 1/10
  • “I’m on my way/Can’t settle down/I’m stuck in ways of being an ass/And I got a lot of nerve …” #TheHives “Main Offender” #LOTD2013 1/11 — Tickets were acquired for a Feb. 17 show from Howlin’ Pelle and his band at the House of Blues Anaheim.
  • “And I’m floating in a most peculiar way/And the stars look very different today” #DavidBowie “Space Oddity” #LOTD2013 1/12 — Visited the Space Shuttle Endeavour in Exposition Park.
  • “Paris was a place you could hide away/If you felt you didn’t fit in” #RodStewart “Every Picture Tells A Story” #LOTD2013 1/13 — Spent a big chunk of the day editing pictures taken in Paris last October.
  • “I’m gonna pack my pa and I’m gonna pack my aunt/I’m gonna take ’em down to the Cadillac Ranch” #Springsteen “Cadillac Ranch” #LOTD2013 1/14
  • “In the dark of night/By my side/In the dark of night/By my side/I wish you were/I wish you were” #INXS “By My Side” #LOTD2013 1/15
  • “Where are you now?/All alone/And I wonder what you’re thinking?/You don’t say anything anymore” #Solarcade “Imaginary Girl” #LOTD 1/16 — The day we all found out about Manti Te’o and his fake dead girlfriend.
  • “Me used to be angry young man/Me hiding me head in the sand/You gave me the word/I finally heard” #Beatles “Getting Better” #LOTD 1/17
  • “Shoulda been coulda been woulda been dead/If I didn’t get the message goin thru my head/I am what I am” #RHCP “Suck My Kiss” #LOTD2013 1/18
  • “Will you defeat them/Your demons and all the non-believers” #MyChemicalRomance “Welcome to the Black Parade” #LOTD2013 1/19 (#GoKingsGo) — Pretty much the only way to get me into a MyChem song was for the Kings to set an awesome pregame video used throughout the playoffs last year to this one and create an emotional tie. Jan. 19 was the day the Kings raised the 2011-12 Stanley Cup Champions banner.
  • “It’s on the outskirts of town, by the railroad tracks/Where the country moon shines.” #SocialDistortion “Prison Bound” #LOTD2013 1/20 — Saw another great Social D show at House of Blues Sunset Strip.
  • 1/21 #LOTD2013, a shout-out to small-town Wisconsin bars: “Watchin’ the world go by/Surprisin’ it goes so fast” #BadCo “Shooting Star” — Yes, I was at Lucky Mojo’s in Burlington, Wis. Yes, it was 1 degree Fahrenheit. Yes, this song came on.
  • “His little brother came in/Holding the milk man’s hat and a bottle of gin/Singin’ la la la la” #Raconteurs “Carolina Drama” #LOTD2013 1/22
  • “I need a lil money/I knew I could count on you/After that night in Vegas/And the hell we went through” #TomPetty “Swingin'” #LOTD2013 1/23
  • “He floated back down coz he wanted to share/His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere” #PearlJam “Given to Fly'” #LOTD2013 1/24
  • “Save some face, you know you’ve only got one/Change your ways while you’re young” #Killers “Smile Like You Mean It” #LOTD2013 1/25
  • “When you’re down, it’s a long way up/When you’re up, it’s a long way down” #LoveAndRockets “No New Tale To Tell” #LOTD2013 1/26
  • “California sunlight, sweet Calcutta rain/Honolulu starbright …” #LedZeppelin “The Song Remains the Same” #LOTD2013 1/27
  • “Then the door was open and the wind appeared/The candles blew and then disappeared” #BOC “Don’t Fear the Reaper” #LOTD2013 1/28 (#Cowbell) — Went to see Jeff Garlin in conversation with Will Ferrell at the Largo. The subject of cowbell came up.
  • “The laws of man/Don’t apply/When blood gets in/A woman’s eye” #TheBlackKeys “Ten Cent Pistol” #LOTD2013 1/29
  • “Why don’t you tell me what’s goin’ on?/Why don’t you tell me who’s on the phone?” #FleetwoodMac “Tusk” #LOTD2013 1/30 #FightOn @USC_Hoops — USC 75, UCLA 71 (OT)
  • “Her green plastic watering can/For her fake Chinese rubber plant/In the fake plastic earth” #Radiohead “Fake Plastic Trees” #LOTD2013 1/31 — Scottsdale bars, folks. Like if a cougar bar in Newport Coast had a baby with a cougar bar in West L.A. and it moved to the desert.

Here’s the Spotify playlist if you’d like to listen along!