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I was going through my iPhone today and looking through all the songs I had. I wanted to sing a long to them but didn’t have the lyrics. Luckily I found a great lyrics site and loaded the words to some of my favorite songs.

So I live in New York City and it is really stressful here. Everyday I wake up and get out of bed grogy as heck. I shower, brush my teeth and get ready for a really boring day at the office. That always means a killer commute on the N train with a crowd of equally depressed and cranky new yorkers. Having music to listen to makes the difference between a hard morning and a hellish morning.

Come to think about it what else would I be doing if I weren’t listening to music. I’d probably be thinking about my dumb boss or cursing the jackasses that shove me around in the train. Granted not everyone is a jerk there are a lot of nice people on the train. This morning when the train was pretty much full a pregnant lady walked in. She must have been 9 months pregnant or having twins because it looked like there was a large water melon tucked underneath her shirt.

A couple of good samaritans got up and offered her their seat. Moments like this touch my heart and make me feel good about people and my community. Actually at this time I was listing to a Metalica song. And was singing along to the song lyrics of “Mechanix”:

Imagine you were at my station…
And you brought your motor to me…
Your a burner yeah a real motor car…

Hey y’all I just a a birthday bash for one of my best friends. It was a fun night of boozing and partying in general. Here is a list of the songs were were playing during this party:

1) Closer – Neyo

2) Mad – Neyo

3) Live Your Life – by T.I.

4) Right Round – music by Flo Rida

5) In the Ayer – song by Flo rida

6) Just Dance – Hot from Lady Gaga

7) Pokerface – Another hit by Laday Gaga

T.I Dead and Gone

So yeah a lot of the songs were rap / R&B that is really hot right now. Hey for any party a good party song should have a good beat a be fun. It also helps if it is a song  chicks dig and that will help get you hooked up. Lady Gaga all the way for that one. Chicks go crazy for that, my friend and I were grinding the night away with some really hot blonds from Miami during that song.

Dancing is just one aspect of what makes a good party song. The other aspect is whether it is a good drinking song and one that you can chill out to. Take your hot blonds for example, after Lady Gaga was done my friend and I were able to hang out for a couple hours drink some beers and having a good time. We talked about our high schools years what we were doing etc etc. One of the blonds was and aspiring actress who worked part time bartending and as a model. The other was a social worker, she was really sweet. Must be because it was my friends birthday, he ended up the night with a number and date. I didn’t get so far

So I guess what I am saying is a good party song is also one that gets you a date with a smoking hot gal.

So I was thinking what would be a good list of songs to compile into a CD for a long ass road trip / drive? Here are my picks for good road trip travel music:

Blinded By the Light by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Bat Out of Hell from Meat Loaf

All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix

Money by Pink Floyd

‘Radar Love’ from Golden Earring

FreeBird from Lynyrd Skynyrd

Runnin Down a Dream by Tom Petty

Pump it Up performed by Elvis Costello
Jane Says from Velvet Revolver

Are You Ready for the Country from Neil Young
Today from Smashing Pumpkins
Perfect Stranger by Cheap Trick

Save Me Remy Zero (I am huge Smallville Fan)

The list of good music can go on and on. I supposed there are a lot of good songs that we can put and and would be great candidates. i think a good road trip song should be:

1) Loud Really Really loud and sound good on those Bose Speakers

2) Genuinely good. After all it will be load and other roadies and drivers will here it. Don’t want to piss people off and instigate a bad case of road rage

3) Be upbeat and have a good beat. I guess that would mean it should be a good rock, rap or dance song. Not sure if I would be in the mood for Barry Manilow or something. That would put me to sleep. Not to fun.

4) Be a song se can all sing a long to. What’s the point of a road trip if we can’t sing a long and have fun

At any rate I will be playing this on a trip back to my old Alma Mater. My school is having it’s 10th year reunion and we will need some music when I drive my old college buddies back up to Connecticut. I am also going to put in some song from the late 1990s when we graduated. That music should bring back some good memories and good times. Peace.

Here is my personal list of great songs for playing guitar with. I picked this list based on what I though sounds good with guitar and what plays well solo. So here it goes, this list is in no particular order

1) Wonderwall – Oasis

2) Bartender – Dave Matthews Band

3) Fire and Rain – James Taylor

4) Give A Little Bit – Super Tramp

5) You Were Always on My Mind – Elvis

6) Wonderland – John Mayer

7) Crash Into Me – Again Dave Matthews Band

All Along the Watch Tower – Hendrix

9 Please Don’t Go Girl – New Kids on the Block

10) Haha just kidding about (9) New Kids on the Block = Old Gay Boys

11) Don’t Look Back In Anger – Oasis

12) Knocking On Heaven’s Door – Bob Dylan

Okay I can list a bazillion more.  So at any rate these are artists I grew up around. For me a lot of these songs are great because I can always play them over and over again and not get bored. Not that I am saying that I am an old fogie and only listen to stuff from like before 2000, actually I don’t i listen to a lot of contemporary stuff. But these are good guitar songs that I think never get old. Especially Jimi Hendrix. Is it just me or is he the only artist this century or last 50 years that has the unique sound that he had. I can’t think of anyone who sounds even close to Jimi. Not that there aren’t any great guitarists, there are plenty, it’s more that I think Hendrix really stands out.

These songs and many others are my refuge especially when things are going wrong. you know those weeks were you flunk a class, get fired from your crappy part time job you really hate but really need, and find your girl friend banging one of your buddies all in one week.

So this music is my solice and salvation from jobs from hell, slutty cheating gfs and my bs existence in general.

Hey so i just went to my lame ass company party today. No it was not a pink slip party, at least I don’t think. We do this every year at my consulting firm. At any rate why is it that companies always have lame Karaoke songs at these type of parites. Seriously is it just me? Do I have bad taste in music or are coporate party mixes the worst song mixes every.

My theory is that it’s the bosses way of saying I know you worked hard but screw you anyway because I don’t want to give you a raise and don’t want to. This year it is a little different, it’s more haha there is a recession, I know you are thanking god you are not unemployed, I DON’T have to do jack shit. Bastards.

First off I am 30 something. I grew up around ganster rap and am comfortable with the concepting of women being bitches and hoes, in an artistic sense. I am not being sexist in any way just keeping real dawg. Why on earth would you want to play 80s music at a party? Every coporate party I go to, Christmas, New Years, Company holidays always 80s music. Damn don’t these people realize that it is 2009. It is pretty much the 21st century and a new millenium so please stop playing the oldies. Play some hip hop or R and B. Hell put on 50 Cent or some Chris Brown or something. If you going to play lame songs try something written this decade.

I don’t think it should be a surprise that there is a massive recession. Because if you judge the judgement of CEOs based on their taste in good music I think it speaks mounds of how they perceive reality and what stock they put in other peoples opinions. Think about it, when a company and CEO expects 30 something managers and workers, and that is already old, we are not even counting recently graduated 20 something youngsters to sing to 80s crap rock and like it they are saying to us all, “Screw you. I don’t care that you have to sing songs to artists nobody knows and all of whom are now pushing 50+. Just do it because I think it is a good idea”

A persons attitude in music tells a lot about their personality.

Haha, went to the Opera today to see Don Giovanni. It was my first time at the opera and i have to say it was kinda of mixed. First off I am not an opera buff and I as a mere layman though Don Giovanni was very facinating. The music was great and the performers have amazing strong voices. I have to say I was impressed even though I didn’t understand a word of the songs being sang.

Apparently Don Giovanni was written my Mozart and was considered a contemporary opera in its day. It was a show made for the commoners and peasants, kinda like broadway for most of us today. The downside of the opera, at least for me, is that I don’t speak Italian and have no idea what was going on or what the story was about. I was guessing through out the whole thing and ended up reading a synopsis on wikipedia sometime later. I guessed wrong.

It’s kind of hard for someone who is not snob and snotty to talk to somebody who is into opera because some of them are pretty snotty douce bags. I was trying to have conversation with some 30 something yuppy douce sitting next to me about the show during intermission and I could tell he was trying his best to hide his smirk. I wanted to smack him right there, I bet I still have better taste in music than him. Stupid yuppy snot ball.

One thing that I find amazing about opera though, despite there being douches there, is that the performers can keep it going at least 6 days a week. Some days the perform twice. Considering the range in which the sing and the strength of there voices I am quite impressed. I used to sing in my church’s quire and i remember my voice would actually get sore after the day after singing only a few songs and hyms.

Hey y’all I just got Bruce Springsteen’s new album “Working On A Dream”. It’s really great and classic Bruce. There are a lot of good songs in this album. My favorite is “Kingdom of Days” I think I listened to that like a dozen times. It’s by far my favorite.

There is also “The Wrestler” and “Born To Run” These are all great rock tunes and are fun to listen to. The great thing about “Working on a Dream” is  that Springsteen is back with the E Street Band and that he writes all the songs. Springsteens lyrics skills are still in top form.

If you are willing to pay a little more you can get the deluxe edition which comes with a couples of videos. Something to consider for some of you die hard music fans.

As far as the mood of this music, it is by far happier and optimistic and anything Bruce has done recently. It makes me wonder if the recent elections and Barack Obama’s presidency have had any influence on this album. I remember they interviewed the Boss one time and they asked him his opinion of then candidate Barack Obama.  Bruce said to the effect that Barack Obama represented the America he always dreamed of and wrote about in his music or rather the America he believed to manifest itself in todays times.

So makes me wonder if that optimism he felt has been an influence in these songs. This contrasts the darker mood in some of his more recent songs like the depressing Radio No Where which describes America as a crashing satellite coming down on the “last lone American night” So this is a rad album go get it. If you not into Springsteen or too young to know his stuff try listening to it. There are a lot of good songs and interesting lyrics in this one and I recommend it.

So I wanted to talk today about Apple Itunes recent price changes for it’s music downloads. It used to be that Itunes store would charge a flat rate of 99 cents per download. Now that has recently changed to a more flexible pricing scheme. Beginning in April prices are now 69 cents, 99 cents and 1.29.

The price of a song depends on it’s popularity and the studio. More songs are towards the lower 69 cent spectrum. I think this is a welcomed changed. I always though that 99 cents was steep for a song, espcially an old one. I think it’s a smart move on apple’s part to do this because it will encourage people to be more legit and by online, vs download torrents.

Oh and the great thing is that these new songs are DRM free. That means you can copy them as much as you want, transfer them to as many devices as you desire. You are much freer to share your songs under Apples new policy. This is great of course because many of us have been saying for years that if we pay for our music we should be able to do more with our own digital property.

So what kind of music is available now? Well today I browsed for and bought Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” and “Just Dance” for 0.99 cents each. Not bad. Actually when I browsed through the catalogue I didn’t see any songs selling for 1.29 at all.

I’m wondering if this is a move towards better pricing in general for music. Lets face it, there is no reason why Apple or the music industry in general can’t lower prices on music. Using a digital model it doesn’t cost them anything to make copies of music. I assue band width charges are low. If the big music labels made their MP3s cheap enough people will definately start to buy.

That’s no just good for us but for the artists as well. Utimately more songs sales means better deals and bigger royalties for singers and bands we all love and want to support.

Hey what are your favorite songs? I was singing to John Lennon’s “Imagine” today and started making a list of my favorite songs. Since I am such a fan of all types of music I naturally had more than one. Here are some of mine, in no particular order:

As I have mentioned already, there is John Lennon’s “Imagine”. What can I say it is a classing and expresses everthing i feel about a better world and humanity in general.

Here is a Beatles classic, “Let it Be”. Nice title catchy lyrics, really a great song.

Usher’s “Let It Burn.” It’s very contemporary and Hip Hoppy but if you listen to the lyrics it expresses what a lot of us go through with relationships. Jealousy, breaking up, growing apart. Not losing the love.

“Sorted Out By E’s and Whiz” by Pulp. Pulp is a little know band outside of UK but the are really great.

“1999″ by Prince. This is my favorite because I graduated in 1999 and were all going crazy for this song. It was amazing. An then of course after getting out of college I had my first job and had a wild New Years / New Millenium party 6 months later.

“One Hot Minute” by Red Hot Chilli Peppers. What can I say awesome guitar, awesome bass and great songs lyrics. This is think represents the best of this band’s music.

Goo Goo Dolls “Slide”. Yeah this is a great song for me because it represents how I was at a certain point in my life. I’m sure you’ve all been there looking for love and happiness. Many Goo Goo dolls is a great band.

Okay Okay I know what you are thinking not another Beatles song. But I have to put this one on. Yesterday. Considering all the stuff that is going on right now – financial crisis, nukes going to places like N. Korea and Iran, Terrorism and war songs like this help me stay grounded.

I had a really rough day today. Got up early and went to work and had a pile of stuff to do. I have a deadline Monday and will have to work the weekend again, like the last four weekends. Plus there are lay off rumors. Everyone is on edge. So I put on my Ipod and listed to some soothing jazz and rock music to try to get through it all.

It’s nice to be able to some Coltrane or Fitzgerald from time to time. People don’t mind if I put on the speakers and play from my music. That’s the one positive thing I can say about my job, my co workers are cool like that.

So while I’m sifting through email put my mp3 player on shuffle and just go through my 2000 songs. So I was kinda bored today and put on something more jazzy than usually. More up beat tunes from my favorite artists and the like.

So I have music on during my ride to work, during work, during lunch, after lunch and after work. Today was a crappy day, I had songs playing all day long. You ever get that feeling where you go to work and your thinking holy crap it’s only the middle of the week, two more days to go and you just get that dizzy feeling in your head? Yep one of those days. I figure if I’m not going to be productive I might as well play some pop and rock music just to keep from going nuts.

Believe or not my favorite artists for relaxation is Elvis and the Beatles. I am 30 years old and I am still listening to these guys. Maybe it is because my moms and pops used to play Elvis all the time and talk about how great John, Paul, Ringo and the other guy was yada yada yada.

But seriously though can you imagine having to go a day without something playing in your head. It just amazes me how people can live without an ipod or manage to get by without Youtube or something like that. Seriously my music is like a life’s essential now. Can’t go without it. Songs are like my emotional and mental water. Without it I would go crazy. Off the reservation. One Hundred and ten percent nutso.

So what songs do you listen to when you are having a hard day? Please send me your comments and share your taste in music with us.