Song #40: Eddie Money - "Take Me Home Tonight"

Song #40: Eddie Money - "Take Me Home Tonight" (1986)

Can't Hold Back

"I get frightened in all this darkness. I get nightmares, I hate to sleep alone."

Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" is a passionately sung ballad, smarter than the average love song and deeper than the average "I need you" tune. While the song could easily masquerade as an interchangeable hit from the eighties, the tune actually bears a more haunting sound and instrumentation than many songs of its kind, as well as featuring lyrics darker and more lonely than anything I've heard from the 1980's pop era.

Money's song is simple - he wants somebody to be with when the sun goes down, so he will be deprived of the loneliness in his life. However, consider some of its lyrics. "I get frightened in all this darkness. I get nightmares, I hate to sleep alone. I need some company, a guardian angel. To keep me warm when the cold winds blow." If we want to get really analytical about the film and its lyrics, we could almost say the man suffers from some sort of depression, to the point where sleeping alone causes him great mental strain and that the only way to remedy that is if someone he really cares about sleeps next to him. It wasn't until about my third or forth listen of the song did I realize how haunting that collection of lyrics were and how they profoundly stood out in a song that is pretty straight forward in terms of meaning and focus.

Money's trademark voice makes the song what it is. Money has just the right voice for something like this, where he can mumble and be mysterious or sing openly and warmly in the song's chorus. "Take Me Home Tonight" is a thoroughly infectious song, and while it is recognized pretty well and receives considerable airplay, I still am not sure most people look at the song through the darker lens it really deserves to be seen through.

Give "Take Me Home Tonight" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHKqA5mkT7I

Song #41: Nelly feat. Jermaine Dupri and Ciara - "Stepped On My J'z"

Song #41: Nelly feat. Jermaine Dupri and Ciara - "Stepped On My J'z" (2008)

Brass Knuckles

"When you know you got a pair that ain't nobody got (body got), you can't hold 'em back on me, you gotta rock (gotta rock)."

I remember bored one summer day, not being able to find anything on TV whatsoever, and finally just settled on watching an episode of Access Granted on BET, after about ten solid minutes of being unable to find anything tolerable. It just so happens that the show was known for profiling the making of popular music videos and, that particular day, they were showing the making of Nelly's latest video "Stepped On My J'z," from his long-delayed album Brass Knuckles.

At this time, I was reviewing music on iTunes, so I needed to stay relevant with new albums, new singles, and new artists, so I felt that it was nice that I just so happened to stumble upon the making of one of the videos from one of my longtime favorite rappers. Nelly didn't disappoint with "Stepped On My J'z," a song I now credit as my second favorite song by him only behind "Ride Wit Me" (number ninety-three on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski").

"Stepped On My J'z," in addition to Nelly, features Jermaine Dupri and Ciara, and concerns the popular Air Jordan line of shoes. The song, right from the beginning, is a boastful, bombastic song about Nelly rocking his latest line of Air Jordans and discussing getting his first scuff on the shoes, to which the song gets its title and its chorus from. Interjected in the middle of the video is a scene I thought was meaningless when I first saw it, but realize it's a direct ode to Spike Lee's masterwork Do the Right Thing (among other little nods to Lee's work, which exist in the video). At the time, I had no idea who Spike Lee was or what relevance the little thirty second clip had, but now, I look forward to it whenever I rewatch the video.

After Nelly's breakneck verse, we get a more relaxed vibe from Dupri, who lists numerous different kinds of Jordans and brings up a valid point as to how shoes, or any clothing for that matter, can increase your confidence and your identity moreso than you could ever imagine. Then we have Ciara, who comes in unexpectedly and provides us with a dance number in the song. We conclude with one last visit from Nelly, who delivers probably the strongest flow and delivery in any song I have yet to hear from him in such a small amount of time.

"Stepped On My J'z" is a pretty ridiculous song about a certain "first world problem," however, the fact that the song works so well and manages to be so complete is the reason it's on this list in the first place. It took its bizarre, and admittedly trivial idea, and ran with it nicely, making for a thoroughly entertaining and memorable song, and one of my favorite music videos of the last decade.

Give "Stepped On My J'z" a listen (and a watch), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1m57sikS-s

Song #42: Hank Williams III - Guttertown

Song #42: Hank Williams III - "Gutter Town" (2012)

Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town

"Fightin' all night just to keep in line, trying too hard not to lose my mind, watching all the folks doin' the same."

Upon his departure from Curb Records, Hank Williams III proceeded to release four complete albums one faithful day in September 2012. III had accumulated so much material overtime, after being denied numerous releases from Curb, that the only logical thing to do would be to release multiple albums housing all the material. His double-album release - Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town - turned out to be his best piece of work released that day, housing numerous fantastic country/heartbreak/and country-rock songs he's made in his career.

"Gutter Town" stands as being the strongest piece of work on the duo album. It's a song done in vein of the outlaw country, heartbreak songs that III's great-grandfather used to sing, one that details grittier, harsher times in life than what was socially/musically acceptable in the 1930's to the 1950's. III details the hard times he has had with women, with trying to cope with the lack of recognition and respect his music has given him, and discusses, albeit in some vague detail, what his darkest nights entail.

III's vocals and mixing on "Gutter Town" provide the song with a melody darker and more ominous than if a mainstream studio had been where the recording takes place. The song bears a "bootleg" kind of audio and mixing quality, mainly because the song - like the four albums III released in 2012 - was self-produced and self-recorded in III's home "The Haunted Ranch." This is nice for the III fans that want their tracks to have an intimate feel to them, rather than a glossier, more manufactured sound that sometimes comes in through professional recordings.

The song's personal impact on me is that, while I've never been through experiences quite like III, like most people, I still have my harder nights and my nights where it seems all is for nothing, stress becomes too consuming, and I try to think if there's any chance I could be doing what I love for a living. When I do, this song happily joins me on those days, letting me know that there are people with similar, if not bigger, problems and that we can share a ballad together.

Give "Gutter Town" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YChqDeb6LbM

Song #43: Herman's Hermits Starring Peter Noone - "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am"

Song #43: Herman's Hermits Starring Peter Noone - "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" (1965)

A Must to Avoid

"Henry! Henry! Henry! Henry! Henry the Eighth, I am, I am! Henry the Eighth, I am!"

To follow up "Winchester Cathedral," we might as well follow it up with another golden novelty hit. Herman's Hermits' massive 1960's cockney hit "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" has some notoriety in my family for being misinterpreted by my grandmother, who tends to misinterpret or misunderstand lyrics to many songs. When this song was released, the first few times she heard it, she would sing, "I'm gathering the eggs, I am," rather than "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" (almost as bad as misinterpreting "Let's move before they raise the parking rent" in Bad Company's song "All Right Now" as "Let's move before they raise the fucking rent," and baffled about how the song could be played "uncensored" on the radio).

While the lyrical misinterpretation came up nearly every time we gathered at Christmas as a family, I never bothered to listen to the song until one day, very late at night. It was about 12:30am in 2012. Exhausted, I climbed into bed and briefly turned the TV in my bedroom, which was left on channel 11 (PBS) the night before. What came on was a concert of some sort, with Peter Noone singing "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am." Recognizing the song and the tune instantly from the aforementioned event, I had to download the song. I listened to the original song, released in 1965, and thought it was fine, but relished Noone's slick, buttery vocals (he now becomes a voice in my week, as the liquor store plays "Sirius XM's 60's on 6," where Noone hosts an afternoon music block on Saturdays). I downloaded his version and, remember the following day - a Monday - I went with my dad for a drive through the city (just like the ones I mentioned in this blog) and played that song over fifty times on repeat. I couldn't get enough of it.

"I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" replicates the obsession I can have with some songs, craving them insatiably and playing them over and over again, never tiring from them. If the song had solely been a part of my family like the reason I explained, I think it'd be pretty noteworthy, but the fact that I enjoy it as much as I do definitely makes it worthy of a feature on the blog.

Give "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" a listen (NOTE: this is the version I saw very late at night that faithful Sunday in 2012 on PBS. I am unable to track down a studio version of the song, available on Peter Noone's album "Million Sellers." I encourage all to download the song online and take a listen, for that is the real version of the song to be, much more than the original 1965 version), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJXu0i9oxWo

Song #44: The New Vaudeville Band - "Winchester Cathedral"

Song #44: The New Vaudeville Band - "Winchester Cathedral" (1966)

"Winchester Cathedral" - Single

"Oh-bo-de-o-do. Oh-bo-de-o-do. Oh-bo-de-o-do-de-do. Duh."

"Winchester Cathedral" is one of the later entries to this blog series, mainly because I didn't first stumble upon the song until June 6th, 2014. That was the day I graduated high school, and vividly remember, pacing around the living room all dressed up in my business formal attire, with my gown, beautifully ironed thanks to mom, hanging on the mantle in the livingroom. My dad, has passive as ever, was drinking Banquet Coors in a bottle, listening to classic sixties and seventies music, baffled by my nervousness. "What the hell are you so nervous for?," he asked. "Ya ain't doing anything but walking across the stage."

My mom was in the livingroom with us, as we were all waiting for my grandmother to arrive. The New Vaudeville Band's song "Winchester Cathedral" came one of the TV music stations, to which it seemed everything in me stopped, and it was only me and the song at this very moment. "Winchester Cathedral" may be one of the most genial and relaxing songs I've ever heard. It has one of the most giddy, peaceful instrumentals I've heard, replicates a style and an era known for its bleeding-heart conservatism in terms of appearance and manner, and features unique vocal and pitch styles that fittingly replicate an era. It took me out of an anxious state and brought me to a calmer one. After hearing it, I immediately took out my phone and downloaded it; this was going to be the theme song for the evening (that and "IDGAF" by Snootie Wild).

The song has a wild history to it, to boot, which I educated myself on on break from work this past week. The song was recorded by session musicians, who formed a British novelty group called The New Vaudeville Band by the song's composer, a guy by the name of Geoff Stephens. Stephens loved the vaudevillian/British music hall era, so he wanted to have a contemporary song replicate the stylistic and auditory structure that a tune from that period would. Lead singer John Carter performed singing through his hands, imitating the sound of a megaphone, a popular sound throughout that particular era. Once the song was a charttopping hit in both the United States and United Kingdom, a formal group had to be established so a tour could commence.

"Winchester Cathedral" is the perfect example of a sleeper hit, originally recorded for fun and a cheeky release (similar to C.W. McCall's "Convoy"), but upon unpredicted success, became a memorable tune for the era. The fact that the song is a stylistic and musical masterpiece only adds to that great story of unexpected fame (not to mention, the opening eight seconds and the closing eight seconds of the song, may be two of my most favorite moments of any song ever).

Give "Winchester Cathedral" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKc1OCJ7iXk

Song #45: Faith No More - "Midlife Crisis"

Song #45: Faith No More - "Midlife Crisis" (1992)

Angel Dust

"I cannot stop giving, I am thirtysomething."

Faith No More's "Midlife Crisis" was a song I enjoyed for many years before I really understood, and by understood, I mean quote a line of the song's lyrics. I fell in love with the instrumentation and the sound of the lyrics before I actually knew what the lyrics were and what they were describing. The song describes, in a heavily ambiguous way, the makings of a midlife crisis, and is heavily inspired by Madonna, who the bandmembers thought was going through something of a midlife crisis with the abundance of her crazy antics on stage and on her albums, as if she was trying to be younger than she actually was.

"Midlife Crisis" has a unique lyrical structure, which is easier to hear than to describe. Basically, the lines of verses bleed into others, with the lead singer often ending a line by saying part of a word and then finishing it after a very brief pause in the next line. Give the song a listen while reading the lyrics (which, I believe, you'll certainly need) and you'll see what I mean. Because of the song's unique structure, it prolonged my idea about the song and its lyrics, and to this day, I still don't know if I could pick out all the symbolism and define the lyricism in the only Faith No More song I know.

The song is another cut off the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, this time, existing not on the classic rock station of K-DST but the heavy metal station of Radio X, which was always anchored by the oddball, rock-chick nicknamed "Sage." Whenever this song would come on, I'd immediately speed up wherever I was driving in the game, or just become very immersed in the surroundings of the game. The song is so nineties, and germane to that, the game is captured in the nineties, so it was the perfect blend of time periods into a very memorable and fun song about a not-so fun experience in life.

Give "Midlife Crisis" (with lyrics) a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIuOWv-mLP4

Song #46: The Four Lads - "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"

Song #46: The Four Lads - "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" (1953)

"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" - Single

"Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks."

If you have any knowledge of classic fifties music, then you know "why did Constantinople get the works?" is one of the most burning unanswered questions in the history of music. "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is one of my favorite classic fifties songs, reminding me whenever it's played of the days my father and I would take a ride in the city, driving down Archer Avenue in Chicago or down the checkered road of Harlem Avenue. Harlem remains one of my favorite streets, bearing a look that appears as if it the road never left its good-natured, fifties charisma, with diners, several old infrastructures still standing, and numerous vacant lots that look untouched in decades. 

One of my favorite locations on Harlem Avenue was the local Krispy Kreme, which remained one of the last standing Krispy Kremes in all of Illinois. My dad and I would go there, stare at the doughnuts on the conveyor belt, as they were sent in the fryer and eventually glazed heavily before entering a cooling tunnel, before ordering one or two glazed doughnuts for ourselves along with an original Dean's Milk Chug. Eating the doughnut was one of the most memorable parts of all, trying to make sure your hands didn't get too sticky while also making sure more glaze ended up in your mouth than on your plate.

Before I turn this into a personal blog, not a song blog, let me state "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"'s significance. Mornings like this were scored by WRLL, or Chicago's "Real Oldies 1690AM" station, that was known for playing classic songs of decades past, all the way back to the forties. One of the songs was The Four Lads' "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," a witty bop-song talking about how Constantinople became Istanbul with no questions asked. When the question "why did Constantinople get the works?" is proposed by one of the singers, "that's nobody's business but the Turks" is the answer he's given.

The song is a terrific example of comedic songwriting and singing, with jivey instrumental I always look forward to hearing. Often it is the songs with the simplest ideas and topics that provide for the most pleasurable listening experience.

Give "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcze7EGorOk

Song #47: Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz feat. Ice Cube - "Real Nigga Roll Call"

Song #47: Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz feat. Ice Cube - "Real Nigga Roll Call" (2004)

Crunk Juice

"Y'all niggas be some kissin' security ass ass niggas! My niggas! Fuck them hoes and let 'em know ass niggas!"

The only thing more entertaining than just letting Lil Jon's crunk anthem "Real Nigga Roll Call" play full blast is playing the censored version, where numerous lines are either completely rewritten or reworded. When talking the explicit version, "Real Nigga Roll Call" is a masterclass of crunk music, featuring a bombastic instrumentation that is incredibly bass-heavy, cutthroat and dirty lyricism by Lil Jon and his trademark Eastside Boyz, a slick verse by Ice Cube, and a wonderfully exciting five minutes of music. 

How I encountered this song was among the most bizarre circumstances. My uncle and I had just seen the great Final Destination 5 in theaters and were both kind of on a high after seeing it, both enjoying it and talking about the ways it intertwined itself with another film in the franchise. We were driving through my town in my uncle's beautiful Lexus when he decided to light a small cigar and dig through his collection of personally-made CD-Rs at a red light. "What're you looking for?," I asked. "I'm trying to find that one rap song I was telling you about; that "Real Nigga Roll Call," I think it's called," he responded. "Here it is," he said shortly after.

My uncle put the CD in the player and proceeded to roll down all his windows in his car completely, even the sunroof (it was the middle of August, so the weather was undoubtedly hot). He scrolled through the tracks and stopped at a certain one. Instantaneously, the loud, rip-roaring bass of "Real Nigga Roll Call" came on. My uncle's Lexus has an incredible sound system, so his only logical response to this introduction was to turn the volume up even louder. Pretty soon, that light turned green and we were driving down the road, cruising in a Lexus, two white guys, blasting one of the filthiest and most brazen rap songs I have yet to hear, with people around us rolling up their windows or giving us dirty looks. My uncle didn't care and I really didn't care; it was the perfect representation of being carefree in a strange situation.

The song itself is quite the oddity, using the word "nigga" well-over two-hundred times and featuring a solid verse by the likes of Ice Cube, who always frequents Lil Jon's songs. After Crunk Rock, Lil Jon's first solo venture without the assistance of The Eastside Boyz, was such a disappointment, I can only hope Jon returns to this kind of music-making. Love crunk or detest it unconditionally, Jon knew how to exercise everything from production to even the most basic lyrics. The chorus on this song is undeniably one of my favorites ever.

Give "Real Nigga Roll Call" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ct_EOg-zI

Song #48: Johnny Tillotson - "Poetry in Motion"

Song #48: Johnny Tillotson - "Poetry in Motion" (1961)

"Poetry in Motion" - Single

"I loved every movement, there's nothing I would change. She doesn't need improvement; she's much too nice to rearrange."

Johnny Tillotson's "Poetry in Motion" captures an era in music that was a lot simpler, kinder, and more genial, similar to Hank Williams or a country pioneer. However, Tillotson, in his biggest hit "Poetry in Motion," Tillotson didn't even insinuate to the kind of heartfelt emotion or deep sadness that Williams himself did in certain songs. "Poetry in Motion" was all love and energy all the time.

Despite being released in the early sixties, "Poetry in Motion" bears instrumentation and the style of vocals that were made popular in the fifties, as Tillotson makes use of vocalization and instrumentals that could easily be mistaken for fifties pop. The song, similar to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (number ninety-seven on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), is just a passionate love song, describing a woman who's dancing and movement is like "poetry in motion" because of how drop-dead gorgeous she is. It's as if Tillotson is watching this woman on the dance floor from afar, commenting on her "gentle sway" while he stands there mesmerized by a girl's beauty and her unbelievable dancing abilities.

Tillotson's vocals owe a lot to the song success, being very easy to listen to and extremely clear, never slipping up or oversinging any part of the song. Furthermore, the only thing better than the chorus of the song is when Tillotson sings the "woah-oh-oh-oh-oh" lines of the song in an inanely catchy moment in the song. Again, I can only hope I save a spot for "Poetry in Motion" for my wedding, if I ever get married.

Give "Poetry in Motion" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy_ArpznZUs

Song #49: Tom Petty - "Runnin' Down a Dream"

Song #49: Tom Petty - "Runnin' Down a Dream" (1989)

Full Moon Fever

Working on a mystery, going wherever it leads."

I suppose it's only fitting that, after providing you guys with my writeup and interpretation of Kansas's "Carry on Wayward Son," I dive into another song that's not only bent on some interpretation, but also exists as more of a showcase for instrumentation than lyricism. As I said in my writeup of Kansas's hit song (number fifty-one in "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), I would rather have lyricism than a minute to a minute-and-a-half long solo, but certain songs' solos speak louder to me than lyrics could, and one of them is Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream."

"Runnin' Down a Dream" is another song I found in the extensive and unabashedly beautiful library of music brought forth by the bestselling video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Petty's hit song was on K-DST, the radio station dedicated to classic rock, alongside Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind of Wonderful (number seventy-seven on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), and that was the station in the game my friend and I would always have on, for it was the only radio station in the game that had a consistently excellent line of songs.

"Runnin' Down a Dream" has everything a great classic rock ballad should have - intense visualizations, an infectious and hummable flow, lyricism that's equal parts poetic as it is contemplative, and silky-smooth vocals, this time, provided by one of the genre's greatest. The song makes for a fantastic song to play while you're driving rather aimlessly, trying to come to terms with a strange situation, or simply trying to further understand the world around you and embrace its offerings, which is what our character seems to be wanting to do. There have been many covers of the song, but none can match the sheer beauty of Petty's vocals, nor can they ever hope or succeed in soaring past the original song's instrumentals, which come in at the right times and, while staying for over a minute, never exceed their welcome.

Give "Runnin' Down a Dream" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXYl5NrHPb4

Song #50: Hank Williams - "Settin' the Woods on Fire"

Song #50: Hank Williams - "Settin' the Woods on Fire" (1952)

40 Greatest Hits

"You'll be broke but I'll be broker. Tonight we're settin' the woods on fire."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Miraculously, we are now halfway through "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski." I'm humbly reflecting on when I began writing the first fifteen entries for this blog series, most of which were done in my journalism class during the tailend of the year, when nothing was really taking place in class, or in my critical lenses course, when all my projects had been completed about a week and a half early. Now, I have a ritual where I try to crank out three of these blogs every three days, that way I'm not down to the wire and need to rush a post out on the day it's set to be released. Each blog you're reading was written a few days in advance (for example, this one was written July 18, 2014 and was released today on July 21, 2014). I can't articulate how much fun this series has been to write and I can't thank those who have made a serious attempt to follow almost each and every day (or maybe every day) what songs shaped me as a person or what songs I find underrated and deserving of more recognition. I'll have a formal wrap-up blog for this series coming on September 8, 2014, so I don't want to waste much time here. But I thank you guys again for your incredible support and here's to the latter fifty songs.

SONG #50: Hank Williams' "Settin' the Woods on Fire" is a marvelous and innocuous little gem of a song that articulates the fun that will be indulged by a young couple, who clearly want time together more than a fancy dinner or an expensive night on the town. The singer and his lover are more content with eating two bowls of chilli, dancing, driving along the night, discussing, and simply enjoying the company of others rather than spending ample amounts of money so they can say they enjoyed themselves.

To be honest, I wonder how many couples would consider what the singer and his love do in this song to be an acceptable form of "a date," or would they want something more than just romping around town in an aimless fashion. Has today's men and women grown more demanding or what their significant other provides or is doing something akin to what this song articulates still an acceptable form of "going on a date?" Or do we all just text each other now and date virtually from the comfort of our home?

Unsurprisingly, Hank Williams creates an amazing little ballad, set to infectious and beautifully-played music and put to his soothing vocals. While Williams is known for his incomparably heartbreaking songs that detail loneliness and heartbreak, one can't forget his incredible talent at making songs that just reflected the fun, spirited relationships in his life. "Settin' the Woods on Fire" is one of the many, so don't think they stop here. 

Give "Settin' the Woods on Fire" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3hzYRVAkUs

Song #51: Kansas - "Carry on Wayward Son"

Song #51: Kansas - "Carry on Wayward Son" (1976)

Leftoverture

"You will always remember nothing equals the splendor."

People who are heavily into music, or even play an instrument themselves, will likely hate me for saying this, but sometimes my least favorite part of any song is the instrumentation, or "the solo." I'd rather be enchanted with metaphorical lyrics or lyrics that detail a story more than hearing a guitar or a bass for a minute straight. I can definitely appreciate the immense amount of talent and extreme energy that goes into creating a solo, but I'd simply rather be provided with lyrics or something that could seriously make me think about the characters/events in the specific song or how they relate to me or people I know.

I mention this because, after making that clear, having this particular song as an entry in this blog series immediately seems like a contradiction. However, when I listen to "Carry on Wayward Son" by Kansas, I listen to the entire song, the lengthy solos, instrumentation, and all. The song has so few lyrics that they seem like they're fragmenting in an instrumental version of the song, providing audiences with the thing opposite to what they're used to getting (a solo interrupting the chorus and the verses).

The lyrics to "Carry on Wayward Son" are entirely open to interpretation, with many online and in forums debating the significance of the song and how it effects them personally. For me, the song seems to articulate the tumultuous time of high school, where one teenage boy is grappling with the huge changes that have been brought upon him. He rises above the noise and confusion, trying to grapple with what he'll be in life and we he will go, by he soars way too high, becoming disillusioned with what he might become and, in turn, becomes frightened of the future and scared for it. Pretty soon, he tries to combat his nervousness by trying to be part of the in-crowd or "the man of the season," however, his charade turns into the event of the season. If he claims to be "a wise man," he obviously doesn't know a single thing and is using it as a defense mechanism. Metaphorically speaking, he's tossed around by his peers like a ship on the ocean, and sets a course for better waters, but he still hears those voices say that there will be peace when he is done with all this before laying his weary head to rest and not to cry anymore.

As somebody who just completed the rollecoaster that was high school, with unexpectedly amazing results, I can't say I know first-hand what it's like to be without friends or an outlet in that particular time, for I always seemed to be on the good side of several and went on to make a large name for myself by my senior year. However, I remember the days of middle school, my friend and I being laughed at for the videos we made and made fun of for the crushes we held. Had somebody played me "Carry on Wayward Son," I would've been liberated from the nonsense and would've tried to tell myself that better days would be ahead. Indeed they were, but they came as a total surprise to me.

With all this being said, Kansas's massive song ranks as one of the most accomplished rock songs I've ever heard, lyrically, instrumentally speaking, and in terms of illustrating metaphors and visualizations that provide one for, not one, but several different stories and tales to be told, more than just the one I tried to articulate. The beauty of this song is it can be told in numerous different ways but its lyrics remain the same.

Give "Carry on Wayward Son" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzRsAHoBkXQ

Song #52: Toby Keith - "How Do You Like Me Now?!"

Song #52: Toby Keith - "How Do You Like Me Now?!" (1999)

How Do You Like Now?!

"I couldn't make you love me, but I always dreamed about living in your radio; how do you like me now?!"

Toby Keith's relatively forgotten hit song from the late nineties "How Do You Like Me Now?!" centers on a subject we don't hear or see a lot in music or film, which is where someone is after their "peak" years in high school or college. We usually see them in their prime, talking about how they'll be when they're older and how the other person, who is usually a jock or a stuck-up cheerleader, won't be anywhere, but rarely do we actually see what the other person makes of him or herself.

"How Do You Like Me Now?" is sung from the point-of-view of the goof-off in high school, as he makes evident in the opening line, about how he was a crazy one, who broke into the stadium and wrote the perfect valedictorian's number on the fifty-yard-line of the bleachers as a fun little joke. She brushed him off, despite him also being quite nice and friendly to her. Not to mention, she didn't think he'd make anything of himself, being a raucous guitar player and slacker all throughout high school. Fast-forward a few years, and you have a famous singer, looking back on the valedictorian and laughing about her lack of faith in his dreams and how he has become monstrously successful, while her life is still in limbo.

Keith has publicly stated that this song is like a theme song or an anthem to those who have tried and grieved to make something of themselves when somebody - be it a boss, coworker, family member, an old flame, etc - came in their way and said they couldn't do it. This song is like a mature, valid way to laugh in their face. The song was a huge winner for me at age four, especially seeing as I wound up buying the cassette tape from Wal-Mart and kept it in the collection of cassettes in my mom's car, as I've mentioned before. Not to mention, the tune has a subtly different sound than most of Toby Keith's other songs, with a more humbling and relaxed Keith, up until the obligatory chorus chimes in, giving the song more of a rowdy, twangy-country edge. All I can say is I'm hoping this song will be somewhat effective in future years for me on a personal level; consider this particular song one I'm saving for later.

Give "How Do You Like Me Now?!" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7jDzeCJ9ZI

Song #53: Hank Williams III - "Crazed Country Rebel"

Song #53: Hank Williams III - "Crazed Country Rebel" (2006)

Straight to Hell

"I'm always livin' hard, always smokin' weed, and I'm hanging down in Texas drinking mushroom tea."

Hank Williams III's song "Crazed Country Rebel," off his third studio album Straight to Hell which, to date, ranks as his strongest in my book, is the man's tour-de-force track, as it details the kind of destructive and lawless lifestyle he proudly lives put to instrumentation and a style that he wholly embraces. The song was one of the first Hank III songs I had the pleasure of hearing, back in 2008 when, like I stated in my writeup for "Straight to Hell ('Satan is Real' Medley)" (number seventy-three on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), I desperately needed a rebel-spirit to help me through some grave changes that were about to be made in the transition from middle-to-high school.

"Crazed Country Rebel" helped a lot, as it concerned III detailing a life of pure rebellious destruction of everything in his path, embracing things like weed, alcohol, outlandish concoctions of the two, and the wildly prominent theme in his music about the "overdose of sin." "Crazed Country Rebel" makes for a jolting ride through the person that is III, and is put to a fantastic, neotraditional country style that III has tried to embrace since he began, unfortunately being limited by his record label and brought down by people who've gone on to accept the mainstream pop country as the genre norm.

Even with all that, there's too much lyrical strength and talent to ignore in III's "Crazed Country Rebel," so much so that it's stunning that Curb let him release the Straight to Hell album as is.

Give "Crazed Country Rebel" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GP3-jHZF2Q

Song #54: Rush - "Limelight"

Song #54: Rush - "Limelight" (1981)

Moving Pictures

"Those who wish to be must put aside the alienation, head on with the fascination, the real relation, the underlying theme."

No matter which way you slice it - whether you want to dissect the piece as a detailed account of star-studded alienation, a critique of the celebrity world, a band, or specific band members', personal struggles dealing with the sudden rise to fame, or a heavily-metaphorical take on the fame world itself - Rush's hit song "Limelight" is an amazing rock song through and through, in my opinion, accomplishing all of those aforementioned qualities to a tee and providing me with some emotional empathy all its own.

I've talked enough about my sudden rise in popularity during my high school years with enough pretentiousness to fulfill an impressionistic indie film, but every once in a while during the last two years of my high school career, I'd take it slow, spend a night on the rocking chair and listening to some of the most deeply moving songs in my phone's music library. One of them was Rush's "Limelight" which, no matter what mood I found myself in because of what happened that day in school or what fantastic conversations took place, would bring me back down to Earth and remind me of crucial things I was lacking in while trying to maintain this popular film critic of the halls of school. I'm not saying it was anything near the magnitude of what Rush drummer Neil Peart experienced when he first signed onto the band (being that the song is predominately his and deals with his struggles to cope with sudden fame in an industry where privacy and solitude is a rarity), but I will say that the personal effect this tune had on me was potent and present.

It also helps that the song is just a damn perfect rock song, combining an incredible intro of absorbing instrumentation, exciting and enthusiastic vocals throughout, a guitar solo that reeks an emotion all its own, and provides lyrics that are easy to read, yet sometimes heavily metaphoric and vague. This is a multi-layered song about a very real issue that I'm surprised isn't brought up more in contemporary music in the digital age.

Give "Limelight" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l63eixpYRWk

Song #55: Baha Men - "Move it Like This"

Song #55: Baha Men - "Move it Like This" (2002)

Move it Like This

"Smooth music is kickin', clippin', we rush back and we keep dippin'!"

Why the once-wildly popular, even if not by name, Baha Men are still struggling to resurface with their own infectious proven successful blend of house music and Jamaican sound in the era where lyrical sloganeering and Top 40 radio is king is beyond me. However, because of this, going back to their old music leads one to find songs that are not dated nor lacking in excitement, with nearly every track off their 2002 album Move it Like This bearing the ability to blast right through ones speakers and produce a fittingly potent and original music sound.

"Move it Like This" is what started it all for me with the Baha Men, for it was a song that, for a while, you seemingly couldn't escape since it was in nearly every children's film in the early 2000's because it was so upbeat and jivey, and that the Baha Men had been recording multiple different songs for a wide-variety of films, including the titular track for one of my childhood and teenage favorites Rat Race. The band was everywhere, and I heard their song "Move it Like This" almost everywhere I'd go; even in the most unlikely places like running and doing warmup exercises around the perimeter of the gym in my second grade gym class.

"Move it Like This" is really nothing special from a song perspective, with average lyrics that are only disguised by the abundance of twists and differentiations in the truly contagious beat. What makes this song a winner in my book, and noteworthy in my book, is the fact that it was a song that clearly defined a period in media when I was a kid, and, for that matter, it was a song I actually enjoyed listening to and still do. As I stated in my writeup for the Baha Men's criminally unheard song "Normal" (number ninety-six on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), when I was young, I always implored my mom to play this CD whenever we went anywhere, being the grocery store or just a lengthy ride to grandma's. The first three tracks - the two aforementioned songs and "Coconut" - flash me back to a certain point in life, as well as helping me call the ubiquity of the Bahamian music group that took so much prominence in the early 2000's. 

Give "Move it Like This" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM6hkpMixWI

Song #56: Bad Religion - "The Resist Stance"

Song #56: Bad Religion - "The Resist Stance" (2010)

The Dissent of Man

"Because passion unabated can be readily conflated with belligerence."

Since I just talked about The Dazz Band's impact on me with their song "Let it Whip," thanks to its inclusion in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (number fifty-seven on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), I may as well give Bad Religion's "The Resist Stance" its due, since its inclusion in the video game Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit should not go unnoticed. I don't listen to much in the way of contemporary metal or grunge, but racing down a track in a gorgeous police Lamborghini with this song blaring through my speakers enough times made me addicted to its lyrics, its instrumentation, and its ideas. 

I played the hell out of Hot Pursuit my freshman year in high school, which I've reiterated countless times was a trying, tumultuous time for me, and am currently experiencing the same sort of anxious uncertainty with college beginning in just a bit over two months for me at this point. "The Resist Stance" bears lyricism that just seems so keen and aching for a rebellion you can't ignore it. There's a biting sense of need and satisfaction that must be fulfilled and the band won't take no for an answer. The song's lyrics are rather complex, wordy, and a mouthful, even for rock-and-roll standards, a genre of music often shortchanged in terms of what kind of ideas or messages it can convey.

The song basically describes how rebellion can be born and how one can turn from accepting citizen into committed activist over time. Out of all its lyrics, which could probably help write one college student's dissertation on the importance of citizen action and social justice, is "because passion unabated can be readily conflated with belligerence." To me, this line hits home because it tells how one person's passion, that shows no limited or boundaries, can easily be looked on to other people as a cocky, boastful way at expressing ones deepest feelings of belligerence and arrogance, even if that's not intended. It's the kind of viewpoint held by people either caught up in jealousy or so deep in their own ignorance that they cannot see ones love for something for what its really worth.

But I'd be lying if I said this song's entire impact on me was me sitting in my basement, analyzing its lyrics on my computer. This song, thanks to its whiplash-inducing instrumentation and breakneck flow, makes for an incredible song to fly down the highway to, which I've done plenty of times with my good friend, in his manual Mustang, with this song at full blast. This may be one of the many contemporary teenager anthems for the kinds of teenagers who refuse to be defined by the music they are expected to listen to. You know who you are.

Give "The Resist Stance" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sykzo1QpSlE

Song #57: The Dazz Band - "Let it Whip"

Song #57: The Dazz Band - "Let it Whip" (1982)

Keep it Live

"We'll get to groovin', love your body language. Baby, let me know, you got me sorta anxious."

As I said in my writeup for Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind of Wonderful" (number seventy-seven on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), I need to give credit to the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for introducing me to a wide-variety of music, from rap, heavy metal, soul, classic rock, and classic country. With that, one of the most underrated and unappreciated genres in music, in terms of how it is viewed today, has to be classic soul music, sung infectiously by numerous African-American bands that either endured brief success with one hit or global success with many. From The Spinners, to The O'Jays, to, in this case, The Dazz Band, this writeup not only goes out to an incredible song from the time period, but to all those bands that don't see their dues paid at all today - this one's for you.

"Let it Whip" was on the fictional radio station Bounce FM in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a station dedicated to funky soul music. I never listened to it much, but sometimes I'd carjack somebody in the game and wouldn't think to change the radio, which is why there are some stations in the video game where I only like one or two songs in their twelve song setlist, where some I like nine or ten. "Let it Whip" never made me want to change the dial, for I adored everything about it. From its jivey instrumentation, to the Dazz Band's wonderful, velvety smooth vocals, to the energy the song presented, I was addicted from the first time I heard it. 

This is the kind of song I wish my school dances would've embraced, especially given our homecoming theme freshman year was "I Love the 1980's," despite no music being played from the time period at all. This is the kind of song I wish more embraced rather than shunned, and I feel that if you want a song that gives off a particular vibe and energy, you wouldn't find anything better than a piece of soul music from the 1960's, 1970's, or 1980's. "Let it Whip" is about cutting loose, embracing the music, and feeling the groove, and despite those ideas sounding depressingly commonplace in pop music today, this song does it with a sound and feel that is far too underappreciated.

Give "Let it Whip" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccvUstooIfw

Song #58: Neal McCoy - "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On"

Song #58: Neal McCoy - "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" (2005)

That's Life

"He'll fall apart when he gets home. Right now, his worries are gone, and life looks good, good, good."

Irish-Filipino country singer Neal McCoy has been one of the most low-key artists in the genre today, still steadily cranking out new music and content despite having very little of it make the rounds on the country/Billboard charts. Despite admirable persistency, McCoy has seemingly just been nudged out by the success of attractive, talented, if slightly manufactured country musicians, like Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, and others. 

"Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" was the first single of McCoy's to achieve any kind of charting success in almost a decade, making it to the top ten on the Billboard country charts. Listening to the song and watching the video, it's pretty unsurprising as to why that is. The song is free-spirited, fun, and very relatable, forgoing the somber and heartbreaking route the song could've easily taken for a more fun-loving one. The zippy country ballad concerns a man named Billy (played by Rob Schneider in the music video, in probably the first thing I've seen him do that I've liked to this date), who's girlfriend left him broke with his new truck at a local tavern, meaning Billy's "temporary fix for his heartbreak" is alcohol. Throughout the night, we watch Billy slug away endlessly at beers, and seeing the bar and its patrons through his "beer goggles," or his distorted vision, mistaking scuffling bikers for energetic and promiscuous women, and cross-dressing men for some of the most heartbreaking cuties around.

The song captures a brilliant idea about alcohol in a line that even resonated with me as a young child (I was nine when this song came out in 2005). When McCoy leans next to Billy at the bar and says, "he'll fall apart when he gets home. Right now, his worries are gone, and life looks good, good, good" is one of the most accurate representations of alcohol and boozing that I've ever heard. Even the way McCoy sings the line is a bit lower than the rest of the song, a bit more humbler and less enthusiastic as opposed to the other lyrics of the song. When Billy's drinking now, he probably has numerous stupid, impulsive thoughts racing through his head and all he wants is some more fun and another round. When he gets home, however, the feeling of sadness and disappointment will come back to him and he'll be left hungover, dehydrated, and lonesome all the more. It's almost like McCoy's song is a prequel to those country heartbreak songs of Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, and Johnny Paycheck.

Focusing on the party, however, "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" has the ability to turn one up and cut one loose from all the conventions, as it and its music video perfectly replicate the idea of fun-loving, neverending party. Here's to the good times, the rough mornings, and a McCoy single that will hopefully take off in similar vein to this one and be just as good.

Give "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" a listen (and take note of the "GAC" logo in the bottom corner, for that right there defined my childhood in three simple letters), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORqzaOFUCsg

Song #59: Michael Jackson - "They Don't Care About Us"

Song #59: Michael Jackson - "They Don't Care About Us" (1995)

HIStory: Past, Present, and Future: Book I

"Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me!"

Michael Jackson is a unique artist in my book because even his most mainstream hits - "Bad," "Beat It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'?" register as some of my top favorite songs by the man himself. However, the two that I've picked for this special blog series register as my absolute favorites. The first one on the deck is "They Don't Care About Us," a criminally underrated track that may serve more significance now than it did when it was recorded and released in 1995.

For starters, there are two versions of the song, one that was filmed in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, emphasizing on the country's poverty and extreme poor, and another music video shot in prison and directed by Spike Lee. Both songs appear to be different in tone in some parts and bear different lyricism, with my favorite video being the one shot in prison. I feel that the prison video emphasizes the meaning of the song in a much stronger manner, and actually winds up putting a cold but recognizable identity to the song and its meaning.

The song concerns an angry, frustrated Jackson, who - in the prison version - is bearing a blue jumpsuit among dozens of other inmates with hulking guards at every corner. Jackson sings about how he has encountered a whirlwind of awful media attention, with the allegations of sexual abuse popping up in the media two years before this song's release, among the fact that the police and politicians of America don't seem to care anymore about the wellbeing of its people.

Agree or disagree with what Jackson is saying, this is a powerful song, clearly sung with rage and complete and total dissatification with "the system" and "the man" by Jackson. Unfortunately, "They Don't Care About Us" ranks as one of Jackson's least popular songs, never charting big, and receiving controversy for the alleged "antisemitic" comments Jackson makes in the song, from people who didn't understand the song and simply didn't want to. The personal effect this song on me is thin, being that I never lived in poverty - blessedly so - and never had to go through any strict or crippling oppression - again, blessedly so. However, this song falls in my second category for choosing songs for this blog, which is picking songs that, I feel, lack adequate recognition and deserve to be more acknowledged than the treatment they got so far. 

Give "They Don't Care About Us" (the prison version) a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97nAvTVeR6o

Song #60: Kenny Chesney feat. Uncle Kracker - "When the Sun Goes Down"

Song #60: Kenny Chesney feat. Uncle Kracker - "When the Sun Goes Down" (2004)

When the Sun Goes Down

"She thinks Kracker's sexy when the sun goes down."

I've always iterated numerous times how, when I was a child, I loved country music almost more than life itself, watching the Country Music Telvision (CMT) and Great American Country (GAC) networks with the loyalty of an elderly woman watching The 700 Club. One of my all-time favorite songs when I was a young kid, lazily watching country music videos on Televisions for sometimes four or five hours at a time was Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker's big hit "When the Sun Goes Down." Alongside Neal McCoy's "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" and Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett's "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," it was one of the music videos I'd most look forward to seeing.

For starters, the song isn't deep or metaphoric, like some country songs are. The song is as simple as its title, with Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker hanging out on a beach, presumably in Hawaii, relaxing and simply "breathing" all day long before the sun goes down, the big moon rises, and, as Chesney articulates, "it's time to play." Basically, the two's day is spent sitting listlessly on a beach around a small fire and a Volkswagen Bus waiting for the sun to go down; in other words, the archetypal example of "paradise."

For starters, the two men chose to sing this song are simply perfect. Chesney can represent the quietly confident, extremely attractive guy who, with his bulging muscles and straw-hat, adapts accordingly to the beach, while Kracker represents more of a "Chumlee" like character, stockier in build, squirrely, and very goofy. Even Kracker's voice, which sounds a bit more dryer and even wheezier to Chesney's smoother, more easy-listening vocals poses a fitting contrast for the men, as they're both in the foreground of a gorgeous, sun-soaked environment on the lakefront. The song's visualizations are beautiful and the duet is sung by one of the most perfectly matched people I've ever seen for a country song.

Furthermore, let's talk about the song itself, as simple as it is. The lyricism may be basic, but it's still wholly pleasant, as it talks about that aforementioned idea of paradise all of us want to experience. It reminds me of when I take vacations, from when my family frequented Wisconsin Dells in June or July from 2009 to 2012 or when my mom and I started going to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin last year at the tailend of July, early August. Those vacations will always occupy a place in my heart, and "When the Sun Goes Down" has the melody and the atmosphere of a wonderful vacation. 

Here's hoping you enjoy and love this song even half as much as me, for I consider this one of my favorite contemporary country songs. It shell-shocked me to learn this song turns ten this year; it feels like yesterday I was singing this on the couch at age eight.

Give "When the Sun Goes Down" a listen (I linked the music video, for I still believe that's the only way to listen to the song and be fulfilled), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGLdbpmXrbQ

Song #61: Lupe Fiasco - "The Show Goes On"

Song #61: Lupe Fiasco - "The Show Goes On" (2010)

Lasers

"Alright, already the show goes on, all night, till the morning we dream so long. Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up, just remember when you come up the show goes on!"

As I said in my writeup for Gotye and Kimbra's "Somebody That I Used to Know" (number ninety-four on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), I didn't hear that song for the first time until two years after it was released on the radio. Ever since DreX in the Morning on 103.5 KISS FM (WKSC-FM in Chicago) got fired in 2010, I never had the desire to go back and listen to top forty radio and, to this day, I still don't know more than half the songs that were played at my school dance nor on the radio at this current time. 

The same kind of circumstance happened for Lupe Fiasco's "The Show Goes On." I was listening to KISS FM early one morning, possibly on a morning where I didn't have to arrive at school until around 10am, or so, and heard what I found to be one of the most infectious mainstream raps songs I had heard in years (this was my sophomore year, so around 2011). I need to thank the heavily downloaded music-recognizing iPhone/Android app "Shazam" for saving me on this one, as I identified the song, quickly downloaded it, and listened to it again. I still remember the day I brought up the song to my buddy to hear him say, "you seriously never heard that? That song's been out for over a year." I didn't care, but I was ecstatic to have finally found it; better late than never.

"The Show Goes On" ostensibly plays like your average, motivational song, but the energy of the lyricism, the power to which Lupe Fiasco exercises the song's lyrics and vocals, and the overall competence of the song's structure and production make the song such a rousing great time. I hadn't listen to this song since the summer of 2013, so going back to it this morning before writing the blog, I had to replay it two more times after that - it just has that effect on me. The song's chorus, due to its simplicity and its delivery, is easily one of my all-time favorite choruses in any piece of music ever. 

Fiasco talks about how there are many people that will try and hold you back from what you want to do, but it doesn't matter if you look outside your window and see brown grass, green grass, picket fence, or barbed wire, for you have the ability to make it. Fiasco gets nostalgic, saying, "I was once that little boy; terrified of the world, now I'm on a world tour," providing close-to-home emotional resonance for his listeners. Despite the song's idea sounding tired and worn, Fiasco finds a way to deliver the material in an engaging and relatable way, which is the key to making this old song idea click. 

This song received so much play on my phone my sophomore year it wasn't even funny, so much so that hearing the song three times this morning allowed me to flashback to numerous events of my sophomore year (similar to how Elvis Presley's "Burning Love" - number sixty-four on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski" - can do the same thing). At least I can this song isn't like a song by Dolla or Giuseppe Andrews, where few know it, and it actually achieved commercial success. All I can say to those who haven't heard it is a long overdue listen is better than no listen.

Give "The Show Goes On" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzvJvOl9Tx0

Song #62: Plies - "Shit Bag"

Song #62: Plies - "Shit Bag" (2008)

Definition of Real

"Try me, I bet I leave yo ass in a Pamper. First bitch get outta line, I'mma make an example. Thinkin' 'bout tryin' me, you better go and cancel. Kill one of you bitch niggas, that's my final answer."

Opinions on the rapper Plies are incredibly schismatic, with some praising his vulgar, bawdy, often graphic lyrics, and some condemning his music for the very same reasons. Regardless, Plies is one of the most prolific men in the rap game today, releasing three albums in under two years when he first began rapping and continuing to drop singles and mixtapes of songs that are usually of average quality. While his biggest hits remain "Shawty," with T-Pain and "Bust it Baby Part 2," with Ne-Yo, I still look to "Shit Bag" as my very favorite Plies song.

"Shit Bag's" effect on me is a wily one that I use to great effect when I'm angry or frustrated. Just from the opening of the song, which is characterized by instrumentation reliant on synths to provide for booming production and ominous sounds of impending danger or destruction - almost like when a late-June storm rolls into the Midwest region, you can tell you're in for something bombastic and daunting. The song concerns Plies, nine-miles past livid, talking about how he manages to handle people that tempt him or taunt him, coldly stating, "there ain't no fakin' over here, I'm shootin' yo ass up." He goes on, breathlessly, for three and a half minutes, providing a listener with incredibly graphic lyrical content, which is equal parts stimulating as it is incredibly haunting.

Plies is a visceral artist, able to transcend from a loud, bombastic lyrical presence, to a more relaxed and romantic one between songs (on the same album, Definition of Real, right after "Shit Bag" on the album is "Please Excuse My Hands," with The Dream and Jamie Foxx, a soulful, almost loving ballad, and before that is "Feel Like Fuckin'," an interesting blend of vulgar lyricism and romance). "Shit Bag" constitutes as one of the meanest rap songs I've ever heard, but also one of the most well made, with some great, memorable lyricism, heavily erected on emotion and cut-throat anger, providing the song with a nice sense of naturalism all around. This is my theme song when I'm angry and never fails to give me some sort of extra energy or life when I rap it to get anger out of my system.

Give "Shit Bag" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CW24hZe2Yk

Song #63: Dolla - "Role Model"

Song #63: Dolla - "Role Model" (2010)

The Miseducation of Dolla

"Life ain't always 'bout the club, poppin' bottles, before you lead, gotta learn how to follow."

Every time I listen to a Dolla song, be it for leisure, for remembrance, or simply to satisfy the need to hear a brilliant rap song, I get quietly angry that I'll never be able to hear any new Dolla material, unless of course a new stash of songs or personal recordings of his are uncovered. For what we've gotten from him over the years, however, has been a real pleasure to listen to, when recognizing that many slain rappers don't see much of their material released, or didn't have that much material to release. Dolla had a plethora of songs and recordings, many of which are of exceptional lyrical/sound quality, even though many are likely deemed "unfinished" in the eyes of executives and the artist.

If you didn't read my entry on Dolla's "Statistic," which was number eighty-seven on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski," Dolla was shot and killed in May 2009, forever ending the life of one of the youngest, most captivating rap artists I had ever heard. One of the many songs to prove his lyrical talent emotionally and in a thought-provoking manner is "Role Model," a cut off his posthumously released mixtapes The Miseducation of Dolla and The Greatest Hits of Dolla. The song is immensely personal and self-reflective, as Dolla, in a clearly self-contemplative mood, talks about how he could very well clean his life up if he put his mind too it, rather than smoking and drinking liquor "to destroy my mind." He also wonders if he would be this way had he not grown up underprivileged and if his father would've been, "a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a judge," which, in that case, would've probably never spawned such bold lyrical content.

Dolla zealously raps for four minutes, longer and more substantially than many rappers today, talking about how he could very well be somebody's role model and is not a bad person by any means. Something like this is a real treat to hear recorded and mixed professionally, rather than being a poorly-mixed demo or, worse, just disjointed writings on a piece of notebook paper. The song's effect on me made me think about how, if we extract the best qualities of ourselves, we could all be role models in some conceivable way. This is one of the most powerful rap songs I've ever heard in terms of message and content, and by doing this blog, I'm hoping I'll bring some sort of necessary life, or a resurgence, to the genius and "miseducation" of Dolla.

Give "Role Model" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSOfn1UhKhI

Song #64: Elvis Presley - "Burning Love"

Song #64: Elvis Presley - "Burning Love" (1972)

Burning Love and Hits from His Movies, Volume 2

"It's comin' closer, the flames are now lickin' my body!"

Few songs possess the ability to transport me back to a specific period in my life. However, whenever I heard Elvis Presley's "Burning Love," on my phone or where I work, my mind exits its current state and drifts to the time when sophomore year of high school just ended, rather early to be specific. It was May 31st, and I was watching Lilo & Stitch, the absolutely wonderful Disney film when I first heard the song. Since then, the song stuck, and every time I hear it, I get transported back to he end of my sophomore year, when things just started going right for me in terms of where I wanted to be in the social limelight of school. Many knew my name, many knew I wrote reviews, and I had people coming up to me, whom I didn't even know, asking my thoughts on certain films and such, thanks to the extremely formal business cards I had a close friend make for me. 

After a hellish middle school and a rocky, tumultuous freshman year, sophomore year had done everything I had hoped for it to do for me. Unbeknownst to me that junior and senior year would be even better, I lived it up, made new friends, and made a personal pledge to keep those I kept close to me at the beginning of freshman year - those who had a huge impact on me - close until I walked out of the building for the final time with my cap and gown on in June 2014. 

"Burning Love" was the perfect, lively song to commemorate a great year, with its lively lyrics and passionately-sung lyrics, by a larger-than-life rock and roll singer who continues to etch himself in the books of the greatest artists whoever lived. As I stated, few songs bring back the sounds, the environment, the emotions, and the rush of a time period like "Burning Love" for me personally, but at least all of the above are good things rather than mediocre memories I've tried to repress. Not to mention, this is the only Elvis song that I've ever heard that I actually wanted on my phone or close by, to be played whenever I wanted it to be played.

Give "Burning Love" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL5d0leKh0o

Song #65: Billy Joel - "Only the Good Die Young"

Song #65: Billy Joel - "Only the Good Die Young" (1977)

The Stranger

"You mighta heard I run with a dangerous crowd. We ain't too pretty, we ain't too proud. We might be laughin' a bit too loud, ah, but that never hurt no one."

I grew up on Oldies radio with my father, usually having the stations like WJMK (Jack FM, for Chicagoans who remember that) and Real Oldies 1690 be the soundtrack for our treks to the downtown train station so we can watch trains go by or when we went to my father's childhood neighborhood, stopping at the local Krispy Kreme before it closed. Growing up on Oldies radio means knowing of older songs that nobody else in my grade knew of. One of them was Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young," a song I remember hearing as a kid and loving the upbeat tempo, but never giving it much thought.

Fast-forward to late 2011, early 2012, when I took Drawing and Painting I in high school, which served as my lone, required fine-arts credit, and this song took on a new life. I sat at a table with three very great people, two juniors whom I met there for the first time, and another friend of mine, who was a sophomore like myself at the time. Our art teacher was, unsurprisingly, an eclectic soul, who would sometimes go one or two days without saying a word to us unless we asked, assuming we knew what to do with the project we were working on. The teacher would always play his own personally made mixtape, which had maybe eight songs on there, which would loop constantly. One of the songs on there was "Only the Good Die Young," which was the silver-lining in a sea of unremarkable tunes, which I struggle to even remember the name of any at this moment in time.

I used to sing it while I drew (or paint, as we did in the second quarter, where the first quarter was all about drawing), and my group of three additional friends went on to name it our theme song for the semester. It wasn't until about the seventh listen that I really stopped to pay attention to the lyrics; "the song had to mean something, didn't it?," I thought. Listening to the lyrics, I remember saying at the table, "guys, this song's about a Catholic schoolgirl losing her virginity to a bad boy." "Are you serious," my one friend said. "Bullshit," my other friend said. "Shut up and listen," I said. They were in shock. We couldn't believe that the song had a raunchier, more explicit meaning we never picked up on; they, like my younger self, were mesmerized by the catchy lyricism and infectious tempo.

"Only the Good Die Young" was never a big hit for Billy Joel for the reason that it beared a deeper, more sexual meaning. Looking at the song in 2014, when the song can be considered deceptively tame by today's standards, it's a wonderfully made song, clear when listened to with complete devotion, and wonderfully energetic and jivey. In addition, the song is seriously contemplative in terms of realizing that Catholic schools could be accused of closeting its students towards the ideas of sex and love. It will forever be looked at by me as not only a very good, intelligently-written ballad but a theme song for one of the classes I grossly underestimated in terms of impact and long-term effect.

Give "Only the Good Die Young" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERWREcPIoPA

Song #66: Hank Williams - "Baby We're Really in Love"

Song #66: Hank Williams - "Baby We're Really in Love" (1951)

40 Greatest Hits

"My folks think I've gone crazy, and I don't feel too sure. But, yet, there's nothing wrong with me that wedding bells won't cure."

If you missed my commentary on the significance Hank Williams had on my middle school/pre-high school days from my number eighty-two entry of "Hey Good Lookin'," I'll give you a quick little rundown. During the last few months of my eighth grade year, and the entire summer between eighth grade and freshman year, Hank Williams defined by phone playlist. His heartbreak songs, his giddy, fun-loving anthems, and his overall musical tonality had me wanting more, and thanks to my grandfather's expertise and guidance on the man, I was able to obtain The Complete Hank Williams collection along with many other CDs of his work. He really kept me going in a time where there was little else besides nervousness and anxiety.

"Baby We're Really in Love," next to "Hey Good Lookin'," was one of the first songs I listened to by Hank, mesmerized by the amount of emotion and soul he put into the lyricism and the melodic flow of the song. It's the kind of song that, when you hear it, you want to feel that same kind of emotion just to have empathy with the singer-songwriter at hand. Never being in love, I hunger for the feeling just so I can play this song and have it bear more meaning than it does already.

The song concerns Hank, who is madly in love with a woman he's currently dating, and needs to have her either with him or in his arms or he'll be "nutty as a fruitcake." If a man were to sing a song with meaning and soul, any woman would be at their feat, and it possesses the kind of innocent charm of a first-dance song at a wedding. However, it's the true naturalism of Hank's vocals that captivate me the most, in an era before computers had any role in music-making whatsoever. That and the fact that this carried me through a time of crave uncertainty is precisely why this song has a place on this list.

Give "Baby We're Really in Love" a listen (FYI: this video was uploaded by me, after I was frustrated because no version of the song existed on Youtube at the time - June 2010), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4_3S5GOmiY