Author: Tom Ray

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Indie Rock Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks): Grandaddy – A.M. 180

Day 5. This incredible slice of Fuzzy, synth-led Indie Pop wasn’t actually written for a movie soundtrack, but it did appear on Danny Boyle‘s brutal zombie thriller 28 Days Later. My love of Grandaddy is well documented so, as you can imagine, I was extremely excited to hear this song when I watched the movie for the first time.

You may remember, a short while ago, this same song was in fact Song of the Day for the Covers series. The excellent new version by PUP.

Don’t change your name
Keep it the same
For fear I may lose you again
I know you won’t
It’s just that I am unorganized
And I want to find you when
Something good happens

If you come down
We’ll go to town
I haven’t been there for years
But I’d be fine
Wasting our time
Not doing anything here
Just doing nothing

We’ll sit for days
And talk about things
Important to us like whatever
We’ll defuse bombs
Walk marathons
And take home whatever together

Whatever together
Whatever together
Whatever together
Whatever together
Whatever together

Looking for some great music? Why not check out the Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks) Spotify playlist?

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Rock And Roll Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks): Creedence Clearwater Revival – Lookin’ Out My Back Door

Day 4. Seeing as how I used the same film for days 1 & 2, I’ve decided to use the same film for days 3 & 4 too. Especially because I absolutely love this Creedence Clearwater Revival tune. Lookin’ Out My Back Door, for some reason, doesn’t appear on The Big Lebowski‘s OST, but it does soundtrack a pivotal scene in the movie.

Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy
Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch
Imagination sets in, pretty soon I’m singin’
Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my back door

There’s a giant doin’ cartwheels, statue wearin’ high heels
Look at all the happy creatures dancin’ on the lawn
Dinosaur Victrola, listenin’ to Buck Owens
Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my back door

Tambourines and elephants are playin’ in the band
Won’t you take a ride on the flyin’ spoon? Doo, doo, doo
Wondrous apparition provided by magician
Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my back door

Tambourines and elephants are playin’ in the band
Won’t you take a ride on the flyin’ spoon? Doo, doo, doo
Bother me tomorrow, today, I’ll buy no sorrows
Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my back door

Forward troubles Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Look at all the happy creatures dancin’ on the lawn
Bother me tomorrow, today, I’ll buy no sorrow
Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my back door

Looking for some great music? Check the Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks) Spotify playlist.

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Folk Pop Rock And Roll Uncategorized

Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks): Bob Dylan – The Man In Me

Day 3. The Big Lebowski is a strong contender for my favourite film so it is a pleasure to choose a song from its soundtrack for todays Song of the Day. Bob Dylan’s The Man In Me soundtracks two separate scenes in the film, the introduction (see the first video below) & a further scene where The Dude (Jeff Bridges) is knocked out & has a hallucinatory dream (see the second video).

La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la

The man in me will do nearly any task
And as for compensation, there’s little he would ask
Take a woman like you
To get through to the man in me

Storm clouds are raging all around my door
I think to myself I might not take it any more
Take a woman like your kind
To find the man in me

But, oh, what a wonderful feeling
Just to know that you are near
Sets my a heart a-reeling
From my toes up to my ears

The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from bein’ seen
But that’s just because he doesn’t want turn into some machine
Took a woman like you
To get through to the man in me

La la la la
La la la la

Looking for some great music? Check the Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks) Spotify Playlist.

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Experimental Indie Rock Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks): Beck – Deadweight

Day 2. I’ve decided to go with another song from the same movie as yesterdays choice, A Life Less Ordinary, this time Beck’s Deadweight. This was probably Beck’s first release following his magnum opus Odelay & as such seems to come from the same place sonically. It’s certainly a mile away from Psych-Folk madness of the full-length follow-up, Mutations.

On a highway unpaved, goin’ my way
You’re so alone today
Like a ghost town I’ve found
There’s no relief, no soul, no mercy

Is it true what they say
You can’t behave
You gamble your soul away

Measuring a jinx of this life seems
Like the gristle of loneliness

Don’t let the sun catch you cryin’
Don’t let the sun catch you cryin’

Like an ice age, nice days on your way
Sipping the golden days on a riptide
Freak’s ride, sleep inside
A parasite’s appetite

Oh, say can’t you see the chemistry
The parasites that clean up for me?
Death never hails, recycled cans
Get well cards to the hostage vans

Don’t let the sun catch you cryin’
Don’t let the sun catch you cryin’

You’re a deadweight, right straight
On your way, sunk in the midnight shade
Skies burn, eyes turn
Learning to counterfeit their disease

In this town where we roam
We bluff our souls
On canteen patio
Drink the latest draft

The music drags
The music drags
The music drags

Don’t let the sun catch you cryin’
Don’t let the sun catch you cryin

Looking for some great music? Check the Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks) Spotify playlist.

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Indie Rock Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks): Ash – A Life Less Ordinary

Day 1. Welcome to day 1 of the new series of Song of the Day. This time it’s based around songs which were featured in movies. They may have even being written &/or recorded for the movie. They definitely have a higher chance of me choosing them if they have a music video which features scenes from the movie, though that isn’t a dealbreaker.

Ash’s excellent A Life Less Ordinary (from the film of the same name) was their first release following their critically acclaimed (& in my opinion unparalleled) debut album 1977 & the joining of their second guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. The song is a masterclass of an Indie Rock love song. Romantic lyrics, fuzzy guitars, uplifting vibes & the huge sing-a-long chorus help Ash off to a great start to the second phase of their career. It’s only a shame that they seemed to lose the momentum almost immediately after this (in my opinion).

I smoke myself into a haze in the afternoon
Enveloped heart, and the air is cool
Put on your dress, white Goddess
And settle in, as the weather folds
In the slow haze of the afternoon
Swaying hips, made like a gun
Blackest sails, the most beautiful, star

In the world, in the air, on my tongue
Before my eyes, beyond the stars, beneath the sun

So, take me in your arms again
Lead me in my dreams again
So, what is it worth?
I’ll sell my soul, what is it worth?
Only you know

You were conceived in my heart, 
came like a dream
To save me from my mortality
Put on your dress, white Goddess
And settle in, as the weather folds
Our lives will be entwined, even when I die
You’ll see me through ’til the end of time
No earthly bride, the most beautiful, star

In the world, in the air, on my tongue 
Before my eyes, beyond the stars, 
beneath the sun So, take me in your arms again
Lead me in my dreams again
So, what is it worth?
I’ll sell my soul, what is it worth?
Only you know

Take me in your arms again
Lead me in my dreams again
So, what is it worth?
I’ll sell my soul, what is it worth?
I’ll sell my soul, what is it worth?
I’ll sell my soul, what is it worth?

Looking for some great music? Check out the Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks) Spotify Playlist.

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Indie Rock Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Covers): Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine – Everybody’s Happy Nowadays

Day 25. Indie Rock royalty Carter USM & their take on the the Buzzcocks Pop Punk energy leads to something unique & recognisable. Taken from their 1993 covers collection This Is The Sound Of An Eclectic Guitar: A Collection Of Other Peoples Songs, the replacement of live drums for Carter’s motorik drum machine rhythms enhances the songs robotic, manic qualities. Fitting for a song which insists on its happiness while declaring that “life’s an illusion, love is a dream.”

I was so tired of being upset
Always wanting something I never could get
Life’s an illusion, love is a dream
But I don’t know what it is

Everybody’s happy nowadays
Everybody’s happy nowadays

I was so tired of being upset
Always wanting something I never could get
Life’s an illusion, love is a dream
But I don’t know what it is’

Cause everybody’s happy nowadays
Everybody’s happy nowadays

Life’s an illusion, love is the dream
But I don’t know what it is
Everyone’s saying things to me
But I know it’s okay, okay

Everybody’s happy nowadays
Everybody’s happy nowadays

Everybody’s happy nowadays
Everybody’s happy nowadays

Life’s an illusion, love is a dream
Life’s an illusion, love is the dream
Life’s the illusion, love is a dream
Life’s the illusion, love is the dream

Everybody’s happy nowadays
Everybody’s happy nowadays, days

Bet you are tired of being upset
Always wanting something you never can get
Life’s no illusion, love’s not a dream
Now, I know just what it is

Everybody’s happy nowadays
Everybody’s happy nowadays

Looking for some great music? Check out the Song of the Day (Covers) Spotify playlist.

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New Wave Post Punk Rock Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Covers): Queens Of The Stone Age – Never Say Never

Day 24. It was a toss up between their version of The Kinks’ classic Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy & this, their cover of the ’80’s Post-Punk/New Wave classic Never Say Never by Romeo Void.

Queens Of The Stone Age imbue the Post-Punk rhythms with a hard Rock muscularity that a) makes the song rock harder than the original & b) adds a layer of sleaziness which the original doesn’t quite match. In fact I’d argue the original has a sense of wide-eyed innocence which Josh Homme’s fuzz-laden lead guitar steamrolls right over. A great cover of a great song.

If time itself was his demeanor
There’d be no sunlight or a glimmer
Of sunlight landin’ on the street
Some say girls must be discreet
Some say girls must be discreet
Nursing their fathers locked inside
They masqueraded as his bride

I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
But there’s somethin’
In your eyes that says
Maybe that’s never
Never say never

They slump by the courthouse with windburn skin
That man could give a fuck
About the grin on your face
As you walk by, randy as a goat
He’s sleepin’ on papers
But he’d be warm in your coat

I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
But there’s somethin’
In your eyes that says
Maybe that’s never
Never say never

There’s no easy way to lose your sight
On the street, on the stairs
Who’s on your flight
Old couple walks by, as ugly as sin
But he’s got her, she’s got him

I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
But there’s somethin’
In your eyes that says
Maybe that’s never
Never say never

I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together
I might like you better
If we slept together

Looking for some great music? Check out the Song of the Day (Covers) Spotify playlist.

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Grunge Indie Rock Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Covers): Dinosaur Jr – Just Like Heaven

Day 23. Here’s another excellent cover of a Cure song by an American Indie Rock heavyweight. This time it’s Dinosaur Jr’s rollicking version of Just Like Heaven. The romantic Pop brilliance is translated smoothly into the band’s fuzzy, Grungey style & Lou Barlow’s screaming chorus elevates it into another realm entirely. & If you’re not sold by that, & the awesome video, surely J Mascis’s incredible guitar work should win you over.

Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick
The one that makes me scream she said
The one that makes me laugh she said
Threw her arms around my neck
Show me how you do it and I’ll promise you
I’ll promise that I’ll run away with you, I’ll run away with you

Spinning on that dizzy edge
Kissed her face and kissed her head
Dreamed of all the different ways, I had to make her glow
Why are you so far away she said
Why won’t you ever know that I’m in love with you?
That I’m in love with you?

You, soft and only, you lost and lonely
You, strange as angels
Dancing in the deepest oceans
Twisting in the water
You’re just like a dream
You’re just like a dream

Daylight licked me into shape
I must have been asleep for days
And moving lips to breathe her name
I opened up my eyes
And found myself alone, alone, alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl I loved and drowned her deep inside of me

You soft and only
You lost and lonely
You just like heaven

Looking for some great music? Check out the Song of the Day (Covers) Spotify playlist.

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Indie Rock Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Covers): Cake – War Pigs

Day 22. ’90’s geek rockers Cake (famous for their amazing single The Distance) recorded this lo-fi, Indie Rock version of Black Sabbath’s anti-war anthem War Pigs in 2007. They ran a competition for fans to make a video for the song & there were many to chose from but I thought this one was pretty good.

This song has been in my thoughts recently actually. Black Sabbath recently released some official Black Lives Matter t-shirts (in the classic Black Sabbath logo font) & a lot of ignorant “fans” called them out, saying things like “you were cool before you tried to be political.” I guess those fans have never listened to the lyrics. As working class artists, Black Sabbath have always displayed left-leaning political opinions in their lyrics & long may it continue.

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerer of death’s construction

In the fields, the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord, yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning
Ashes where their bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour

Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing, spreads his wings
Oh lord, yeah!

Looking for some great music? Check the Song of the Day (Covers) Spotify playlist.

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Indie Rock

Song of the Day (Covers): Frank Black – Hang On To Your Ego

Day 21. This is actually the second appearance of Frank Black in this series of Song of the Day; he previously appeared as the vocalist of the Pixies in their cover of The Jesus And Mary Chain’s Head On.

Frank Black’s version of the Beach Boys tune uses pulsing synths & fuzzy guitars to bring it in line with Frank’s unique brand of eccentric & psychedelic Americana. For those who aren’t familiar with Hang On To Your Ego as a Beach Boys’ song, it’s an early version (with different lyrics) of the Pet Sounds classic I Know There’s An Answer.

I know so many people who think they can do it alone
They isolate their heads and stay in their safety zone
But what can you tell them
What can you say that won’t make them defensive
Hang on to your ego
Hang on but I know that you’re gonna lose the fight.
They come on like they’re peaceful
But inside they’re so uptight
They chip through the day and waste all their thoughts at night
But how can I say it
How can I come on when I know I’m guilt
Hang on to your ego
Hang on because I know that you’re gonna lose the fight
And how can I say it
How can I come on when I know I’m guilt
Hang on to your ego
Hang on
Hang on but I know that you’re gonna lose the fight

Looking for some great music? Check out the Song of the Day (Covers) Spotify playlist.

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