30 Day Song Challenge

Normally I'm not an enormous fan of the "Here's a random set of questions, use your Facebook status to answer them" memes that go around the interwebs. This one seemed fun though. I'm answering all of them at once though, not answering one per day for a month, as per the instructions. C'mon guys.

day 01 – your favorite song of all-time: 'Fool in the Rain'- Led Zeppelin.

day 02 – your least favorite song of all-time: 'Jenny From the Block'- J-Lo. A tough one to pick, as it could be a number of different songs from over the years...I'll choose J-Lo because I fucking hate it when a good old school rap song gets its beat ripped off to make a pile of garbage like this (in this case, 'South Bronx' by KRS-One gets raped by Ms. Yennifaaa.)

day 03 – a song that makes you happy: 'M79'- Vampire Weekend. Within the first eight seconds of the first time I heard this song, I moved Vampire Weekend into my top 5 favorite bands.

day 04 – a song that makes you sad: 'No Woman No Cry'- Bob Marley. Sad in a good way, if that makes sense? This song messes up my mind- like when I listen to it, it feels like I was there for the live recording or something, and it was an especially emotional evening, and ended on a depressing note, but yet the evening as a whole was a blast. Or like every failed relationship I've ever had runs through my head while this song is playing, but only the good parts of those relationships, so it makes me a little nostalgic? Clearly I don't know how to describe how this song makes me feel. Let's stick with "sad."

day 05 – a song that reminds you of someone: '1,000 MILES'- Vanessa Carlton. This can kinda be a super-long story, so I'll make it as short as possible, in an effort to confuse everyone except the girl in question, and my friends from the golf course. This was an old girlfriend's and my "song" when we were freshmen in college (cue up the "Jum's a big homo" jokes.) While drinking a few months ago this song came on and I inadvertently made it seem as if this girl had passed away while we were together. Awkwardness ensues. Later in evening, story gets cleared up. Now my golf course buddies constantly play this song when we're out at bars, while shouting "R.I.P. Molly!" and we all have a good laugh at my expense.

day 06 – a song that reminds you of somewhere: 'A Little Less Conversation'- Elvis Presley. The first time I ever went to Vegas. Bergman, ADawg and I left Los Angeles straight from the bar at midnight trying to beat the New Year's Eve rush, now we've been driving through the desert for four hours, my buzz has worn off and I'm sorta hungover, ADawg and Bergman have been arguing for the last two and a half hours....and then we came around a corner and got our first glimpse of The Strip in all its glory....and then this song came on the ipod.....and it was pure magic. Woudn't have arrived in Vegas for the first time any other way.

day 07 – a song that reminds you of a certain event: 'Dreamin'- G. Love & Special Sauce. Reminds me of the road trip to Seattle and Portland that DR, Karan, and I took right after I graduated high school. We would alternate who picked the CD (I was riding Journey REALLY hard the whole road trip.) We were also supposed to be alternating driving, but instead DR and I drove the whole way from North Dakota to the west coast, while Karan slept for about 23 consecutive hours, conveniently waking up right when it was his turn to pick a CD, mumble "G.Love dudes....G.Love...." then go back to sleep again. I don't think he picked another CD the entire time, and in roughly 55 hours in the car, he drove a grand total of 2 hours before claiming he needed a nap.

day 08 – a song that you know all the words to: 'Let Me Ride'- Dr. Dre. I've always thought a great idea for a music video for a hardcore rap song would be to just set up a camera in the backseat of some white boy's car (not unlike myself) and have shots of him rapping along, interspersed with shots of Dre and Snoop doing Dre and Snoop things like drinking 40's, or standing alongside an Impala bouncing on two wheels. Maybe that's just me though.

day 09 – a song that you can dance to: 'Apache'- Sugarhill Gang. Duh.

day 10 – a song that you fall asleep to: 'Please Read the Letter'- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. I remember having an argument at the Derby a few years ago, me and Youngest Schneweis, arguing against the two elder Schneweis brothers, who say that this song sucks. I enjoy it tremendously.

day 11 – a song from your favorite band: 'Hey Hey What Can I Do'- Led Zeppelin. Probably my second-favorite Led Zep song. I don't really like this question though, it's too general, so I'll amend it to 'most overrated song from your favorite band', which is unquestionably Stairway to Heaven. Always cracks America's top 10 greatest rock and roll songs of all time, and it's definitely not a bad song, but if I was making a desert island Led Zeppelin mix that only allowed 20 songs, this one wouldn't make the cut.

day 12 – a song you love from a band you hate- 'Sweet Emotion'- Aerosmith. I've always said that there are few experiences that suck more than being at a concert of a band you don't enjoy (unless booze is involved...it's THE great mitigating factor.) I somehow got roped into going to an Aerosmith concert in 2001 (sober) and it was one of the worst, longest nights of my life. This song rocks though.

day 13 – a song that is a guilty pleasure: Approximately 40% of my ipod consists of guilty pleasures. It's a one-hit wonder and 90's jam dream collection. If I had to pick one, it would probably be 'Mmmbop' by Hanson, since that song is the 37th most-played song since fall 2006, when my itunes was re-loaded. Real talk.

day 14 – a song that no one would expect you to love: 'Time to Say Goodbye'- Andrea Bocelli. I listened to this song 23 times in a row last week, until my boss finally broke down and asked me what the hell was going on in my office (we share a wall that doesn't reach all the way to the ceiling.) Also, since this song is pretty much impossible, yet TOTALLY fun to sing along to, I like to make up lyrics, most of which are related to drinking in my kiddie pool and smelling girls' hair. Remind me to sing it for you next time we're together. (Unrelated, but in this live version of the song, I love the part 15 seconds in, when the chick strokes Bocelli's face, and he kinda flinches and pulls back. It's the same look I have on my face every time a girlfriend has ever tried to hold my hand in public. I have intimacy issues.)

day 15 – a song that describes you: 'Why Can't We Be Friends'- War. I can usually make friends with just about anybody I meet. Sometimes this works to my detriment.

day 16 – a song that you used to love but now hate: 'Smoke on the Water'- Deep Purple. That guitar riff was about the coolest thing my 14-year-old brain had heard up to that point. Now it almost makes me cringe.

day 17 – a song that you hear often on the radio: I don't listen to the radio anymore unless I'm in someone else's car, but nothing will ever, EVER touch the amount of times I heard 'In Da Club' by 50 Cent in 2003. I think we heard it seven times in one Friday night at El Roco.

day 18 – a song that you wish you heard on the radio: 'Hey! We Want Some Pussy!'- 2 Live Crew. Self-explanatory.

day 19 – a song from your favorite album: 'I Wish'- Stevie Wonder. The album Songs in the Key of Life = life-changing.

day 20 – a song that you listen to when you’re angry: 'Know Your Enemy'- Rage Against the Machine. Kind of a cliche answer, I know, but still true nonetheless. Really anything by Rage works here. Also 'Cop Killa' by Ice-T.

day 21 – a song that you listen to when you’re pregaming: Changes by the week. Right now I'm on a big 'Sweet Jane' by the Velvet Underground kick.

day 22 – a song that you listen to when you’re drunk: 'Tyler'- The Toadies. Often on repeat.

day 23 – a song that you want to play at your wedding: 'One Shining Moment.' I'm serious, too, don't anybody steal that idea from me. I've had a few of my wedding ideas pirated from me the last few years- this one is mine, assuming I can get my future wife to go along with it (which I will, because it will be non-negotiable. You want to marry me, then 'One Shining Moment' is getting played. If that isn't perfect for the photo montage, then I don't know what is.) Also, when people are filtering into the church and being seated, I'm using the music from CBS' coverage of The Masters. As long as we're laying copyrights on the table here.

day 24 – a song that you want to play at your funeral: also 'One Shining Moment.' This song extracts a wide variety of emotions from me. Obvious alert.

day 25 – a song that makes you laugh: Depends on how you interpret the question. I would say 'Give it to Me Baby' by Rick James, since that reminds me of the Chappelle Show Rick James skit....but I actually like that song, so I'll make this answer a song that I didn't really like before, but now laugh when I hear it because of the Bloomington Bros.....'Ants Marching' or 'Crash' by DMB. "Wait....wait.....little DM?"

day 26 – a song that you can play on an instrument: Does Guitar Hero count? If so, then I choose 'Jessica' by the Allman Brothers; I barely had to look at the screen to play rhythm guitar on that little ditty. If that doesn't count, then I'm pretty screwed, as I don't play any instruments. I feel like I could totally rock the xylophone in 'Hitsville UK' by The Clash though. I've got the general idea when I play air xylophone in my car; just put a real one in front of me and I'd have the keys down after one run-through.

day 27 – a song that you wish you could play: 'Here Comes the Sun'- The Beatles. Strum that at a party and watch the 19-year-old gash come your way, bro.

day 28 – a song from your childhood: there's literally thousands of those. The first song I can ever remember liking (besides children's songs) is 'Everybody Needs Somebody to Love' from the Blues Brothers movie.

day 29 - your favorite song right now: 'Charley's Girl'- Lou Reed

day 30 – your favorite song at this time last year: 'How I Could Just Kill a Man'- Cypress Hill.


Now tag somebody and they have to answer next! LOL LOL ;)