William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

863 ( Rammstein - Reise, Reise ) In a quandary as to which song I should choose today, but I decided that this Rammstein track would be rather nice for my mood. It is one of my favourite songs off of the album of its namesake; I love the big, brooding sound in this song along with Till's awesome vocals. Something odd that I found out a bit ago about this song, or may I say certain pressings of the album is that there is an Easter Egg of sorts included. On the version that I have when you start this song there is about 35 seconds of muffled screams followed by a klaxon and a computerized voice repeatedly saying "pull up." For quite a while when I started the song I did not have my player up loud enough to even hear it and thought that it was a long lead-in on the disc. After hearing it I did some researched and I found out that it is actually a voice recording from the last few seconds before the Japan Airlines Flight 123 crash ; this is the flight in which Japanese...

862 ( Genesis - Turn It On Again ) I had another song in mind for today, however last night I heard this one and I realized that I hadn't chosen a song from Genesis in quite some time. I have always liked this song about television addiction quite a lot; it moves along quite nicely. I really like how often they change the time signature in this one and yet it is not distracting when it does. Hear Turn It On Again on YouTube. Here is an excellent live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Miles Davis - Walkin' My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - Cold Wind To Valhalla +

861 ( Steely Dan - Josie ) Last night I was playing this one along with a bunch of other Steely Dan music; it seemed like an excellent song for today, so I am adding it. A nice piece of Fusion Jazz with mindblowing musicianship all around. Hear Josie on YouTube. Watch a live performance circa '06 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Joni Mitchell - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat My song pick two years ago today: Big Country - In A Big Country +

860 ( Gunnar Madsen - Surprise! ) Some time ago I found this album, which is compilation of music celebrating The Space Race and space exploration and decided on picking one of my favourite tracks off of it today. This song is about Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, which touched off the Space Race; a very cute and entertaining way of imparting history. The music is written in the style of Russian Cossack Music, those who are not familiar with that definition think of the music in the video game: Tetris . Here is a fan video with the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Charles Mingus - Tonight At Noon My song pick two years ago today: Megadeth - Architecture of Aggression +

859 ( Nightwish - Wanderlust ) I felt like some Symphonic Rock from Nightwish today, this was one of the songs that came on my iPod's playlist whilst out and about today. From what I understand, this is one of their songs that was inspired from the fantasy book series Dragonlance . Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is an excellent live performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Dizzy Gillespie - Salt Peanuts My song pick two years ago today: Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name +

858 ( Rammstein - Feuer Frei! ) I have been feeling like some Rammstein today. I decided to go through my picks and I could not believe that I had not chosen this one yet; it is probably one of my top five favourite Rammstein tracks. The song's title, Feuer Frei! , translated from German is "Fire Free!" i.e. the command to fire at will. This is one of their more famous tracks and has been featured in film and television. It is one of those songs that even if you do not understand the language you still feel compelled to rock out and headbang. Here is the music video on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. Here is the live performance from Vökerball on YouTube. Here is the Junkie XL remix on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Huey Lewis and the News - Back In Time My song pick two years ago today: Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (Naturally) +

857 ( Ian Anderson - Birthday Card At Christmas ) Making a quick pick this Christmas evening. We made a Christmas music playlist for the iPod and this is one of the songs that played whilst we were on the road. It was released on The Jethro Tull Christmas Album and the Ian Anderson solo album Rupi's Dance ; both released about a month apart from each other. Anyway, Merry Christmas to all! Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - Another Christmas Song My song pick two years ago today: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Wish Liszt (Toy Shop Madness) +

856 ( Louis Armstrong - 'Zat You Santa Claus? ) Merry Christmas all! This is an absolutely perfect song for the occasion and my mood; Christmas and Satchmo: two things that go together quite nicely. I don't know how someone could not be in a good mood after hearing him sing. Here is the studio version on YouTube. A bonus for today: here is Louis Armstrong reciting " The Night Before Christmas ." My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - Christmas Song My song pick two years ago today: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Ghost of Christmas Eve +

854-5 ( Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Joy/Angels We Have Heard On High ) Well, yesterday I found a Christmas song that I felt like picking. This is a rather nice melody from Trans-Siberian Orchestra consisting of their rendition of J.S. Bach's Jesus, The Joy of Man's Desiring and the traditional carol Angels We Have Heard on High . Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a cover of the song by the Las Vegas Guitar Ensemble on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Kinks - Father Christmas My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick +

853 ( Sylvia - Drifter ) I should be picking some Christmas tunes at this time of year, but I have not really felt like listening to them this time around. Maybe I will force myself to listen to some TSO or something Christmassy today. Anyway, this Country/Pop Rock crossover from the early '80s was in my mind and felt like a good pick for today. The steel guitar is my favorite part of this song making a wailing sound that comes off quite haunting. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Cheech & Chong - Santa Claus and His Old Lady My song pick two years ago today: Supertramp - The Logical Song +

852 ( Steeleye Span - Edwin ) For some reason I felt like picking something in the Folk/Prog Rock genre today and this one from Steeleye Span fit my mood quite well. Edwin is another traditional folk song that Steeleye Span covered in their own style. As with many Traditional Folk songs this is a rather sad one featuring the theme of lovers being separated by death. This is also one of their songs that did not feature the lead vocal talents of Maddy Prior, instead bassist Rick Kemp provided lead vocals; she did, however, perform the whispering in the song. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - Ring Out Solstice Bells +

851 ( Avatar (Savatage) - Rock Me ) This is a song from an early bootleg demo recording from what would become the Metal group Savatage, which also would later on bring about the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. At the time the band was going by the name "Avatar" until they found out about another band that already had the name and they were forced to changed it. They settled on the name: "Savatage" apparently by mixing the words "Savage" and "Avatar." This song in particular sounds much like the Metal at the time, (early '80s), and is a real treat to hear especially if you are a fan of the band. A few of the other songs off of this bootleg sound more like the Power Metal that would be their early success. It is quite fun to listen to some of the songs from their Dead Winter Dead , Hall of the Mountain King , and Edge of Thorns albums and then listen to these songs. Hear Rock Me on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Savatage - White Witch My...

850 ( Violent Femmes - Color Me Once ) Having a very busy day today and have just a little time to make my song pick; (doing some shopping and performing at a show this evening). Most of this morning while getting around we were listening to the iPod's playlist and this gem from The Crow soundtrack came on; I though it would make an excellent selection for my list today. An excellent track driven by an awesome bass line. Here is the studio version with a slide show of pictures from The Crow on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Who - Eminence Front My song pick two years ago today: John Fogerty - Almost Saturday Night +

849 ( Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) - Blue Collar ) While waking up this morning this nice BTO tune was running through my mind; I had to check and see if I had chosen it, and sure enough I had not. Blue Collar was the one of the main hits, if not the biggest hit, from their first album as Bachman-Turner Overdrive. This song has a Bossa Nova feel to it and features Randy Bachman's exquisite guitar work throughout, it ends with an awesome instrumental section. Hear Blue Collar on YouTube. Here is live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: John Denver - Season Suite - Winter My song pick two years ago today: Band of Horses - The Funeral +

848 ( Finntroll - Jaktens Tid ) I noticed that I have not added this one to my list yet, so I will remedy that with today's pick; plus, I have also felt like listening to some Finntroll for a bit now. As with many of their Humppa influenced tracks, this one is very danceable. It features Jonne Järvelä Joik , or ( Yoik ) singing, which adds another incredible aspect to the song as well. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Band of Horses - St. Augustine My song pick two years ago today: Dan Fogelberg - Leader of the Band +

847 ( John Denver - Poems, Prayers and Promises ) I was thinking about this song earlier in the week and it felt like an excellent pick for today. This is a very introspective track that is mostly acoustic in the John Denver folk styling that most are acquainted with. (I just love finishing a sentence with a preposition whenever I can!) It is quite beautiful musically with John Denver's amazing vocals. One interesting tidbit about this one that it is famous for is that it contains a probable drug use reference; "... while my friends and my old lady sit and pass the pipe around." However, The Muppets didn't get a pipe to pass around. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a classic live performance on YouTube. Here is a more recent live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Crosby, Stills & Nash - Marrakesh - Express My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - We Used To Know +

846 ( Wolfsheim - Once In A Lifetime ) I have been meaning to add a Wolfsheim track to my list for quite a while now and it seems like a good day for it. To those who do not know of them, Wolfsheim is a German Synthpop/New Wave band consisting of musician Markus Reinhardt and vocalist Peter Heppner, however at this time Heppner is no longer in the act. Because many of their songs are written in English with more of a traditional pop sound it is probably more accessible to an English speaking audience than many of their German counterparts. Here is the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Grand Funk Railroad - I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home) My song pick two years ago today: Pet Shop Boys - So Hard +

845 ( Azteca - Love Is A Stranger ) I have been waiting a while for someone to post this excellent piece of Latin Funk/Rock on YouTube or another site online. I have in the past posted a couple of other great songs without a YouTube video available and I don't want to do that again if I can help it. Plus with this album apparently still being out of print, this amazing band and album needs to be heard. A thank you goes out to YouTube user musicminor25 for posting this one, I highly recommend the music on his channel. Anyway, this is one of the funkiest tracks on this album and contains a lot of Jazz inspired music with very soulful vocals. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Danzig - Mother My song pick two years ago today: Savatage - Gutter Ballet +

844 ( David Bowie - Changes ) While on the way home this evening this one came on my iPod, I could not believe that I have not chosen this one yet. There is so much that I love about this song along with most of his other material; such an awesome tune! Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Heart - Black On Black II My song pick two years ago today: Fontella Bass - Rescue Me +

843 ( Ian Anderson - In the Moneylender's Temple ) I was a bit leery about this album, Divinities: Twelve Dances With God , when it first came out and did not buy it until just a few years ago to complete my collection of Ian Anderson's solo albums. I guess it was the overall concept of the album itself which put me off to begin with, however after I bought it I was pleasantly surprised and some of the songs grew on me; in my opinion going into something with low expectations always makes it better in the end. The whole concept behind the album was a suite of music themed to some of the major "isms" and cultures in the world with Ian's brand of Contemporary Modern classical music mixed with some Rock. The entire album sounds quite eclectic at times, especially if you "bounce" between or shuffle the songs, however if you listen to it linearly you don't notice it as much. This one, as you might have guessed, would be the "religion" of banking...

842 ( Chet Atkins & Jerry Reed - Something ) This is an instrumental cover of The Beatles song composed by George Harrison. To say that their rendition of the song is beautiful does not give it justice. Two masters of the guitar let loose collaborating on a cover of a great well-written song; simply how could it not be amazing? This album, Me & Jerry is fast becoming a favorite of mine. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Buddy Holly & the Crickets - Well... All Right My song pick two years ago today: Fleetwood Mac - Dreams +

841 ( Maddy Prior - The Fabled Hare ) I was thinking about picking this one for quite a while as well and have finally gotten around to it. It is quite a beautiful piece of Folk/Rock and is broken up into six pieces. The music and Maddy Prior's vocals make this song a nice treat. This song is about the fable/legend from the British Isles concerning the link between witches and hares. It is interesting that in quite a few cultures the hare is maligned and thought of as evil. The song contains quite a bit of Old English in the lyrics, which can make it a little difficult to fully understand at points. They also borrowed lyrics straight from an old poem called The World's Joy in the 4th section of the song. As the legend goes, a witch is being pursued and changes herself into a hare to avoid detection. The song then switches to the perspective of the hare and the perils of the animal. An oddity that I discovered when I read about this fable/legend, the Easter Bunny is most likely...

840 ( The Kinks - A Rock & Roll Fantasy ) I have been meaning to pick this track off and on for the last two years and I have finally gotten around to choosing it. Again, Ray Davies shows off his excellent song writing skills both lyrically and in arrangement in this one. The song's lyrics and subject matter takes a look at the fantasies and dreams of both the rock band as well fans of music. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Quincy Jones - Soul Bossa Nova My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - My Sunday Feeling +

839 ( Joachim Witt - Bataillon 'd Amour ) For some reason I felt like picking a song from Joachim Witt and I thought that this cover originally from the band Silly, which can be found here on YouTube , seemed like an excellent pick for today. One thing that is beginning to annoy me is the fact that most denizens of the internet seem to believe that any Rock/Metal song is sung in the German language with low register vocals is the band Rammstein. While Rammstein is an awesome band that I personally like a lot, they are not the only band from Deutschland . The German music scene is quite large and diverse and contains many bands over a multitude of genres. Off of my soapbox now.... Watch the music video on YouTube. Here is a live performance YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio My song pick two years ago today: Donovan - Sunshine Superman +

838 ( Django Reinhardt - I'll See You In My Dreams ) For well over last few years I have been researching a lot of the music and recordings prior to World War II; particularly the various forms of Jazz and Folk music. Anyway, this is one of the Jazz guitarists that I found out about who started the genre known as Gypsy Jazz, which is a fusion of American Swing Jazz, French Musette, and Eastern European folk music. One interesting fact about Django Reinhardt is that he had partial use of two of his fingers on his left hand and was forced to play his guitar mostly with just those two fingers due to an accident. This song was originally written by Isham Jones with lyrics by Gus Kahn in the mid '20s and has gone on to be a standard in many genres, covered a countless amount of times. My first introduction to this song was actually from my Grandfather, who did an excellent rendition of the song in the Chet Atkins style. Here is a recording of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year...

837 ( Frijid Pink - House of the Rising Sun ) For some reason, this one seemed to jump at me when I was thinking about picking a song this evening. This is, of course, a cover of the traditional Folk/Blues made famous by The Animals. One major difference about Frijid Pink's version of this song is the change in time signature from the traditional 6/8 to a common 4/4. The song also has more of a psychedelic sound led by a driving bass and drums with a heavily distorted guitar. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a television performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jaco Pastorius - Portrait of Tracy My song pick two years ago today: Rush - Time Stand Still +

836 ( Stuart Hamm - Flow My Tears ) Quite a few years ago I was trying to find out who were the "screamers" on bass playing behind many of the guitar greats' solo albums, mostly Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. I discovered that one of those bassists was the legendary Stu Hamm. After going over his discography I ran across one Stu Hamm solo album in particular that caught my attention for one main reason: the album's title and some of the songs made reference to some of Philip K. Dick's works, who is one of my favorite Sci-Fi/Post Modern authors. The album's name, Radio Free Albemuth is actually name of one of his books, which was published posthumously a few years before this album was released. This song, Flow My Tears , is also a reference to one of his more famous and award winning Sci-Fi works: Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said ; the title was itself a reference to the 16th century piece of music credited to John Dowland; Flow My Tears . It is amazing to see...

835 ( Rush - Twilight Zone ) For the last little bit I have been listening to a lot of the early Rush material. I noticed that I had not chosen a song off of 2112 in a while, which is considered to be one of their best, if not their best album by some. 2112 is one of those albums that was arranged extremely well as to keep the listener engaged throughout; I usually play it all of the way through when listening to it without skipping songs. I have noticed that many Rock/Metal bands back in the '70s made many albums like this. They seemed to focus on the concept of releasing a hit album rather than just a hit single; the hit singles ended up being more of a bi-product. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live recording on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Firm - Radioactive My song pick two years ago today: Ozzy Osbourne - Shot in the Dark +

834 ( Grand Funk Railroad - Footstompin' Music ) I heard this one on the radio this morning whilst on the road and it seems like a very good song for today. This track is a straight-up feel good rocker that is mostly drum and bass driven; as with any Grand Funk song the overall musicianship is incredible across the board. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Petula Clark - Don't Sleep in the Subway My song pick two years ago today: Band of Horses - Wicked Gil +

833 ( The Who - Squeeze Box ) I cannot begin to count the amount of times people have asked me: "Who did that song Squeeze Box ?" Most are usually surprised that it is from Pete Townshend's pen. Squeeze Box doesn't have the sound from The Who that most casual fans are expecting; the confusion might also due to their use of a banjo in this song. For those who are unaware, a Squeeze Box is a slang term given to a Concertina or, in some cases, and Accordion or any other hand-held instrument operated with bellows. However, this song is filled with loads of innuendo and word play; they are not completely referring to the musical instrument. Here is a fan video with the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Steely Dan - FM (No Static At All) My song pick two years ago today: The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night +

832 ( Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Refugee ) I had a couple of other songs in mind for today, but after I heard this one on the radio this morning I had to pick it. Tom Petty's straight-up rock sound is perfect for my mood today. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Yes - Your Move/All Good People My song pick two years ago today: King Harvest - Dancing in the Moonlight +