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

1076 England Dan & John Ford Coley - Westward Wind I heard this track whilst on the road this evening and figured it would make a nice pick to close out my Saturday. My mom and dada had the Nights Are Forever album and I grew up hearing this Soft Rock duo quite a bit from them and on the radio. This is a nice upbeat track which, if I remember right, came up somewhere in the middle of side one on the record. It is my favourite song off the album, this is mostly due their use of the "crying" steel guitar. Hear Westward Wind on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale My song pick two years ago today: Louis Armstrong - Hello Dolly +

1075 Sergei Prokofiev - Op. 67 - Peter and the Wolf I don't know what it is about Russian composers, but they all seem to have the knack of writing melodies in their music which bore and bury themselves into your mind; both conscious and subconscious. I have literally had the main theme from this piece running through my mind off and on for over a week now; I figured it would be an excellent pick for today. I have always had certain affinity for Russian classical music, in my opinion they have written some of the best music in history. This is a Modern classical piece of music written in the mid 1930s as a symphony for children featuring both music and narration. Even if you don't know the music by title, you will immediately recognize this piece when you hear it. Much of the techniques used within this piece has been used many times in film and stage, i.e. each character is represented by a unique instrument and tune. There are quite a few versions of this piece availabl...

1074 Eric Burdon & the Animals - Sky Pilot For no reason at all I felt like listening to some of Eric Burdon's music this morning; I have always been a fan of his unique sound. Many years ago the radio station I was listening to a lot was supposedly playing their entire music library alphabetically, which went on for over a month. I was busy recording music off the air that I wanted and I asked my dad if there were any he would like; this was one of the tracks that he requested that I record. If I remember correctly it finally came on late at night and I was able to get it; it sure brings back some memories. Anyway, this track is an antiwar song written in Eric Burdon's signature Blues/Psychedelia sound. However, what I have always liked about the message is that they never get overtly preachy and rather paints vivid scenes with the lyrics. The song is arranged incredibly well with different sections. For the most part the song sticks to their Psychedelic Rock sound...

1073 Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry I have always liked this track and it has been running through my mind the last little bit, so I am adding it for today's pick. It is probably my favourite GN'R track; I love the way it was written and arranged. In my opinion it is one of those songs if you were to add or take away anything the song would be a mere shadow of itself. Here is a recording on YouTube. Here is the music video on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. Here is the song with alternate lyrics on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Puhdys, featuring Till Lindemann and Richard Krupse - Wut Will Nicht Sterben My song pick two years ago today: Nightwish - The Pharaoh Sails To Orion +

1072 Rammstein - Weißes Fleisch Felt like some Rammstein this morning. I have always loved their debut album Herzelied ; it is probably my favourite Rammstein album, but some of the others are very close behind. This is quite a danceable industrial metal track with a distinct electronic sound. Anyway, as with most of Rammstein's music it contains some extreme subject matter, so it is probably Not Safe For Work (NSFW). Some might be wondering what the "ß" character in the song's title is: it is called an Eszitt . It is a character in the written German language as well as a few other languages, but does not appear in the English alphabet. As far as I know in written German it is basically used to make the sharp "S" sound that that is made with the double S. Apparently you would use it between two long vowels, but you would use "ss" if it is at the end of the word or not between long vowels. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is t...

1071 Cream - Badge Have heard this song off and on for the last few weeks and noticed that I had not picked it yet; it makes a nice choice for another busy Monday. I like the overall calm feeling of this track and, of course, Jack Bruce's nice bass playing. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live Eric Clapton performance of the song circa '86 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Steeleye Span - Seven Hundred Elves My song pick two years ago today: Billy Joel - Prelude/Angry Young Man +

1070 Jethro Tull - Grace Finishing my theme week of " songitesimals " on this Sunday. I had many and at the same time had no songs in mind for my closing pick on this theme week. This track came to mind when I sat down to make my pick, so here it is. It was a nice touch on the part of Ian Anderson to close out such an epic album with a :37 second acoustical track, especially following the monstrous Baker Street Muse , which clocked in at 16:48. The track itself is merely just Ian singing and playing his acoustic guitar with some string accompaniment. The lyrics are rather whimsical; from what I understand he apparently came up with them while singing and looking out his window one morning. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: John Denver - Season Suite: Summer My song pick two years ago today: The Steve Miller Band - The Window +