Revision as of 21:32, 28 September 2024

aka Playlists

A set of music around a theme...

I wanna be your playlist

Songs literally titled "I wanna be your..."

• I wanna be your dog - The Stooges
• I wanna be your doll - Rachel Stamp
• I wanna be your man - The Rolling Stones (first release) / The Beatles (second release, but written by Lennon-McCartney)
• I wanna be yours - Arctic Monkeys
• I wanna be your slave - Måneskin
• I wanna be your lover - Prince
• I wanna be your lover - Bob Dylan

• I wanna be your girlfriend - Girl in red
• Wannabe - Spice Girls
• I wanna be - Chris Brown
• She's all I wanna be - Tate McRae

Time

Songs about the passage of time... both explicit and implicitely

• Time is on my Side - Most famously by The Rolling Stones
• Time is a Tempest - Cloudstreet
• Times, They are a Changin' - Bob Dylan
• We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
• End of the World - R.E.M
• Time is Running Out - Muse (Absolution album)
• Time is All Around - Regina Spektor
• The Time Has Come - Dresden Dolls
• Rock Around the Clock
• When I'm 64
• Turn Turn Turn
• Cats In The Cradle
• Time of Your Life - Green Day
• 3am Eternal
• As Time Goes By
• Fly Like An Eagle - Steve Miller Band
• Innocent Child
• Those were the days

Time travel

Songs about time travel, or might make people think about time travel due to association with popular culture, or just are anachronistic in some way

• Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry (BTTF)
• Doctor Who theme tune
• Timewarp - Rocky Horror Picture Show
• The Power Of Love - Huey Lewis & The News (BTTF)
• Back in Time - Huey Lewis and the News (BTTF)
• Breakaway - Big Pig (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure)
• Toxic - Britney Spears (Doctor Who)
• pretty much everything by Post Modern Jukebox (modern songs in older styles)
• Doctor'n The Tardis!
• https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=nDzoKW3tXjU
• Time Travel - Flaming Lips
• Everything You Know is Wrong - Weird Al (The aliens take him back to last Thursday so he can pay his phone bill on time)
• Anything from the Donnie Darko soundtrack

Also: There's a movie called Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel.

Meta

Songs are sometimes written about the music industry... here are some facets of that

Busking

Musically earning money by busking is a common practice amongst musicians and bands as they start out, and so naturally songs are written about it.

This compilation is for songs about busking and performers (this last to allow Piano Man and The Ballad of John and Yoko in).

• 30 Seconds of Happiness - Jigzag
• Baker Street - Jerry Rafferty
• Piano Man - Billy Joel
• The Entertainer - Billy Joel
• The Ballad of John and Yoko - The Beatles

Question: what about songs about fictional self-performances?

• Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles

Radio Songs

A different type of meta - here are songs about the medium in which they are broadcast

• Radio Song - REM
• Video Killed the Radio Star
• I bet you they wont play this song on the Radio - Monty Python
• Turn the Radio Off - Reel Big Fish
• What's On Your Radio - Living End
• Rock 'n' Roll Radio - The Ramones

Question: what about more tangiential songs about rock songs?

• It's still Rock'n'Roll to me - Billy Joel

Explosive

For that music which builds and builds and builds (probably purely musically, and somewhat repetitively)... I considered calling this the 'orgasmic' compilation...

• Hall of the Mountain King - Grieg
• Tsunami Surfin' - Jigzag
• Endless Relentless - Def FX
• Duel of the Fates - John Williams
• Also Sprach Zarathustra (aka: 2001 - A Space Odyssey) - Richard Strauss

Chain of songs

A series of songs, where each song has a linking element to the song previous and after

• Where is my Mind - The Pixies
  • Links via 'mind' to...
• I got my mind set on you - George Harrison
  • Links via 'money' to
• Simply Irresistable - Robert Palmer
  • Links via 'money' again to...
• Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles (though almost any song about love really, but this is a good contrast!)
  • Links via Love to...

Extra links...

• Sugar Sugar - The Archies
• Lyrics: "pour ... sugar on me"
• Pour Some Sugar on me - Def Leppard

• Left Alone (Domain) ends with boating/water sounds. Follow with Signs of Life (Pink Floyd), which starts with boating/water.
• Hand in my Pocket (Alanis Morisette) ends with a similar beat to the start of Boom Crash Opera's "Super Heroes"

Songbirds

A different type of compilation - follow a path around the landmasses of the world, and play birdsong that is found in that area. It should be a more or less continuous set of birdsongs around the world, as much as possible :)

• Google maps view

Numbers

A compilation CD where the song titles feature numbers.

Ideally, the song title will have as little extra to the number as possible, and be sequential to match track number on the CD...

• One - John Farnham (original by Harry Nilsson?)
• One Robot - Rocket Science
• The One - Foo Fighters
• 1 2 8 - Mighty mighty bosstones
• Two Months Off - Underworld
• Two - Cartoon
• Song Two - Blur
• 2 x 4 - Metalllica
• Number Three - They Might Be Giants
• Lush 3.1 - orbitial
• Jumpin from six to six - colin james and the little big band II
• Thirteen O'clock - Labyrinth soundtrack
• Sweet Sixteen - Billy Idol
• Sweet Sixteen - BB King
• 17 Lies - Violent Femmes
• 25 O'Clock - They Might Be Giants
• 52 Girls - B-52s
• Rocket 95 - alien fashion sow

note that the following songs cannot have the number match the track title...

• A Thousand Years - Sting
• Two Thousand Years - Billy Joel
• Pennsylvania 6-5000 - Glenn Miller
• Infinity - Guru Josh

Count Five Or Six, by Cornelius? 18, by Moby? -- st

Title Doppelgänger

Songs with identical (or very similar) titles...

• Learning to Fly - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• Learning to Fly - Pink Floyd
• Learn to Fly - The Foo Fighters

• Is There Anybody Out There - Pink Floyd
• Is There Anybody In There - Hunters & Collectors

• Sweet Sixteen - Billy Idol
• Sweet Sixteen - BB King

• Who wants to live forever - Queen
• No one lives forever - Oingo Boingo

• Tightrope - ELO
• Tightrope - The Stone Roses

• The Show Must Go On - Queen
• The Show Must Go On - Pink Floyd

New York City

Songs about the City...

• New York City - They Might Be Giants
• New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
• New York - Eskimo Joe
• I Guess the Lord Must be in New York City - Harry Nilsson
• New York City - Kevin Johnson (http://www.rocknrolligaveyou.com/mp3/16.%20New%20York%20City.mp3)

see also

• • careers of Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, and other NYC originating artists
  • http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/music_specials/s1397332.htm
  • http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-songs-about-new-york-city?cat=entertainment

Week Days

• General
  • Happy Days theme tune
• Monday
  • Monday Monday - The Mamas and the Papas
  • I Don't Like Monday's - Boomtown Rats
• Tuesday
  • Ruby Tuesday - Rolling Stones
  • Love you till Tuesday - David Bowie
• Wednesday
  • Wednesday - Tori Amos
• Thursday
  • Thursday's Child - David Bowie
• Friday
  • Friday on my Mind - The Easybeats
  • Friday I'm in Love - The Cure
  • Good Mourning - Black Friday - Megadeth
• Saturday
  • (A Rollerskating Jam Called) Saturday - De La Soul
  • Saturday Night at the Movies - The Drifters
  • Saturday Night Holocaust - Dead Kennedys
  • Saturday Night - see: Wikipedia:Saturday_Night
• Sunday
  • Sunday Morning - (pick an artist, any artist)
  • Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

Driving Tunes

• Alternate compilation titles:
  • Rev it up
  • Roadtrip Warrior

Songs about cars/driving - perfect for going on a RoadTrip. More general songs about distance/travel are ok too, especially if lyrics can be transposed. (I would drive 500 miles...)

• Drive My Car - The Beatles
• I've Got a Plan - My Friend the Chocolate Cake
• I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
• I Drove All Night (Cyndi Lauper)
• Fast Car (Traci Chapman)
• Little Deuce Coupe - The Beach Boys
• The Distance - Cake
• Stick Shifts and Safety Belts - Cake
• Mustang Sally - The Commitments
• Three Wheels on my Wagon - New Christy Minstrels
• Moving Right Along - The Muppets (Kermit and Fozzie)
• RV - Dana Lyons
• In The Big Red Car We Like To Ride - The Wiggles
• Beep Beep - The Playmates
• Grease Lightning - Grease
• Race Car Ya Yas - Cake
• I've been driving in my car - Madness
• Jump in my car (I wanna take you home) - ?
• I'm Mad - Animaniacs
• Driven - Suffering
• Drive - Apocalyptica

see also: other Beach Boys and Grease songs?

Singalong Songs

No specific theme, just a collection of those songs which everyone seems to somehow instinctively know. These are songs which are easy to pick up, and awesomely fun to sing along to. ie, also perfect as RoadTrip material.

• Love Shack - B52s
• Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da - The Beatles
• Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
• Hey Jude - The Beatles
• YMCA - The Village People
• American Pie - Don McLean
• Do Wah Diddy - Manfred Mann
• I'm a Believer - The Monkees / Smashmouth according to taste
• Time Warp - Rocky Horror Picture Show
• I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
• Hits from Grease

Four letter words

Songs that have one-word titles of only four letters long. No need to be dirty

• Help (Beatles)

Cover songs

A series of compilations focused on covers...

• See also: this Rage playlist: https://www.facebook.com/rageabc/posts/10153917681803708

Origin of Covers

Songs where the cover became famous, whilst the original never became known at all. See also 'The New Definative' below for songs where the original was a hit, but the cover moreso.

• Mah Nà Mah Nà - The Muppets (originally by Piero Umiliani with whom it peaked at #55 on Billboard)
• Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper (original by Robert Hazard)
• Time is on my Side - The Rolling Stones (originally recorded by by Kai Winding)

Also, Check out Bob Dylans career for this one.

• Also: http://www.coversproject.com/

History of Covers

This bridges, conceptually, the origin of covers and the new definitive. The history of covers is purely for tracing multiple covers of a song through time. With songs that have been covered many times of course. Naturally, some songs were never famous to begin with and the cover was huge - and so also could fit into the Origin series. Similarly, if both original and a cover were well known, it could fit into the New Definitive below. A per-case judgement will be needed.

• Misirlou (greek trad through to doowop through to surf) wikipedia:Misirlou
• Rock and Roll Music (Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, The Beatles) wikipedia:Rock and Roll Music
• The Girl from Ipanema wikipedia:The Girl from Ipanema
• Yesterday (the most covered song in history) wikipedia:Yesterday (song)

The New Definitive

This is like Origin of Covers, but where the original was a hit or well known in it's own right, yet has since been eclipsed in the public mind by a cover. How to define "well known in it's own right"? Current rule of thumb is "it was a top40 hit". See Mah Nà Mah Nà in Origin of Covers above for example...

• Hurt - Johnny Cash (original: NIN)
• Mad World - Gary Jules (original: Tears for Fears)
• Istanbul - They Might Be Giants
• Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon - Urge Overkill
• Love is All Around - Wet Wet Wet (I don't know whose it was originally, though I do know The Troggs did a version of it - so it could have been theirs.)
• I Fought the Law - The Clash
• Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
• Forever Young - Youth Group
• All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
• As Time Goes By - Frank Sinatra
• Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys
• Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente!
• Black Betty - Ram Jam
• Everlasting LOve - U2
• I'm a Believer - The Monkees or Smash Mouth (Depending on how old you are)
• If you don't know me by now - Simply Red
• Jealous Guy - Roxy Music
• Layla - Eric Clapton
• Live and Let Die - Guns 'n' Roses
• Love Rollercoaster - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
• The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana
• Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor (original: Prince)
• Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - Cake
• Sloop John B - The Beach Boys (original: Trad folk)
• Tainted LOve - The Living End (or Soft Cell if you're old school)
• Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever_%281956_song%29

Stairways to Covers

Title based on Denton's infamous "Stairways to heaven" album - consisting of multiple covers of hte same song. So this compilation where each compilation is merely many covers... ideally songs where the original is long forgotten, but there is no definitive either. The Girl from Ipenema is a perfect example. This list is not tracks, but merely songs for whom multiple tracks should be sourced later

• Stairway to Heaven
• The Girl from Ipenema
• Yesterday
• Misrlou
• Man of Constant Sorrow

One Man in a Band

Not for solo artists, but for tracks which have notable instrument solos within them

• Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd (David Gilmour guitar solo)
• The End - The Beatles (notable for being Ringo's only Beatles solo. All four Beatles in fact have solos in this piece)

See also: Wikipedia:Guitar solo and Wikipedia:Drum solo

Existential

A compilation comprising songs from bands which only exist in fiction, yet the music is available to listen to... Now the question is where is the line drawn between fiction and reality? Whilst Wyld Stallyns and The Electric Mayhem definately count as fictional bands, what about The Monkees, The Blues Brothers or the Gorillaz? How about a group where the artists use pseudonyms? (Travelling Wilburys). A usefull starting point is the ever-helpful wikipedia... Wikipedia:Category:Fictional_musical_groups

• Another band to look at: Crotchduster
• Can You Picture That - The Electric Mayhem

Suicide Songs

• See SuicideSongs - a compilation from a BBC poll

Film Songs

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years..._100_Songs

Devil Songs

• Devil Went Down To Georgia (Charlie Daniel's Band)
• Tribute (Tenacious D)
• Devil's Song (Big Pig)
• Devil Comes Back to Georgia (sequel to Devil Went Down, with Mark O'Connor with Daniels, Cash, Tritt and Marty Stuart)

Sellout Songs

• Hey Mr DJ, I thought you said we had a deal - TMBG
• Sell Out - Reel Big Fish
• Ex Malcolm X - TISM