Sunday, June 19, 2011

Play It Again

The "rules" are simple... first, be honest! Don't keep shuffling forward for "cooler" songs.

If you want to play:
  1. Turn on your MP3 player or iTunes on your computer.
  2. Set the controls for all your Music in Shuffle mode.
  3. Write down the first 15 songs that come up, title and artist at least.
  4. Tag some interesting folks, and ask that they tag you on their lists.
My Personal Fifteen
  • Shake (Russ Taff from his album "Russ Taff")
  • Jazz (This Train from their album "The Emperor's New Band")
  • He Reigns (Newsboys from the compliation album "Worship: The Ultimate Collection")
  • All Fall Down (Sarah Masen from her debut album "Sarah Masen")
  • Healing (Iona from their album "Beyond These Shores")
  • 2 Honks & A Negro (dc Talk from their album "Free At Last")
  • Hey, Pauline (Randy Stonehill from his album "Edge Of The World")
  • My People (Charlie Peacock from his album "Charlie Peacock")
  • Last Song for Michael (Randy Stonehill from his album "Edge Of The World")
  • Rocket (Andrew Peterson from his album "Resurrection Letters: Volume II")
  • Watching Eternity (Charlie Peacock from his debut album "Lie Down in the Grass")
  • Brendan's Return (Iona from their album "Beyond These Shores")
  • Prodigal/I Don't Know Who You Are (Prodigal from their debut album "Prodigal")
  • Vital Signs (White Heart from their album "Vital Signs")
  • Rusty Old American Dream (David Wilcox from his album "How Did You Find Me Here")
Surprised by the doubles with the huge iTunes library I have (Stonehill, Iona & Charlie Peacock) but all in all it sounds like a pretty good list to me.

Most importantly, here are the lyrics to the spoken word/instrumental piece by This Train - "Jazz".
You know what this world could really use about now? Jazz. You're probably thinking "We already have jazz," but we don't have jazz, not real jazz, anyway. Don't be deceived by the false prophets of jazz: elevator jazz, doctor's office jazz, double-decaf skinny latte jazz, and, worst of all, jazz fusion. Simply owning a saxophone does not necessarily a jazz man make, my friend. Kenny G is not jazz, he is the anti-jazz. You may argue, "But his music is so relaxing." Since when was jazz supposed to be relaxing? We need to get back to real jazz, true jazz, 1967 Greenwich Village-type jazz: Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Roland Kirk, and don't forget the king of jazz, the Elvis, if you will, of jazz, Miles Davis. Was Miles here to soothe you, to relax you? No way man! Miles was here to challenge you, to expand your mind, man. And don't give me any of that "Miles played fusion" nonsense, Elvis went to Vegas, Miles went to fusion. The point is the bigger they are, the harder they fall, but Miles rose again from the ashes of fusion and back into the loving arms of jazz. And this is how we thank him?

5 comments:

Jonathan Degann said...

I recall seeing a list like this some time ago, and noted that I hadn't heard of ANY of the artists. You explained that they were generally "Christian" genre. Is EVERY artist on your list "Christian"? Is nearly ever artist on your entire iPod "Christian"? I realize that this just describes the lyrical content and encompasses many musical styles, but why to the (near) complete exclusion of all secular artists?

Mark (aka pastor guy) said...

I'd guess my collection is probably 75% "Christian" - there's a heavy smattering of show tunes, Disney music, classic rock & a bit of world music that didn't show up on this run.

I think that high level of "Christian" content is because that was the music of my youth/young adult years - yeah, I listened to The Cars & ELO & a number of other bands - but the stuff that really stuck with me, that resonated most with the highly meaningful moments in my life, is stuff that reflected (often in imperfect ways) my spiritual journey.

Joe Huber said...

OK, Mark, I'm fine with the instructions up through #4, which seems to be a Facebook thing, and thus not possible.

What I learned was that the shuffle feature for my player isn't great:

Taxi (Harry Chapin) - OK, nice start
Movin' On (Chicago) - another nice song
Like You (Evanescence) - out of line with the rest of this list...
Ouch! (Rutles) - if there hadn't been a comedy/novelty song here, I would have been worried.
The Word (The Beatles) - I love it - my music player has a sense of humor.
Good Advice (Allan Sherman) - nice pick
Look Away (Hootie & the Blowfish) - the only song I couldn't have told you was even there...
Medley: Here We Come A-Caroling / We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Perry Como) - I have lots of Christmas music on my player, so no surprise
Hard Habit to Break (Chicago) - first artist repeat...
Peace Train (Cat Stevens) - nice random addition.
I Got Stoned and I Missed It (Shel Silverstein) - OK, nicely random.
A Child Is Born (Harry Chapin - spoken) - another repeat?
A Front Row Seat to Hear Ole Johnny Sing (Shel Silverstein) - I probably only have a dozen Shel Silverstein songs on my player; I'm no longer trusting the randomness.
In Terms of Two (Chicago) - another one?
Policeman (Chicago) - four out of 15? I do have lots of Chicago songs on my player, but not 1/4 or anything close to it...

The next 15, without further commentary:

Stephen Foster, Beloved Songwriter (Stan Freberg)
Let Time Go Lightly (Harry Chapin)
Taking Lessons (Allan Sherman)
Boss Man (Gordon Lightfoot)
My Walking Stick (Leon Redbone)
Liberation (Chicago)
It's a Fine Line (Oliver! Original Broadway Cast)
Away in a Manger (Ed Ames)
I'll Be Home for Christmas (Perry Como)
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (Lena Horne)
Let's All Get Demented (Ivor Biggun)
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Rockapella)
My Bologna (Weird Al Yankovic)
Amie (Pure Prairie League)
I Want to Hold Your Hand (Homer & Jethro)

(The set of three Christmas songs in a row are all from the same album, which further convinces me that the randomization is off...)

Mark (aka pastor guy) said...

Jonathan - just found out my original list is based on a set of playlists rather than my whole music set... here's what I got when I opened it up:

- Lazy Days Of Summer (Nat King Cole)
- Fill This House (Maeve)
- Someone's Calling (The Choir)
- (It's The Eighties, So Where's Our) Rocket Packs (Daniel Amos)
- Little Girl Blue (Linda Ronstadt)
- Fightin' On The Same Side (Hooters)
- All I Want Is You (U2)
- White Flags (Everybodyduck)
- The Years Go By (Delirious?)
- Tingolayo (Laurie Berkner)
- God Is Not A Secret (Newsboys)
- Do You Believe In Love (Huey Lewis & The News)
- Be Merciful To Me (Caedmon's Call)
- Well, Haven't You Heard (2nd Chapter Of Acts)
- Look Over Your Shoulder (Randy Stonehill & Kate Miner)

Surprising that there's no Disney music (film or park) but otherwise that sounds more accurate.

Anonymous said...

Hey!
I've got that you like the song Hey,Pauline by Randy Stonehill. I'm trying to find it somewhere in the internet but I can't get it anywhere. Could I ask you to send me this song on my e-mail adress Polinange_8@mail.ru?

Thank you,
Palîna