Saturday Morning Playlist

My iPod shuffled up a particularly fine playlist for my morning run. I went off through the rolling residential streets of my village and up through the factories and past the lake on the east side of town. After a left turn at the Metra tracks, I passed a remarkably tiny house (probably less than 400 sq ft!), the movie theater, and the old village hall. The straightaway through downtown led to a bike path to return home. An invigorating run! Here are the tunes that accompanied me:

"Friends" by Led Zeppelin--some nice acoustic rock off their 3rd album.

"Tennessee" by Arrested Development--a ground-breaking hip hop song with a message about faith and ancestry.

"Hurricane Eye" by Paul Simon--three different meters with clever shifts between and this great couplet: "I knew an old woman who lived in a shoe; she was baking a cinnamon pie. She fell asleep in the washing machine, woke up in a hurricane eye."

"The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix--one of his prettier ballads.

"The Tears of a Clown" by The English Beat--a ska version of a Motown tune. My brother and I ("The Brothers Brame") played horns for a band that covered this tune back in the early 80s.

"Sign in Stranger" by Steely Dan--dark lyrics, infectious piano.

"Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel--one of the first marching band arrangements I ever did when I was in my first year at Round Lake HS. A truly classic video:



"Lovely Rita" by The Beatles--fascinating form that we study each year in music theory. You can read a cool analysis of it here.

"No Reply" by The Beatles--I have too much Beatles music on my workout iPod, so I often get two in a row.

"Wild West" by Joe Jackson--a great album, Big World, that is one of those rare 3-sided LPs--a two-disc set with a blank Side 4. Please don't tell anyone that I'm linking you to Wikipedia for more info!

"Exhuming McCarthy" by R.E.M.--my sons studied this song with their ultra-hip social studies teacher in US History.

"Kid Charlemagne" by Steely Dan--yes, I have too much Steely Dan as well, but it's a great song about the rise and fall of a drug dealer.

"Montana" by Frank Zappa--"Movin' to Montana soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon. Movin' to Montana soon, gonna be a mental toss flycoon!"

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!