Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .
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The List
[photo by jennifer; review by pat]
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A couple weeks ago I wrote about Elvis, and in that post I referenced his great song, “If I Can Dream.” As I was at home looking through the article on this website, my daughter came in and asked what the deal was with the guy in the white suit. I told her this was one of my top ten songs of all time and played it for her. “Cool,” she said, and walked off to put on her Taylor Swift CD. She may never hear the song again, and it may never resonate the same way for her as it does for me, but at least the seed was planted.
Apparently, I am not the only person to have this idea. I remember hearing an interview with Rosanne Cash a while back. She said that when she turned 18, her father - Johnny Cash - wrote down and gave her a list he titled “100 Essential Country Songs.” She was starting to write her own songs at the time, and he wanted to give her a blueprint to what he considered great songwriting. In retrospect, she now believes he gave her a piece of himself in this list of songs. In fact in 2009, years after she was given the list; she recorded 13 of these songs for an album aptly titled The List.
Music is such a powerful thing and it defines a lot about a person. So, along with “If I Can Dream,” what are some other songs that would be on my list?
Some jump right out:
The Beach Boys “God Only Knows” -
James Brown “Hell” -
The Replacements “Bastards of Young” -
Sloan “Everything You’ve Done Wrong" -
Stevie Wonder “Sunshine of My Life” -
These are just a few on my list. Each one is on there for a reason, some more personal than others. But in my opinion, they are all great. And there are many more. From time to time I may share a few more, and even one day compile my definitive list to give to my daughters. What an awesome gift idea (although they would probably still rather have an iPad), like making a mix tape for someone you cared about back in the day.
So I ask you: What is a song that would make your list?
- PLC
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MORE:
- last time - Hal David
- last month - The Vaccines
- last season - Mark Lanegan
- full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE
