Bruce Springsteen - Atlantic City (Live, 1985)

Okay, I promise I’m not trying to bring everybody down with these songs, they’re just so good I can’t help but post them.

I’m still not sure which version of this song I prefer, the original or this live one, but I can’t resist posting live versions of Bruce in concert because the songs really take on a new life when you see/hear him giving his all.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and again: see him live.  It’ll be an experience you’ll never forget.

“Now I been lookin’ for a job but it’s hard to find
Down here it’s just winners and losers and don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well I’m tired of comin’ out on this losin’ end
So honey last night I met this guy and I’m gonna do a little favor for him

Well I guess everything dies baby that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty and meet me tonight in Atlantic City”

The Doors - Light My Fire (1968, live)

Jim Morrison was one sexy man.  Sheesh.

Anyway, this is a funny performance because while the band is into it Jim seems slightly bored, which perhaps is why he wanders around and starts messing with the crowd.

I wanted a long version of the song though, as the three minute single version doesn’t capture the groove like this one does.

“You know that it would be untrue 
You know that I would be a liar 
If I was to say to you 
Girl, we couldn’t get much higher 

Come on baby, light my fire 
Come on baby, light my fire 
Try to set the night on fire 

The time to hesitate is through 
No time to wallow in the mire 
Try now we can only lose 
And our love become a funeral pyre”

Bob Dylan ft. Joan Baez - Mama, You Been On My Mind (1975, Live)

Finishing the mini set list here with another excellent song is Mr. Bob Dylan featuring his good friend Ms. Joan Baez.

The Sonics - Shot Down (1965)

Heard this song on the radio a long, long time ago, and have been meaning to post it for a long, long time, so without further ado, here it is…

Blood, Sweat and Tears - I Can’t Quit Her (1968)

Damn awesome piano, damn good song, but that goes without saying because if it wasn’t good I wouldn’t post it.

Mickey & Sylvia - Dearest (1957)

Crazy guitar from over 50 fucking years ago.  Great song, awesome cover of Mr. Buddy Holly.

Bruce Springsteen - Bobby Jean (Live, 1985)

“Now we went walking in the rain talking about the pain from the world we hid
Now there ain’t nobody nowhere nohow gonna ever understand me the way you did
Maybe you’ll be out there on that road somewhere
In some bus or train traveling along
In some motel room there’ll be a radio playing
And you’ll hear me sing this song
Well if you do you’ll know I’m thinking of you and all the miles in between
And I’m just calling one last time not to change your mind
But just to say I miss you baby, good luck, goodbye, Bobby Jean”

Bruce and his band give me goosebumps more than any other artist I can think of at the moment; they’ve got a rare raw spiritual power which seems so simple, but goes so far.

And when Clarence Clemons comes in with his sax solo, especially in this song…I’m gone.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Pin (2003)

“I like to sleep with him
Pushin’ in the pin
I like to sleep with him
Well I know I know
We’re gonna go back in
We’re gonna go go go
We’re gonna go back in
We’re gonna go go go”

Jimi Hendrix - The Wind Cries Mary (Live, 1967)

“A broom is drearily sweeping
Up the broken pieces of yesterdays life
Somewhere a queen is weeping
Somewhere a king has no wife
And the wind, it cries Mary

The traffic lights they turn up blue tomorrow
And shine their emptiness down on my bed
The tiny island sags downstream
Cause the life that lived is, is dead
And the wind screams Mary

Will the wind ever remember
The names it has blown in the past
And with his crutch, its old age, and it’s wisdom
It whispers no, this will be the last
And the wind cries Mary”

R.E.M. ft. Bruce Springsteen - Man on the Moon (Live, 2004)

Thank you all for all the great music.  Here’s a great performance to remember them by, featuring the one and only Boss himself.

“Moses went walking with the staff of wood. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Newton got beaned by the apple good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are you having fun?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool”

R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts (1992)

R.I.P. R.E.M. 1980-2011

“When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you’re sure you’ve had enough of this life, well hang on
Don’t let yourself go, ‘cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong. Now it’s time to sing along
When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go, (hold on)
When you think you’ve had too much of this life, well hang on

‘Cause everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts. Don’t throw your hand. Oh, no. Don’t throw your hand
If you feel like you’re alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you’re on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
When you think you’ve had too much of this life to hang on

Well, everybody hurts sometimes,
Everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Everybody hurts. You are not alone.”

The Beatles - I’m Down (1965)

“You tell lies thinking I can’t see
You can’t cry ‘cos you’re laughing at me
I’m down (I’m really down)
I’m down (Down on the ground)
I’m down (I’m really down)
How can you laugh when you know I’m down
(How can you laugh) When you know I’m down.”

Sunday morning rocker from the Fab Four.

Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)

“Hey Marge, remember when we used to make out to this hymn?” - Homer Simpson

“Wait a minute, this sounds like rock and or roll!” - Rev. Lovejoy

(Here’s the second part of the song.)

Foo Fighters - Everlong (1995) [dir. Michel Gondry]

“And I wonder
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again

The only thing I’ll ever ask of you
You’ve got to promise not to stop when I say when”

Early Foo Fighters had a lot of fantastic stuff, it’s a shame the magic of being near Kurt wore off, because Dave Grohl was making some good music back then. 

Thankfully he’s still one of the best drummers ever, but he only really drums with certain bands (Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf rocks ridiculously hard), and the music he writes has become average at best.

But, there will always be his drumming, his early work with the Foo Fighters, and this excellent video which was lucky enough to be directed by Michel Gondry, who is as good at directing and creating as Mr. Grohl is on the drums.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight (1995) [dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris]

Time is never time at all
You can never ever leave, without leaving a piece of youth
And our lives are forever changed
We will never be the same
The more you change the less you feel

Believe, believe in me, believe, believe!
That life can change, that you’re not stuck in vain
We’re not the same, we’re different.
Tonight, tonight, tonight
So bright
Tonight, tonight

…

We’ll crucify the insincere tonight (Tonight)
We’ll make things right, we’ll feel it all tonight (Tonight)
We’ll find a way to offer up the night (Tonight)
The indescribable moments of your life (Tonight)
The impossible is possible tonight (Tonight)
Believe in me as I believe in you,
Tonight, tonight, tonight,
Tonight
Tonight…”

This used to be my favorite song of all-time.  Now it merely ranks among one of the few.

Maybe it’s still no. 1, I’d just want to do a little reviewing before making such a proclamation.  The video is awesome though, it’s stuck with me since I was a little kid.

(BTW, I see lots of people complaining about the ads before VEVO videos on Youtube: Just get Adblock.  No more advertisements!  Voila!)