This song is all about being hopeful for a relationship, even after you have been hurt many times. David Gray's whole album has this acoustic/electronic feel to it, and his voice is so soothing.

Proof that there is hope for the future of music...

Wonderfull song about a husband and wife who hate each other.
The Mountain Goats are ussualy very lo-fi but this release gave them a newfound hi-fi multi-instrumented sound.
This song is a whimsical hate fest
"i hope the rising black smoke carries me away
and i never come back to this town again
in my life i hope i lie
and tell everyone you were a good wife
and i hope you die
i hope we both die"

one of those songs that gets you bouncing around in your chair, all dreamy and hopeful.

it's about time i recommended some vreeswijk. after all he's one of my very favourite artsts, and pretty obscure outside scandinavia. it's hard to decide wich song to post, as i guess you'd have to be scandinavian to enjoy the masterful, deceptivly simple lyrics. the best way to describe the man is as kind of a swedish crossbred of serge gainsbourg, tom waits and bob dylan.
this is one of his best-known songs, a qusasi-joyous melancholy number about death and hopelessness.
i once heard someone say something that summed up the power of this guy pretty well: "I don�t understand swedish, however I do understand Cornelis Vreeswijk"


the best place to start if you're interested n an initial taste, is probably the new 2-cd set. if you're like me, youll soon advance to the original lp's and the 5-cd set "master cees memoarer".

lyrics:
Somliga g�r med trasiga skor, s�g vad beror det p�?
Gud fader som i himmelen bor kanske vill ha det s�.
Gud fader som i himmelen bor blundar och sover s�tt. Vem bryr sig om ett par trasiga skor n�r man �r gammal och tr�tt?
Vem bryr sig om hur dagarna g�r? Dom vandrar som dom vill.
Medborgare, om ett hundra �r finns du ej l�ngre till.
D� har n�n annan tagit din stol, det vet du inte av.
Du k�nner varken regn eller sol ner i din m�rka grav.
Vem bryr sig om hur n�tterna far? Jag bryr mig inte ett sp�r. Bara jag f�r ha mitt ansikte kvar dolt i min �lsklings h�r.
Jag �r en tvivelaktig figur, duger ej mycket till. Bakom ett h�rn st�r d�den p� lur, han tar mig n�r han vill.
Somliga g�r med trasiga skor tills dom har slutat g�. Dj�vulen som i helvetet bor f�r sig ett gott skratt d�
a very, very bad and rushed translation of the lyrics,most of the humor and finer points are lost but at least you'll know what's it about:

some walk around in bad shoes, say, why is is it so?
maybe the good lord up in the sky wants it that way.
the good lord up in the sky sleeps calmly now.
who cares about a pair of bad shoes when they are old and tired?
who cares how the days pass? they go the way the want.
fellow citizen, in a hundred years you will no longer exist.
someone else will have taken your chair, but you won't know about that.
you'll feel neither rain nor sun, down in your dark grave.
who cares how the nights pass? i don't care at all.
as long as i get to keep my my face tucked in my love's hair.
i'm a questionable character, not good for much.
behind a corner death lurks, he'll take me whenever he wants.
some walk around in bad shoes/ until hey walk no more
the devil, who lives down in the hell/ will have a good laugh then.

Melancholy jangle tune with sweet, haunting melody; discussed the trials and tribulations of those little bands that slip under our musical radar, however worthy. Reminiscent of garage band struggles, all who picked up a guitar in school in hopes of making it big. For those who make it big, hundreds - no, thousands - of bands are still waiting to be heard.

"And never thought it'd go this far / We never thought that / We'd ever go far / Like all my friends who play guitar / Know who we are? / We never go far / Like all my friends who play guitar"

(btw, I had no idea these guys were Christian; never sounded like any Christian music I heard!)

For Hideaki Sekiguchi, aka Bass Wolf, who sadly died of a heart attack on the 31st of March. He was only 38.
Guitar Wolf is one of those bands you either love or hate, i myself love them and their insane, primal rock n' roll antics. Sure hope they carry on, even though they are now missing a member.
This may well be the loudest song ever recorded. It's insanely great and makes me want to learn how to destroy a guitar.

A beautiful love song complete with angels and god's love... for people who normally don't go for that kind of shit.

I can't offer a lot of information about this track or group (I don't know the year, composer or even where the group comes from) and this recommendation is also a request for more information if anyone has some. This track is a fantastic soul track that gets me everytime. I can't tire of it. It's from a compilation on Fat City Records and the sleevenotes offer little info. I don't believe this "Sounds of Joy" is the same "Sounds of Joy" that have an album with Wayne McGhie (recently re-issued). From the samples I've heard of Wayne McGhie & The Sounds of Joy, the sound is quite different. However, that is just a guess.
I hope you enjoy the quick sample.

Edit: thanks to Musical Taste, I have found a link which discusses each track individually, and it appears that the CD has incorrectly attributed this song to The Sounds of Joy when it should have been credited to The Shades of Joy (http://www.b-music.co.uk/finders_keepers.html).

This unique song, unique to the whole body of work by the obscure Asylum Party, unique in every sense... If anybody ever wanted to create the sound of pure nostalgia in itself, this is the closest anyone ever got. I wonder what other people feel when listening to this song. I get utterly and hopelessly nostalgic, even though I don't know what for. It's not that I'm particularly old and know many times and eras, it's not that I have to dig particularly deep into my memory to get to that one dark part that's so irrevocably gone it makes one's heart ache and break. I don't know what it reminds me of, if of anything at all. It seems to be simply the soundtrack of some good times, times much better than the one you're stuck in right now, the soundtrack of reverie and the painful awareness that nothing will be the same again. I sometimes think it reminds me of beautiful summers I've known, the heat and sun that burnt my eyes, but then it seems just as fitting for a summer night at an open fire or an autumn window blurred with falling rain. The initial beats sound as if they could lead to anything, they even sound deceptively cheerful until the first melancholic screech of a guitar... "Feeling that hole that is just my soul..." Yeah, that must be it!

Such beautiful poetry; heartache intertwined with the hope we all feel. Delivered with the voice of a man who knows. Tom Waits. yes.

Acoustic gritty melancholic guitar, bossanova with electro Rap..haunting melodic chorus

The arrangement in this song is perfection. Everything fits together so well but it all stands out in its own turn. Also, the lyrics are superb:

I was raised up believing I was somehow unique/
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes; unique in each way you can see/
And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be/
a functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me

This is my all time favorite movie - and every time I see the part where she sings with the little kids - get out the KLEENEX!!

Many people think that Petula Clark first came to the US when the song 'Downtown' topped the charts in 1965. However, she actually came to Los Angeles in 1959 and recorded an album of Jazz songs. Among the many treasures produced during these sessions is 'Darn That Dream'. She sings this great song with all the innocense and charm of a hopeless romantic whose desired love is just out of reach. Her resignation to unrequited affection for her unavailable romeo is interrupted briefly by a soaring interlude from the orchestra. The sweeping melody almost suggests that she is dreaming of being held in "his" arms as they dance across the floor of a dimly lit ballroom. In the end she must come back down to earth and awake to the reality that she will never have the man of her dreams, however she refuses to give up the hope that one day she will get her happy ending. I know I'm rooting for her!!

A superb twangy, bongo-ridden theme from Tony Hatch. It's hard to believe this is the same man who wrote the themes for soap operas like 'Crossroads' and 'Neighbours', but it is... Overall this sounds kind of how I once expected/hoped John Barry's early 60s work might sound - harpsichord, twangy guitar etc. It opens with some eerie effects, bongoes and spare harpsichord sound before breaking into a fully fledged shadows/spy theme style masterpiece, stopping abruptly after just over two minutes. Since I heard this on a compilation, I have no idea as to its origin, which is a shame, as I would love to track down any similar work Tony Hatch may have done. I did some research, and it seems that the session guitarist on this track was none other than Big Jim Sullivan, who cut a couple of sitar LPs on Mercury in the 60s.
n.b. this is not the same tune as the much recorded and superb Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer 'out of this world'.

hm, i wonder why this hasn't been added yet. if this isn't classic, then what is?
there are about a zillion different interpretations of this song by about a million different artists. there are compilations only with this song but by different artists. and i got two of them.
maybe it's mainstream and it's played too often but i love it nonetheless.
my favourite version is on the album "the composer of desafinado plays". of course arranged by claus ogerman. he did also the arrangement for "the wave" which is i think the best album by antonio carlos jobim. an album packed full with classics.
he made the strings sound so cool and you really get the feeling of what for a lifestyle bossa nova seems to have been those days. (as i think and hope it has been...)

From the minor key trombone intro to the teenage angst of the lyrics, this is a classic song of the 60's that totally encapulates the innocent era of the UK beat boom. Sandie Shaw was probably the best selling UK female singer from 64 to 69, slightly outselling her contemporaries Dusty, Cilla and Lulu and although she possessed a weaker voice than the others, what she lacked in volume she made up in style and interpretation. Sweet and slightly soulful with a quasi tuneless ache to her voice which epitomised a teenager stood up by some beatnik no hoper, she was only 17 and showed the ways of a woman several years older. In the UK it was the follow up to the massive UK No 1 ''Always Something There To Remind Me'' and was a massive Top 3 hit that should have gone all the way to the top.
I love this record - it sums up an era, it is the beginning of a suit of girl singers who changed then style of singing, from 50's twee to 60's ''dolly bird'' and it remains a classic pop single from a girl who held the record for the most No 1 hits for a ssolo female for 19 years

I just heard this for the first time and was completely bowled over. Summer Samba, which in its famous Walter Wanderley organ version sounds like a not-particularly-hip roller-rink tune, is here given a funky treatment with organ and guitar. The guitar gets a little noodley, but in a cool way. Most of Howard Roberts's capitol albums have just been re-released as 2-on-1 CDs; I hope they are all as good as this one.

'Odessey and Oracle' is an album that lives up to the hype. Of all the brilliant songs it contains, this is probably my favorite.

The basic lyrical idea - the rather pathetic hope that maybe if the guy just waits a while, his lover's new squeeze will leave and she'll take him back - is quite compelling, and the heartfelt vocals are very appealing. It's a short track, miserable as hell, but a winner!

Dionne's lil' sister, in contrast to her sibling's restrained niceties, proves what a gorgeous, wholesome howl she has in a track voluminous with vehemence and the hope of joy hereafter. Warwick travels effortlessly between poles of frustration and hope over the underdone orchestration (a compliment: if the backing was as heartfelt as Dee Dee we'd be wading into Celine Dion territory).

And, in the age of Eamon and his bleep-a-ramas, it's deeply satisfying to hear a word such as "damn" being expressed as if it were the nastiest expletive possible.

Despite '2002 - A Hit Song's insistent chorus of "it's gonna be a hit, hit, hit!", by the end you're not convinced, "it's not gonna be a hit is it Free Designers?" "No� I'm afraid not Rum. To be honest it hasn't a hope in hell. Oh yeah we're bitter, of course we are, but, you know, when you're in the idiom of soft rock you can't get away with angst, you've got to maintain this 'pleasing' fa�ade, so that's why we sound so jolly, so 'up' on this song. But yeah, it's hard..." Yes, they may, as they sing, have "sealed it with a kiss" but the cracks show. And it's that that makes this song particularly memorable. It's fascinating to see the rips in their Peter Pan wonderland, a place where they usually spend their time flying kites, blowing bubbles, befriending dolphins. And so this palpable excitement you hear in their heady harmonies is not fuelled by a surefire optimism of success but by an almost delirious desperation, "hit, hit, hit, sure to be a hit, hit, hit, gonna make a hit, hit, hit" they sing, panting, shaking nervously, craving that big fix. The track is a flip-side to the Byrds' 'So You Wanna Be A Rock'N'Roll Star'. Both are bitter recipes for pop success but whereas the Byrds are pissed off that any talentless buffoon can follow their recipe to success get a hit, the Free Design are pissed that "We did all this last time, and it did not work!". I guess you have to suffer for your art, and maybe the Free Design were having too happy a time. Or maybe their hair didn't swing right or their pants weren't tight.

Very different sounding song for me. It sounds like a mix of late 60ies pop with arabic/turkish influences. A bit sad sounding, but still there is hope :)
I love it cause its got great harmonies, and a mix of guitars, violins, and spanish guitars.

A beautiful song by a rare artist. I would never have heard this gorgeous song if it weren't for filmmaker John Waters. It is about a man who is completely devoted to his faithless love. He will sit and wait for eternity in the hope that the woman he loves will return. The vocal was recorded inside a small closet and the acoustics provide a haunting sound in Mr. McCall's voice. He is accompanied by piano, a soulful organ, and percussion. This song alone is worth the purchase price of the Hairspray soundtrack!! Pick it up today!

Bid band with violins, wind instruments (? i mean saxofons or trumpets), Curtis on guitar and everything with good arrangements.

I just try NOT to spoil this one of a kind artist with my bad english. Songs in this album pour essence from racial discrimination, political and drug problems. I think this was one of those songs that made black men to organize and to gain self-respect to reclaim their human rights.

I like the thing that you really can feel that Curtis has something on his mind, something important to tell about, not just telling how to make love and have good time. This places this song above others.

People are fucked and politicians say: "don't worry" - and still there is hope. Let's hope so.

From the film that saved Twentieth Century Fox from one of it's many brushes with bankruptcy... This song is very much a product of it's time and has only become more campy as the years pass by. It tells the story of a 17 year-old runaway who hitches a ride with a drug dealer and shacks up with him in New Orleans only to be hardened by his neglect and abuse. Talk of a DVD release of this film thru Criterion is running rampant on the internet, I do hope it is true!

An absolutely lovely smooth soul/pop ballad, and I'm someone who usually hates such things (if it's from the last couple of decades anyway). Did I mention it was smooth? His vocal especially. No idea where to find it, but a series called "Vintage Canadian Music" has released his other single "I Am The Preacher" (which I once saw Deep Purple do under the name "Hallelujah" on the tube) on one of their CDs, so I am hopeful ... hint, hint!

The single word title would always at least conjure an expectation of beauty in this instance that expectation is surpassed ,its country in the conventional sense ,it tells of loss ,lonliness and the pain of daily life ,its also tender and tells of hope and joy through singin and escaping a dreary existance ,yes all this really happens in about three beautiful minutes .I would recomend this in the truest sense ,to enlighten,to improve ,to educate and to soothe.

An over-the top introduction to Kansas. This was the song that hooked most Kansas fans.

It showcases the band members individual talents:
Dave Hope's excellent bass
Robbie Steinhart's violin and vocals
Rich William's guitar work, often harmonizing nicely with Robbie's violin
Steve Walsh on keyboards and vocals
Kerry Livgren's Lead guitar, and hopeful, powerful lyrics.

An American tale with references to Brando, Dean and Natalie Wood, and characters like "Johnny the King". A series of melancholy snapshots of hope set to a jazz inflected soundtrack. Top-notch, both musically and lyrically.

With the companion piece (in my eyes, anyway) "Living It Up" (introducing us to "Eddie", "C***-finger Louie" & "Zero") which directly follows it on the album, it represents the pinnacle of Rickie Lee Jones career.

The rest of the "Pirates" album has its moments, such as the title track, as well as some less successful songs, and is well worth a listen if you get a chance.

I�ve listened to quite a lot of other stuff by Rickie Lee Jones and sadly it seems she has never come close to reaching the heights achieved by these two fine tracks, IMO.

The magical Mr Foxx begins to allow some warmth into his sound after the detached ,sometimes clinical feel of his early Ultravox records and alienated classic "Metamatic".The voice is still remote and the lyrics open to a vaugue interpretation but this sublime piece of post punk pop benefits from Spanish guitar and an almost Abba-esque piano motif .This new found warmth adds a feel of hope and optimism to a previously bleak musical landscape .

Pink Floyd is very well established so I won't go into how amazing they are, but what I will do is tell you that all the songs you hear on the radio don't compare to this one. Okay I might have jumped the gun, but all this song takes is one time and bang you will find yourself singing it for days. I would just sit have a drink and put this song on repeat. It sooths the soul and quenches the mind. It is so relaxing that I farted while listen to it. In all honesty the first time I heard it it gave me goos bumps it was that powerful. So if you like Floyd and don't know this song, go get it.

A gossamer light track with cello, glockenspiel and some other non-standard rock (?) instrumentation, by a classically-trained musician. The only song that it is heavier than is the Caravelles' 1963 hit "You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry", which is probably the song it sounds most like as well, if I had to pick one. Quite gorgeous! But there was a re-recorded version that found its way onto the 1986 "Hope In A Darkened Heart" LP; it's NOT nearly as good as the original.

A lush orchestrated pop song that carries the sadness of autumn and the hope of spring in its stunning almost visual arrangement ,piano ,acoustic guitar and strings weave in and around a deceptively simple song whose chorus will stay with you long after music ends.Very close to perfect pop ,if such a thing exists,thoughtful ,intelligent ,sensitive and humourous .

Dutch pop is where it's at.

One of the best 80's songs, and hard to think of anything that more neatly sums up the decade - named after a cocktail, plenty of synth effects, that slight tinniness endemic to all the greatest 80's pop. I'm sure a lot of you will remember this song, and hopefully with affection. Mai Tai had the un-popstar names Caroline, Mildred and Jetty, and they pissed on Five Star.

A huge hit in the U.K in 1985 and the debut single from a band with global potential still retaing elements of the quick fire genres that happened in those times edgy punk sentiments ,white boy funk and even the two tone /mod revival appeal ,all things to all people ,all the ingredients to make the perfect contemporary pop song,.Its rousing anthemic chorus should have been the springboard to stadium size success which somehow slipped away within a year or two,perhaps its catch all ambitions recalled the adage that you cant please all the people all the time .This one piece of brilliance still remains as a monument to all the should have beens and great white hopes.

pared-down gritty rock'n'roll, this song hammers away from start to finish in classic mot�rhead style. the lyrics are what really distinguish this track for me, however... lemmy rasps "i've got rock'n'roll / to save me from the cold / and if that's all there is / it ain't so bad", making this song a paean to his love of rock and roll above all else. no woman, no bed will tie him down... only rock'n'roll will comfort him in his old age. and at 58, he's still rockin' hard. even though he's a dirty old man and i'm slightly afraid of him... well, it still fills me with hope.

The first 1 minute and 23 seconds of this are beautifully adapted from the main theme of Morricone's "Once upon a time in America" ("Deborah's theme"). Well, the first line of the vocal melody of this is actually directly lifted from Morricone's first line, but we won't over-emphasise the point. (I just hope Ennio got his royalties!). The vocal performance of Shane McGowan of the Pogues is something one can either see some merit in or not, but it has a certain musical expressiveness.

The same "Deborah's theme" is used again repeatedly in the second half of the track, particularly the instrumental fade, but nowhere with the effectiveness of the first 1:23.

Recorded early in Stephen Duffys long and mostly un recognised consistantly brilliant career ,this from the first Lilac time L.p ,itself,an eclectic jewel amidst late 80,s polished mediocrity .A mournful folky number played out on a harmonium,accordion and light percussion ,sadness never sounded so uplifting and hopeful.Everytime i hear Duffy now i cam imagine Robbie williams covering .

This is partly a recommendation, partly a request for information if anybody has it. (hope thats not an abuse of the website)

I recorded this by accident off of a John Peel show in the late 70s/early 80s. Its a dance-y dub-by version of a old American square dance song I believe. Its not unlike Malcolm Maclarens stuff of the same time in concept, but its al lot more taste.

So does anybody else know it?

Ha! Good luck finding this one. Hot little hopes is a storm in a teacup about going out on a night with high expectations by a band who never got the sucess they deserved. The music is sublime; a string and brass waltz that builds to a delirious gallop, but it's the lyrics and their delivery that make it special, and confirm BHJ as a lost treasure. Johnny Brown is a songwriter whose lyrics are great writing in their own right; much of his work reads like documentary, the man has a spectacular talent for transcribing the ordinary while maintaining strict disciplines of structure and story to catch your heart in your throat. Here as elsewhere the story almost doesn't deserve to be told- it's ordinary people with ordinary hopes and fears, but the music and the telling turn it into a modern fairytale.

King's X is my favorite hard rock band by far. This song is on Faith Hope & Love, a very psychedelic record with a sound different from their others. They must have had the fairy dust going on at the recording sessions for this album because the sound is just beyond bluesy and groovy. The guitar just sounds...slinky! that's the word. Slink and snaky and dark. Their harmonies are a wonder to behold as usual, and the lyrics are mystical and weird.

very simply put, this song is interesting. it can almost be split in two, the monotone first part and the almost screeching end. the whole song conveys hopelessness (or is it helplessness) in a very precise way.
the obligatory references to the city are here as well as an interesting verse, 'you can only go so far for womankind' which always reminded me of 'i've lost my faith in womanhood'--a bit in the smiths' "pretty girls make graves".

If the sun would rise in a minor key, this is what it would sound like. The shadows dissolve around you in warm harmony, even death sunbathes here, in a song ripe with hope and humanity. It is a misnomer to 'Fade Out' when we are held not by darkness, but by light. The paralysis of a dreary existence is manifested in the 'Street Spirit' where 'cracked eggs, dead birds scream as they fight for life' and 'machines will not communicate these thoughts and strain I am under.' If we were to stifle the creative spirit all we would need to do is look down a suburb and notice the lack of aesthetics and individuality of the homes. 'Rows of houses all bearing down on me...all these things will one day take control and fade out again.' This is the prelude to the bigger picture found in Radiohead's songs. Sure they dwell on the robotics of Orwell's '1984', and at times they are tedious and painfully accurate, nevertheless they leave us with an indelible desire to survive. 'Immerse your soul in Love' wags it's tail at the end of the song to insure a new beginning, much like the death of night. When sung, it is a very exciting moment as Thom's voice soars above the convolutions of the incessant guitar picking and synth-strings. Not the most popular Radiohead song, but their brightest moment to be experienced.

Probably the slowest music I have I guess, from an album called The Blue Moods of Spain . Its dream-pop for evenings full of hope, or comforting music for days when all falls apart.The vocalist is not the worlds best , but because hes so natural it just adds to the mood I find. Its hard to pinpoint exactly what I like the most about it ,its just one of those songs u fall in love with and never grow away from.

the song starts out with three crisp hi-hat clicks, the bell of a ride, then the drums and a sweet, warm toned bass lock in for a driving, mid-tempo, beautifully melodic cut time. guitars, once in, are clean-toned and somewhat polyphonically arranged, (that is, they play alot of single-note lines that swirl around each other, harmonizing at spots, and creating counterpoint). the vocals are potentially a little hard to swallow at first, jeremy has a tendency to sing a little through the nose, but it's really quite endearing. i personally find that after a bit of exposure to it, not only does it fit the music perfectly, but i really have grown to love it, (i listen to them ALOT).
this is one of those songs that you put on when you need to feel better- a kind of resolute, "well, time to go on, and hope for the best" feel. it can also easily be listened to when in a great mood. best listened to outside, looking at the sky.
when listening to ANY sunny day real estate, you must be patient. it's patient music, and it requires a certain amount of consideration that keeps it from being good "background music."
i fucking love this stuff.

Digital Hardcore just sounds hopelessly dated now. Whether its the post-September 11th climate of antipathy to all things terrorist / anarchist, or those dusty 10,000bpm sounds, or Alec Empire's gradual metamorphosis into a footsoldier of nu-metal I guess we'll never know.

However, Patric C (the male half of EC8OR) escapes this near-universal damnation with his first album, probably because it was specifically retro in the first instance. The musical accompaniment to an imaginary computer game, The Horrible Plans Of Flex Busterman beeps and bursts at you like all the best simple timewasting game soundtracks did. This song, played toward the end of the album and meant to signify success at the digital challenge, is the finest of all; an inspired melody that is devilish in its simplicity and an absolutely perfect sound to come from a Commodore 64 or Amiga 500 (two of the "instruments" Patric C employed on this album).

It also retains a definite piss-taking attitude, which also stands it in good stead for longevity; the general earnestness of most Digital Hardcore is so difficult to stomach these days, and lightness of touch sets Patric C apart.

if u've ever thought that capitalism aint all it's cracked up to be...ani hears you. this is perhaps THE song about the 'music industry'. ever want to do a 'Fk the RIAA/BPI' comp? here u go. a pristinely crafted effortless sounding very personal rant on what's wrong with the way things are...and how we get by till the world is the way it SHOULD BE...

The Joke have not released anything not worth owning (minus the strange "Outside The Gate") but this song in particular grabbed me when I first heard it and did not let go. It put into words scenarios I have long envisioned. Why more people do not support and name-check this band, I do not know
"And if it all fell through tomorrow
Put a pack on my back,
and it's home where the lunatics roam...
Faith, faithj moved the mountain...
Where the rivers are so clean
and the conciousness is so green
and the luminous folk shine like
lanterns of hope... all shine on..."

If you haven't heard of this band, they're a ska band that's been around for a little while. This song is incredibly energetic and well written. It makes me happy every time i listen to it!

One of the stranger tracks on R.E.M.'s strangest album -- it borrows the melody from Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and sets it in a slowly building landscape of buzzing guitars and electronic beeps (it's a lot prettier than it sounds, believe me). "You want to go out Friday and you want to go forever" -- does he mean go out for a good time, or go out permanently? Stipe ain't saying...

There must be tons of songs that follow this format. I'll call it the 'Tequila' form. Cool instrumental punctuated by someone speaking the name of the song. There are so many songs like this I'd guess that no one could pull off this kind of tune nowadays- without it sounding hopelessly retro. But this tune does it for me. Perfect summer groover. Sound like a bedroom recording, kinda lo-fi.

So sparse... I like this. It just about moves along and has a real feel of desolation and hopelessness. And there's a top-quality drum machine sound in there too - which you just can't beat.

one of my favourite pink dots song. i suppose because, for me, they always manage to convey a sort of 'it's the end of the world' vibe. and the lyrics are cryptic enough that you can't always tell if the presumed outcome is hopeful or not.

Just when I had almost lost all hope of ever hearing a new Dylan song which, as a combination of an engaging vocal performance and fascinating lyrics, just fill you with a strange sense of happiness - he comes up with this one. While not being like a typical Dylan classic, this one has a very, very warm feel to it + vocals which I thought he couldn't produce in 2001 anymore. After the rather cold and almost posturingly melancholy "Time Out of Mind" album, "Love & Theft" was pleasantly wise and human.

I've got to admit, I'm in this band. It's a throwaway 2 minute punk rock song. Hopefully you'll agree it's got some energy to it and some charm in the many lead line mistakes and catchy chorus. We tried to keep the production as lo-fi and lively as possible - but it's a problem finding a recording studio and engineer that properly understands what's required. It's been likened to the Undertones (down to Dan's voice) and Stiff Little Fingers. I think it's kind of like the Ramones - probably because of the rhythm guitar part I play in the verse. If you like it, find out more about the band at www.theelectricshocks.com

Karen Peris shakes the blues of her previous recording and explores the hopeful possibilities of life and death.

Nobody knows, darling.
Nobody knows how they are loved.

With Don's usual shimmering guitar given a touch of lounge-y bossa nova.

She was the sun, shining upon,
The tomb of your hopes and dreams so frail

Gothic, dark, etc.

This is the last tune on the disc "Make REady" by Scott. It is a gorgeous slow love song with a killer refrain and title; "The Hardest Part of Hurting Is The Hope". It features Scott's voice as well lap steel and acoustic guitar. They fit together so well--it is like they are a single performer. It is a great finish to this wonderful disc. It makes me want to start the song all over again [I think I will--grin!].

Ugly Cassanova made its mark in my soul with this track. Combining Isaac Brock's brilliant song writing with the painfully sweet voice of John Orth from Holopaw, this song sweeps in and out of beautiful melodies in such a way that leaves me absolutely awestruck. It's too bad they couldn't make the rest of their debut this good... the album itself has it's moments, but besides a few standout tracks, fails to completely fulfill my hopes for it's potential with such a star-studded line up. Nothing, however, will ever take away from the solid truth that this song is absolutely stunning, and as far as my opinions go, it's an instant classic.

The timing and the rhythms on this song always blow my mind. Julian Casablanca's slurred, lazy voice drips of heartache and underneath him are these incredible layers of guitar and drums. Dense and slow and sloppy, but somehow still precise. This song is very urban. It is grime, and hopelessness and laziness, all at once. The best track on an amazing album, and proof that they deserved all the hype.

Has anyone ever seen "The Hudsucker Proxy?" You know the scene where Tim Robbins first comes to work for Hudsucker and he gets an orientation that lasts exactly one minute ("Punch in late and THEY DOCK YA!")? "First Day" is more or less that scene's musical equivalent.

Clocking in at two minutes and not wasting a second, "First Day" describes someone's first day at work that begins optimistically enough ("And they say this is the job that people die for / I hope you're ready for the next stage"). Eventually, the day goes on too long (through dinner!) and his spirits are dampened by a coworker ("And he says like it or not / You have to do what they say / And it is something that you would like to talk about / But it is only your first day"). And then things just go out of hand.

"And they say 'faster, faster!'"
The song speeds up slightly.
"AND THEY SAY 'FASTER! FASTER!!'"
And the song now reaches breakneck speed. Incredible!

I have no doubts that "First Day" could've been one of the greatest, most brilliant post-punk singles ever, had it been released 25 years ago. As it stands, the Futureheads are becoming quite popular in England with the impending release of their first full-length album (for which "First Day" was re-recorded). They are a band worth hearing and I can only hope their album gets an American release.

"When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings."

shakespeare's words, rufus wainwright's voice. beautiful.

This great song made its first appearance in the hit game "Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne" (released October 2003) and instantly became a hit - people were asking for this song everywhere they could, they were sending emails, trying to buy it. It has an indescribable atmosphere. The song was released in June 2004 as a single and then on the first Poets of the Fall's debut album that hit the road 19th January 2005.

Once again a very melancholy song, which make you thoughtful. The voice from the lead singer Thom Yorke is special and touch the soul.

(I hope, you will understand, what's my message is xD)

Melancholy but hopeful. This is a gentle song, with acoustic and electric guitars, electric piano, bass, drums, and voice. Excellent lyrics, terrific mood.

There's a little story here, punctuated by flashes of images and moments.

The song is written by Henning Ohlenbusch who has worked with Chris Collingwood (Fountains of Wayne), Mark Mulcahy, and Lloyd Cole. If those names mean anything to you, then chances are you will enjoy this warm track.

one of my favourite tracks from the new album. it's one of his dark plucked string- ballads, quite a simple melody really, but the subtle brass and the mournful moaning of the background vocals makes truly beautiful. and then there's the lyrics..

"behind a smoke coloured curtain, a girl disappeared
they found out that the ring was a fake
a tree born crooked never grows straight
she sunk like a hammer into the lake"
stunning.

i am SO going to buy this album when it comes out, even though i've got the mp3's (sorry mr waits!). a part of me hoped that this album wasn't going to leak, so that i could get the whole package with the liner notes and all at once, but then again some things are just too good to wait for..

(hope they avoid the glossy plastic paper of the alice booklet this time. that was just plain wrong. didn't fit the subject matter at all..)

Ex toadies lead singer Todd (Vaden) Lewis, one of the best voices in rock today. Don't know if you get this goodness yet outside of texas, but the tour is upcoming, and I actually heard it on the radio (gasp) something the Toadies 2nd album didn't even get (a great sophmore release from a platinum selling band... hmmmm) anyway its uplifting and real, but does has a little of that Tv sheen on it that instills hope in you, even if life is never really as good as it promises.

Quirky, upbeat -- and a little bit dark & twisted. And very, very melodic.

This has to be one of my top favorite Foo Fighters songs. I think that the band put a lot of emotion and energy into the song all together. It's a very powerful song that anyone can enjoy.

"Has someone taken your faith?
Its real, the pain you feel
The life, the love
You'd die to heal
The hope that start
The broken hearts
Your trust, you must
Confess"

Laid back song that is a little bit different from most of Gym Class' regular songs. Less Hip Hop and more R&B sound to it. It is a really good song to calm down too and I think it shows some range in the artist's abilities and hopefully a look at what may come later on.

This song just has a great sound and the real feeling that seems to be between the two singers is great. I love the lyrics and it is just really powerful.

Light guitars and a great drum beat combined with hopeful lyrics about leaving home and taking risks, this song is one of my absolute favourites.

Beautiful composition and production with a darkly uplifting, somber mood and feel. Definitely will make you stop and focus on it as you are filled with melancholy feelings, though once the song ends, you feel better than when it began. Hard to find album, but you can listen to the song on myspace.com/acautionarytale.

wonderful song. happy. upbeat. makes me smile. hopefully it does the same to you.

This is a christian singer telling a story about Britney Spears, but it's about everyone who gets lost in the lights of fame and fortune. It's kinda an apology song, slow and sweet but it flows nicely. This song will make you feel a bit sorry for the girl we love to hate.

Where is the soul of America? - In these times of warring political factions putting the government in unproductive grid lock Mike Stout asks what happened to the driving American spirit that united Americans to do great things. In this bluesy slide guitar driven tune a big chorus of singers asks:
�Where is the soul of America? Where is the spirit that made you great? Where is the soul of America? We need it now more than ever today. Where�s the will, that brought the Bill of Rights to stay, The ways and means to bring about our common dreams�now?�

Hear it at http://www.reverbnation.com/mikestout/song/18784586-where-is-the-soul-of-america