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Pat’s Mixtape: The Lyrics

For my first mix I wanted to focus on the lyrics. A lot of people say that it isn’t the lyrics that they notice first, but with me it is the opposite.  I am drawn to the songs that have something to say, whether that be deep, or just well put together.  One of our fellow hosts Michael Mac recently tried to convince me that I would like the song “Party in the USA” if it was sung by one of my “indie” artists.  You can see him try and convince you that it is a good song on episode 3 of For OR Against.  I told him that I didn’t believe this to be true, that it was the extremely poor lyrics that made me not like the song and not the fact that Miley Cyrus was singing.  I did get his point that I could just be making my judgment on preconceived ideas and not the quality of the song.  Luckily a few days later I was listening to a new artist I found and he did a cover of this song.  I was listening and enjoying myself and then a new song came on and I stopped and thought, “Wow these are terrible lyrics”. When he finally got to the chorus I realized what was happening.  So to Michael, Ha.

This is why I thought it would be nice to start with a mix of songs that all have, what I believe to be, great lyrics. Hope you enjoy, the explanations of the tracks are after the break.

Brett Dennen: Ain’t No Reason

“Ain’t no reason things are this way it’s how they always been and they intend to stay.  I can’t explain why we live this way we do it every day.” I found Brett Dennen my Jr. year of college and he seemed to speak every word that I was thinking.  He is a modern day protest singer and every line that he speaks feels so true.  This song is probably the best representation of what he tries to do with his work.

Dr. Dog: Ain’t It Strange

Dr. Dog has always impressed me in the fact that very few of their songs have to do strictly about love.  This is a very rare thing in music and a very difficult thing to pull off.  I don’t know if you have ever tried to write a song, but it is a very hard task.  The harder task is to not write it about a girl (or guy).  This is one of my favorite Dr. Dog songs, lyrics like this are far a few between.

Chris Merritt: Sugar

I found Chris Merritt early last year and he quickly became one of my favorites.  The combination of his lyrics and melodies, played by piano, really hit the right spot for me.  We were then luckily enough to interview him for our first Chicago Rocks.  This is one song that I absolutely love.  I think the content of the song just hit me at the right time.  ”I forget to breath when you speak sincerely, I forget to sleep when I hold you near me…”

The Decemberists: Sixteen Military Wives

The Decemberist definitely have a weird story that they try to tell in their lyrics. They have two songs about a crane wife, so something is going on there. This song is so much fun to listen and dance to.  I love their play with numbers to talk about the different sets of people they are talking about.  And it slides in the political message thing that I like so much.  ”America can and America can’t say no and America does if America says its so. And the anchor person on TV goes la dida dididida.”

Regina Spektor: On The Radio

“This is how it works, You’re young until you’re not, You love until you don’t, You try until you can’t. You laugh until you cry, You cry until you laugh, And everyone must breathe, Until their dying breath. No, this is how it works, You peer inside yourself, You take the things you like, And try to love the things you took. And then you take that love you made, And stick it into some, Someone else’s heart, Pumping someone else’s blood.  And walking arm in arm, You hope it don’t get harmed, But even if it does, You’ll just do it all again.”

Down The Line: Boy Like Me

I have always thought this is one of the best written love songs. I feel that way because it just puts it out there like it is.  It doesn’t try to say anything grand, only asks you to love the person for everything that they are. “Would you still love me, when the hair left goes grey? Would you mind the company, when theres not much left to say? And would you still talk to me when I’m just a memory? That would mean a lot to a boy like me.”

Matt Pond PA: Summer Is Coming

This song has always reminded me of summer. It is the first song that I play when it starts to get warm out and finally feels like we can live like people again.

Ray LaMontagne: Hannah

This was the first LaMontagne song I had ever heard and the lyrics really stuck out. It was on Pandora and was also the first song that when I heard it I dropped everything to find it and download it on the work computer. “Now I would walk one mile on just broken glass to fall down at your feet.”

Ingrid Michaelson: Breakable

This song has some of my favorite lyrics ever.  There is a video that a fan made that really helps you listen to all of the lyrics so watch the video after your done listening to the mixtape.

Bonus Track – Brett Dennen: Desert Sunrise

I had to throw in this other Brett Dennen song because it is my go-to song when I try to show people why I hate popular music right now.  The music on the radio just seems so simple and manufactured and this song is anything but.  The words are woven together in this song like nothing else I know.