Since I'm not making it to this weekend's F**K Yeah fest in Echo Park (and apparently neither is Dillinger 4), I've thinking about a list of songs to accompany my chemotherapy. besides, it seems top ten lists and blogs are synonymous.
so here's a list of four songs. i obviously need to come up with more. maybe you can help. the songs are all upbeat, if not aggressive, rock tunes. but any addition need not be rock. I'm still trying to figure out a jarocho song for the list. Lyrically represented are themes of hope and self-determination.
so, in no particular order:
1) "Search and Destroy" from 1973's Raw Power by Iggy and the Stooges.
Tell yourself "I'm a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm" and try to not feel strong. The second (and third) verse opens "look out honey 'cause I'm using technology." -- that's right cancer; prayers and chemicals are coming your way.
I think the phrase search and destroy pretty much sums up the scorched earth technique that is chemotherapy.
2) "Attitude" from 1983's Rock for Light by Bad Brains
These are all the words in the song:
"don't care what they may say/we got that attitude/don't care what they may do/we got that attitude/Hey/we got the PMA."
PMA stands for Positive Mental Attitude.
the song is just barely over one minute long.
they don't come any punker than bad brains.
3) "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" from 1986's The Queen is Dead by the Smiths
Of course Morrissey makes any musical list of mine. Despite a chorus the ponders a horrific automobile accident (or two), this song has always inspired me. The final coda from which the title is taken is as upbeat as pop lyrics come.
4) "the Black and The Red" by One Reason
I don't know much about this band, but Scott included this song on a mix CD he sent me. the first verse, about a half-drunk phone call to a friend in the middle of the night, just about sums up our friendship. but the fierce determinism in the simple, bellowed phrase "this life is what you make it" is infectious.
I'll add more as I think up new songs. feel free to add yourself. just no maudlin tunes. I have no interest in self-pity, in pop music or cancer treatment.
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6 comments:
5) Silver Lining by the Achievement.
the Achievement are one of my favorite bands. period. I've been listening to them alot on my ipod during my chemo sessions. part of it is definitely hearing a friend sing the songs i religiously sang along with whenever I was around. but john is also an incredibly talented musician and lyricist. this new song is classic achievement: a catchy hook, double-time strumming and in your face lyrics of hope and optimisim despite everything else (in this instance, lost, busted tire and rain on Highway 101). thanks john.
6)"Can't Hardly Wait" from 1987's Pleased to Meet Me by the Replacements
the line -- "Write you a letter tomorrow/tonight I can't hold a pen" -- always held true about different moments in my life, especially in Salinas, but lately the line has been in my head because I've wanted to write everyone a letter, a real hand written letter, but simply haven't the strength to do much more writing than what goes into this blog.
Firday Im in love - the cure
i'll add more in a bit
Get off the stage - morrissey
whole wide world - wreckless eric (dont ask)
Johnny Appleseed -Joe Strummer
Bitchin'n Camaro - Dead Milkmen
Almost Crimes - Broken Social Scene
All of my friends (Remix) - LCD SoundSystem
The Con - Tegan and Sara (the hotness!)
I feel like "Now My Heart Is Full," off Vauxhall and I, is important. There's a similar transendence, though unexpected, in Lyle Lovett's "If I Had a Boat."
Two of my favorite tunes when things are not going quite the way I'd like them to: Ojala que llueva cafe, by Juan Luis Guerra. The huapango version by Cafe Tacuba is awesome, and the lyrics hopeful but not maudlin, like you say.
And "Mas de cien mentiras" de Joaquin Sabina. The bastard knows how to be thankful without being cheesy.
I you don't have them, i'll make you a CD.
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