My Top 10 songs

Song

Notes

1

Iris, Goo Goo Dolls

It’s a song that's got everything: beautiful words, excellent chorus, superb musicianship, and it ties-in with a great film (City of Angel). If you’ve seen City of Angels, you’ll know the story, but it’s all about an Angel (Nicholas Cage) who falls in love with Meg Ryan (tut!). The only way that he can get her to see him is to become human. The only catch is, is that he must give up his eternal life for her  (Honest, the film’s really good). Thus:

And I’d give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel the same now
You’re the closest to heaven that I’ve ever been
And I don’t want to go home right now

And all I can taste is your sweet lips
And all I can breath is your lights
And sooner or later it’s over
I just don’t want to miss you tonight

And I don’t want the world to see me
Cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

2

Paranoid, Black Sabbath

Just, pure, dead, crazy. Ozzy Osborne is the nearest you can get to someone that you could never dislike, no matter what he did. If you’ve ever seen the documentary about him you’ll know what I mean. He has that lovely, dry, Brummie sense of humour. The No.2 position was either going to be this song or Don’t Fear the Repeater by Blue Oyster Cult, but this one won because you could never get sick of it.

Can you help me?

Help me with my brain.

3

For Shari, Shawn Mullins

Please note that you may not be able to download this MP3 because of  WWW space restrictions and license problems , so go to the Shawn Mullins WWW site and listen to the compilation from his page. I don't think the compilation really does him justice,  but they're all great (apart from the talky one and him and his brother in a car).

Shawn really shows the loneliness of some who is away from their family:

It's 4 o'clock in the morning
I hate to call you when it's dawning
But I didn't have a choice

I know you must be sleeping
Want to wake you from your dreamin
It's so good to hear your voice

Is your winning game (?)
Do you feel the same way
Can you smell the rain from here?
I love you much, and I miss your touch
Feels like I've been gone so long 

4

Free Falling, Tom Petty

There’s no better song to play in the car, on a perfectly sunny day, on the way to the beach.

5

Have I told you lately that I love you? Van Morrison

The most beautiful song, ever.

6

Shimmer (the acoustic version), Shawn Mullins

I could have included lots of Shawn Mullins songs, but I've limited them.

There has never been a more beautiful lyric on the beauty of a new born child as:

Sharing with us what he knows.
His shining eyes are big and blue.
And all around him water flows.
To touch a face.
To kiss a smile.
New eyes see no race.
The essence of a child.

He's born to shimmer. He's born to shine.
He's born to radiate. He's born to live.
He's born to love, but we'll teach him how to hate.

... We're born to shimmer. We're born to shine.

... we're born to love, and we're born to never hate.

7

Wonderwall, Oasis

I don’t really know what it’s about, but I love it, anyway.

8=

Cortez the Killer, Neil Young/

Like a Hurricane, Neil Young/

Rockin in the Free Word, Neil Young

If you’ve every seen Neil Young playing these songs live, then you’ll know why I picked them. They should really be No.1, but I’ve played them too many times, so I’m a bit bored with them just now.

9

Secret Smile, Semisonic

A lovely lyric, and a  song with real meaning.

10

Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd

I used to think that Wish You Were Here was an anti-war song, because it goes:

So, do you think you can tell.
Heaven from Hell.
Blue skies for pains.

Did you exchange a walk-on part in a war
For a lead role in a cage
Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts
etc

But it’s all about Syd Barrat going a bit crazy. I still prefer my first thoughts.

11

Harvest Moon, Neil Young

A song that is both beautiful and fragile. It’s a song about a couple who had been together for a long time and they are now in their twilight years, but the singer still see the beauty in his partners eyes.

Come a little bit closer, Hear what I have to say                 
Just like children sleepin' We could dream this night a-way.      
But there's a full moon rising, Let's go dancing in the light.    
We know where the music's playing, Lets go out and feel the night.                                                        

Because I'm still in love with you, I wanna see you dance a-gain,
Because I'm still in love with you, On this harvest moon.                                                                           

When we were strangers, I watched you from afar
When we were lovers, I loved you with all my heart                 
But now it's gettin' late, And the moon is climbin' high           
I want to celebrate, See it shinin' in your eye                    

12

Everybody Hurts, REM

If you’re depressed then this is the perfect song to make you even more depressed (although it’s meant to have the opposite effect)

13

Coney Island, Van Morrison

Oh, god. This song really gives me shivers. I imagined that he was talking about a place in the US, but it’s in Northern Ireland.

I look at the side of your face.
As the sunlight coming streaming though the winda (Irish for window)
In the autumn sunshine

And all the time we’ve been to Coney Island
I’ve been thinking?
Won’t it be great if it was like this all the time

14

Some Days, Paul McCartney

A beautiful song written for his wife before she died.

15

Fake Plastic Trees, Radiohead

This song is so depressing, that it makes you cling onto any form of humanity that is still left inside you.

16

I Don’t Like Monday’s, Boomtown Rats

Well, this one reminds me of my ‘wasteful’ youth. I don’t want to go into any details, but I played this record until there were no grooves left on it (obviously it was pre-CD days). At the time I looked a bit like Bob Geldof, and, as he was a big star at the time, it did me no bad favours, if you know what I mean ;-).

17

Every River, Runrig

Beautiful words:

Every river I try to cross
Every hill I try to climb
Every ocean I try to swim
Every road I try to find
All the ways of my life
I’d rather be with you
There’s no way
Without you

Driftwood, Travis

Driftwood: I really relate to the words in this songs. I think we're all a bit like driftwood, basically just floating on the surface of the planet, not really knowing what we should be doing next, just drifting.

Why does it always rain on me: We've probably all felt like this at some time in our lives. Some days are good, some are bad, but most, luckily are just in-between. The trick is to have more good days than bad days.