Stuck in My Head: Afrolicious

I recently had the opportunity to see Afrolicious perform live at the Oregon Country Fair.  I had never heard of the band before but ever since that show, their songs have been running through my head.  They have definitely become a new favorite!  See if you can listen to these songs without dancing or singing along.

What music have you been listening to lately?

Stuck in my Head: The Cure and Caravan Palace

I love going to concerts!  Live music, the energy, a band I love....it's amazing.  In May I got to see The Cure.  It was incredible to see them perform live but I have to say I was a little disappointed that they did not play more of their popular songs during their set.  The playlist was kind of a downer.  We left during the second encore (I heard later that they ended up playing 4 encores) because the music we had been excited to hear just wasn't being played.  I did capture these two videos, though.  I just wish they had played more of these songs :(

In June, I got to see one of my favorite bands, Caravan Palace.  They play music that is classified as electro-swing.  I only got video of their encore and bow because I was so consumed by the show.  They are so energetic!  I love watching them perform!

Hope you enjoy the videos.

What's stuck in your head recently?

Stuck in my Head: Break-up Songs

Recently, I have been hearing a popular Taylor Swift song many many times, and it has managed to lodge itself in my brain.  It is definitely stuck in my head.  Here it is:

Taylor Swift "We are Never Getting Back Together"

It reminded me of a couple of other great break-up songs.

Alanis Morisette "You Oughta Know"

Sinead O'Connor "Last Day of Our Acquaintance"

What are your favorite break-up songs?

Stuck in my Head: Birds

Stuck in my Head is a feature where I share the music I love and the songs that I just can’t seem to get out of my head. This time, the theme is birds, so here are three songs I love that are about birds.

"Alabama Chicken" by Sean Hayes

"Blackbird" by The Beatles

"Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley

Stuck in my Head: Whiskey

A few of my favorite songs about whiskey.

"Old Number Seven" The Devil Makes Three

The first time I saw this band live, they admitted that they always sing faster when they do live performances.  After seeing them live a few times, I now think the studio versions of their songs are too slow.  Great song.

"Quiet Whiskey"

There are many versions of this song.  I love the lyrics and I really like this version.

"Whiskey" Trampled by Turtles

So, these are my favorite songs about whiskey.  Have any other suggestions?

Stuck in my Head: Music Lost (Writing 101, Day 4)

Today’s Prompt: Write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn’t any more.
Today’s twist: Make today’s post the first in a three-post series.

Today I have decided to take the twist a little bit further.  Instead of making this a three-post series, I am making this a weekly serial post on my blog.  I enjoyed the Day 3 Prompt so much that I have decided to post about music on a weekly basis.  Today I am posting about music that I have lost over the years.  

"Gepetto" by Belly

I remember when my cousin gave me a dubbed copy of his Belly tape.  It was a transparent cassette with yellow stickers.  I listened to that cassette all the time.  I loved it.  I knew the words to every single song.  Belly were an instant favorite.  But somewhere along the way, I lost that cassette tape.  I haven't heard Belly in a very long time but this song brings back memories of listening to music with my cousin in his kitchen.  I remember one time he even tried to teach me how to dance to different types of music.  

"Fisherman's Blues" by The Waterboys

The last time I heard The Waterboys was at Irish Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I remember how surprised I was that they would be performing.  I was even more surprised when I saw how many people showed up to listen to them and when I realized how many people were familiar with their music.  I, personally, had almost forgotten about The Waterboys at that point in my life but I quickly found that all the lyrics to all the songs were still floating around in my brain.  This song was always one of my favorites.

"Happy Hour"  by The Housemartins

Another lost cassette tape.  I have moved around a lot and my huge collection of tapes got smaller and smaller with each big move.  This song was on a double cassette from the Now That's What I Call Music series from the 80s.  I had never been a big fan of The Housemartins but I always liked how upbeat this song is.  It's also a good reminder to stay away from drinks with the boss or, oftentimes, coworkers.  And how adorably dorky are these guys??

Do you have songs that you loved but that you never hear anymore?

The Importance of Music: Writing 101, Day 3

Today’s Prompt: Write about the three most important songs in your life — what do they mean to you?

Today’s twist: You’ll commit to a writing practice.

"Cure for Pain"  by Morphine

During my senior year of high school and freshman year of college, I spent a lot of time at a local coffee shop named Lava Java.  That is where I was first introduced to Morphine (the band, not the drug) and the song "Cure for Pain".  The song still takes me back to that place and time.  Lava Java was my version of the bar in Cheers.  I met a lot of interesting people there, including my husband.  The coffee shop had bar seating, which made it easy to go there alone and to meet new people.  There were couches and comfy chairs.  The art was always interesting, and one show in particular drew outrage from the local church.  They especially hated the life-size photograph of a nude woman doing a headstand that hung right by the front window.  One of the co-owners was always grumpy and even instituted Mandatory Tip Night.  In fact, his grumpiness helped me to meet my future husband when the owner kicked a group of us out of the cafe because we were laughing too hard.  I read my first poem publicly in Lava Java.  I later went to see Morphine live.  A.May.Zing.  Unfortunately the lead singer died, so the band no longer exits.

"Desesperada" por Marta Sánchez

This song takes me back to my student exchange to Chile.  I made some amazing friends there, and this song was the bees knees.  I seem to remember my friends and I making a video of ourselves singing this song together, but I have never been able to view that videotape and now I no longer even know where it is.  Well, it might be better if proof of that incident were lost forever anyway.  I learned all the lyrics to that song, even though I spoke very little Spanish.  By the end of my six months in Chile, I was pretty much fluent in Spanish and I cried and cried when my parents made me come home.  Oh how I wanted to stay.  Now I am a Spanish teacher and I listen to music in Spanish on a daily basis at work.  Who knew one little song could lead to a career?

"Missing You" by Christy Moore

Christy Moore.  Anytime I hear him, he takes me back to my childhood and my birth country, Ireland.  My mom made Irish soda bread for Christy Moore once.  He performed a concert in my village and he had very specific backstage request, one of which was homemade brown bread.  So cool.  "Missing You" is an especially powerful song for me because it's all about emigration, and my family is still dealing with emigration.  My cousins live in many different countries:  Canada, U.S.A., England, Germany, Australia.  I have friends and family all around the world because jobs are scarce in Ireland.  This is one of the few songs that can make me cry.

Reflection on Day 3:  This was a really easy post to write.  I thought I would have a hard time thinking of important songs, but they just came to me.  Fun prompt.