Thursday, November 4, 2010

top 5 dad songs

When I was growing up, our family went on a lot of road trips. My dad controlled the CD player, so me and my brother always knew we'd be listening to these songs:

1. El Paso by Marty Robbins. This is a badass song from like, 1959 about a cowboy who shoots this guy for flirting with the girl that he wanted to bump uglies with. He runs away, but his love for the girl is so strong that he comes back. Tragedy ensues. About 20 years later, Marty Robbins released a song called "El Paso City" as a sequel to this song. It's worth a listen.

2. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. We all know what this song's about! ;) ;) I've never met someone who didn't like this song, or at the very least disliked making the "BUM BUM BUM" trumpet sounds whenever me and my friends drunkenly perform our rendition of it. Fun fact: I saw Neil Diamond in concert. He did this song for his encore... twice. Like, at the very end of the first time, he was like, "ONE MORE TIME!" and the music started up again. I'm all about the cliches.

3. Knock Three Times by Tony Orlando and Dawn. I really don't know what comments to make on this song. I guess this was pop music at its best in the 60's.

4. Delilah by Tom Jones. We listened to a lot of Tom Jones on these trips, but for some reason, "Delilah" stands out above the rest of them. Probably because my dad would passionately sing along as if the song was happening to him (which is pretty sick. I mean the song's about killing your girlfriend after finding out she cheated on you). Other Tom Jones songs worth mentioning: "What's New Pussycat", "It's Not Unusual" and "Daughter of Darkness". Oh, and "She's a Lady". You know what, you could probably just go ahead and download (I mean purchase... purchase legally) every Tom Jones song ever. It's straight up baby making music.

5. If I Can Dream by Elvis Presley. This shouldn't be much of a surprise since my dad is obsessed with Elvis. And I don't blame him. If I was alive back in his day... oh my. I don't even want to think about all the freaky and unmoral things I would do. Damn Elvis was a hottie. Anyway, this also happens to be my favorite Elvis song. I mean, it's got a great message and you can't ask for much more than that. Other Elvis songs worth mentioning: "In the Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", and "A Little Less Conversation".

Honorable Mention:
A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash
Take a Chance on Me - ABBA
Bicycle Race - Queen

I also want to mention that these are songs from when my dad was a child/teenager. It makes me feel weird that when I play music from when I was a child/teenager for children in the future, it's going to be stuff like Sublime, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers, etc. Isn't that crazy!?

2 comments:

  1. Rubber Bullets - 10cc
    Losing my religion - REM
    Beds are burning - Midnight Oil
    An englishman in new york - Godley and Creme
    Shout - Tears for Fears

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  2. I can't boil it down to five. You get EIGHT.

    Eleven Easy Steps - Trout Fishing in America
    Lies - Stan Rogers
    The Heart of Saturday Night - Tom Waits
    Vincent - Don McLean
    Everybody's Talking at Me - Harry Nilsson
    Drive My Car - Beatles
    50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon
    Carousel - Jacques Brel (the version from the musical)

    My dad's music taste makes me insanely happy sometimes. I think I owe the diversity of my taste to him.

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