My love of music was definitely something that I got from my parents, especially my Dad. As early as I can remember, he’d challenge us to name a song, the artist/band or something else about a tune on the radio. Usually he’d reward us with a quarter or fifty cents for a correct answer. I’m sure the incentive helped, but it was more than that. My father loved music in a way that ran deep in him. We’d sit in the car and wait until the song finished before going in the house. He’d have things you just “needed to hear” and he would play them for you and listen in wonder.
So this week’s playlist for Music Monday is dedicated to the bands he loved and the work they’ve done with some of the bands that I love.
The Tracklist:
- Read My Mind (Pet Shop Boys Stars are Blazing Mix) – The Killers featuring the Pet Shop Boys
- If you listen closely, you can hear Neil Tennant’s voice echo that of Brandon Flowers, each time he says “Can you read my mind?” Tennant is of course the singer for the Pet Shop Boys.
- Who – David Byrne and St. Vincent
- David Byrne, known for his quirky 80s pop hits with Talking Heads, pairs up with one of my favorite ladies in the music industry for this one. It’s just as quirky as you’d expect from the two of them. There’s actually a full album to go along with this one “Love this Giant” which is definitely worth a listen.
- Reflektor – Arcade Fire (with David Bowie)
- Arcade Fire tends to have a running nostalgic theme in their music and Reflektor definitely holds true with that. Bowie plays mostly a background role in this song, but if you listen closely, you can definitely feel his vibe in there. He can be heard clearly in the line “Thought you were praying to the resurrector, turns out it was just a reflektor” as well as some of the backing vocals through out the song.
- Speaking in Tongues – Arcade Fire ft. David Byrne
- I think the title of this track may be a nod to the Talking Heads album of the same name, and toward the end of the song you can hear Byrne’s voice sing “Ahhhh, speaking in tongues.”
- Rise Above 1 – Reeve Carney, Bono and the Edge.
- This song is actually from the Spider-Man Broadway Musical. Though it perhaps is meant to be about Peter Parker and his father figure, Uncle Ben, you can definitely hear Bono’s own connect to his father in the song. For me, this song reminds me a lot of my own father and what’s left in his wake now that he’s gone. “You’re silence in a crowded room, louder than the loudest tune, I hang on every word.”
- Save Rock And Roll – Fall Out Boy ft Elton John
- I don’t think my dad was a huge Elton John fan by any means, but I do remember a few tracks he enjoyed from John. Like most slightly rebellious people my age, Fall Out Boy resonates with me. I specifically love this line: “You are what you love, not who loves you.” It’s become a personal motto of mine.
- I can change – Brandon Flowers
- Another collaboration, sort of, between the Killers and the Pet Shop Boys, or at least from their singers. I didn’t even realize Neil Tennant was on this track until I watched the lyrics video for this song. After further research, apparently Tennant recorded the spoken line “And when you’re looking for a change…” onto Flowers’ voice mail, and then they added it later to the track in the second verse.
- Clocks – Rhythms Del Mundo and Coldplay
- This is more of a bonus track, since it does not feature musicians from two different generations. This song used to play in a cafe I worked in, and I loved the re-invented sound of it. My father spent 2 years in Chile and kept up his fluency in Spanish until his death. I like to think he would have enjoyed this song.
Here’s the Spotify Link/Playlist for this week:
Next week I hope to do a full playlist of at least 10 tracks. I’ve got a lot of ideas for themes but I’d loved to hear what themes you’d like to see. Leave them in the comments and I get working on a playlist to match!
Also, what tracks did you share with your parents or your parents shared with you? What bands did they love that you now love? Which of their bands inspired your favorite bands?
The Taming of the Muse 