“The Promise”
by When In Rome
from the album When In Rome
1988
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“Dead”
by They Might Be Giants
from the album Flood
1990
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This is probably my favourite TMBG song. There’s something about it that’s so simple and so beautiful and so catchy. I actually made Lance try this with me once or twice at karaoke, acapella, looking at the lyrics on my phone, when there was a lull in songs in the queue, because I just want so badly for it to actually be in the book. It never ever will be, but this is one of those songs that we would totally add if we ever opened a karaoke bar, and that if we actually lived in the same city (or country) we would practice together until we could nail it. It’s such a fun song to sing (I can never decide which part I would prefer to do), even if it’s just doing it loudly in the car. If I’m in a place where I’m alone and can sing this, I will almost always do it a few times in a row when it comes on shuffle.
Kick by INXS
1987
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Kick by Beck’s Record Club
2010
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Lance recently posted a full length cover version of this for #CoverFriday. Courtney Barnett’s version was respectable and a cool effort, but honestly didn’t do much for me. I finally finished listening to most of the rest of it this past weekend, and was watching it on YouTube, and then noticed the Beck’s Record Club full album cover version in the related videos. I liked it enough that I was considering just featuring it, but then decided it may be overkill to still do the real Kick later, so here we are. I also just learned on the Slicing Up Eyeballs Facebook page that the album was released yesterday in 1987, so the timing is fortuitous.
“Jackson”
by Johnny Cash with June Carter Cash
from the album The Essential Johnny Cash
1967
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I can’t remember how or why Lance and I first did this as a duet. I feel like maybe our group was having a Johnny Cash-off/medley, but I’m not sure. Also, this had to have been sometime just after the movie Walk the Line came out, because I admittedly didn’t know a thing about Johnny Cash or really know his music until the movie Walk the Line. Up to that point, the only reference point I had for him was that one of the characters in Swingers had a father who was a big fan.
Continue reading Karaoke Tuesday: “Jackson”
“Total Eclipse of the Heart”
by Bonnie Tyler
from the album Faster Than the Speed of the Night
1983
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I think i’ve resisted this long enough. Yes, it’s completely a karaoke cliché. Yes, it is totally overdone. Yes, it always has the potential to be completely epic.
Continue reading Karaoke Tuesday: “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
“Time After Time”
by QuietDrive (originally by Cyndi Lauper)
from the album When All That’s Left Is You
2006
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I’ve got an admitted weakness for cookie cutter emo and/or punk bands doing cover versions of songs I grew up with, and this is a prime example. I don’t need to say much about this – I’ve already talked about how much I love the original, and I really love this version as well.
Continue reading Cover Friday: “Time After Time”
“Killing in the Name”
by Rage Against the Machine
from the album Rage Against the Machine
1992
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Obviously pretty much every RATM song is a power song in every sense. It’s probably why I can’t claim to be a huge fan – I didn’t get into them until I was old enough to need to take them in smaller doses. I own 2 or 3 of their albums and could only name 2 or 3 of their songs. This one is pretty much the king of the hill.
Continue reading June Power Songs: “Killing in the Name”
“Alone”
by Heart
from the album Bad Animals
1987
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There are songs that make me wish I were a female, just so i could sing them. There are songs that aren’t duets but I convince someone to make it into one. And there are songs that seem like a good idea and then go horribly, horribly wrong. This one checks all three boxes.
“Summer of ’69”
by Bryan Adams
from the album Sparkle and Fade
1984
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I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner. It wasn’t even in my mind until Lance did 1979, and we were discussing how timeless the song was even if 1979 wasn’t your summer. This song is the same.
It’s not about being there in the summer of 1969 – it’s about having all the time in the world on your hands, starting a band with your friends, and having it eventually fall apart because everyone grows up and apart. Any of those relevant and timeless? Check, check, and check.
Oh, when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah, I’d always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life
I used to associate this song with my childhood and watching it on MTV, but now there’s a different association. It must be stated that this is the song that Lance and I start every single karaoke night with. It makes a great duet, it warms the voice up, and traditions are important. And damn if this isn’t incredibly fun to sing. This deserves to be sung with your pal, sharing the mic, thinking of days gone by, even if it is just in some tiny, dark karaoke room.
“Love Hurts”
by Kim Deal and Robert Pollard (originally by The Everly Brothers)
from the album Love and a .45
1994
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I feel grossly uninformed, but until a week or two ago, I didn’t know anything about this song. It’s another one I randomly came across at some point and downloaded strictly because of Kim Deal (I never got into GBV). I was actually going to post it at the end of last month for #AprilDuets, but then when I started looking into it, i realized how much history the song had.