Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Five songs that always make me happy

So the other day I was in one of those moods where I was once again wishing for my as-yet unrealized superpower--the ability to strangle people from across the room. I was on my way to run errands at lunch (picking up probiotics for my insanely high maintanence cat, if you must know) and it was all I could do not to just ram into the Lexus in front of me when it was too slow off the green. And then the Bad Brains "Pay to Cum" came on the stereo and *snap* like that the day got better. And that got me thinking about the songs that, no matter what, never fail to fill me with joy, joy, joy. Top three:
Bad Brains: Pay to Cum
The Damned: New Rose
Black Flag: Nervous Breakdown

Never fails--no matter how crappy I'm feeling, when those songs come on, I get a little restored (to what I can't say exactly).

It goes to my theory of congenital punkness I think. To some people, it's angry, upsetting music; to those who are congenitally punk, it's come-in-off-the-ledge music.

Of course, as I'm blogging this, I'm listening to Leonard Cohen, so there's a severe disjunct going on in my brain, but whatever. I've never claimed consistency as a strong character trait.

Update: It's been called to my attention (thank you, Bob and Colin) that while the post title says "five" I've only listed three joy-inspiring songs. I think what happened is that I started with the idea that I would list five, but it gets harder after those first three. Wire's entire Pink Flag album is a contender, as are any number of Gang of Four songs (yes, including "Love a Man in a Uniform") and all of Killing Jokes' first album and What's this For. I used to have a complete school girl crush on Stiff Little Fingers and so whenever I hear them, I revisit the best parts of being 15. And I'm not ashamed to admit I always sing along with those Grand Master Flash hits from the 80s.

So I don't know folks. I'm just not as sure of those last two to round out the greatest five, but for now, I'll say "Annalisa" by PiL (which I know is a perverse and weird choice but that song never fails to make me smile) and Xray Spex "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" is a fav because who doesn't love the punk rock sax?

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