The Essentials: Songs

A new essentials list: the songs I cannot live without. This list will probably go on forever, never be completed and will be added to constantly...

Some changed me, some just made me smile, some made me angry, some made me think and some made me feel…

This is the list of my essential songs in no particular order. Always on repeat somewhere in my world…

Marshall Tucker Band, 24 Hours At A Time

Not really a love song but the story of an everyday man who just might need love. Classic southern rock within being cliché.

Foo Fighters, Everlong

“Breathe out, so I can breathe you in…” Dave Grohl. If ever a song captured my passion for passion, this is it.

Coldplay, Amsterdam

Can a song really give you chills every time you hear it? I haven’t really tried to decipher its meaning but the pure emotion it evokes is enough.

The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter

You can literally feel a storm brewing as a siren's voice beckons you, tempting you to come inside.

Iron Maiden, Age of Innocence

All the power and glory of Maiden is on display but the intelligent, non-pc commentary on modern society is chilling. Who would have guessed the ol’ number o’ the beast boys would be the ones to warn us of our own demise?

The Beatles/George Harrison, While My Guitar Gently Weeps

My favorite Beatle at his creative peak. Not only can you feel the emotion in his prose but literally the ache of his heart displayed in the riff and guest solo by Ol’ Slow Hand…

U2, Bad

It has to be the live version from “Wide Awake In America”. It has to be when I need to hear it. The striving of a lost soul trying to explain and reconcile his tragedy to the person closest to him.

Marvin Gaye, Inner City Blues

The vocalists of a generation wrote a social commentary that will never become dated or irrelevant. It changed my entire perspective on poverty.

Blondie, Heart of Glass

I don’t know if was her voice or just her, but Debbie Harry was my first crush. Really the first woman I ever noticed in that way. Okay, I know I was only like 6. Does that make me a pervert or just a little ahead of my time?

Supertramp, The Logical Song

Throughout my life I have questioned why I am who I am. Even at the age of 8, I wondered to myself why I born who I was. This song gave me perspective on my inner struggle and what might lie ahead for me.