I have been so busy being the coolest bitch on the planet that my poor blog has fallen by the wayside. My life is not interesting enough to talk about on a regular basis, so I have come up with a way to blog with a purpose. Not a staggering life-altering purpose, but a purpose nonetheless. A while back I brought up the amazing website Songfacts and our tendency to vote on anything and everything that comes to mind. I've decided to randomly go through the list of my Top Fifty Favorite Songs and tell you why I love each song and what part it has played in my life. I will report that I have extremely varied and odd taste in music, from the almighty Tenacious D to Etta James to Run DMC to Rick mother fucking Astley. You may read the original post here. And don't worry, we've done a second Top Fifty since that post so you've got at least 100 golden nuggets to look forward to.
Who would have thought that such a soggy looking summamabitch could sing such a beautifully heart wrenching song about love gone awry? That brother is sweatier than Patrick Ewing during double overtime.
I want you, goddamnit. I need you, you rat bastard. But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you, mother fucker.
We will now take a journey back to the late 60s, when Kenny Rogers was a member of the country folk band The First Edition but before he was the booze soaked, plastic surgery addicted Rotisserie King we all know and love. As always, when choosing my Top Fifty Favorite Songs, I opted for one song per artist. I have always worshiped Kenny, so this was an extremely difficult task. When he gets it right he can tell amazing stories ("Lucille", "Coward of the County", "The Gambler"). However, I will admit that when he gets it wrong, he sucks big hairy donkey balls ("Islands in the Mother Fucking Stream").
I've always liked "Just Dropped In" but its inclusion in the almighty "The Big Lebowski" officially sealed the deal. Now when I hear the song I have the urge to put on a ratty bathrobe, drink a Caucasian and go bowling. The Dude abides.
I would like to direct your attention to the section titled "My Top Fifty Favorite Songs" on the left column of your screen. Go ahead, read it. I'll wait until you've finished. *tapping fingers impatiently* Ok, so you should now be caught up to speed. Let's begin, children.
For my first selection, I'm going to go with a little Otis Redding. Ah, Otis. That man's voice is good for the soul, I tell you. Tragically, he was taken from us too soon, but he left behind some spectacular music. One of my self-imposed rules of the Top Fifty was that each artist could only be represented once. Therefore, I had to choose from many of my favorite Otis songs, such as "I've Been Loving You Too Long", "Hard to Handle", "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and "Respect". I picked "Try a Little Tenderness" because it goes from a slow, soulful beginning to an all out, hand clapping, foot stomping ending. As they say here in south Georgia, where Otis was born and where I now live, that brother took it to church. Sit back and enjoy Otis at his best:
Being a woman of a certain age, I would be remiss if I did not bring up one of the song's most memorable cinematic appearances. How could you not love Jon Cryer as Duckie in "Pretty in Pink", lip syncing, dancing and air humping like nobody's damn business?
I absolutely adore the Paul Giamatti and Andre Braugher version from the steaming pile of elephant dung known as the movie "Duets". I love Giamatti long time, baby. He rocks me sideways.
You can find the Songfacts for the song here and the Artistfacts for Otis here. There you have it, folks. I think we're off to a beautiful start.
