Saturday, March 1, 2008

What It Takes


This is a great Aerosmith song. I thought it was good until I heard it live and now I thinks it's great. This song was the first song that Steven Tyler sang when he came out for their encore. He started singing it acapella then the band jumped in after a few verses. Very cool.

"What It Takes" was written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. The song is on the album "Pump" that was released in 1989. It was released as a single in 1990 and went to #9 on the Billboard charts. On the album there is a hidden track after this song.



There goes my old girlfriend, there's another diamond ring
And, uh, all those late night promises I guess they don't mean a thing
So baby, what's the story? Did you find another man?
Is it easy to sleep in the bed that we made?
When you don't look back I guess the feelings start to fade away.
I used to feel your fire
But now it's cold inside
And you're back on the street like you didn't miss a beat, yeah

Chorus:
Tell me what it takes to let you go
Tell me how the pain's supposed to go
Tell me how it is that you can sleep in the night
Without thinking you lost everything that was good in your life to the toss of the dice?
Tell me what it takes to let you go.

Yeah
Girl, before I met you I was F.I.N.E. Fine
but your love made me a prisoner, yeah my heart's been doing time
You spent me up like money, then you hung me out to dry
It was easy to keep all your lies in disguise
Cause you had me in deep with the devil in your eyes

Chorus
Guitar!

Tell me that you're happy that you're on your own Yeah, yeah, yeah
Tell me that it's better when you're all alone
Tell me that your body doesn't miss my touch
Tell me that my lovin' didn't mean that much
Tell me you ain't dyin' when you're cryin' for me

Chorus

Tell me what it takes to let you go
Tell me how the pain's supposed to go
Tell me how it is that you can sleep in the night
Without thinking you lost everything that was good in your life to the toss of the dice?
Tell me who's to blame for thinkin' twice
No no no no 'cause I don't wanna burn in paradise
Ooo Let go, let go, let go,
let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go,
I don't wanna burn, I don't wanna burn

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Angel Flying too Close to the Ground

This song is one of my favorite Willie Nelson songs. I had never heard it until I saw him open for Toby Keith back in 2004. As soon as I heard the line "If you had not have fallen..." I knew it was going to be a heartbreaking song. It's been covered by several artists such as Bob Dylan, Patty Griffin, Raul Malo, and many more.




If you had not have fallen
Then I would not have found you
Angel flying too close to the ground
And I patched up your broken wing
And hung around a while
Tried to keep your spirits up
While you were feelin' down
I knew someday that you would fly away
For love's the greatest healer to be found
So leave me if you need to
I will still remember
Angel flying too close to the ground
Fly on, fly on past the speed of sound
I'd rather see you up
Than see you down
Leave me if you need to
I will still remember
Angel flying too close to the ground

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Hustle



This song was a huge 1970's disco hit. It was featured in "Saturday Night Fever" a big hit for John Travolta. It inspired a line dance that is still done today. The song won a Grammy and was #1 on the Billboard charts. It was released in 1975 on the LP "Disco Baby".

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

November Rain

This is my favorite song of all time. I remember being a Junior in high school when this came out. A friend of mine gave me a copy of the tape "Use Your Illusion I". I remember listening to the first side of the tape and then flipping it over and hearing the piano intro and thinking "Hmmm...this is odd". I played over and over again. I thought it was the coolest thing I have ever heard. It was the "Stairway to Heaven" for my generation.



The song was written by Axl Rose and supposedly had been around for years before it was cut. Tracii Guns mentioned he heard it in 1983 and it rumor has it was going to be included on the Appetite for Destruction but it wasn't finished in time.

When it was released it was a smash hit. The video was shot like a movie and part of a trilogy (Don't Cry and Estranged). It told the story of a rock star whose finacee/bride dies/kills herself. No one really knows what happens because Axl and Stepahanie Seymour, the actress in the video broke up and she never completed filming for the Estranged video. The song peaked at #3 on Billboard's charts and is the longest song ever to crack the top 20.



When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same

'Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain

We've been through this auch a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain

But lovers always come and lovers always go
An no one's really sure who's lettin' go today
Walking away

If we could take the time
to lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine
So if you want to love me
then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain

Do you need some time...on your own
Do you need some time...all alone
Everybody needs some time...
on their own
Don't you know you need some time...all alone

I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you

Sometimes I need some time...on my
own
Sometimes I need some time...all alone
Everybody needs some time...
on their own
Don't you know you need some time...all alone

And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

Don't ya think that you need somebody
Don't ya think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

Sunday, February 10, 2008

I Will Always Love You

This song has been covered many, many times. But the original is still the best. Sure Whitney Houston did a good job with it in "The Bodyguard". Her version was #1 for 14 weeks according to Billboard. Elvis Presley even wanted to cut it but he wanted to split the royalties and Dolly said no.


The song was written to her former mentor and rumored ex-lover, Porter Wagoner. He discovered her and brought her onto work on his radio show. They recorded several duets and worked together for 9 years until she decided to break away and be a solo artist in 1976. One of the saddest, sweetest thing I've seen was when Dolly sang the song to Porter Wagoner last May on the stage of the Opry. He would die 6 months later. It's in the Youtube video below.



If I should stay
Well I would only be in your way
And so I'll go, and yet I know
That I'll think of you each step of my way

And I will always love you
I will always love you

Bittersweet memories
That's all I have and all I'm taking with me
Good-bye, oh please don't cry
Cause we both know that I'm not what you need

But I will always love you
I will always love you

And I hope life will treat you kind
And I hope that you have all
That you ever dreamed of
Oh I do wish you joy and I wish you happiness
But above all of this, I wish you love
I love you, I will always love you

I, I will always, always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Going to California

Led Zeppelin released this song in 1971 on Led Zeppelin IV. It is very different than most Zeppelin songs because of the stripped down acoustic arrangment. Jimmy Page plays acoustic guitar and John Paul Jones plays Mandolin. Supposedly the song was written about singer Joni Mitchell.




Spent my days with a woman unkind, Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine.
Made up my mind to make a new start, Going To California with an aching in my heart.
Someone told me there's a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
Took my chances on a big jet plane, never let them tell you that they'all are the same.
The sea was red and the sky was grey,I wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
as the children of the sun began to awake.

Seems that the wrath of the Gods
Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow;
I think I might be sinking.
Throw me a line if I reach it in time
I'll meet you up there where the path
Runs straight and high.

To find a queen without a king,
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings... la la la la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born.
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Sexyback

No, no, no. This isn't the bubblegum pop song by Justin Timberlake. This is the rock version from Poison.

This song was a included on the Wal-Mart versions of the CD Poison'd where the band did an album of nothing but covers. I was very skeptical when I heard of this because I loved Poison as a kid and I thought they were selling out (even more so) just to get a pop audience.

They took the song over and made it 100 times better than the original.



I'm bringing sexy back (yeah)
Them other boys don't know how to act (yeah)
I think you're special, what's behind your back? (yeah)
So turn around and I'll pick up the slack. (yeah)

Take 'em to the bridge

Dirty babe (uh-huh)
You see the shackles
Baby I'm your slave (uh–huh)
I'll let you whip me if I misbehave (uh–huh)
It's just that no one makes me feel this way (uh-huh)

Take 'em to the chorus

Come here girl
Go ahead, be gone with it
Come to the back
Go ahead, be gone with it
VIP
Go ahead, be gone with it
Drinks on me
Go ahead, be gone with it
Let me see what you’re working with
Go ahead, be gone with it
Look at those hips
Go ahead, be gone with it
You make me smile
Go ahead, be gone with it
Go ahead child
Go ahead, be gone with it
And get your sexy on
Go ahead, be gone with it

Get your sexy on
Go ahead, be gone with it
[Repeat 6 times]

Get your sexy on

I'm bringing sexy back (yeah)
The mother fuckers don't know how to act (yeah)
Come let me make up for the things you lack (yeah)
'Cause you're burning up I gotta get it fast (yeah)

Take 'em to the bridge

Dirty babe (uh-huh)
You see the shackles
Baby I'm your slave (uh–huh)
I'll let you whip me if I misbehave (uh–huh)
It's just that no one makes me feel this way (uh-huh)

Take 'em to the chorus

Come here girl
Go ahead, be gone with it
Come to the back
Go ahead, be gone with it
VIP
Go ahead, be gone with it
Drinks on me
Go ahead, be gone with it
Let me see what you’re working with
Go ahead, be gone with it
Look at those hips
Go ahead, be gone with it
You make me smile
Go ahead, be gone with it
Go ahead child
Go ahead, be gone with it
And get your sexy on
Go ahead, be gone with it

Get your sexy on
Go ahead, be gone with it
[Repeat 6 times]

Get your sexy on

I'm bringing sexy back
You mother fuckers watch how I attack
If that's your girl you better watch your back
Cause she'll burn it up for me and that's a fact

Take 'em to the chorus

Come here girl
Go ahead, be gone with it
Come to the back
Go ahead, be gone with it
VIP
Go ahead, be gone with it
Drinks on me
Go ahead, be gone with it
Let me see what you’re working with
Go ahead, be gone with it
Look at those hips
Go ahead, be gone with it
You make me smile
Go ahead, be gone with it
Go ahead child
Go ahead, be gone with it
And get your sexy on
Go ahead, be gone with it

Get your sexy on
Go ahead, be gone with it
[Repeat 6 times]

Get your sexy on
Corrected by: alj647, Parmy, h0spid

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

I remember the first time I heard this song. It was August of 1999. I was in a karaoke bar and some drunk guy was trying to sing it. I hated it at first but it really grew on me. This is defintely one of those songs that if you admit to your friends that you like it they are going to laugh but deep down they probably like it too. I have since been back to that same karoake bar and performed ten times better then the first time I heard it.

The song was written by Jim Steinmen. He played piano and wrote songs for Meatloaf. He admitted basically ripped off the old Elvis Presley song, "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You". It was on Meatloaf's 1977 "Bat Out Of Hell" Record.



Baby we can talk all night
But that aint getting us nowhere
I told you everything I possibly can
Theres nothing left inside of here
And maybe you can cry all night
But thatll never change the way that I feel
The snow is really piling up outside
I wish you wouldnt make me leave here

I poured it on and I poured it out
I tried to show you just how much I care
Im tired of words and Im too hoarse to shout
But youve been cold to me so long
Im crying icicles instead of tears

And all I can do is keep on telling you
I want you
I need you
But -- there aint no way Im ever gonna love you
Now dont be sad
cause two out of three aint bad
Now dont be sad
cause two out of three aint bad

Youll never find your gold on a sandy beach
Youll never drill for oil on a city street
I know youre looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks
But there aint no coupe de ville hiding at the bottom of a cracker jack box

I cant lie
I cant tell you that Im something Im not
No matter how I try
Ill never be able
To give you something
Something that I just havent got

Theres only one girl that I will ever love
And that was so many years ago
And though I know Ill never get her out of my heart
She never loved me back
Ooh I know
I remember how she left me on a stormy night
She kissed me and got out of our bed
And though I pleaded and I begged her not to walk out that door
She packed her bags and turned right away

And she kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
I want you
I need you
But there aint no way Im ever gonna love you
Now dont be sad
cause two out of three aint bad
I want you
I need you
But there aint no way Im ever gonna love you
Now dont be sad
cause two out of three aint bad
Dont be sad
cause two out of three aint bad

Baby we can talk all night
But that aint getting us nowhere

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

That Lady Part 1&2

Who's that Lady?

Man, I love this song. I used to work in a Dollar Store and this song would be played on our PA every so often. I used to go in the office and turn it up. I even made the intro my wife's ringtone so when she calls me I always know "Who's that Lady?"


The song actually was cut in 1964. They recut it in 1969. Carlos Santana was popular at the time and they wanted to re-cut the song with a Latin-Funk sound to it.

They paid for their younger brother Ernie to attend music school and he wound up paying them back by creating a legendary guitar solo. It hit the Top Ten at #6 in 1973.


Who's that lady? (Who's that lady?)
Beautiful lady. (Who's that lady?)
Lovely lady. (Who's that lady?)
Real fine lady. (Who's that lady?)

Hear me calling out to you,
Cause that's all that I can do.
Your eyes tell me to pursue.
But you say, "Look, yeah, but don't touch."

Who's that lady? (Who's that lady?)
Sexy lady. (Who's that lady?)
Beautiful lady. (Who's that lady?)
Real fine lady. (Who's that lady?)

I would dance upon a string.
Any gift she'd want, I'd bring.
I would give her anything,
If she would just do what I say.

Who's that lady? (Who's that lady?)
Beautiful lady. (Who's that lady?)
Lovely lady. (Who's that lady?)
Real real fine lady. (Who's that lady?)

I would love to take her home,
But her heart is made of stone.
Gotta keep on keeping on.
If I don't, she'll do me wrong.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Against the Wind

This will be a blog that I will try to update daily or as often as I can. I want to draw attention to songs that for one reason or another just aren't heard on radio anymore. There are so many good songs out there that you just don't hear.

Song #1 is one of my favorite songs that pretty much sums up my life so far. I feel just about everyone can identify with it and has lived it at one time or another.

Against the Wind-Bob Seger

Against the Wind went to #5 in 1980 and was written by Bob Seger. Glenn Frey from the Eagles sang backup on this song. It was also covered by The Highwaymen.

This song is about growing up and living life on your own terms. Making bad choices and paying for them. As you grow up you learn how life can be but you still want to do things your own way. In the song he strays from what he knows he should do but wanting to live on his own terms he goes his own way. Eventually the choices he makes wears him down and he has to conform but still trying to do things his way.

It seems like yesterday But it was long ago
Janie was lovely, she was the queen of my nights
There in the darkness with the radio playing low
And the secrets that we shared The mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
Till there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to prove
And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then
Against the wind
We were running against the wind
We were young and strong, we were running Against the wind
And the years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded bv strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home
And I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
Never worried about paying or even how much I owed
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searchin' Searching for shelter again and again
Against the wind
A little something against the wind
I found myself seeking shelter Against the wind
Well those drifters' days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave inWhat to leave out
Against the wind
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm older now but still running Against the wind
Well I'm older now and I'm still running Against the wind...