Tickle Me Good Tunes

Sunday. A day to ponder and reflect. Sabbath to some. I looked up my old music CD collections whilst entertaining a feature on All American Rejects by Hitz TV (if i get the channel right). Found heaps of good music. Old stuff. I decided to grab the CDs and bade farewell to the hysterical screams from girls drooling over Tyson piercing out from the TV. Good move.

I listened intensely to selected songs from my collection and after one hour i have some conclusions drawn up. The guitar is a tool for storytellers. A guitar evokes emotions deep within and bring forward memories long forgotten. I remember i was crying to Gary Moore's Still got the Blues after breaking up with my ex-girlfriend years ago. Who would forget the nostalgic tune from The Rolling Stone's Paint It Black? Remember the combat miniseries in the late 80s "Tour of Duty"-N.A.M? What about the super love song "Babe I Love You" by Stxx? yeeehaaa..

Guitars are not played the way they were when MTV was not as big as your HD TV today. Guitars are not merely a strumming instrument. Pick it. Draw rhythms with it. Set the strings on fire please. They are not accessories nor a rock image ( i don't need to know how to plant an apple to know if it tastes good) Think Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird and Meat Puppet's Aurora Borealis.

Vocals are equally important (except hiphop cause these artists just talk over the microphone) too. I can never ignore voices from these Gods (they're dead) Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Ray Charles just to name a few.

Kurt Cobain is a symbol of the outcasts of the society, his voice pierce through the air like cries from the downthrodden demanding attention from the mainstream members of the society.

Patti Smith and Bob Dylan commanding the crowd by throwing advises one after another even a pair of stubborn ears might find itself persuaded by the intensely honest and original vocals.

Serj Tankian of System of A Down orchestrates characters for you ranging from a kid to the Devil himself.

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd barking cynical abuses to the middle class where Karl Marx once defined the middle class as "vulgar through lack of originality, original only in vulgarity"

Joni Mitchell's rendition of Mother gave me goosebumps in surfaces i'm embarrassed to reveal.

Sex bomb vocalists Rod Stewart and Steven Tyler made boys re-evaluate their sexuality.

Thom Yorke, Frou Frou, La Roux and Jonathan Davis mobilising alien armies to befriend the human kind ( and animals ).

Jim Morrison's screaming, barking, sighing, crying, whining, crooning, murmuring defeats the passage of time.

Zach de la Rocha spits rebellious fire into my ears i began to like Tom Morello's riffs.

Cyndi Lauper is still a rowdy teenager.

Tim Armstrong of Rancid has the ideal voice as a benchmark for patients suffering throat cancer who wants to sing. (really good)

Zooey Deschanel whispers the sweetest pitch to my discerning ears ( soothing as hell ) and

James Brown made my old man dance.

If only Captain Jack Sparrow sings :)

Note to self : I would turn into a stone in human form if i don't stop now.

Now, these are a fraction of good tunes to me;

Rage Against the Machine;

Bulls on Parade

Tire Me

Wake Up

Roll Right

Rancid;

Hyena

I Wanna Riot

Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel;

The Sound of Silence

I Am A Rock

Scarborough Fair

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

El Condor Pasa

The Boxer

The 59th Street Bridge Song

James Brown;

Get Up ( I feel like being a ) Sex Machine

It's A Man's Man's World

Please Please Please

Say It Loud, I'm Black & I'm Proud

Neil Young;

Southern Man

Old Man

Heart of Gold

Hey Hey My My ( into the black )

Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Down By the River

Cinnamon Girl

Helpless

Ohio (super duper awesome wholesome)

Bob Dylan;

Blowin' In The Wind

The Times They Are a-Changin'

Like A Rolling Stone

All Along The Watch Tower

Lay Lady Lay

Forever Young

Oh, Sister

Subterranean Homesick Blues

The Doors;

Riders On The Storm

Light My Fire

People Are Strange

L.A. Woman

Love Me Two Times

The End (ghoulish tis one)

Sonic Youth;

Teenage Riot

Superstar

Kool Thing

Bull In The Heather

Schizophrenia

Pass The Dutchie

Youth Against Fascism

Sugar Kane

Diamond Sea

The Pixies; (Bugger off Pixie Lott)

Where Is My Mind?

Here Comes Your Man

This Monkeys Gone To Heaven

Gigantic

Bone Machine

I Bleed

Hey

Santana;

Travellin' Blues

Persuasion

Covers;

Brown Eyed Girl by Sex Pistols,

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Patti Smith

Lake of Fire and Plateau by Nirvana

Somebody's Baby by Phantom Planet

Under the Bridge by All Saints (ok)

Superstar by Sonic Youth (orgasmic)

Twist and Shout by Nirvana + Sonic Youth + REM

Sweet Dreams by Marilyn Manson

Jesus Wants Me For A Sun Beam by Nirvana

The Man Who Sold The World by Nirvana

p/s: If you notice Pink Floyd is missing it is because their songs are too emotional and i'll get all squishy listing them out

I think I'm ready for next weekend's karaoke session :)