iTunes Art

Hey, what happened to my iTunes art? I downloaded the newest version of iTunes, synched my iPod and thought I was good to go. Well, I was good to go except for the annoying change in my album art. iTunes was good enough to make the judgement for me to swap out what I had with whatever it has. So the original art for Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks is no longer the Blood on the Tracks album cover, which is the source of those tracks and not iTunes, has been replaced with iTunes' album cover and a current picture of Dylan himself. Which, while Dylans's never been a matinee idol, he's really beginning to look a little skeevy.

Oh, I'm sure there's a way for me to restore the original album art but I really can't be bothered. I'm just surprised that iTunes, which prides itself in ease of friendly use, has taken such a controlling hand in this matter.

End of the iPod Shuffle Project

I've reached the end of my little listen-to-all-of-my-iTunes-in-alphabetical-order project. (Here's the beginning. You'll find an explanation of why I set out to do what I did.) As I predicted, the last song was anything but a spine-tingling surprise: The 7 Stars of the Big Dipper by Mannheim Steamroller. I know. Kind of a marshmallowy ending. Hey, don't get me wrong, I like Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas albums and that's why I bought this one but the New Age-y stuff sounds a little quaint now. Though they do have a Disney-themed album out. Hmmm.

Yep, the last batch of songs after the y's were songs with titles that began with a number. (The last song that actually began with a letter was Zaar by Peter Gabriel. So, yes, I did have at least one song that began with the letter Z. How many do you have?) Doesn't seem quite right but how else do I think iTunes should list them?

Okay, I made it through 2,046 songs over a span of seven months. Not a lot, I know, and an inordinate amount of time to do it. Hey, I don't get to listen to my iPod as much as I'd like and there was a nearly 3 week dry spell there back in late June and early July when we were on vacation, so cut me some slack. What'd I learn? My Playlist is like a time capsule. I can just about remember each time, and why, I purchased or obtained a copy of the music I have and those memories are pleasant ones. And while I have a lot of clunkers, I have a lot more music that's just a flat out pleasure to listen to. Much joy to be had from a little shiny black box. We're truly living in an age of miracle and wonder.

Time to move on, though. Unshackled by this project, I'm free to return to my other playlists or just set the controls for shuffle and let it play. It's up to me.

Hmmm. You don't think there's a life lesson to be had in this, do you?

Nah.

I'm just listening to music.

Why Not The Y's?

I'm getting really close to the end of my little project - I'm in the Y's now and how many songs can I have that begin with the letter Y? Forget that, how many songs can I have that begin with the letter Z? Okay, forget that. How many versions of Bob Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go?" Two, actually. One my Mr. Dylan himself and a jazzy one by the lovely Madeleine Peyroux. A more jarring juxtaposition of tunes I can hardly imagine.

A word about Peyroux' version. I first heard it a couple of years ago on a sunny Spring morning in a bookstore in Dallas. All of our trips to Dallas are fine ones but to hear Peyroux' delightful version on such a lovely day lifts my mood to that morning just by thinking about it. While Dylan's is as bright and bouncy as Dylan can be, Peyroux' jazz twist brings something else to it and I had to look for more of her music. That's how she ended up on my iPod and that's how I've preserved that day in amber. And isn't that what we ask music to do for us? Isn't that why we listen?

Not long to the end of the line. Oh, it'll be anticlimactic to be sure, but I still wonder how it'll end. What will be the last song? I have no idea. That's part of the fun.

Wallowing in the W's - an iPod Shuffle Update

Less than 90 tunes to go, I'm rapidly approaching the end. (For more about this project, click here.) A surprising number of tunes begin with the letter W, with many of them with the word "when" or its derivative "whenever," starting their title:

Percy Sledge When a Man Loves a Woman
James Taylor When I'm Gone
The Beatles When I'm 64
The Band When I Paint My Masterpiece
Hem When I Was Drinking
Moby When It's Cold I'd Like to Die
U2 When Love Comes to Town
Dave Matthews Band When The World Ends
Eurythmics When Tomorrow Comes
Sting When We Dance
Bruce Springsteen When You're Alone
Sting Whenever I Say Your Name
James Taylor Whenever Your Ready

The word can invoke hope or despair, a longing for the future or an ache for the past. Anytime but this time now.

Moving on, Cat Power's Wild is The Wind is the loveliest, and starkest, tracks I've come across in a while. They lyrics:

Wild Is The Wind

Love me, love me
Say you do

Let me fly away
With you

We're creatures of the wind
Wild is the wind

Give me more than one grasp
To satisfy this hungerness
We're creatures of the wind
Wild is the wind

You touch me
I hear the sound of mandolins
You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins

Like a leaf clings to a tree
Baby please cling to me
We're creatures of the wind
Wild is the wind

You touch me
I hear the sound of mandolins
And you kiss me
With your kiss my life begins

Love me, love me
Say you do

Let me fly away
With you.

As always, the lyrics hardly begin to describe the experience. Give it a listen for the full effect.

Through the U's and Into the V's - iPod Shuffle Update

Less than two hundred tunes to go. (What am I up to? Click here for an explanation.) I'm in the V's and I shouldn't be there too long - quick, think of all the songs you can think of that begin with V. I'll wait. . . See? If it weren't for the curious titling tendencies of iTunes which puts all of the violin concertos and Vivaldi in one place, I don't think I'd have any tunes to listen to.

Anyway, still enjoying myself as much as I was when I started this project. But I will be glad to have my freedom restored to listen to whatever I want to listen to.

Theologians? They Don't Know Nothing

I don't know about that but Wilco seems pretty sure:

Theologians

Theologians
They don't know nothing
About my soul
About my soul

I'm an ocean
An abyss in motion
Slow motion
Slow motion

Inlitterati lumen fidei
God is with us everyday
That illiterate light
Is with us every night

Theologians
That don't know nothing
About my soul
Oh they don't know

They thin my heart with little things
And my life with change
Oh in so many ways
I find more missing every day

Theologians

I'm going away
Where you will look for me
Where I'm going you cannot come

No one's ever gonna take my life from me
I lay it down
A ghost is born
A ghost is born
A ghost is born

I'm an ocean
I'm all emotion
I'm a cherry ghost
Cherry ghost

Hey I'm a cherry ghost
A cherry ghost

Working my way through the T's on my iPod. Theologians is a good song - I like its groove - and the lyrics are mysterious enough to keep my attention but what's all this stuff about a cherry ghost? I think it means that songwriting's a whole lot easier if you don't have to makes sense.

Anyway, the T's. Wilco. Enjoying myself.

Through the S's, Into the T's - iPod Shuffle Progress Report

It seems by far that the S's is (are?) the longest list of song titles on my iPod. With all of the suites and symphonies of the classical tracks - and some of them were quite long - it was quite a slog getting through them. A pleasant slog, mind you, but a slog nonetheless. I'm glad to get into the T's. First song of note: Everything But The Girl's "Tears All Over Town:"

Don't be unkind, for once be untrue -
can't pretend I care for her, only you
Just be on time, spare me your shame,
for once don't mention her name.
Now I cannot claim angel's wings,
but mention her name and I'll wreck everything

I saw things not meant for my eyes,
I was happy once and then twice.
I said things I shouldn't have said.
I told tales of days in your bed.
In love and war there's nothing sacred.

Just don't pretend, wherever you go,
there are things that only I know -
because I'm sure, when she's there,
that you tell a few of the secrets of yours
that I had kept for you.

I saw things not meant for my eyes,
I was happy once and then twice.
I said things I shouldn't have said.
I told tales of days in your bed.
In love and war there's nothing sacred.

iTunes Playlist - The S's - Still!

Accountant in the arts. From Wilco's Spiders (Kidsmoke):

Spiders are singing in the salty breeze
Spiders are filling out tax returns
Spinning out webs of deductions and melodies
On a private beach in Michigan

Still in the S's. Either I have a lot of tunes that begin with S or my progress has slowed to a crawl. I suspect more of the latter than the former.

iTunes Playlist - The S's

In the S's now. Two versions of Hem's Sailor, one a studio version, one live, both equally sublime. The lyrics:

Sailor

I'm not a sailor
I'm not so strong out of my shoes
Dragging like anchors

Over the ocean
Pearls in the sky are strung round the moon
Pointing to you

And I'll sail til morning
Or I'll sail til I
Am carried to you tonight

I'm not a sailor
But I'll spend the night out on the sea
Out on the sea

And I'll sail til morning
Or I'll sail til I
Am carried to you tonight

Didn't mention this group's Reservoir back when I was in the R's. I'm mentioning it now, another fine work from this group. Lyrics? Here they are:

Reservoir

Late last night, I missed my train
I walked back to the car and drove home again
Just outside of Pittsburgh, it's really not that far
Saw a light come shining 'cross the reservoir

The sun in California, it drops right into the sea
I took a couple pictures, they don't mean that much to me
Just outside of Pittsburgh, I saw it from my car
The light shines to the bottom of the reservoir

Starless night, come fall around me
Over all we've left undone
I know a light that shines forever
Howsoever we may run

The moon hung on the hillside in eastern Tennessee
With rows of honeysuckle blooming over me
But the iron hills of Pittsburgh where all my memories are
Gathering the light around the reservoir

Starless night, come fall around me
Over all we've left undone
I know a light that shines forever
Howsoever we may run
Howsoever we may run

As much as I admire the lyrics of their songs, they don't do the songs justice. I don't know how to embed the mp3 files in a post but if you should get a chance, find this group and give 'em a listen. You won't be disappointed.

iTunes Playlist - The R's

I'm in the R's now, on my alphabetical slog through my iTunes playlist. Only a little over 600 songs to go. The end is approaching fast.

I took the 8 minutes necessary to get through The Beatles Revolution 9. Yeah, that's the track you usually skip when listening to their White Album and for good reason: it's self-indulgent krep. You can tell at this point in their career they'd stopped listening to George Martin and believed everything they did was golden. Though I have to admit, it's not an entirely un-interesting sonic experiment. The problem is once you listen to it you're good for another 15 years before you listen to it again. Which is what I am.

iTunes Playlist - an Update

I'm still working my alphabetical way through my iTunes playlist - through the O's and onto the P's. Surprising how many song titles I have that begin with the world Only. I've I've said before, songwriters are an assertive group, aren't they? No fudging around with things, they're always one thing or the other and nothing in between.

There is one song in the O's that deserves a little closer attention. Here are the lyrics to The Old Apartment by The Barenaked Ladies: (Ooh: "Barenaked Ladies." That'll get me a lot of Google hits.)

Broke into the old apartment
This is where we used to live
Broken glass, broke and hungry
Broken hearts and broken bones
This is where we used to live

Why did you paint the walls?
Why did you clean the floor?
Why did you plaster over the hole I punched in the door?
This is where we used to live

Why did you keep the mousetrap?
Why did you keep the dishrack?
These things used to be mine
I guess they still are, I want them back

Broke into the old apartment
Forty-two stairs from the street
Crooked landing, crooked landlord
Narrow laneway filled with crooks.
This is where we used to live.

Why did they pave the lawn?
Why did they change the locks?
Why did I have to break it, I only came here to talk
This is where we used to live

How is the neighbor downstairs?
How is her temper this year?
I turned up your tv and stomped on the floor just for fun
I know we dont live here anymore
We bought an old house on the danforth
She loves me and her body keeps me warm
Im happy here
But this is where we used to live

Broke into the old apartment
Tore the phone out of the wall
Only memories, fading memories
Blending into dull tableaux

I want them back
I want them back

I like how the writer expresses the ambivalence of the narrator's feelings about the troublesome place he used to live. From the first line - where the narrator breaks into his old apartment - and then right into the third and fourth lines, we're aware that there's something going on here. Why break into anywhere, let alone a place where broken memories live? He tells us later - they may be bad but they're his memories, and his safe and sound world, though welcome, is something he's unsure about, though there's no reason why. Sure, it's nice now, but this is where we used to live. Something is not quite right here and it's wonderfully understated.

iTunes Playlist - Halfway There

I'm halfway through my journey through the complete playlist of music on my iPod - track 1012 was Letting Love Go by Everything But The Girl. (Yeah, I know, only 2025 tunes. Call me a lightweight, I don't care.)

It's taken me 3.5 months to get here - I've only been a casual listener so my progress has been pretty good actually. I'd like to step things up, though, not because I want to get through this project but because I enjoy listening to my iPod so immensely. What with work and parental responsibilities and looking out after the dogs in morning (How does looking after the dogs keep me from listening to my iPod? It just does, okay?)about the only time I've been able to listen is when I'm in the car alone. If I try, I think I can find additional time. Let's see what I can do.

iTunes Playlist - The K's

For music that's mainly about love both won and lost, I'm surprised to find my playlist had only two songs that began with "kiss:" Sixpence None The Richer's Kiss Me and Peter Gabriel's Kiss That Frog. Shall we take a look at the lyrics? Why not?

Kiss Me

Kiss me out of the bearded barley
Nightly beside the green green grass
Swing swing swing the spinning step
You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress

Oh kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor
Lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moons sparkling
So kiss me
Kiss me down by the broken tree house

Swing me upon its hanging tire
Bring bring bring your flowered hat
Well take the trail marked on your fathers map.

Kiss That Frog

Jump in the water

Sweet little princess
Let me introduce his frogness
You alone can get him singing
Hes all puffed up, wanna be your king
Oh you can do it
Cmon [x6]
Lady kiss that frog

Splash, dash heard your call
Bring you back your golden ball
Hes gonna dive down in the deep end
Hes gonna be just like your best friend
So whats one little kiss
One tiny little touch
Aaah, hes wanting it so much
I swear that this is royal blood
Running through my skin
Oh can you see the state Im in
Kiss it better, kiss it better
[kiss that frog]

Get it into your royal head
Hes living with you, he sleeps in your bed
Cant you hear beyond the croaking
Dont you know that Im not joking
Aaah, you think you wont
I think you will
Dont you know that this tongue can kill
Cmon [x6]
Lady kiss that frog

Let him sit beside you
Eat right off your plate
You dont have to be afraid
Theres nothing here to hate
Ah, princess you might like it
If you lower your defence
Kiss that frog, and you will
Get your prince [x2]
[huh!]

Jump in the water, cmon baby jump in with me
Jump in the water, cmon baby get wet with me
Jump in the water, cmon baby jump in with me
Jump in the water, cmon baby get wet [get wet, get wet]

Kiss that frog, lady kiss that frog [x4]

Jump in the water, cmon baby jump in with me [x3]
Jump in the water, cmon baby get wet
[get wet, get wet] [x6]

All right, Gabriel, we get the picture.

Of the two, how can you not be charmed by a song that manages to mention the bearded barley? If you wear that dress, I'll wear those shoes, indeed.

iTunes Playlist Progress Report

Gosh, it's been a while since I posted a progress report on my alphabetical trip through my iTunes Playlist. Still plowing my way through, though plowing implies it's a chore; it isn't, it's a pleasure, but how else to characterize a pleasurable activity that's taking a long time? Up to the J's and I found I have two very different songs with "Jesus" in the title: Wilco's Jesus, Etc., and Ben Folds' Jesusland.

Let's take a look at the lyrics:

Jesus, Etc

Jesus, don't cry
You can rely on me, honey
You can combine anything you want
I'll be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun

Tall buildings shake
Voices escape singing sad sad songs
tuned to chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around

Don't cry
You can rely on me honey
You can come by any time you want
I'll be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun

Tall buildings shake
Voices escape singing sad sad songs
tuned to chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around

Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together
Your voice is smoking
Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around

Um, okay. Don't know quite what's going on here but it's clear the song has little to do with Jesus. A couple of good lines though - You can rely on me, honey, turning your orbit around, indeed. I like the song's mellowness and hint of heartbreak and it doesn't matter if I don't know what it means. You do, though, don't you?

Here's Jesusland:

Jesusland

Take a walk
out the gate you go and never stop
past all the stores and wig shops
quarter in a cup for every block
and watch the buildings grow
smaller as you go

Down the tracks
beautiful McMansions on a hill
that overlook a highway
with riverboat casinos and you still
have yet to see a soul

Jesusland
Jesusland

Town to town
broadcast to each house, they drop your name
but no one knows your face
Billboards quoting things you'd never say
you hang your head and pray

for Jesusland
Jesusland

Miles and miles
and the sun goin' down
Pulses glow
from their homes
You're not alone
Lights come on
as you lay your weary head on their lawn

Parking lots
cracked and growing grass you see it all
from offices to farms
crosses flying high above the malls
A longer walk

through Jesusland
Jesusland

Ah, now we're talking Jesus here. Jesus walking through Jesusland and, lo, it's lacking! Or maybe it's the smug songwriter who finds it lacking. I presume Folds' is being ironic with the "beautiful McMansions" phrase but maybe not. They really are beautiful. I like how the buildings grow smaller as you go, and the mention of the billboards saying things You never said. Okay, you have us there, but you get the point of the billboards, right? I mean, no one's ever claimed they're scripture. The song's harmonies are lovely, the piano playing compelling; I like this song, too, and though I may not agree with what it says, at least Folds is trying to say something about Jesus, and in a positive way. That's something.

Back to my iTunes playlist progress - I'm approaching the halfway point but I'd like to accelerate things a bit. I don't get as much time on my iPod as I'd like; I used to listen to it during my morning 'net prowl but being on dog watch has made that impractical. Can't hear the dogs when they're yapping to come back inside which wouldn't be a problem except that everyone else is trying to sleep. I'll find a workaround, though.

Bossy Songwriters

Gosh, songwriters can be so bossy. I made it through the D's on my iPod and I tweeted (twittered?) about how songwriters kept asking me all these questions when I got to those titles beginning with the word "do." Funny how when the negative of that word - don't - comes up, they're no longer asking me; they're telling me:

Billy Joel Don't Ask Me Why
Paul McCartney Don't Be Careless Love
The Beatles Don't Bother Me
ELO Don't Bring Me Down
Madeleine Peyroux Don't Cry Baby
The Band Don't Do It
The Beatles Don't Ever Change
Peter Gabriel Don't Give Up
Norah Jones Don't Know Why
Dido Don't Leave Home
Weezer Don't Let Go
James Taylor Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
The Beatles Don't Let Me Down
The Beatles Don't Pass Me By
Glenn Miller Orchestra Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree
Steely Dan Don't Take Me Alive
Dido Don't Think of Me
Madeleine Peyroux Don't Wait Too Long
Dixie Chicks Don't Waste Your Heart
Steve Winwood Don't You Know What The Night Can Do?

Quit telling me what to do!

On to the E's.

iTunes: Ready for the D's

Finished up the C's and now I'm headed into the D's on my iTunes playlist.

Aside from the canons and cantatas and concertos of my classical songs, I discovered I have more than a few songs that begin with "cry" or some variant. Why so sad?

I'm up to track 347. My progress is slow because I don't listen to my iPod nearly as much as I'd like but so what? Like with my experiment with letting it ride through shuffle mode, I'm having a good time and, unlike with shuffle, I can leave and pick this up at any time. So I sort of give up control while still keeping control. Perfect!

Tom Jones and. . .Portishead

I had some time to browse iTunes and came across this duet
of Tom Jones with Portishead. (No, I can't explain why I was browsing Tom Jones tunes. Just accept it, okay?)

My friend Tammi in the comments tells me Portishead is an acquired taste. Looks like it's at taste Tom Jones has acquired and vice versa. The sample I heard on iTunes was pretty good and not as much of a mind-blower as you'd think.

iTunes: The C's Begin

Working my alphabetical way through iTunes, I've finished with the B's and I've moved on to the C's.

Joni Mitchel and The Mamas and the Papas long for California, The Beach Boys just wish all girls could be from their golden state but The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some issues.

Well, we all have our opinions.

Alphabetical iTunes

I'm still working my way through my iTunes alphabetically and I'm up to number 208. I've cleared the A's and now I'm well into songs that begin with the letter B. The dismaying discover? The number of songs I have that begin with the word "boogie."

All or Nothing at All

I'm not in the mood for any of my iTunes playlists or for shuffle mode so I'm working my way through my music by title, alphabetically. (I don't intend to work my way to the end for reasons I've discussed here.) Simple, no?

But I haven't gone far when I realized a great many songs start with the word "All:"

All About Soul Billy Joel
All Around The World Paul Simon
All I've Got To Do The Beatles
All I Want Joni Mitchell
All I Want Is You U2
All My Loving The Beatles (Two versions.)
All Around The World Electric Light Orchestra
All That Heaven Will Allow Bruce Springsteen
All That I'm Good For Hem (Two versions.)
All The Pretty Horses Hem
All The Road Running Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
All This Time Sting
All Together Now The Beatles
All You Need Is Love The Beatles (Three versions!)
All You Want Dido

That's only fifteen tracks out of 2,000 but a quick scan of my other titles shows no other trend like this. And it seems like songwriters are pretty sure of themselves: it's either all or nothing at all, I have no songs titles beginning with the word "Some." (Okay, I have a few that begin with "Something" but that doesn't count.) Substitute the word "All" with "Some" and the titles above are very different.

Good writers know the importance of choosing the right word.