Windy

The anticipation is killing you, so I will just let you know what today's song is.

Who remembers this song?  Although it was written in 1967 and performed by The Association, it seems like it still played on the radio from my childhood.  I'm shocked that it was playing in my head this morning, but this is I why I have a blog, eh?

In an odd coincidence, what with the title of this song being called "Windy," exactly a year ago tomorrow, two very interesting things happened to our family. 

The first was an enormous wind storm that passed through our city.  This is strange for Utah.  The winds started, by my memory, at about 2:00 A.M. on the 1st of December.  I didn't go back to sleep as I ran from room to room trying to comfort scared kids and light candles.  Our power shut on and off throughout the night.  I knew that it was very windy, but didn't know the extent of the damage until the sun rose. 

In another odd coincidence, I was searching for images of this wind storm online and found a video of some damage.  The video happens to be filmed by my neighbor who lives 2 doors down.  This is probably boring to most, but I'm gonna post the video anyway.  If anything, maybe my great great grand kids will watch this some day if the world hasn't ended, or if they haven't disowned the family.  I guess I'm saying you won't hurt my feelings if you don't watch this video. 

Anyway, what I'm getting at, is that I have never been through anything like this in my life.  In the morning, while the wind was still blowing, I drove around my neighborhood and it looked like a war zone.  There were trees everywhere that had fallen, some onto cars, and some even into windows. 










Further complicating things for my family was the fact that my dear wife was 9 months pregnant at the time!  Not only was she pregnant, she was also very sick and to have no power in the cold winter brought some challenges for us on this day. 

Miraculously, except for a glass door that I hated anyway (it shattered) there was no damage to our home, yard, trees, fences- anything.  Everybody else I know in the community was not as lucky. 

So, with the house in tact, I took pregnant wifey poo and the kids to a hotel, where there would be heat and warm water. 

I'm proud of you if you're still with me. 

So, long story short, the following day, December 2nd, our boy was born.  He came with the wind, and his coming into the world, like the wind, was exciting and frightening.  After nearly 10 days in the NICU, and a crippling shoulder injury, we brought our boy home on oxygen.  It was a rough few weeks, but ultimately he pulled through and is a perfect as a kid could be. 

Happy Birthday, Jude.  It's been an amazing, and exhausting year, and I look forward to many more. 

Frere Jacques

Last night was a strange night for me. 

First of all, I fell asleep watching a documentary about beards, this was about 9:00.  If I'm lucky, I'm usually asleep by midnight.  I woke up at some point, knowing I had gone to sleep extremely early, and set my alarm clock for 5:30 A.M. with good intentions of waking up early to get some things done around the house. 

I woke up many times in the night, and had funky dreams and found myself at that point between sleep and awake, where you almost feel like you're halucinating, but you're awake and rational enough to know that you're only half-dreaming.  Does that make sense? 

Anyway, at this point I could hear the beloved French nursury rhyme "Frere Jacques" playing in my head.  But what's strange, is that I could hear Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder singing the song, if you can imagine that.



I don't do drugs.  I promise. 

Oh, and in spite of my intention to get up early, I slept in anyway.  :\

Bedshaped

This tune has been going through my head since Thanksgiving.  Who knows why....

....and it was playing again today.  Enjoy this creepy music video with a drunk, naked, claymation figure.  I didn't know there was a music video for this song until today. 

Still, a beautiful song.  I do like this band a lot. 

I went to the mall (ugh) today and there was Christmas music playing everywhere.  I'm gonna see if I can make it through the entire Christmas season without seasonal music playing in my head that I'll have to blog about. 

Why Does it Always Rain on Me

here's my new favorite band, Travis, and today's song:

I'll just tell a quick story, mostly that has to do with being rained on. 

When I was 19 years old, I was called to be an LDS missionary in Rome, Italy.  My first assignment was to the city of Potenza in southern Italy.  After a nearly sleepless night, jetlagged and nervous, I boarded a bus at 5:00 A.M. alone for a 6 hour drive.  My mission leaders talked to the bus driver and informed him that I didn't speak any Italian and that once we reached Potenza he was to let me know when I had arrived at my stop which was called "Santa Maria."  They assured me that my new companion would be there waiting for me. 



About an hour into my bus ride, I fell asleep, and slept the duration of the bus ride.  I was awoken by the driver who (from what I understood) told me that it was time to exit the bus, as we had arrived in this mountainous city.

 Exhausted, I carried my overweight suitcase with all my belongings off of the bus and looked around for my American companion.  He was nowhere to be found..... so I waited.....

This was a busy part of town, and many people passed me.  For anyone who has visited Italy, the people are very friendly.  Everybody wanted to help me, but I couldn't understand them, and couldn't talk to them.  All I could do is smile and say, "non parlo Italiano-"  I don't speak Italian.

An hour passed, and I was beginning to wonder if I should walk, or do something to try to find my colleague.  No, better wait it out.

Across the street I noticed a pay phone, and remembered that I had been equipped with a phone card and the phone number to my new apartment.  I wandered to the other side of the street and tried to figure out how to work the pay phone.  Of course, the nice people passing wanted to help me, but from what I gathered the phone was broken, and so I was stuck.

Right around this time, the sky darkened and rain started to fall.  I went back to the original spot where I was left and waited some more.  And waited, and waited, as the rain started to pour.

The incredibly nice Italians passing me offered me scarves, umbrellas, their coats as I stood in the cold wet on this October day, now 14 years ago.  I politely declined, "no, grazie" feeling so helpless that I could never repay anybody's kindness.

After two hours, a car pulled up and I recognized the young man with a name badge who was to be my new companion in Potenza.  He wondered why I had not stopped where I was supposed to meet him.  Of course, it was all just a misunderstanding, a miscommunication between him and the mission office. 

It's all very funny to me now, that this was my first experience alone in a foreign country.  At the time though, like the singer of this song I probably wondered, just as he says in the song:  "Why does it always rain on me?  Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?"  I confess, at 17 years old, I stole a tube of chap stick for a girl I liked from Mervyn's.  Perhaps this is why I was punished that day?

Alec Eiffel

As you prepare to gorge yourself with food tomorrow (Happy Thanksgiving!) I'll leave you with a perfectly fitting song about Alexadre Gustave Eiffel, who is historically for having designed the Eiffel Tower.  Nothing says "thanksgiving" quite like French Monuments. 

I wasn't sure what today's song was, I had the melody in my head, hummed it to my brother and he recognized it as "Alec Eiffel" by The Pixies:

Soldier

I'm sorry to anyone who was looking forward to some posts this weekend.  The truth is, that music was playing in my head both Saturday and Sunday but it was music I had already shared here- so you can thank me for not being redundantly redundant. 

IT'S TIME FOR A BLOG CONTEST!!!!

I've collected enough songs over the last few months for a compilation, which will include today's song from Ingrid Michaelson:

My family loves her music.  My kids always sing along, and I'll admit to tapping my foot along to her catchy music. 

FIRST, HERE ARE THE RULES-  To enter the contest, simply comment on this post- and this is what I want to know:  If you had to go the rest of your lift listening to one album only, what would it be?  Greatest hits albums don't count, you must say an actual studio album.  If you lie, and say something to sound cool, like Pink Floyd's "The Wall" when really you meant something by Abba or Barry Manilow, then you will be disqalified.  If, for some odd reason you're unable to post comments because blogger is weird, then email me directly to cashbrady@gmail.com 

SECOND, HERE ARE THE AMAZING ITEMS THE RANDOMLY SELECTED WINNER WILL RECEIVE (THERE IS ONLY ONE WINNER THIS TIME):

PRIZE NUMBER 1

A compilation Disc, "The Best of the Songs Stuck in Brady's Head, Volume 5"  This is my oddest compilation yet, but I think it may be my favorite so far. 

PRIZE NUMBER 2

A bag of Hi-Chew candies.  The greatest candy there is. 

PRIZE NUMBER 3

Your very own thesongsstuckinmyhead.blogspot.com T-shirt with original artwork of that one relative you have who has a mustache and drinks too much.  Just in time for Thanksgiving, where said relative will drink too much at your Thanksgiving dinner.  Wear it with pride. 

Remember, if you enter the contest and I don't know who you are, be sure to leave and email or twitter name so that I can find you to tell you that you've won.  I will ship prizes internationally too for anyone out of the US who dares to enter. 

If you don't enter the contest, you are missing out, but if you want to do something kind, share this link so other free loaders can find out about the free stuff I'm giving away.  There is a share button below. 

CONTEST DRAWING WILL TAKE PLACE SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH AT 10:00 P.M.  GOOD LUCK. 

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

This very catchy song by Wilco was playing in my head this morning.

Have you ever had a crush on somebody and they didn't like you back?  That's what this song is about. 

I'm about due for a blog contest.  I have some really great prizes to give away guyz. 

I have another contest coming up guyz.  It's going to be really exciting. 
seriously guyz.

Stay tuned....

Sweetums

I wonder if posting what I'm about to post makes my blog more interesting, or more obnoxious.  Aside from being embarrassed, I also find the strange things playing in my head in the morning fascinating. 

Today's song is from my childhood.  At some point, whether we owned or rented the video cassette, I used to watch THE FROG PRINCE from the TALES FROM MUPPETLAND series. 




I woud dare say it's been 25 years since I've seen this.  I couldn't tell you the story line (other than familiar plot points from the traditional story) nor could I sing any of the songs from it.  But there's one song that I've retained after all these years, and it happened to be playing in my head this morning.

This is sung by the hairy beast lovingly known as "Sweetums."  In the world of Muppets, I've seen him usually as a friendly character.  In this movie, he's a villain.  At one point he tries to capture Kermit and The Frog Prince.  This is the song he sings as he's trying to get them.  I don't know that I would call it much of a "song" but there is a beat to it, and it was playing in my head regardless. 

(In this clip, the actual song starts at about 2:10, there is a scene beforehand)

According to the official soundtrack, this song is just called SWEETUMS.  Other sources I see call it YUMMY YUMMY TIME. 

My mad subonscious thanks you for your time and attention. 

Enter Sandman

I cannot believe this song was in my head this morning.

One thing I've been trying to do, is to buy the album of songs that I write about here.  Soon I will own my first Metallica album.  From what I've read, this song is from their best album.  I have to admit, I'm kind of excited. 

Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse

Man, I love this music, and the more I listen to it the more fascinating I find it.

This is from of Montreal, and I'll just let you hear the song now:

He keeps singing about "chemicals" in the song.  Some of the sites I've visited today indicate that he's referring to drugs, and others say he is talking about seratonin and other natural "chemicals" that your body produces.  Based on what I hear in this song, and watching the music video, I'm gonna go with drugs. 

Here's the trouble with drugs.  I've never tried them, but I hear they are bad.  Also, I'm a Mormon, so using them would go against my beliefs.  But this doesn't mean that Mormons can't have a good time! 

I tell you what, the combination of aspartame, caffeine and yellow number 7 in a Diet Mountain Dew can give you just the kind of Mormon buzz you need when you've had a stressful day.

 

And  have you ever woken up with one of those early morning headaches, and you need a little something to get the edge off and get you going in the morning.  We all know the Mormon drink of choice is Postum, but have you ever combined Postum with Pop Rocks?  You'll be zippin' and jiving as you put your shoulder to the wheel with this morning boost.  

And what to do if you're at a rave party doing some missionary work and you want to blend in without doing any of the illegal stuff?  Those waxy sticks with kool-aid in the middle along with Extreme War Head candies should do the trick.




Lastly, for those special occasions, like weddings and anniversaries, there's the obvious choice:  MARTINELLI'S!!!  But if you're looking to have an extra special good time without having to go see the Bish, slip in a little bit of Ginseng and Coke Zero and the sparks will FLY!

Hot Knife (and Xuxa)

TWO FOR ONE TUESDAY!


This is arguably my most embarrassing post yet.  So I'm gonna cheat and give you two songs, hopefully to counter the first.

That being said, today I woke up with a strange song from my childhood.  Does anyone remember Xuxa?  She was a Brazilian model and children's TV show host.  She had a show on television in the early 90's.  I don't remember much about it, but I do remember the annoying theme song.  Here is a clip.

There was something about this show.  I'll admit that I had a crush on her, but it seems like whenever it was on, even though I was rolling my eyes, I couldn't stop watching.  I also remember that there were silly challenges the kids would play.  When some kid won, Xuxa would shout "We have a WEEEENER" with her think Brazilian accent.  It seems like my family always made fun of that.  A special shout out as well to Xuxa's wardrobe.  The 90's were an awful time for fashion indeed.



OK, so that was my morning song, but I did have another song that was playing in my head when I woke up at 3:00 A.M to make pee pee.  It's from Fiona Apple's new album.  Upon my first listen, this album was tough to swallow.  I am a fan of Fiona Apple's music, have been for many years, and so I want to give it a fair shot.  It's very strange musically, and very dark lyrically.  The song I'm posting today is the final track and probably the one I would share with you if I were introducing this album to you.  So, here's HOT KNIFE for you to enjoy.

Don't judge me. 

Nothing Wrong

It's late and I'm tired, so I'll try to be brief in what I have to say today.  Today's song is from Jimmy Eat World.  You can listen here:

It would appear, based on the lyrics of this song, that Jimmy Eat World may have been punished for something they didn't do, maybe after getting dropped by a label, or losing radio play, or something.  Who knows?

We have an election coming up and hopefully Baritt Obamney or Mick Rombama will win.

Like most people, I'm exhausted by this election and can't wait for it to be over.  I wish there was a way for a moderate to be in office, or that there was some way that these two polarized political parties could be forced to compromise on difficult issues.  Basically, I'm tired of feeling like America is so divided.

So, I guess I'm trying to tie in the title of this song, "Nothing Wrong," as a way to illustrate something that makes me crazy about politics.  It's politicians general inability to admit when they've either done something wrong, or made a mistake or poor choice.  Wouldn't it be refreshing to have some political figure who we could relate to as a flawed human being who is just trying to do the best he or she can?  And really, look at these two men who are fighting to be the next American president.  Is either one of them really the monster that each opposing side makes them out to be?  I think these are both great guys, who work hard, love America, love their families, and honestly are tying to do the best they can.

If I had a choice, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama would run this country together and work together to make this an even better place than it already is.  Of course, their pride and egos would never let this happen, and if something went wrong, the one would blame the other.

Wow, I think this is the most political thing I've ever said. 

XFire

I'm feeling a little uninspired (as always, but more so than normal) but here is the song I heard this morning. 

This is from a Super Group called The Bens, which is composed of Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, and Ben Lee.  Each of these guys has great solo albums.  They released a 4 track EP together in 2004 and this is the second track on the album.