Last week at a local restuant and club called Johnny D’s, I remembered that “Stand By Me” is, whenever I hear it, my favourite song. You know what I mean. When you hear a song, it’s suddenly exactly what you wanted to hear and you remember just how much you love it. Even if you get the same little thrill two songs later, it’s your favourite then and there. Sitting with Emma while she sifted through the books and toys Johnny D’s keeps for its youngest diners, I knew that the musicians on the stage were doing the best they could together.
That thrown-together band’s gift to me was that hearing them put John Lennon’s version of “Stand By Me” at the top of the next day’s playlist. The best version?; well, maybe not to you. John uses a sharp, shallow voice here, and I think it works. After breakfast in my empty house, I went to the Songza.com web site, and found it instantly.
I love sites like Youtube and Songza when I’ve got a song that won’t give me any peace. I type in the song title, and the site finds it for me quickly. I don’t have to troll through my CD collection or cue up the song. I don’t have to listen to other songs before I hear the one I want. Just type it in, and there it is; instant gratification. For what I want in the moment, sites like Songza are great.
Another thing that these sites have going for them is that they help me educate myself. Until I typed a few words into a Songza search, I didn’t know that Tom Jones sang “You can Leave Your Hat On”, on the soundtrack of “The Full Monty.” Mere minutes after I discovered this, I knew that Joe Cocker had written the song and that his version totally kicks Tom’s variant down the stairs. Score one for search-engines!
Ah, but all is not perfect. These music sites are also rife with people who own video-cameras and instruments and who want to be seen. On music site, a selection may be labelled, “ JOE COCKER, YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON” and be mislabelled. Only when someone innocently clicks on it do they discover that the video-clip’s full title is “JOE COCKER, YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON (by Frank)” and that it presents the viewer with a skinny young man singing straight at the camera. Other clips bearing the song title and artist’s name feature musicians earnestly offering chord-by-chord lessons on how they feel the song should be played.
Sometimes, however, the need becomes too great, and I’m grateful for what I get. This afternoon I wanted to hear the old Eric Clapton song “Promises.” Amid the covers and the guitar-lessons, I found only one clip that featured Clapton playing and singing. What set this gem up as the strangest music-clip I’ve found on Youtube? The three-and-a-half video featured an ageing man jumping rope and sweating while the song played in the background. The saddest, stangest part? I watched the whole thing, more than once. When a song gets into my head, what I’ll do shocks even me. Search-engines are both blessing and curse to me.
That thrown-together band’s gift to me was that hearing them put John Lennon’s version of “Stand By Me” at the top of the next day’s playlist. The best version?; well, maybe not to you. John uses a sharp, shallow voice here, and I think it works. After breakfast in my empty house, I went to the Songza.com web site, and found it instantly.
I love sites like Youtube and Songza when I’ve got a song that won’t give me any peace. I type in the song title, and the site finds it for me quickly. I don’t have to troll through my CD collection or cue up the song. I don’t have to listen to other songs before I hear the one I want. Just type it in, and there it is; instant gratification. For what I want in the moment, sites like Songza are great.
Another thing that these sites have going for them is that they help me educate myself. Until I typed a few words into a Songza search, I didn’t know that Tom Jones sang “You can Leave Your Hat On”, on the soundtrack of “The Full Monty.” Mere minutes after I discovered this, I knew that Joe Cocker had written the song and that his version totally kicks Tom’s variant down the stairs. Score one for search-engines!
Ah, but all is not perfect. These music sites are also rife with people who own video-cameras and instruments and who want to be seen. On music site, a selection may be labelled, “ JOE COCKER, YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON” and be mislabelled. Only when someone innocently clicks on it do they discover that the video-clip’s full title is “JOE COCKER, YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON (by Frank)” and that it presents the viewer with a skinny young man singing straight at the camera. Other clips bearing the song title and artist’s name feature musicians earnestly offering chord-by-chord lessons on how they feel the song should be played.
Sometimes, however, the need becomes too great, and I’m grateful for what I get. This afternoon I wanted to hear the old Eric Clapton song “Promises.” Amid the covers and the guitar-lessons, I found only one clip that featured Clapton playing and singing. What set this gem up as the strangest music-clip I’ve found on Youtube? The three-and-a-half video featured an ageing man jumping rope and sweating while the song played in the background. The saddest, stangest part? I watched the whole thing, more than once. When a song gets into my head, what I’ll do shocks even me. Search-engines are both blessing and curse to me.
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