30-day song challenge (21-30)

Here are all my selections in a Spotify Playlist

And here’s a YouTube Playlist, since I started to encounter things that weren’t on Spotify.

Here’s my post of days 1-10

And here’s 11-20

Day 21: Jolene (Miley Cyrus)

For this one, I decided to go with one of my runners-up for a cover.

I considered “Where is Claire,” a song by Buffalo Celtic Rock band Jackdaw (no longer together), but it doesn’t seem to exist online and I didn’t want to go through the effort of making it exist online.

So, today’s selection is “Jolene,” as covered by Miley Cyrus.

(I couldn’t find this one on Spotify, so here’s a link.)

Day 22: Break My Stride (Matthew Wilder)

Runners up: I’m On My Way, by the Proclaimers
Up! by Shania Twain
Send Me On My Way, by Rusted Root
Day 23: Dirty and True (Hawksley Workman)

So. The more vague these things are, the more I struggle with my choice. What song do I think everybody should listen to? ALL THE SONGS I LIKE. 

I’ve tried to narrow this one by setting myself some arbitrary rules. For example, I’ve decided not to repeat an artist (which eliminated “Boat on a River” by Styx).

I’m going to go with this odd little song by Canadian artist Hawksley Workman. I love it. I hope you enjoy it!

Day 24: My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors (Moxy Fruvous)

By the time I moved to Western New York, Moxy Fruvous had long stopped performing. I used to hold out a tiny shred of hope that maybe, one day, they would reunite for some performances. Alas, that is never to be.

I was going to go with “King of Spain,” which is a song that never fails to make me feel a little bit happy. (And never fails to make me furious when I see it show up on “Worst Canadian Songs Ever” lists), but I went with this one instead…it’s one of the covers Rand and I performed in our first concert together. (I think I have video of that, but we did not upload it to YouTube.)

Day 25: Starman (David Bowie)

Gotta admit, I thought about using a Prince song, but there’s no way to post/share a Prince song, so…

Today’s choice is “Starman.”

He’d like to come and meet us
but he thinks he’d blow our minds…

(oh, and please enjoy this ridiculous cover from “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”)

Day 26: Safe in the Arms of Love (Martina McBride)

Martina McBride has the voice of an angel.

This version of the song came out in 1995. (It was recorded and released earlier by other artists, but didn’t become a hit.) I had the album and liked the song, but I really latched onto it a couple of years later, after my first “real” relationship fell apart and I was hitting that mid-20s stage where you’re sure you’re going to be alone forever.

This song picked me up and let me hope.

“My heart’s not ready for the rocking chair
I need somebody who really cares
So tired of livin’ solitaire
Someday I’m gonna be
Safe in the arms of love…”

Day 27: I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables, performed by Anne Hathaway)

After thinking way too long about this one, I’m going with “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Mis, which is just one song of many I could have chosen from this musical in particular, never mind all the other musicals I could have chosen songs from.

Day 28: O Holy Night (performed by Collin Raye)

Because it’s Christmas Eve, I’ve chosen my favorite version of my favorite Christmas hymn. In addition to Collin Raye’s lovely tenor, I like this version because it includes what Rand and I call the “social justice” verse:

Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and his gospel is peace
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother
And in His name, all oppression shall cease

There were several runners-up for “artist whose voice I love.” Some of them (like Michelle Dockrey, Murray Head, and Martina McBride) have already appeared on this list. Others, like Jodi Krangle, I’ve mentioned in other comments (Check out Starsoul, or The Lady.)  And of course, how could I not mention my own darling husband, Rand Bellavia. (Here’s a link to Hollywood’s Ending, from Oh Okay LA)

Day 29: Total Eclipse of the Heart

I remember listening to this in the car with my mom. I’m pretty sure she had a cassette with Bonnie Tyler on one side and Air Supply on the other, which gave us two Jim Steinman tracks on the same tape!

Day 30: Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Okay, so it ended up taking me longer than 30 days to finish this, but I finished it. Nothing terribly profound to share here, but Belle has always been the Disney princess I most identified with. Books! Brown hair and eyes!