You're Changing Your Heart

In this post I think I'm going to recount my top 5 all time favorite songs.  Here we go!

1. "Buzz Saw" by Xiu Xiu.  I'm not sure why but I think it is in the simple honesty which Jamie writes and sings this song (and all of his songs).  It such a somber quiet song and you can just feel the sense of loss and longing in his voice.

[Quote] "I'm not like that.  I'm not so good.  you'll want to run away for us"

2. "Slow Dance on the Inside" by Taking Back Sunday.  I'm totally not afraid to say I LOVE THIS SONG.  Another really romantic song.  It nearly brings me to tears with all the different emotions it conveys and I can relate to.  Plus, I've always been a sucker for sing-song choruses and gang vocals.

[Quote] "This glass house is burning down, if you light the match I'll stick around.  I'll give you everything you want and wish the worst on what I was"

3. "The Saddest Story Ever Told" by The Magnetic Fields.  Its a sad sad song with a great dance beat.  You really can't beat that, just dance your tears away all through the night.  Its got a slightly muddy 60s sound that I love in a lot of their music.

[Quote] "Those days are gone, you and I where young those summer nights.  you'll see the world diving for a girl you'll never find...and then we'll quietly grow old, the saddest story ever told"

4. "Its Gonna Take a Miracle" by Laura Nyro.  Laura Nyro is basically the most amazing vocalist to ever live on this green earth.  She has such a heartbroken and soulful voice.  Its almost like she is singing you a personal lullaby.  Its so amazing how someone can pour themselves into their work like she did.  Its even more unfortunate that after a life of heart break and constant depression she finally settled down with the love of her life and died soon after.

[Quote] "Its gonna take a miracle to make me love someone new 'cause I'm crazy for you"

5.  "Half Right" by Elliot Smith.  Elliot Smith has this crippling way of orchestrating a song.  His quiet yet distressed voice conveying his somber songs really tare straight through me.  Especially in this very pared down song.  The quiet almost humming vocals are really amazing and so heart wrenching.  He was yet another artist who took his life only after his 3rd album was released and he was in the midst of record "From a Basement on a Hill".  Sometimes just listening to his songs can bring me to tears or make me smile from ear to ear. 

[Quote]"Well you shouldn't talk to yourself.  Well I pictured somebody else, someone that looks like what I look like"

There is obviously many, many more songs I love and hold close to my heart but these are the all time top 5 that I will never put behind me.  

-Chris