What's your "desperado"?

[Super Amputee Cat]

What song causes you to just zone out?

I am very prone to certain songs. They affect me in profound ways. Many songs instill a kind of "blast-from-the-past" by conjuring up certain memories that can only recall when hearing that particular song which quickly dissipates when the song is over. The song actually enhances the memory in a way.

The '60s British Rock band the Moody Blues had many songs that were that way. (Then again, that was their trademark). Songs like Lovely to See You, Question and Isn't Life Strange were some of the most mesmerizing tunes I had ever heard.

But the ultimate was a song called Tuesday Afternoon which was probably their most popular hit after Nights in White Satin. I heard this song way back in 1978 when I was first starting to get into rock 'n roll.

When I started hearing the song a lot in the early '80s, it reminded me of those happier days in 1978. However, they only played the first part of the song. It was supposed to be played with a follow up song called Evening Time to Get Away but most pop stations usually cut out before playing that second part.

On June 14, 1982, I was driving downtown when I heard both songs played back to back for the first time in years. I was so floored, so affected after hearing that song, that I just walked around in a daze for the rest of the day, unable to get it out of my mind. It brought back some long-forgotten distant memory that had been locked up in my mind for years.

Ironically, nowadays, the song Question brings back memories of 1982, the year I was most into the Moody Blues. If anyone is familiar with that song, it's that change in tempo early in the song that is most affecting, when the lead singer starts to sing "I'm looking for..."

Anyone else ever affected by a song to this great a degree?

 

[el Guapo]

Almost any Van Morrison song...

 

[Budgie]

I lose control.

The song that grabs hold of my being is "Damage Incorporated" by Metallica. I've injured myself twice while thrashing uncontrollable to it. I never listen to it in the car for this very reason.

CLIFF, REST IN PEACE.

 

[JNA]

Traffic's Freedom Rider
Renaissance's Ocean Gypspy

 

[H]

Music has a dramatic affect on my psyche. A song can take me to a place and time very easily. It will ignite feelings of love, joy, sorrow, anger…. It will remind me of friends, girls, events, etc.

I have to many songs to list and there is no certain category either.

I always have music on in the background (except for the doses of news on NPR) at home and at work.

Music encourages feelings.

Right now NPR is on and playing a sort of nuevo classical jazz hour. (the game is on mute )

 

[Super Amputee Cat]

Music has a dramatic affect on my psyche. A song can take me to a place and time very easily. It will ignite feelings of love, joy, sorrow, anger…. It will remind me of friends, girls, events, etc.

I have to many songs to list and there is no certain category either.

I always have music on in the background (except for the doses of news on NPR) at home and at work.

Music encourages feelings.

Right now NPR is on and playing a sort of nuevo classical jazz hour. (the game is on mute )

Music has a deep-seated profound effect on me also. In all of the emotions you mention. I find myself "choreographing" certain songs to events in my life - like it's part of a soundtrack.

 

[Jessie-J]

Paul van Dyk

 

[Tom R]

touchytunes

It depends, sometimes one song, some times another. Here's a short list.

Suite Judy Blue Eyes - CSN
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys - Traffic
The Weight - The Band
Little Wing - J. Hendrix (I actually like Derick & the Dominoes version better.)
Ohio - CYNY (Nuff said)

 

[Jeff]

Depends on the mood/genre I'm into that week, but some all time faves .....


Scarley Begonias>Fire on the Mountain -- GD
Mexico -- moe.
Out There -- Paul van Dyk (anything spun by him really)
Horse>Silent in the Morning -- Phish
To Live is to Die -- Metallica RIP Cliff

 

[SW MI Planner]

Music has a dramatic affect on my psyche. A song can take me to a place and time very easily. It will ignite feelings of love, joy, sorrow, anger…. It will remind me of friends, girls, events, etc.

Definately me too. You can name most any song, and I can tell you where it takes me, and how it makes me feel and why. The two that to this day still makes me stop in my tracks and get this tight feeling in my chest - Patience by GnR and Love Song by Tesla. Don't ask, long ass story

 

[Rumpy Tunanator]

Whenever I want to zone out, I throw in Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

 

[Plannerbabs]

I've noticed that whatever song gets stuck in my head, is indicative of the mood I'm in. For example, if "Voodoo Chile" (Hendrix, of course) gets in there, it's time for a roadtrip whether I consiouscly realized it or not. If it's "Roman Candle", (the late lamented Elliot Smith) future Mr. Plannerbabs has probably done something to tick me off.

 

[Chet]

The Smiths - Every Day is Like Sunday

Take me out,
tonight
cuz I want to see people and I want to see light....

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Its all mood based.

The neat thing about music is being aware of whats in the music. When a lyric matches the soul of the music, you have a combination that is BETTER than PROZAC for internal mood control.

Bethovens 9th symphony can do all of that and more without lyrics.

 

[Gedunker]

When you are as old as dirt, like me, there are a lot of songs that trigger emotions, but when I hear this one I have to go off to be alone with memories bitter and sweet.

Some other time baby
When I'm strong and feeling fine maybe
When I can look at you without crying
You might look like a friend of mine

But I don't know if I can
Open up enough to let you in
Here come those tears
Here come those tears again
Just walk away
I'm going back inside and turning out those light
And I'll be in the dark but you'll be out of sight

Jackson Browne -- "Here Come Those Tears Again"

 

[tsc]

Theme from "welcome back kotter"
Supremes "Reflections"
Cyndi Lauper "Time after Time"
Dusty Sprinfield "Son of Preacher Man"
Any old Stones...
Talking Heads "Stop Making Sense"

 

[Mastiff]

Blind Faith - Can't Find My Way Home
Cream - Badge

Jackson Brown's "Running on Empty" brings back a ton of good memories, and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" just about does me in. (I have a friend who has "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" etched in his headstone...)

 

[otterpop]

I agree with a lot of the songs already mentioned. "Low Sparks . . ." is a definite, so is "Desperado".

I found that "Nights in White Satin" was a great song for finding out if a girl was going to let you go farther. Slowdance to that one and if she didn't let you get in her pants by the end of the evening, you were never getting there.

Pink Floyd and King Crimson are great for zoning. Especially in my younger days when before listening I would herbally enhance.

One of my very favorite mood altering songs is "Glad" by Traffic. Great for getting you going in the morning or if you are feeling a little low.

 

[Repo Man]

The Stone Roses - This is the One or I Wanna Be Adored - I completely zone out when I hear either of those two.

The Beautiful South - Song For Whoever

Bad Religion - Atomic Garden

I agree with SAC about the Moody Blues "Lovely To See You Again"

Radiohead - Street Spirit [Fade Out] and You and whose army?

 

[mendelman]

Does anybody really know what time it is? - Chicago

Tale of the Edmund Fitzgerald - (Edit) Gordon Lightfoot

Sad Songs and Waltzes - Cake

 

[Tom R]

tunes

Does anybody really know what time it is? - Chicago

Tale of the Edmund Fitzgerald - (can't remember the guy's name)

Gordon Lightfoot

 

[Gedunker]

OT: Anybody see the documentary about the sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald? Very well done. They think she drove down into a wave trough and broke in two when the bow struck the bottom of the lake. Terrible way to go out.

 

[Tom R]

E F

OT: Anybody see the documentary about the sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald? Very well done. They think she drove down into a wave trough and broke in two when the bow struck the bottom of the lake. Terrible way to go out.

They also said that the cargo hatches may not have been secured properly. I think they recovered the ship's bell.

 

[Cardinal]

Robert Cray (esp. Strong Persuader)

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Mr. Lightfoot. This just freezes me when I hear it. There is something eerie about it. Of course he is telling the story of the loss of 29 lives on Lake Superior.

"The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald"
by Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the chippewa on down of the big lake they called Gitchigumi, The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy

With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty. That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed when the "gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side coming back from some mill in Wisconsin, As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most with a crew and good captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms when they left fully loaded for Cleveland, And later that night when the ship's bell rang, could it be the north wind they'd be feeling?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound and a wave tumbled over the railing, And every man knew, as the captain did too, T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait when the gales of November came slashing, When afternoon came it was freezing rain, In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck saying "Fellas, its's too rough to feed ya." At seven PM the main hatchway caved in, he said "Fellas, it's been good to know ya."

The captain wired in, he had water coming in, and the good ship and crew was in peril. And later that night when his lights went out of sight, Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours? The searchers all say they'd have made whitefish Bay If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized; They may have broke deep and took water. All that remains are the faces and the names of the wives, and the sons, and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings, in the rooms of her icewater mansion, Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams; The isles and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below, Lake Ontaro, Takes in what Lake Erie can send her, And the iron boats go as the mariners all know, With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed, In the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral." The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times, One For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down, of the big lake they call Gitchigumi.. Superior, they say, never gives up her dead when the gales of November come early.


Also, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and sometimes Young - Southern Cross

 

[martini]

I mentioned this over on the 'listening' thread, but it appropriate here as well.

Son Volt's 'Trace' puts me into that kind of mood. The whole damned album does that. I just get this far off emotional pull to travel west. Long days on the road, wife beside me, dog sleeping in the back seat and bikes on the roof, and slight knowing smile on my face. Life is good when I listen to that. Kinda funny to know that sucha downer of an album makes me feel that way.

There's many, many more out there that do that as well. Just mostly single songs though, not the whole album.

 

[Super Amputee Cat]

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Mr. Lightfoot. This just freezes me when I hear it. There is something eerie about it. Of course he is telling the story of the loss of 29 lives on Lake Superior.

Yes, an instant classic if there ever was one, this is a song that you hardly ever hear anymore on the radio even on oldies stations. I guess the song's 6+ minute length doesn't fit into their truncated playlists full of tired old 3-minute 1960s and '70s pop tunes and commercial segways.

 

[Greenescapist]

A few songs that come to mind...."Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley, "Our Way to Fall" by Yo La Tengo, "Let Down" by Radiohead, "Teardrop" by Massive Attack.

 

[FueledByRamen]

"Say It Ain't So" - Weezer

 

[Plannerbabs]

"Under the Milky Way" by the Church. I hear it, and immediately I'm 15, back in Montpellier, France, listening to a conversation I can't understand outside my bedroom window, 4000 miles from home.

 

[SkeLeton]

"Under the Milky Way" by the Church. I hear it, and immediately I'm 15, back in Montpellier, France, listening to a conversation I can't understand outside my bedroom window, 4000 miles from home.

If I hear that.. I get flashes of Donnie Darko..

 

[Habanero]

Jill by Harry Connick Jr. it's an important song for me and the giant.

 

[The Irish One]

Border Line by Madonna. It was 6th grade, I had a crush on her, Borderline came on and well ever since I just fade away when that song comes on.

 

[Rumpy Tunanator]

If I hear that.. I get flashes of Donnie Darko..

6 foot rabbit haunting your dreams, err reality?

 

[donk]

Heroin by the velvet underground

Any song from the Tragically Hip's Road Apples conjures foggy memories from university.

All of the who's quadrophenia.

 

[Tom R]

bd

I'll add two from Bob Dylan:
Mr. Tambourine Man and It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleedin'.

 

[Tom R]

tunes

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/atplay/package.jsp?name=fte/stucksongs/stucksongs

 

[Downtown]

Whenever I hear songs from my beer soaked undergrad days that take me back to late nights on our sorority's karoake machine, boozily crooning natalie merchant and indigo girls while group hugging/dancing. If, by chance, "These are the Days" or "Closer to Fine" grace the radio waves, Rob knows to expect to lose his hand if he reaches for the dial. hee!

 

[Tranplanner]

late nights on our sorority's karoake machine, boozily crooning natalie merchant and indigo girls while group hugging/dancing.

Do you do this to Mike D. on purpose?

 

[Tom R]

college tunes

Whenever I hear songs from my beer soaked undergrad days that take me back to late nights on our sorority's karoake machine, boozily crooning natalie merchant and indigo girls while group hugging/dancing. If, by chance, "These are the Days" or "Closer to Fine" grace the radio waves, Rob knows to expect to lose his hand if he reaches for the dial. hee!

We used to play "The Stripper" (David Rose Orch.) or "Why don't we get drunk and screw?" J. Buffett.

 

[Super Amputee Cat]

The Stone Roses - This is the One or I Wanna Be Adored - I completely zone out when I hear either of those two.

The Beautiful South - Song For Whoever

Bad Religion - Atomic Garden

I agree with SAC about the Moody Blues "Lovely To See You Again"

Radiohead - Street Spirit [Fade Out] and You and whose army?

I agree with I Wanna Be Adored, although for years I thought it was "I wanna be a door.."

My favorite track from Radiohead has always been Stop Whispering. It reminds me of driving to Chicago in October, 1983

Another band that has a lot of zone out tunes is Genesis. The band is well known for six and seven minute epics than are full of haunting melodies. For a time during the 1970s and early 1980s, they were considered to be the ultimate AOR band (Album Oriented Radio is a long extinct radio format - popular during the '70s and '80s - in which many songs from the album would be played at the same time, rather than one at a time like those annoying commercial pop stations)

Genesis' songs take me way back. Here a few of them and the time they remind me of

Keep It Dark - Nov' 81
It's Gonna Get Better - Spring '86
Follow You Follow Me - Spring '86
Throwing It All Away - Summer ' 86
In The Glow of The Night - Spring '87
Driving in the Last Spike - Summer '92
Fading Lights - Fall '92

Plus this one infectious tune that I remember from the early 1980s (off Abacab?) that I do not know the title of.

 

[biscuit]

Radiohead - Street Spirit [Fade Out] and You and whose army?

Yes, that and How To Disappear Completely, from their Kid A album, are two of my all time favorite "zone out" songs.

 

[SkeLeton]

In order:

• PT - Signify - Light Mass Prayer
• NIN - The Downward Spiral - A Warm Place
• PT - On The Sunday of Life - Begonia Seduction Scene
• PT - Recordings - Ambulance Chasing
• PT - Signify - Dark Matter

Right now: #1 is playing... sooooo sooothing....

 

[Mastiff]

Genesis' songs take me way back. Here a few of them and the time they remind me of

Keep It Dark - Nov' 81
It's Gonna Get Better - Spring '86
Follow You Follow Me - Spring '86
Throwing It All Away - Summer ' 86
In The Glow of The Night - Spring '87
Driving in the Last Spike - Summer '92
Fading Lights - Fall '92

Plus this one infectious tune that I remember from the early 1980s (off Abacab?) that I do not know the title of.

Way back?! Ouch... My "way back" songs from Genesis are with Pete Gabriel. Stuff from "Lamb lies Down on Broadway", "Foxtrot", maybe "Nursery Cryme"...

 

[Super Amputee Cat]

Way back?! Ouch... My "way back" songs from Genesis are with Pete Gabriel. Stuff from "Lamb lies Down on Broadway", "Foxtrot", maybe "Nursery Cryme"...

I know that is relatively late in the life-cycle of the band, but for me, it's another dimension of time. We're talking half my life ago for some of these songs.

I never heard much Genesis when Gabriel was still in the band. The only tune I am familiar with is Broadway . But perhaps I would recognize more if I heard them.