itunes > Music Store > Celebrity Playlists > Studs of TMC > Steve Crawford's Playlist

So I was just killing time, looking at celebrity playlists on itunes the other day, and I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool if I had my own celebrity playlist (as if having a blog wasn't egotistic enough)? So last night, I used some of the itunes music store gift cards I got for my birthday and I bought about 20 or so songs that I have always liked but have never had in my music library. I figured that this is about as good a celebrity playlist there is, so I'll share it with you (for lack of a better way of figuring out what the best order to put them in would be, I've put them in order from when I first heard them):




Track No.#1: "Runaround Sue" by Dion-- Growing up, all we would listen to in the car were oldies. And whenever this one would come on, Dad would try to teach my brother and I an object lesson, using the title character of this song to illustrate the adulterous woman of Proverbs 7-- and why we should stay away from such girls. Well, in a way, I guess it's worked. I'm 20 and my brother's 17 and neither of us have had a girlfriend; or much luck with girls, period. Thank you, Runaround Sue.

Track No.#2: "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison-- First of all, people with brown eyes get a bum rap, compared to people with green or (gasp) blue eyes. Second of all, this song has one of the most fun guitar riffs ever (which I happened to have recently taught myself on the guitar). Third, this song just rocks, period.

Track No.#3: "Do You Believe in Magic" by The Lovin' Spoonful-- This is yet another classic oldie that I grew up listening to. It also is just a fun, kick-back, relaxing song. No, I do not believe in magic. Yes, I read the Harry Potter novels. Sue me.

Track No.#4: "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett-- Ok, ok; I know, I know. This holiday diddy is cheesy at best. But if you know me, you know that I absolutely LOVE old-time black-and-white horror flicks from the 30's, 40's, and 50's, and any song that mentions my heroes Dracula and the Wolf-Man is a great song in my book.

Track No.#5: "The Way" by Fastball-- Our first non-oldie of the mix, "The Way" was a hit song back when I was in 6th grade; it was on Radio Disney all the time. Don't get on my case 'cuz I listened to Radio Disney- that and K-EARTH 101 (the local Oldies station) were all I was allowed to listen to. Besides the whole nostalgia factor, I also like this song because of some of the questions it raises regarding issues such as responsibility, adulthood, and the path of life.

Track No.#6: "Love Train" by The O'Jays-- I first heard this song on a "Best of the 70's" mix back in 9th grade and I thought it was really cool. Now it's the theme song for all those Coors Beer commercials when a freezing train made up of beer cans comes rushing past a bunch of people who are sweating profusely in order to bring them the cool refreshment of intoxicating alcohol. GAG. At least the song is still cool.

Track No.#7: "Follow You Down" by The Gin Blossoms-- I liked this song from the first time I heard it. You may recall that it was the song played in the climax of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days", when Matthew McConaughey is riding on his motorcycle to prevent Kate Hudson from leaving New York because he realizes he loves her despite the fact that she totally played him like an old fiddle. But that's not why I like this song. I like the song because of it's use of the Harmonica. Putting a harmonica in a rock n' roll song can either sound really good or really lame, and here the Gin Blossoms pulled it off. But as I learn more about the role of the man and the woman in a biblical, God-honoring relationship, I realize that this song isn't biblically accurate. Bummer.

Track No.#8: “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers—First of all, the coolness factor of this song is exponentially multiplied by the fact that the guys singing are SCOTTISH (I’m part Scottish, in case you didn’t know). Secondly, it is my firm conviction that this is one of the best work-out songs EVER. I’m not kidding. Whenever this song comes on my ipod while I’m lifting or running, I lift harder and run faster. I think it has something to do with the line “when I’m workin’, I’ll be workin’ hard fer you.” Yeah, I think that’s it.

Track No.#9: “99 Red Balloons” (edited version) by Goldfinger—This song is about a boy and a girl who buy 99 red balloons, blow them up, let them go, and inadvertently bring about worldwide nuclear destruction. This is one of the most driving hard core rock songs I like, and it was an all-time favorite when it came time to psych myself up to KILL KILL KILL on the football field back in my glory days on the high school gridiron. Also, one of the verses is sung in German, and I’m a big fan of that because the part of me that’s not Scottish or Irish is German (to quote Michael Scott, I’m a veritable United Nations—two-fifteenths Native American Indian).

Track No.#10: “Walking on the Sun” (edited version) by Smash Mouth—I love to sing—anytime, anywhere. But that’s not the case with my brother. However, this song is the only song that I’ve ever seen him just bust out while we’re driving in the car. It’s catchy, despite it’s semi-liberal message. Ugh. Liberal.

Track No.#11: “Sweet Tequila Blues” by Carrie Rodriguez & Chip Taylor—Ok, this is how country music should sound. I absolutely LOVE this song. I hope one day I’m good enough on guitar to bust this one out; it rocks. Besides the incredible vocal harmony, this song features a couple of great fiddle solos. For those of you who say you “hate” country, you got to at least try this one out. It’s great.

Track No.#12: “Accidentally in Love” by Counting Crows-- This song came out right at the end of my senior year of high school; you might remember it as the main song from the Shrek 2 soundtrack. Anyway, it is a hard core song, and I remember that the music video was pretty good, what with the dancing rabbit and that guy trying to make breakfast but failing miserably.

Track No.#13: “A Long December” by Counting Crows—Alright, I know what you’re thinking—it was most definitely not my goal to have two songs by the same artist and most definitely I did not want to have them right next to each other. But that’s how it worked out in the whole chronological thing. My roommate freshman year loved Counting Crows and Dashboard Confessional. For some odd reason, I came to love Counting Crows too, but I utterly despise the whiny punks of Dashboard. Anyway, this song is so legit, I had to include it, even though I already had another Crows song (but give me some credit; I was tempted to add “Mr. Jones”, but I thought that’d be a little much).

Track No.#14: “The Distance” (edited version) by Cake—I heard this song last summer while riding around the beautiful SCV with my boss Pete and I got it stuck in my head for most of the summer. I think it had something to do with the monotone voice of the singer, the steady driving bass line, and the intermittent staccato trumpets (which, as a fan of ska, I might add is a nice touch). Anyway, this was the Summer ’05 Pete Bargas’ Car song.

Track No.#15: “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin—I have none other than Joseph Paul Keller to thank for making me a fan of this song; I heard it on his itunes last summer while working in King Hall. It is my tribute to the Frank Sinatra genre of music, which I enjoy, but not nearly as much as some of my friends do. Too bad that this was basically Bobby Darin’s only real hit—he will forever go down in musical history as one of the first “one-hit wonders”.

Track No.#16: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something—The first time I ever heard this song was actually on VH1’s worst-song-ever countdown, and as I was listening to these actors (notice how they don’t get musicians to critique the songs, they have actors and comedians who are so puffed up with their supposed pop-culture knowledge they’re about ready to explode give their own two cents on the songs) go on and on how this song is horrible, and while I would agree, that you shouldn’t really stay in a relationship just because the only thing you have in common is the fact that you like a certain movie, the song is really fun to listen to. Also, it’s got some great guitar solos. And by the way, I’ve never seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s and I don’t really plan to.

Track No.#17: “100 Years” by Five For Fighting—Despite the fact that this song was played to death in all those Chase Credit Card commercials, I really like it because of it’s focus on the brevity of life, which, in case you haven’t figured out by the title of my blog, is a huge theme for me. Life is short, even if you live to be one hundred years old. What Five For Fighting misses, however, is that despite life’s brevity, we must live all of it for the glory of our Lord.

Track No.#18: “I Saw the Light” by David Crowder Band—I really wrestled with the idea of putting a David Crowder song in my favorites playlist, seeing how he’s Emergent Church. Also, there’s definitely something wrong with the theology found in the line “I wouldn’t let my dear Savior in” (as if there was anything we could do to deny the Irresistible Grace of Salvation). However, any praise song that has fiddle and banjo and a bunch of people cheering in the background is a hit to me, so I decided to add this one to the list.

Track No.#19: “Mighty is the Power of the Cross” by Chris Tomlin—This song is beautiful, plain and simple. Just beautiful. I first heard while driving to church with three of my best friends last semester. Nothing really refocuses your mind on the Gospel than the message of the Cross and the One who shed His blood so you and I might live.

Track No.#20: “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds— I’ll come out and say it: 80’s music rocks. I am not ashamed. There’s something about hearing a wailing synthesizer that makes me smile. And this is a classic 80’s song—one of the chart-topping hits of 1985, to be exact. Also, this was the main song featured in one of my all-time top-ten favorite movies, The Breakfast Club. Great movie. Just make sure you watch it edited on TV, ‘cuz there’s a ton of swearing, but overall, it is a fantastic portrayal of how lost people with no hope view life.

Track No.#21: “The General” by Dispatch— If “The Distance” by Cake was the Summer ’05 Pete Bargas’ Car song, then “The General” by Dispatch is the Summer ’06 one. This song is absolutely incredible. The vocals are excellent. The guitar playing is superb. Listening to this song is like drinking a perfect cup of coffee on brisk autumn morning or biting into a warm Krispy Kreme donut fresh off the conveyor belt. But more than the acoustic features of this song, I really enjoy the questions it raises: “are all wars just?”, “is duty relative?”, “who really has the authority to forgive?” This is song is amazing; listen to it.

Track No.#22: “Blowin’ In the Wind” by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes— In case you couldn’t tell by the first four songs of the playlist, I love oldies. That’s why I have a special place in my heart for bands like Me First and the Gimme Gimmes who take oldies and re-do them. Often times, I like the re-done version better than the first. This song is a Bob Dylan classic done to punk rock. I know, I know, it’s as great as it sounds. I’m also a HUGE Bob Dylan fan, so this song was perfect for my favorites playlist.

Track No.#23: “All My Tears” by Jars of Clay— I’ve loved Jars of Clay since I went on my first missions trip before my Junior year of High school, and this song follows in the tradition of their best hits such as “Flood” and “This Road”. This is a song you can buy exclusively on itunes music store and it is well worth the 99 cents. They describe it as a modern-day Hymn. I enjoy it’s heaven-centered lyrics and it’s somewhat melancholy tune. It’s also a super-easy song to play on the guitar; I taught it to myself in about twenty minutes. Great song.

Track No.#24: “Sunny Road” by Emiliana Torrini— And so we come to the last song on the playlist, which is interestingly the only song here sung by a female artist. I’m not chauvinistic in my music tastes (or in anything else for that matter), I just have happened to listen to more male artists than female artists. I really enjoy this song, not just because Miss Torrini has such a unique voice, but because of the folky sound the song has. I also like how the song doesn’t musically resolve itself like you think it will. It is a great song to round out my favorite playlist.





And there you have it. My very own celebrity playlist. However, if you have read this whole post up to this point, I do not offer my congratulations. Why on earth would you waste your time reading what amounts to about 4 pages of my music tastes? Go read the Bible. Sheesh.






Ah music. A magic beyond all we do here!

---Albus Dumbledore





Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

---Victor Hugo





Music is a discipline, and a mistress of order and good manners, she makes the people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable.

---Martin Luther