The Wombat File Is Yours to Keep: Quiz Break, with a Question

Events in the burrow got away from us last night, and so there is no Quiz this morning. Rest your weary noodles and prepare for the noggin-drainers to come.

In the meanwhile, here's something I've been thiniking about . My sense of my favorite songs -- those that prompt a feeling of real excitement or satisfaction when I hear them -- means an ever-changing list. But there are some songs about which I'd say I have an unchanged response since the first time I heard them. I'm thinking of music I first heard at least a decade or more ago, but still feel about in the same way I first did.

I've been trying to make a list with a goal of 100 songs about which I could say this, with no artist repeats. Here's a few...

The Pretenders, "Message of Love"
Elvis Costello, "Beyond Belief"
Men at Work, "Overkill"
Adam and the Ants, "Beat My Guest"
Roxy Music, "2HB"
R.E.M. "Gardening at Night"
Belle and Sebastian, "Seeing Other People"
Game Theory, "Like a Girl Jesus"
Nina Simone, "Nobody's Fault But Mine"
James Brown, "Mother Popcorn"
Dream Syndicate, "Tell Me When it's Over"
Charlie Parker, "Segment"
The Balancing Act, "Searchin' for this Thing"
The Velvet Underground, "Beginning to See the Light"
David Bowie, "Queen Bitch"
Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Sixteen Tons"
Milton Nascimento , "San Vicente"
Patti Smith, "Piss Factory"

There are more, obviously. The point is, do you have songs which remain, in a sense, evergreen for you? Ones which are old in your personal history but forever young in your ears?

Comments

Damn you, wombat, I've got STUFF TO DO.

Here's a few --
Camper Van Beethoven -- Good Guys and Bad Guys. There are a couple of CVB tunes that would be shoo-ins if repeats were allowed. But for a period, I would slip this cassette in as I was starting any road trip, and this song always gives me a thrill of anticipation. (At the suggestion of the organizer of the International Mixtape Project, I made my March 2007 mix an accounting of my last 20 years, and started it with GGBG, to mark the start of the trek.) And actually, some lead off tracks just give me the thrill of starting the journey through a particularly loved album, which is why, for Television, See No Evil gets the nod. Though much of the album causes a pavlovian twitch to the volume knob of m'ipod, and Marquee Moon in particular is very evocative for me, linked to my first drive through NYC. Orcestra Marrabenta Star de Mocambique's Nwahulwana is another lead track (from the comp Trance Planet) which signifies treats to come, though it is my favorite by far from the album. It always both relaxes and excites me. For less effusion-causing reasons, I'll take Giant Sand - Wonder, Meat Puppets - Lost, Thin White Rope - Not Your Fault, Son Volt - Out of the Picture, The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset I might have taken "Not Like Everybody Else" but. . . sniffle. Bongwater - Drum (A lot of these have close competition from siblings) Replacements - Favorite Thing, Vic Chesnutt - Where We You, Lyle Lovett - This Old Porch OK, Gotta stop.

Posted by: herbivorous | April 13, 2007 02:11 PM

Whre Were You.

Posted by: herbivorous | April 13, 2007 02:12 PM

Dmmit!

Posted by: herbivorous | April 13, 2007 02:13 PM

Offhand, I would add: Starpower, by Sonic Youth
Hurt, by Trent Reznor/Johnny Cash cover is nice, and basically only improves the song
Smells like Teen Spirit, Nirvana

Posted by: bootsy3000 | April 13, 2007 03:41 PM

Mine are embarrassing.

Posted by: boxjam | April 13, 2007 04:15 PM

I'm going to resist temptation and list only a few.

Tom Waits - Burma Shave
Interpol - Evil
They Might Be Giants - Kiss Me, Son of God
Aimee Mann - How Am I Different?
Cashmere Jungle Lords - Mamma La Bamba (anyone have this digitally?)
Bongwater - You Don't Love Me Yet
The Beta Band - She's the One
Beulah - A Good Man Is Easy To Kill
Rapeman - Budd
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Remember The Mountain Bed
Bishop Allen - Busted Heart
Bob Dylan - Visions Of Johanna (live version)
Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done
XTC - Snowman
Felt - Primitive Painters
The Flaming Lips - Shine on Sweet Jesus
George Clinton - Atomic Dog
Police - pretty much anything from Ghost in the Machine, say "Every Little Thing..."
Madness - It Must Be Love
Richard Thompson - Hard on Me
PJ Harvey - Sheela Na Gig
Prefab Sprout - Don't Sing
Public Enemy - Bring the Noise
Robyn Hitchcock - Linctus House
The Smiths - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
Talking Heads - I Zimbra

must stop.

Some do not make the 10 year cut. More recently I'd add Radiohead, Elliot Smith, Arcade Fire, Marvin Pontiac, The Mountain Goats, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sufjan Stevens, and others.

BTW, how does one gain entry to the International Mixtape Project (IMP)? Does it depend on this list above? I think I know the secret handshake.

Posted by: james | April 13, 2007 04:35 PM

Roger that, boxjam.

Posted by: Jonathan | April 13, 2007 06:06 PM

i think i just spent 2 hours on this, and it logged me out without saving it -- suffice it to say, an enjoyable task, but not possible to reconstruct (sadly)

Posted by: art | April 13, 2007 10:51 PM

Art, I'm so sorry. The 'file is a fickle mistress!

Posted by: lewombat | April 14, 2007 07:17 AM

Fun. I just did a version of this mashing up a dance mix for me wedding. Most of those were newer songs. The old ones that still make me jump inside include Piss Factory & Queen Bitch too.
Also:
Ramones: "She's the One."
Queen: "Under Pressure"
Psych Furs: "Love My Way"
Clash: "Spanish Bombs"
Lucinda Williams: "Crescent City"
Eddy Grant: "Electric Avenue"
Richard Hell: "Blank Generation"
The Fall: "Elastic Man"
Sex Pistols: Anything
English Beat: 'Mirror in the Bathroom"
Buzzcocks: "Orgasm Addict"
Gun Club: "Sex Beat"
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black: "Alaska"
Iggy Pop used to do it for me, but there have been too many commercials now.

Posted by: shananan | April 14, 2007 10:23 AM

Leave me not forget T Rex, "Girl" & Mekons, "Wild & Blue"

Posted by: shananan | April 14, 2007 10:46 AM

Oh I'm tweaked this qualifies as elderly, but, yes: L7, "Pretend We're Dead"

Posted by: shananan | April 14, 2007 10:56 AM

The Wombat File Is Yours to Keep

The Wombat File is a Delaying Tactic that May Save Your Life

Quiz Break, with a Question

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