A Music Tag

It's Monday again, a day which would normally be like any other day in the summer, but adult life isn't as kind. I have my internship, which is rather fun, only I have to bike an obscene amount in very hot weather for absolutely no money. But at least I feel like I'm doing something relatively useful.

Anyway, after concluding the same song titles series I wanted to do a Music Monday which would possibly include me gathering some of my favourite songs to dump on the (admittedly very small) unsuspecting readership. I found this tag on (Hungarian blogger) Bree's blog, which I promptly stole. The real challenge was not to include too many songs from my absolute favourites, so I tried to stick to one song per band.
(Long post ahead with youtube links!)

1: A song you like with a color in the title

I didn't even have to think. A colour I like in a song I like by the band I like. Contrary to what you'd expect, it's almost a proper love song. Or more like a love song to love itself.

2: A song you like with a number in the title

It's not my favourite one of such a selection, but the opportunity for such a fine little joke was too good to pass up.

3: A song that reminds you of summertime

Uhm yeah, let me search among my immense collection of death metal... I mean no... This song is a pretty mellow progressive one, and it has a very nostalgic quality about it, one which I mainly associate with high school summers nostalgia.

4: A song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about

I honestly can't think about a person like that, unless talking about my sexist-racist high school IT teacher or leading politicians of our current government. So rather, it's a song I'd send to a hypothetical hated person.

5: A song that needs to be played LOUD

What metal doesn't need to be played loud? But if something really does, it's power metal.

6:A song that makes you want to dance

I must confess, I don't dance to metal (gasp). So here, have this.

7: A song to drive to

I'm sorry, but this song is The Ultimate Roadtrip Song for me.

8: A song about drugs or alcohol

Uhm. Drugs are kinda scarce around these parts of Scandinavian metal. Now, about alcohol...

Please know that you are supposed to laugh.

9: A song that makes you happy

HAHA. It's not a happy song per se, but Radwimps is the only band which makes almost-happy music that I genuinely love.

10: A song that makes you sad

Again, haha. I have loads like that. But the saddest kind of music I listen to is surely atmospheric black metal and funeral doom. This is the former.

11: A song that you never get tired of

I'm the kind of person who listens to favourites extensively. So here have one which isn't even in a language I understand.

12: A song from your preteen years

I didn't start to listen to my own music until I was about 12, and The Beatles was still the best my mother listened to, so.

13: One of your favorite 80’s songs

Oh why mom, why couldn't you pick 80's Iron Maiden instead of 80's pop?

14: A song that you would love played at your wedding

Even though I'm not as thrilled by the idea of marriage as most girls, this is the song I want to be played anyway. (This is the live version with Floor Jansen.)

15: A song that is a cover by another artist

It's a heavily rewritten cover of the famous Mecano song, but that's why I love it - it's not a simple cover as much as a re-imagining, and it's beautiful.

16: One of your favorite classical songs

This is kind of my brother's influence, but also, Antonín Dvořák is pretty metal as far as classical music goes.

17: A song that you would sing a duet with on karaoke

And it would suck, because Sharon den Adel's voice >>>(times 1000)>>> my voice.

18: A song from the year that you were born

The two best albums of 1993 for me would be Bad Religion's Recipe for Hate and Carcass' most renowned masterpiece Heartwork. This song is from the latter.

19: A song that makes you think about life

Loads of songs do that, so have one deceptively titled which really is more about how you live than how you die, but you know, same difference.

20: A song that has many meanings to you

Has many meanings? I tend to either have a full understanding or associated stories about songs. However, that's sometimes not the case with progressive metal, which has lyrics that are really hard to place. In this song, for example, it's not so clear to me who the lines are really about. Who's singing? Who's the story really about? What even is the story?

21: A favorite song with a person’s name in the title

Is Mephisto a person? Yes? Good.

22: A song that moves you forward

As catchy and electronic as melodeath gets.

23: A song that you think everybody should listen to

Wintersun's Time I album, to be honest... Melodic death encompasses everything I love about metal, but that particular album is so unbelievably beautiful - if something can convert non-believers, this must be it.

24: A song by a band you wish were still together

In Flames is still technically together, but Jesper Strömblad is no longer in the band, which, as many fans of old In Flames could tell you, makes the band as good as gone. While I don't necessarily agree, I don't regard it to be the same band, so an old song of theirs should count.

25: A song by an artist no longer living

Well, the rest of the band is still very much living, but Joe Strummer isn't here anymore. And if old-school punk, I always have to go with The Clash.

26: A song that makes you want to fall in love

Nothing really makes me want to fall in love, but okay, have a very literal love song.

27: A song that breaks your heart

I know this is supposed to be a love song that makes you think of an old relationship or a funeral song or something, but I have none of the former and all too much of the latter. Instead, have a song about war, because if one thing really breaks my heart, it's just that.

28: A song by an artist with a voice that you love

I'm very certain about these favourites. Sharon den Adel is my favourite female vocalist and Mathias Nygård is my favourite male vocalist. Since we already hade Within Temptation, have some Turisas too.

29: A song that you remember from your childhood

My mother's music. Celine Dion, Abba, awful, awful 80s pop. Out of that, Celine Dion is the best by far. Maybe that's where my love for female vocalists with unreasonably good voices comes from, only now with 90% more metal.

30: A song that reminds you of yourself

Omnium Gatherum is up there with my favourite bands, even if not quite making the very top. Their New World Shadows album is almost as much me as Insomnium's Shadows of the Dying Sun. This song is not objectively the best out of the bunch, but neither am I, and it just really gets me. This is my theme song.