Media Randomness

New York magazine asks, "Who Will Be the next MIA?"

Utne Reader calms us all down by assuring us that, "Wal-Mart will never take over the world."

Postcards from Yo Momma posts something I would not be surprised to see in my email box. My mom is smart enough to know they probably are the same person, but humble enough to ask one of us to be sure.

The Wisdom of the music from Juno

Barry Louis Polisar - All I Want Is You - If you were the wood, I'd be the fire. If you were the love, I'd be the desire.

Kimya Dawson - My Rollercoaster - If home is really where the heart is then we're the smartest kids I know, because wherever we are in this great big world we'll never be more than a few hours from home, and that's important because I need to travel.

Kimya Dawson - Tire Swing - Cuz I like to be gone most of the time and you like to be home most of the time, if I stay in one place I lose my mind. I’m a pretty impossible lady to be with ...I’ve got one hand on the steering wheel, one waving out the window.

Belle & Sebastian - Piazza, New York Catcher - I will be your Ferdinand and you my wayward girl ... You’d settle for an epitaph like “Walk Away, Renee”

Kimya Dawson - Loose Lips - Broken hearts hurt but they make us strong … while we strive to figure out a way we can survive these trying times without losing our minds … and ask you what you think because your thoughts and words are powerful

Sonic Youth - Superstar - Your guitar, it sounds so sweet and clear, but you're not really there, it's just the radio

Kimya Dawson - So Nice So Smart - You're so nice and you're so smart, you're such a good friend I have to break your heart, tell you that I love you then I'll tear your world apart, just pretend I didn't tear your world apart.

Velvet Underground - I'm Sticking With You - When we swing, we hang past right or wrong.

The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You - I'm in love with how you feel.

Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunsets fine

Terry meets Julie, waterloo station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don't feel afraid
As long as I gaze on waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunsets fine

Millions of people swarming like flies round waterloo underground
But Terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And the don't need no friends
As long as they gaze on waterloo sunset
They are in paradise

Waterloo sunsets fine

-----------------

I am completely obsessed with this song right now. I brings me back to my brief time in London and makes me want to go there again.

Delicious Music

Lately I have been discovering my music on del.icio.us.
A sampling:

• She + Him = Zooey Dechanel and M Ward - some of the tracks from their March 18th album Vol. 1 - Bring it on Home to Me is probably my favorite.
  
• The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
• AA Bondy - American Hearts
• American Spring - Forever
• BOA - Duvet
• Feist covering the Kinks - Nothing in the World Can Stop me Worrying 'bout That Girl
• Irma Thomas - I Gave You Everything
• Nada Surf - Blankest Year
• Of Montreal covering the Kinks - Do You Remember Walter?
• Paloma Faith - Love Ya
• Petra Hayden covering the Beach Boys - God Only Knows
• Rosie Thomas - Much Farther to Go
• They Might Be Giants - Am I Awake?
• Vandaveer - However Many Takes it Takes

Yes, I realize this list reveals a bit of a Kinks fixation. I am woefully undereducated about music, especially anything from the 70s that isn't disco or country.

Booklists

I have an Amazon wishlist and IMDB and Netflix to help me remember which books and movies I want to buy or watch, but I have now joined 3 more sites that all keep track of what I have read, am reading and want to read.

All Consuming - part of 43 things. This site includes Music, Movies and Food& Drink categories.

Goodreads

Shelfari

The Wisdom of Pink

Catch-22 - You've seen all the signs But you haven't got a clue
Cuz I Can - So I'll cash my checks and place my bets and hope I'll always win … I don't play your rules, I make my own
Eventually - So what good am I to you if I can't be broken?
Family Portrait - I don't want love to destroy me
I'm Not Dead - And I was never lookin' for approval From anyone but you.
Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely) - If you give me some room there will be room enough for two
Respect - Damn, I sure look fine, I can't blame those horny boys, I would make me mine
Split Personality - You don't know me well enough to label me
Stop Falling - Don't assume cuz I'm a woman That I'll fall in love
Stupid Girls - I'm so glad that I'll never fit in. That will never be me! Outcasts and girls with ambition, That's what I wanna see.
The One That Got Away - In a closed off corner of my heart, yes I'll always see your face
Try Too Hard - Everything you feel, everything you know, You found it on your favorite TV show
U + Ur Hand - I was fine before you walked into my life

Time and Memories

Byrds - Turn, Turn, Turn - A time to cast away stones, A time to gather stones together

Boyz II Men - It's so Hard to Say Goodbye - And I'll take with me the memories, To be my sunshine after the rain

Everything but the Girl - And I Miss You - And the years have proved to offer, nothing since you've moved. You're long gone, but I can't move on.

Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You - Bittersweet memories, that is all I'm taking with me.

Guns N Roses - November Rain - But if you could heal a broken heart, Wouldn't time be out to charm you?

Third Eye Blind - Jumper - Maybe today we can put the past away

Aaliyah - Once Upon a December - Far away, long ago, Glowing dim as an ember, Things my heart used to know, Things it yearns to remember.

Cake - The Distance - She's hoping in time that her memories will fade.

Aerosmith - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing - I just want to stay with you in this moment forever, Forever and ever

Surface - The First Time - Memories we've shared will live forever Deep inside my heart

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime - Sitting with your friends as y'all reminisce, About the days growing up and the first person you kissed

Indigo Girls - We'll amuse ourselves one day with these memories we'll trace.

Alanis Morissette - Unsent - The truth is whenever I think of the early 90's, your face comes up with a vengeance like it was yesterday.

Patti Smyth - No Mistakes - Why do only the cold and lonely times seem to last?

Matchbox 20 - Disease - You left a stain, On every one of my good days.

No Doubt - Sunday Morning - You sure have changed since yesterday

When the Children Cry

White Lion's "When the Children Cry" came up on my iPod today. I was transported back to fifth or sixth grade when we learned the song in Music class. We were practicing it for an upcoming concert, and were given sheets of paper with the lyrics on them. Those lyrics include the line, "No more presidents, and all the wars will end, one united world, under God." Somehow, the principal found out the song would be performed and told the music teacher to pull it, because of that line. It wasn't because of the anti-war or religious parts, but the "anarchistic" bit about no more presidents. That teacher was one of my least favorite to begin with, and I remember her telling us about pulling the song and implying that it was our fault. She said one of us must have left the lyrics sheet somewhere to be discovered by the person who eventually complained. That same teacher refused to let us sing the Beach Boys "Kokomo" because of the line, "Come on, pretty mama." I hated Music class, almost as much as PhyEd, and I think part of the reason was the cheesy songs we had to sing.

Celebrities I have seen in person

At Book Signings or Staged events:
Sean Astin (see below)
Brett Butler
Patricia Cornwell
Malcolm Gladwell
Danny Glover
Kevin Smith - St Cloud State, February 17th, 2006, the man talked for nearly 5 hours with no break!
Margaret Thatcher

On the Street:
Kevin MacDonald
John Kerry
Numerous Minnesotan politics, sports and news people at the Fair

In Concert:
Liz Phair
Sheryl Crow
Dido
Prince
Chumbawumba
Everclear
Smashing Pumpkins
New Kids on The Block

Sean Astin Book Signing November 23, 2004 Mall of America

My niece and I stood there, dumbfounded, elbowing each other and squealing a little bit. Were our eyes deceiving us? Could it possibly be true that, in a few weeks, Sean Astin, Samwise Gamgee himself, was going to be signing his book mere feet from where we were standing? I checked my mental calendar and found that I already had that whole week off of work, since it was Thanksgiving, and I figured I could miss the first part of my evening class.

I picked her up early from school, since the signing started at 5:00 pm, but we knew the line would be huge. We got there about 2:15 and went to eat, finally getting to the rotunda at about 3pm. There were about 45 people in front of us, but we sat down, paged through the book and drooled over the pictures of him and the other cast members. People in front of us in line had laptops and were watching various parts of the Lord of the Rings movies. Some of them also had on t-shirts from the Minnesota Tolkien Society that announced a screening of all 3 extended edition DVDs at a church in Maple Grove on New Year's Eve. We agreed to go and invited others, but nobody else was up to it.

Back in line, as the time neared my niece gasps and says she saw him behind the curtain. She straining to get a look at where he went when the emcee woman comes up on stage and announces him. He comes out and pumps up the crowd a bit by naming a few of his movies and asking those who liked them to clap. Then he takes questions from the audience and shows off the t-shirt from the Tolkien Society that he was wearing.

Then it was time for the line to run through. There were people there who would take your picture so I handed him my digital camera and asked him to try to get my niece, and he actually got a nice shot of both her and I smiling like goons at him. I overheard him say. "Oh, you're sweet," to my niece and I didn't have much to say aside from thanking him. I was one of those moments that is over before you know it, and that you have to keep replaying in your head so that you know it was real. We went up to some of the higher floors to watch the line for a while and get some aerial photos of the whole thing.

The Wisdom of Simon and Garfunkel

Bridge Over Troubled Water - All your dreams are on their way
Cecilia - I got up to wash my face, When I come back to bed, Someone's taken my place
Father and Daughter* - I believe a light that shines on you will shine on you forever.
Homeward Bound - But all my words come back to me, In shades of mediocrity, Like emptiness in harmony. I need someone to comfort me.
I Am A Rock - I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain. It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
Kodachrome* - Everything looks worse in black and white
Mrs. Robinson - When you've got to choose, Every way you look at it you lose
Scarborough Fair - Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather... And gather it all in a bunch of heather, Then she'll be a true love of mine
The Boxer - Still a man hears what he wants to hear, And disregards the rest
The Sound of Silence - And in the naked light I saw, Ten thousand people, maybe more… The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls
You Can Call Me Al* - He sees angels in the architecture spinning in infinity

* well sometimes just Simon

I can't get this outta my head

The Night Chicago Died
Daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago
Back in the U.S.A. back in the bad old days

In the heat of a summer night
In the land of the dollar bill
When the town of Chicago died
And they talk about it still

When a man named Al Capone
Tried to make that town his own
And he called his gang to war
With the forces of the law

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!

And the sound of the battle rang
Through the streets of the old east side
'Til the last of the hoodlum gang
Had surrendered up or died

There was shouting in the street
And the sound of running feet
And I asked someone who said
"'Bout a hundred cops are dead!"

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!

And ther was no sound at all
But the clock upon the wall ......
Then the door burst open wide
And my daddy stepped inside
And he kissed my mama's face
And he brushed her tears away

The night Chicago died
(Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na)
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!

The night Chicago died
(Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na)
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!

The night Chicago died
(Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na)
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!

The Wisdom of Christmas Carols

All I Want For Christmas Is You - I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know.
Away In a Manger - The cattle are lowing,the poor Baby wakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying He makes.
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - They're singing "Deck The Halls" But it's not like Christmas at all, Cause I remember when you were here and all the fun we had last year.
Christmas Time Is Here - Olden times and ancient rhymes of love and dreams to share
Christmas To Remember - We'll come blowin' back to somewhere like some wild restless winter's wind.
Christmas Without You - White Christmas and I'm blue.
Do They Know It's Christmas? - The greatest gift they'll get this year is life.
Do You Hear What I Hear? - Listen to what I say: Pray for peace, people everywhere.
Grown Up Christmas List - No more lives torn apart, that wars would never start and time would heal all hearts
Happy Christmas (War is Over) - And so this is Christmas and what have we done? Another year over and a new one just begun.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more. Through the years we all will be together if the Fates allow.
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Beneath the heavenly strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong.
Jingle Bell Rock - What a bright time, it's the right time to rock the night away.
Last Christmas - I gave you my heart. But the very next day you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special.
Let it Snow - When we finally say good night, How I'll hate going out in the storm. But if you really hold me tight, All the way home I'll be warm.
Let There be Peace on Earth - To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally
Mary's Boy Child - Let everyone know, there is hope for all to find peace.
Miss You Most (At Christmas Time) - Every other season comes along and I'm all right, but then I miss you most at Christmas time
Mr Grinch - You have garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch. I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!
O Come, All Ye Faithful - Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation
O Little Town of Bethlehem - The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
Please Come Home For Christmas - Oh, what a Christmas, to have the blues. Please come home for Christmas, if not for Christmas, by New Year's Night.
What Child is This? - Haste, Haste, to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary.

Sony = so NO

Boing Boing tells us to read a Wired article discussing Sony's rootkit and how it made it past various anti-virus programs. One of my favorite quotes is "The only thing that makes this rootkit legitimate is that a multinational corporation put it on your computer, not a criminal organization." Boing Boing itself is constantly providing updates and roundups on the whole Sony Rootkit debacle.

Honda Galang

MIA's 'Galang' is the song playing in the background of that cool Honda commercial with the red car flying around the city.

MIA is at the Fine Line tonight.

Tickets are $18 and you might run into me there.

The Wisdom of the White Stripes

Black Math - Is it the fingers or the brain that you're teaching the lesson?
Fell in Love With a Girl - My left brain knows that all love is fleeting.
I Wanna be the Boy… - I never said I was the heir to a fortune, I never claimed to have any looks.
Seven Nation Army - And I'm talking to myself at night, because I can't forget.
Sugar Never Tasted so Good - Until her soul fell next to me
We Are Gonna be Friends - Tonight I'll dream while in my bed, when silly thoughts go through my head.

The Wisdom of Garbage

#1 Crush - I will wash away your pain with all my tears, And drown your fear.
A Stroke of Luck - A stroke of luck or a gift from God? The hand of fate or devil's claws?
Breaking Up The Girl - My friend you must be careful, They've a million ways to kill you.
Queer - You're hungry 'cause you starve
Stupid Girl - You pretend you're high, Pretend you're bored, You pretend you're anything, Just to be adored

Some Scottish fisherman pulled a ten foot Yellow Submarine out of the ocean.

The wisdom of MIA

10 Dollar - What can I get for 10 Dollar? Everything you want. What can I get for 10 Dollar? Anything you want.
Amazon - Somewhere in the Amazon, they're holding me ransom. Hello, this is MIA, can you please come get me? … Minutes turned to hours and became our dates, when we shared raindrops that turned into lakes.
Bingo - You drink too much rum. You make me wanna run.
Bonus Track - You can be a follower but who's your leader? Break the cycle or it will kill ya.
Bucky Done Gun - Can I get control? Do you like me vulnerable? I'm armed and I'm equal, more fun for the people.
Fire, Fire - You should have been good to me, Then I wouldn't get so rowdy, rowdy.
Hombre - Excuse me little hombre: take my number, call me. I can get squeaky, so you can come and oil me.
Pull Up the People - Everyday thinkin 'bout how me get through, everything I own is on IOU … I'm a fighter, a nice nice fighter.

I bought her CD, Arular, about two weeks ago and I have not been able to stop listening to it. It's high energy, rhythmic hip-hop, which usually isn't my thing. She was born in Sri Lanka and came to London as a refugee.

The Wisdom of Neil Diamond

Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show - Starting soft and slow, Like a small earthquake, And when he lets go, Half the valley shakes
Cherry, Cherry - You ain't got no right, No, no you don't, to be so exciting. Won't need bright lights, No, no we won't, Gonna make our own lighting
Cracklin' Rosie - Ain't nothing there that I care to take along, Maybe a song to sing when I want ... We got all night to set the world right, Find us a dream that don't ask no questions, yeah.
Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon - Don't let them make up your mind
I Am.. I Said - And I am lost, and I can't even say why
Kentucky Woman - She shines with her own kind of light
Shilo - All I saw was the way that she made me smile
Song Sung Blue - Me and you are subject to the blues now and then
Sweet Caroline - Good times never seemed so good. I've been inclined, to believe they never would.
You Got To Me - You got to my soul … Straight ahead and steady as Gibraltar

Love Me Like a Song

My new computer arrived today (yay) and came with Dell Jukebox by Musicmatch. I am still getting used to it, as well as trying to figure out why the first 25 seconds of the songs from a CD sound like crap. Preloaded in My Music folder are 11 mp3s and one 22 second ad to upgrade the software. One of those mp3s is "Love Me Like a Song" by Kimmie Rhodes featuring Willie Nelson. This is a lovely little ballad that Kimmie wrote with Gary Nicholson. She and Willie recorded a whole CD of duets, and you buy it all or just one track at a time on Willie's website.

Love Me Like A Song

words & music by Kimmie Rodes & Gary Nicholson

Put your arms around me
listen to my heartbeat now
if you want to love me
Baby, I can show you how

Love me like a song
sweet as a melody
learn all the words to me
and sing along
find the harmony
the rhythm and the rhyme to me
on and on
all night long
love me like song

I want to be the melody
you can't get out of your head
Think of me as words of love
a poet might have said and...

Love me like a song
sweet as a melody
learn all the words to me
and sing along
find the harmony
the rhythm and the rhyme to me
on and on
all night long
love me like song

The Wisdom of Green Day

American Idiot - Television dreams of tomorrow. We're not the ones who're meant to follow … One nation controlled by the media, Information age of hysteria.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - I'm walking down the line that divides me somewhere in my mind, On the border line Of the edge and where I walk alone.
Church On Sunday - Tears down your face leaving traces of my mistakes … If you live with me, I'll die for you and this compromise I hereby solemnly swear to tell the whole truth And nothing but the truth is what I'll ever hear from you.
(Good Riddance) Time of your life - So take the photographs And still frames in your mind, Hang them on a shelf In good health and good time.
Minority - I wanna be the minority. I don't need your authority. Down with the moral majority. Cause I wanna be the minority.
One Of My Lies - Don't give me an answer cause you only know as much as I know.
Road To Acceptance - I'll never do exactly what I want, And I'll sculpt my life for your acceptance … If you'd stop a while And maybe if you'd smile You would realize that We're all the same.
She - Waiting for a sign to smash the silence with the brick of self control. Are you locked up in a world That's been planned out for you? … All her doubts were someone else's point of view.
Walking Contradiction - Talk is cheap and lies are expensive.
When I Come Around - So go do what you like. Make sure you do it wise. You may find out that your self-doubt means nothing was ever there. You can't go forcing something if it's just not right.

Coin Operated Boy - Dresden Dolls

This one has many layers of meaning:

coin operated boy
sitting on the shelf he is just a toy
but I turn him on and he comes to life
automatic joy
that is why I want a coin operated boy

made of plastic and elastic
he is rugged and long-lasting
who could ever ever ask for more
love without complications galore
many shapes and weights to choose from
I will never leave my bedroom
I will never cry at night again
wrap my arms around him and pretend....

coin operated boy
all the other real ones that I destroy
cannot hold a candle to my new boy and i'll
never let him go and I'll never be alone
not with my coin operated boy......

this bridge was written to make you feel smittener
with my sad picture of girl getting bitterer
can you extract me from my plastic fantasy
I didn't think so but I'm still convinceable
will you persist even after I bet you
a billion dollars that I'll never love you
will you persist even after I kiss you
goodbye for the last time
will you keep on trying to prove it?
I'm dying to lose it...
I want it
I want you
I want a coin operated boy.

and if I had a star to wish on
for my life I can't imagine
any flesh and blood could be his match
I can even take him in the bath

coin operated boy
he may not be real experienced with girls
but I know he feels like a boy should feel
isn't that the point that is why I want a
coin operated boy
with his pretty coin operated voice
saying that he loves me that he's thinking of me
straight and to the point
that is why I want
a coin operated boy.

copyright 2002 amanda palmer

The Wisdom of Violent Femmes

Add It Up - I know you've had problems you're not the only one …You know you got my sympathy, But don't shoot shoot shoot that thing at me … Words all fail the magic prize
American Music - You were born too late, I was born too soon. But every time I look at that Ugly moon, it reminds me of you.
Blister in the Sun - My girlfriend, she's at the end, She is starting to cry
Kiss Off - Oh yeah, well don't get so distressed. Did I happen to mention that I'm impressed?

You'll be on your own...

Rolling Stone has compiled a list of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time, with an interesting choice for #1.

Dedicated to the one I love ...

And he knows who he is:

3 Doors Down - Here Without You - I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time.

Bonnie Raitt - I Can't Make You Love Me - I'll close my eyes, then I won't see, The love you don't feel when you're holding me

Brandy - Sittin Up In My Room - Every time you smile, I feel tremors in my heart

Cardigans - Lovefool - I don't care if you really care, As long as you don't go

Cranberries - Linger - You know I'm such a fool for you. You've got me wrapped around your finger. Do you have to let it linger?

Cyndi Lauper - I Drove All Night - Nothing erases the feeling between me and you

Diana Ross & the Supremes - Reflections - Through the mirror of my mind, Time after time, I see reflections of you and me.

Dion - Teenager in Love - I cried a tear for nobody but you.

Divinyls - I Touch Myself - I search myself, I want you to find me, I forget myself, I want you to remind me.

Expose - I'll Never Get Over You - A life lived without you could never be right.

Feel - Got Your Name on It - Something you are changes me into something I wanna be

KISS - Forever - It took your love to make my heart come alive

Leann Rimes - How Do I Live - Without you … there'd be no world left for me

Monica - Angel of Mine - Nothing means more to me then what we share. No one in this world can ever compare.

Oasis - Wonderwall - Maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me.

Patsy Cline - Crazy - I'm crazy for trying and crazy for crying, And I'm crazy for loving you

Phil Collins - A Groovy Kind of Love - When I'm in your arms, nothing seems to matter, My whole world could shatter, I don't care

Pretenders - I'll Stand By You - Nothing you confess could make me love you less.

Richard Marx - Endless Summer Nights - Every single breath you took was mine.

RTZ - Until Your Love Comes Back Around - I thought I spoke to you last evening, I woke up crying in my sleep.

Sade - Ordinary Love - I keep crying for you. There's nothing like you and I baby.

Sarah Vaughn - Whatever Lola Wants - I always get what I aim for, And your heart and soul is what I came for.

Seal - Kiss From a Rose - You became the light on the dark side of me

Shania Twain - From This Moment On - I give my hand to you with all my heart, Can't wait to live my life with you, Can't wait to start

Sophie B Hawkins - I Wish I was Your Lover - You're the only shoe that fits, I can't imagine I'll grow out of it

Tony Bennett - The Way You Look Tonight - And that laugh that wrinkles your nose, It touches my foolish heart

Power Ballads - Hair Bands and the women who love them

VH1 counted down the top 25 Power Ballads this week. I assume the ranking was based on sales/radio play. Here are my thoughts on some of them:

23 - Stain'd - It's Been A While - I didn't know that Fred Durst discovered these guys. I've liked this song since it came out in like 2001. It does the best job of expressing sadness since Counting Crows' 'A Long December'. I wouldn't really put this in the category of Power Ballad, though.

22 - Scorpions - Still Lovin' You - I must be too young to remember this one. For them, I would have picked 'Winds of Change' as their best ballad. I am transported back to the late 80's/early 90's when Communism fell and they brought down the Berlin Wall. Jesus Jones' 'Right Here, Right Now' does the same thing.

19 - Kid Rock - Only God Knows Why - Along with "Picture", this is the only other song of his that I have. He is ridiculously hot, but I don't really care for his music. I prefer Uncle Kracker over Kid Rock.

15 - Skid Row - I Remember You - This is the first of three definitive Power Ballads in my book. The line 'Live for your smile, and die for your kiss' makes this required PB listening.

12 - Motley Crue - Home Sweet Home - Again, I would have picked "Without You" for these guys. That was the first song I 'had' with a guy. Awesome video, too.

7 - Poison - Every Rose Has It's Thorn - This is definitive Power Ballad number two. Brett Michaels said he wrote this after calling a girlfriend and hearing a guy's voice in the background and finding out she was cheating on him.

6 - Guns 'N' Roses - November Rain - While this does belong on the countdown, I would put "Sweet Child O' Mine" higher. It was released first and is definitive Power Ballad number three.

4 - Creed - With Arms Wide Open - What? Why is this on here? I thought a Power Ballad was supposed to be from a band that usually played much harder/faster music. WAWO is the only kind of song Creed does.

2 - Aerosmith - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing - I love Aerosmith, and I liked this song. I think "Cryin'", "What It Takes" or "Angel" might have been better picks, though.

For the curious, Journey's "Open Arms" was number one.

Ones I thought were missing, Ozzy Osborne "Good-bye To Romance", Warrant "Heaven" and "I Saw Red", and Extreme "More Than Words" which would be definitive Power Ballad number four. Okay, I am going to round it out to five and add Meatloaf "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad".

In Summary, the five definitive Power Ballads, in no particular order are:

Skid Row "I Remember You"
Poison "Every Rose Has It's Thorn"
Guns 'N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine"
Extreme "More Than Words"
Meatloaf "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad"

Damn that's cool!

If you haven't seen the White Stripes video for 'The Hardest Button to Button', you need to go see it. I saw it on AOL, but you can probably get it on Yahoo or download it. I don't know if they are playing it on VH1 or not. That's where I first saw the video for 'Seven Nation Army' It's the better song, but Button's video is cooler.