Track Listing for "Dark Was The Night" compilation

Purchase the album on Amazon and read about it on wikipedia

Disc 1 -
“Knotty Pine” – Dirty Projectors and David Byrne – 2:23
“‘Cello Song” (Nick Drake) – The Books featuring José González – 3:54
“Train Song” (Vashti Bunyan) – Feist and Ben Gibbard – 3:02
“Brackett, WI” – Bon Iver – 4:03
“Deep Blue Sea” – Grizzly Bear – 3:46
“So Far Around the Bend” – The National – 3:43
“Tightrope” – Yeasayer – 3:18
“Feeling Good” (Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse) – My Brightest Diamond – 3:54
“Dark Was the Night” (Blind Willie Johnson) – Kronos Quartet – 3:51
“I Was Young When I Left Home” (Bob Dylan) – Antony with Bryce Dessner – 4:55
“Big Red Machine” – Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner – 4:39
“Sleepless” – The Decemberists – 7:54
“Stolen Houses (Die)” – Iron & Wine – 1:07
“Service Bell” – Grizzly Bear and Feist – 2:23
“You Are the Blood” (Castanets) – Sufjan Stevens – 10:14
Disc 2 -
“Well-Alright” – Spoon – 2:46
“Lenin” – Arcade Fire – 4:06
“Mimizan” – Beirut – 2:43
“El Caporal” – My Morning Jacket – 3:33
“Inspiration Information” (Shuggie Otis) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – 4:06
“With a Girl Like You” (Reg Presley) – Dave Sitek – 3:27
“Blood Pt. 2” (Castanets) – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens & Serengeti) – 3:36
“Hey, Snow White” (Destroyer) – The New Pornographers – 4:26
“Gentle Hour” (Peter Gutteridge) – Yo La Tengo – 5:31
“Another Saturday” – Stuart Murdoch – 2:56
“Happiness” – Riceboy Sleeps (Jónsi & Alex) – 8:37
“Amazing Grace” – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues – 3:34
“The Giant of Illinois” (The Handsome Family) – Andrew Bird – 4:45
“Lua” (Bright Eyes) – Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch – 5:54
“When the Road Runs Out” – Blonde Redhead & Devastations – 3:28
“Love vs. Porn” – Kevin Drew – 3:57
“Play the Game” (Queen) by Beach House was additionally released as an iTunes only bonus track.

Songs I've Used as Facebook Statuses Part 3

For Part 1 and 2, click here and here


-"In the spring, When the world's turning green, I only think about the fall..." - "Tourist Trap" by Bright Eyes

-"I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear, just as long as you stand, stand by me..." - "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King (John Lennon version)

-"Auprès de moi toujours" - French title for the film "Never Let Me Go" (French title translates to "Close to me always".) "Never Let Me Go" is a reference to one of the songs played in the film. From wikipedia: "The title comes from a song on an American cassette tape called "Songs After Dark" by fictional singer Judy Bridgewater."

-"Dance Yourself Clean" - "Dance Yrself Clean" by LCD Soundsystem

-"Realnaya lyubov" - Russian title of movie "Love Actually." "Real Love" is also a song by John Lennon.

-"Only the lonely." - "Only the Lonely" by Roy Orbison

-"Yes I'm Going to a Party, Party" - "Birthday" by the Beatles

-"When you go, will you glow, on and on and on and on?" - "I Woke Up With a Song in my Head this Morning" by Bright Eyes

-"Make yourself free, a man said that to me, and now my heart is like an open door..." - "Tourist Trap" (again) by Bright Eyes

-"And I am gonna stand my ground..." - "Rise to Me" by The Decemberists

-"What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you?" - "Breakeven" by the Script

-"Picture book, of people with each other, to prove they love each other, a long time ago..." -"Picture Book" by The Kinks

-"Save tonight, fight the break of dawn..." - "Save Tonight" by Eagle Eye Cherry

-"Here it come, that heavy love, you're never gonna move it alone..." - "Shell Games" by Bright Eyes

-"I'm a jew, a lonely jew, I'd be merry, but I'm hebrew..." - "I'm a Jew" from South Park

-"I rolled a stoney....well you can imitate anyone you know, yes you can imitate anyone you know, I told you so....all I want is you...." - "Dig a Pony" by The Beatles

-"It seems so easy (seems so easy, seems so easy), Oh-oh-oh so doggone easy (doggone easy, doggone easy)...it's so easy to fall in love." - ""It's So Easy" by Buddy Holly

-"That'll be the day that I die..." - "The Day that I Die" by Buddy Holly

-"Hanukkah is the festival of lights, instead of one day of presents, we have eight CRAZY nights!" - "The Hanukkah Song" by Adam Sandler

-"Moses supposes his toeses are Roses, But Moses supposes Erroneously, Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses, As Moses supposes his toeses to be!" - "Moses Supposes" from "Singin' in the Rain"

Tourist Trap by Bright Eyes

Our family friends were renovating their house several years ago, and invited us over to spray-paint one of the walls that was going to be torn down. There's a line in the song "Tourist Trap" by Bright Eyes that is repeated throughout the song, that says: "I'm not sure if I live here anymore." I decided to spray paint these words all over the wall for the sake of irony. What I accidentally wrote instead is "I don't think I live here anymore." Although it relatively means the same thing, "I'm not sure" and "I don't think" sound different enough that the affect of the words change. Even though that wall is long gone, pictures exist of the spray paint, and every time I hear this song, I remember how I changed the meaning of the song by accidentally writing down the wrong lyrics. This is not a song to be messed with; it has some of the most powerful lyrics I have ever heard. The song appears in the Four Winds EP (2007) released right before Cassadaga (2007). The song "Four Winds" appeared on the Four Winds EP and was the main single off of Cassadaga. Cassadaga wasn't Conor Oberst's best effort and there were some songs I wouldn't have included, like "Make a Plan to Love Me" and "Soul Singer in a Session Band." "Tourist Trap" should have absolutely been included instead and is seriously too underrated of a song. Lyrics are below (the lines I like the best are bolded). On a side note, wikipedia says Johnny Depp named Cassadaga one of his "favorite things" of 2007.

It's not the road we used to know,
They tore some buildings down.
The traffic's like a pack of dogs.
There's fewer trees, windows, fleas,
Concrete on the lawn.
There's people here, but you are gone.

And I'm fine, still swimming through time.
Afraid some days I've reached the shore,
Make yourself free, a man said that to me,
Now my heart is like an open door.

And the road finally gave me back,
But I don't think I'll unpack,
'Cause I'm not sure if I live here anymore.

It's not my weight that makes me faint,
For the sugar in my blood,
But the way these strangers stand so close.
They say my name, like a guessing game.
"Is that really you?"
No, I don't think it ever was.

In the spring,
When the world's turning green,
I only think about the fall,
Or the frets on the board
a progression of chords,
Oh how I want this to resolve.

And the road finally gave me back,
But I don't think I'll unpack.
'Cause I'm not sure if I live here anymore.

Now the road finally gave me back,
But I don't think I'll unpack.
'Cause I'm not sure If I live here,
No, I'm not sure if I live here anymore.
I'm not sure if I live here anymore...

Spousal Support

Don't get me wrong, I think pop music is fun to listen to, even if I don't take it very seriously.

But I've always wondered...

Russell Brand is married to Katy Perry. Brand used to live a very rock and roll lifestyle; he was a hard partier with drug, alcohol, and sex addictions. He then became a comedian and has now made a name for himself in Hollywood. Perry makes music that, although is catchy, is kind of, well, shallow. She has a nice voice but she is on the top 40 charts, to put it best. I'm not trying to sound pretentious, all I'm trying to say is that when I think of some of the most influential artists of our time, Katy Perry will never come up on that list. I wonder what Brand thinks about his wife's music. Does he feel obligated to like it because they are married, or does he actually enjoy it anyway? Would he have been able to date her and then marry her if he didn't take her music seriously?

The same goes for Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson. I'm not a fan of Fall Out Boy and I think they are more pop than actually hard rock or punk, but fans of Fall Out Boy call them punk rock. Wentz has tattoos, piercings, dyed hair, and wears punk clothing, and even if that doesn't mean everything, it still suggests that he considers himself part of the punk-rock lifestyle. Ashlee Simpson had a short music career, and her songs were definitely pop. She was made fun of for lip-synching on Saturday Night Live and has never been considered a serious musician. She doesn't write her songs and apparently doesn't sing them either. Currently Wentz and Simpson are going through a separation, but when they were together, did Wentz actually enjoy her music? Even if I'm not a fan of Fall Out Boy and don't think they are the best musicians out there, they at least are musicians. They write their music and sing their own songs and play instruments. Does Wentz stick up for his wife when she is made fun of because he really does view her as a serious musician, or because he is obligated to?

Maybe I'm giving the husbands too much credit and their wives not enough credit. All I know is, I'm a terrible singer, and I would want my boyfriend or husband to save me the humiliation and tell me to find another interest entirely. However, Katy Perry and Ashlee Simpson make millions of dollars and I'm currently jobless, so maybe I have the wrong attitude.