1 Comment
By Tony Farkas
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
With all the turmoil in the country and the world these days, it sometimes is tough to pick a topic to expand on with pithy comments and common-sense arguments.
The events recently though make it fairly easy.
Of course, I’m talking about the weather. I’m sure that just like me, it’s on everyone’s mind.
Not the climate change hokum that’s constantly being peddled, but the fact that here in East Texas it’s hot. Really hot. Dante Alighieri hot.
So I plan with this column to give you some relief. Yes, the written word, here to sooth your brow in the summer sun.
I call this playlist meditation, or how I watched an episode of “M*A*S*H” about a similar event and totally ripped it off.
So here are some “cool” songs that will hopefully give you some cool feelings. By the way, I’m purposely staying away from Christmas themes, mostly because I can’t bring myself to come to terms with August, much less the holiday. This year is going by way too fast.
•“Hazy Shade of Winter” by Simon and Garfunkel.
If you prefer, you can always defer to the cover version by The Bangles, whichever makes you cooler.
I’ve been asked about my favorite season, which always has been fall. I remember so many times wandering around the neighborhood, with gray skies, a slight chilly breeze, the smell of pinon smoke in the air, and that’s the memory I revisit when I want to be cooler.
•“Cold As Ice” by Foreigner.
It’s 1979, disco music wasn’t as dead as it should be, and I was a sophomore in high school. Foreigner’s first album came out and this gem was the first single. Later in life, I was in a rock band, and we started dabbling with this song for our setlist.
•“Frozen Love” by Buckingham Nicks.
Before joining Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had their own thing, and this song was one of the cuts that came from it. I was learning to play the guitar at the time, and then I heard the melody and amazing licks played by Buckingham, and almost took up the saxophone. It speaks directly to my acoustic rock-loving soul.
•“Cold Cold Heart” by Hank Williams and thousands of others.
He’s the man, there’s no doubt about it. While this song deals with heartbreak, I’ve always felt that if you’re cold on the inside, you’ll feel cold on the outside.
•“Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice.
No shame in this, really. Yes, it’s cheesy. Yes, it ripped off Queen. But aside from that, it also was the fastest selling rap album. Surprising, huh? And you know you had that running in your head. But I’m not judging.
•“December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night”) by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
Being a product of 1963, this song resonates with me. Plus, it has a great beat and a rockin’ piano line. Who doesn’t like December weather?
•Honorable mentions: “Let it Go,” because Disney; “The Winter Song,” by Angel, because it speaks to the prog section of my heart; “Cool Change” by the Little River Band; and “In the Wintertime” by Steve Miller.
These work for me, but there may be others out there for you. Hey, something’s got to give, am I right?
Joomla Feed Manager News 