Monday Morning Music Choices

As I sit yankified for a day in a Columbus, Ohio hotel room, I am some 400 miles from my itunes.
Therefore, no new downloads will be made today, but I can give you (for those who may be interested) what my top 10 most played songs are according to my ipod.

10. Come Fly With Me- Frank Sinatra- Simply a classic that will put you in a good mood if you just give it a chance.

9. Fly- Jars of Clay- It's a song about the "victory lap" in death. If I live this life the right way, it should be fitting at my funeral.

And for someone like me who has the weight and scars in his heart and in his life from past deeds, it is a truly special feeling to become more and more confident of your salvation through grace, not your works, whether good or bad.

8. Blitzkrieg Bop- The Ramones- This song always makes me think of Phil "The Thrill" Waggoner driving around in his Taurus back in the day. It was my first experience with The Ramones and it stuck with me.

If you don't know this song by name, it starts "Ey. Oh. Let's go. Ey. Oh. Let's go." etc.

7. Joe Harper Saturday Morning- Van Morrison- I think this song is about drugs, but I can't understand most of what Van says. It's got a great tune, and I can switch my brain off when I listen to it because I don't know what's being sung.

6. The Man Comes Around- Johnny Cash- This is my personal equivalent of Samuel L. Jackson's Ezekial 25:17, but the song is four and half minutes long. Maybe too much for something "pithy" before someone gets a beat down, so you'll just have Johnny tell 'em in that stone and gravel voice:

"...and heard a voice in the midst of the four beast, and I looked and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death.........and hell followed with him." It'll give you goosebumps.

5. Ants Marching- Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - This is my favorite live song of all time. One of my dream concerts is to see Dave and Tim perform somewhere, but I'd like to hear the old songs. Their newer album isn't as crisp and folksy.

4. On Jordan's Stormy Banks- Jars of Clay- This is the best rendition of the old hymn I have heard. The lyrics were powerful by themselves, but slowing it down and adding a fiddle to it gives it the feel of a purposeful march. If you haven't heard it, go get it right now.

3. The Boxer- Simon and Garfunkel- One of the great American songs. The last verse has always spoken to me.

"In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade, and he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him, 'till he cried out in his anger and his shame, 'I am leaving, I am leaving,' but the fighter still remains."

2. Come Away With Me- Norah Jones- It's her best song so far, and that is saying something. I love her voice and the melody. Hard to beat.

1. Wonderful Tonight- Eric Clapton- Every man whose been in love with a woman has had a night like Mr. Clapton is describing in this song. I love it, and Liz plays it a lot when she has my ipod, so it gets double play.