My music, like yours, is the result not only of where and when I have lived, but most importantly, how I have lived. Growing up in the cultural wasteland of central Texas in the mid-70s, I was grossly limited in my exposure to music in general and certainly I had no appreciation of the unbounded genres of musical expression. This sonic desert evoked in me a lingering passion to grasp not just beautiful sounds, but meaningful songs and hold them tightly. I've annotated this list for anyone with an interest in what the song means to me.

When Paul Simon received his Grammy for Best Album in 1987 he said that Graceland (possibly the best album of all time!) was music of power, nuance, and joy. Amen. This list, then, is music that has spoken with power, nuance, and joy to me and I recommend it to you accordingly. The first twenty songs (in green) are presented in roughly the order I would rank them. (It is as unfair to rank songs as it children - but you do have the ones you would beat to death last.)

Especially these first twenty songs are entwined with my love affair with my wife. Wishes, whims, wonders, and wanders are bound up in these songs. From Vivaldi on Galvston Beach well over two decades ago to discovering and sharing Norah Jones before the rest of the world, my wife's love is part of the atmosphere created and reflected in these tunes. The second set of songs (in blue) continues that theme of loving and being loved with a touch more rambunctiousness, which is also a great blessing in my marriage.

I apologize for all the great tunes that are not on this list; like Good Vibrations and Good Riddance. Chicago is under-represented in light of all they meant to me in my teen years. Likewise Led Zepplin is over-represnted. I am outright ashamed that Stevie Wonder is not represented here. His Songs in the Key of Life double album set was revolutionary and beautiful. I'm going to have to reconsider a song or two from that. If the list went to 46, Walk Like An Egyptian would be the next addition. As you see, my Top 10 is a Top 20 and the short list runs forty-five. I'll make additions... as the spirit leads. Such is Life.

Two of Us Going Nowhere / Beatles

My wife gave me this song. What a wonderful expression of a loving life at play. After 20 years of marriage, we're still going nowhere and having best time on the journey.

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He Leadeth Me / The Martins

This song is near the top of the short list for its message as well as the absolute power of its presentation.

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I don't know what Carole King knows, but this song speaks to every heart's innate longing for a Garden gone and still to come.

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Nobody's praying for rain! This little gal hailing from the barren dirt of West Texas knows that rain is not an inconvenience, but as essential as air.

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An instrumental, like Bach Preludio below, that leaves me shaking my head at what the human mind can conceive and then achieve.

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A poignant song of love lost, yada yada yada. This was the first song that I heard that really stretched me beyond my Top40 AM horizon. And of all the analogies of love... a green-iced cake? Maybe it is about drugs.

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Five hundred years ago, Michael Praetorius scored music of incredible joy and fervor. I relish this whimsical selection for it's sheer enthusiasm.

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Late at night, lost in some peanut town between Dallas and El Paso, a young lad would scroll across the AM radio dial and catch glimpses of Wolfman Jack in Juarez, WLS zanies in Chicago, and a strange cast of characters in New Orleans. This song was a station bumper at WNOE. It has given me hours of merriment and made my boys bust a gut.

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Lyrics to songs...

Two of Us Going Nowhere / Beatles

Two of us riding nowhere, spending someone's hard earned pay
You and me Sunday driving, not arriving - 
on our way back home, we're on our way back home...
we're on our way home, we're on our way home, we're going home...

two of us sending post cards, writing letters on my wall
you and me burning matches lifting latches,
on our way back home, we're on our way home, 
we're on our way home, we're on our way home, we're going home...

you and I have memories 
longer than the road that stretches out ahead

two of us wearing raincoats, standing solo, in the sun
you and me chasing paper, getting nowhere, on our way back home
we're on our way home, we're on our way home, we're going home...

you and I have memories 
longer than the road that stretches out ahead

two of us wearing raincoats, standing solo, in the sun
you and me chasing paper, getting nowhere, on our way back home
we're on our way home, we're on our way home, we're going home...

He Leadeth Me / The Martins

He leadeth me:  O blessed thought!  

O words with heavenly comfort fraught!  

Whate'er I do, where'er I be, 

still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.  

Refrain:

He leadeth me, he leadeth me, 

by his own hand he leadeth me; 

his faithful follower I would be, 

for by his hand he leadeth me.

Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, 

sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, 

by waters still, o'er troubled sea, 

still 'tis his hand that leadeth me.  

Lord, I would place my hand in thine, 

nor ever murmur nor repine; 

content, whatever lot I see, 

since 'tis my God that leadeth me.  

And when my task on earth is done, 

when by thy grace the victory's won, 

e'en death's cold wave I will not flee, 

since God through Jordan leadeth me.  

First Time Ever I Saw You're Face / Roberta Flack

The first time, ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and the stars
Were the gifts you gave
To the dark, and the endless skies
My Love.

And the first time, ever I kissed your mouth
I felt the earth move in my hands
Like the trembling heart
Of a captive bird
That was there, at my command
My Love.

And the first time, ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy
Would fill the earth
And last, til the end of time
My Love.
And last, 'til the end of time.
My love.

The first time, ever I saw
Your face
Your face
Your fa-ace
Your face.

Been to Canaan / Carole King

Green fields and rolling hills
Room enough to do what we will
Sweet dreams of yestertime are running though my mind
Of a place I left behind, been so long, I can't remember when
I've been to Canaan and I want to go back again

Been so long, I'm living till then
Cause I've been to Canaan and I won't rest until
I go back again. Though I'm content with myself
Sometimes I long to be somewhere else
I try to do what I can, but with our day to day demands
We all need a promised land.

Been so long, I can't remember when
I've been to Canaan and I want to go back again
Been so long, I'm living till then
'cause I've been to Canaan and I won't rest until
I go back again. Oh I want to be there in the wintertime
With a fireplace burning to warm me
And you to hold me when it's stormy

Been so long, I can't remember when
I've been to Canaan and I want to go back again
Been so long, I'm living till then.

 

Let the River Run (New Jerusalem) / Carly Simon

We're coming to the edge
running on the water
coming through the fog
your sons and daughters

Let the river run
let all the dreamers wake the nation
Come, the New Jerusalem.

Silver cities rise
the morning lights the streets that lead them
and sirens call them on with a song

It's asking for the taking
trembling
shaking
Oh, my heart is aching

We're coming to the edge
running on the water
coming through the fog
your sons and daughters

We the great and small
stand on a star
and blaze a trail of desire
through the darkening dawn

It's asking for the taking
Come run with me now
the sky is the color of blue
you've never even seen
in the eyes of your lover

Oh, my heart is aching
We're coming to the edge
running on the water
coming through the fog
your sons and daughters

It's asking for the taking
trembling, shaking
Oh, my heart is aching

We're coming to the edge
running on the water
coming through the fog
your sons and daughters

Let the river run
let all the dreamers
wake the nation
Come, the New Jerusalem

Trouble in These Fields / Nanci Griffith

Baby I know that we've got trouble in the fields
When the bankers swarm like locust out there turning away our yield
The trains roll by our silos, silver in the rain
They leave our pockets full of nothing
But our dreams and the golden grain
Have you seen the folks in line downtown at the station
They're all buying their ticket out and talking the great depression
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields in dust as deep as snow

(chorus)
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
But if we sell that new John Deere
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out

There's still a lotta love, here in these troubled fields
There's a book up on the shelf about the dust bowl days
And there's a little bit of you and a little bit of me
In the photos on every page
Now our children live in the city and they rest upon our shoulders
They never want the rain to fall or the weather to get colder

MacArthur’s Park / Richard Harris

Spring was never waiting for us, girl
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance
Between the parted pages and were pressed
In love's hot, fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground around your knees
The birds, like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing checkers by the trees

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

[break]

There will be another song for me
For I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it
I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
You'll still be the one

I will take my life into my hands and I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why

[extended break]

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!
Oh, no
No, no
Oh no!!

Somewhere Over The Rainbow / Willie Nelson

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star, 
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
Away above the chimney tops 
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow, why then oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly, beyond the rainbow,
Why oh why can't I?

Birdland / Manhattan Transfer

Five thousand lightyears from Birdland
But I'm still preachin' the rythym
Long gone uptight years from Birdland
And I'm still teachin' it with 'em

Years from the land of the Bird
And I am still feelin' the spirit
Five thousand lightyears from Birdland
But I know people can hear it

Bird named it, Bird made it
Bird heard it, Then played it
Well stated
Birdland
It happened down in Birdland

In the middle of that hub
I remember one jazz club
Where we went to pat feet
Down on 52nd Street
Everybody heard that word
That they named it after Bird
Where the rythym swooped and swirled
The jazz corner of the world
And the cats they giged in there
Were beyond compare

Birdland, I'm singing Birdland
Birdland, Old swingin' Birdland

Hey man, the music really turns you on (ya turn me on)
Really? Ya turn me around
And turn me on

Down them stairs, Lose them cares
Where? Down in Birdland
Total swing, Bop was king there
Down in Birdland
Bird would cook, Max would look
Where? Down in Birdland
Miles came through, Trane came too there
Down in Birdland
Basie blew, Blakie too
Where? Down in Birdland
Cannonball played that hall there
Down in Birdland, Yeah

There will never be nothin' such as that
No more, skoo be wah, no more
Down in Birdland, That's where it was at
I know, ah ah ah ah ah, I know
Back in them days bop was ridin' high
Hello, heh heh heh heh heh, Goodbye!

(Yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo...)
How well those cats remember their first Birdland gig
To play in Birdland is an honor we still dig
Yeah, That club was like in another world
Sure enough, Yeah baby
All those cats were cookin' on
People just sat and they were steady lookin' on
Then Bird, He came and spread the word

Yes indeed he did
Yes indeed he did
Yes indeed he did, Yes he did Parker played in Birdland
Yes he really did
Yes indeed he really did told the truth way down in Birdland
Yes indeed he did, Yardbird Parker played in Birdland
Yes indeed he really did, Charlie Parker played in Birdland

Bird named it, Bird made it
Bird heard it, Then played it
Well stated
Birdland
It happened down in Birdland

Everybody dug that beat
Everybody stomped their feet
Everybody digs be bop
And they'll never stop

Down them stairs, Lose them cares
Yeah, Down in Birdland
Total swing, Bop was king
Yeah, Down in Birdland
Bird would cook, Max would look
Yeah, Down in Birdland
Miles came through, Trane came too
Yeah, Down in Birdland
Basie blew, Blakie too
Yeah, Down in Birdland
Cannonball played that hall
Yeah, Down in Birdland
(repeat under the following solo till fade)

Come in pairs, Down them stairs, Lose your cares
Him that cares gets it
Play the gate, Don't be late, It's a date
What d'ya know
Is it me, Is it you, It's a clue
Come in twos, Pay your dues, What can you lose?
Just your blues, So lose them!
(ad libbing till the end)

Big Yellow Taxi / Joni Mitchell

They paved paradise
To put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot SPOT
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don't know what you’ve got
‘Til it's gone
They paved paradise
To put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to seem 'em
Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise 
To put up a parking lot

Hey farmer, farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But LEAVE me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you’ve got
‘Til its gone
They paved paradise 
TO put up a parking lot

Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise
To put up a parking lot

Both Sides Now / Joni Mitchell

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
and feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
from up and down, and still somehow
it's cloud illusions I recall.
I really don't know clouds at all.

Moons and Junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way that you feel
as every fairy tale comes real; I've looked at love that way.
But now it's just another show. You leave 'em laughing when you go
and if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

I've looked at love from both sides now,
from give and take, and still somehow
it's love's illusions that I recall.
I really don't know love at all.

Tears and fears and feeling proud, to say "I love you" right out loud,
dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I've looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say
I've changed.
Something's lost but something's gained in living every day.

I've looked at life from both sides now,
from win and lose, and still somehow
it's life's illusions I recall.
I really don't know life at all.

Dreamboat Annie / Heart

Heading out this morning into the sun
Riding on the diamond waves, little darlin' one

Warm wind caress her
Her lover it seems
Oh, Annie
Dreamboat Annie my little ship of dreams

Going down the city sidewalk alone in the crowd
No one knows the lonely one whose head's in the clouds

Sad faces painted over with those magazine smiles
Heading out to somewhere won't be back for a while

Killing Me Softly / Roberta Flack

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly
With his song...

I heard he sang a good song
I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him and listen for awhile
And there he was this young boy
A stranger to my eyes...

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly
With his song...

I felt all flushed with fever
Embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud
I pray that he would finish
But he just kept right on...

He sang as if he knew me
In all my dark despair
And then he looked right through me as if I was not there
And he just kept on singing,
Singing clear and strong...

Midnight At the Oasis / Maria Muldaur

Midnight at the oasis
Send your camel to bed
Got shadows painting our faces
Traces of romance in our heads

Heaven's holding a half moon
Shining just for us
Let's slip off to a sand dune real soon
Kick up a little dust

Come on the cactus is our friend
He'll point out the way
Come on 'till the evening ends
'til the evening ends

You don't have to answer
There's no need to speak
I'll be your belly dancer
Prancer and you can be my sheik

I know your daddy's a sultan
A nomad known to all
With fifty girls to attend him
They all send him
Jump at his beck and call

But you won't need no harem, honey
When I am by your side
And you won't need no camel
No no when I take you for a ride

She’s Always A Woman / Billy Joel

She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes.
And she can ruin your faith with her casual lies.
And she only reveals what she wants you to see.
She hides like a child, but she's always a woman to me.

She can lead you to love, she can take you or leave you.
She can ask for the truth but she'll never believe.
And she'll take what you'll give her as long as it's free.
Yeah, she steals like a thief, but she's always a woman to me.

Oooh, she takes care of herself.
She can wait if she wants, she's ahead of her time.
Oooooh, and she never gives out, and she never gives in,
she just changes her mind.

And she'll promise you more than the Garden of Eden.
And she'll carelesly cut you and laugh while you're bleeding.
But she'll bring out the best and the worst you can be.
Blame it all on yourself, cause she's always a woman to me.

Oooh, she takes care of herself.
She can wait if she wants, she's ahead of her time.
Oooooh, and she never gives out, and she never gives in,
she just changes her mind.

She is frequently kind and she's suddenly cruel.
But she can do as she pleases, she's nobody's fool.
And she can't be convicted, she's earned her degree.
And the most she will do is throw shadows at you,
but she's always a woman to me.

Colour My World / Chicago

As time goes on
I realize
Just what you mean
To me
And now
Now that you're near
Promise your love
That I've waited to share
And dreams
of our moments together
Colour my world.
With hope
Of loving you.

The Luckiest / Ben Folds Five

I don't get many things right the first time.
In fact, I am told that a lot.
Now I know all the wrong turns and stumbles and falls brought me here.
And where was I before the day
that I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it every day.
And I know
that I am, I am,
I am the luckiest.

What if I'd been born fifty years before you
in a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike,
would I know?
And in a wide sea of eyes,
I see one pair that I recognize.
And I know
that I am, I am,
I am the luckiest.

I love you more than I have
ever found a way to say to you.

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties
and one day passed away in his sleep.
And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days
and passed away.
I'm sorry, I know that's a
strange way to tell you that I know we belong,
that I know that I am, I am
I am the luckiest.

Under African Skies / Paul Simon with Linda Ronstadt

Duet:
Joseph's face was black as night, the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked by the stars in the southern hemisphere
and he walked his days under African skies

Solo:
This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the veins
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rythm and the roots of rythm and rain

Duet:
In early memory, mission music was ringing around my nursury door
I said take this child, Lord, from Tucson Arizona
Give her the wings to fly from harm
and she won't bother you no more

Solo:
This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the veins
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rythm and the roots of rythm and rain

Duet:
Josephs face was as black as the night
and the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked by the stars in the southern hemisphere
and he walked the length of his days under African skies.

Hey Jude / Beatles

Hey Jude
Don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

Hey Jude
Don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you'll begin to make it better
And anytime you feel the pain

Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it's a fool
Who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
La Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na

Hey Jude 
Don't let me down
You have found her 
Now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
So let it out and let it in

Hey Jude begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that it's just you
Hey Jude you do
The movement you need is on your shoulders
La Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na yeah

Hey Jude
Don't make it bad 
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better, better, better, better, better, better, better
(Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Hey Jude) X18

Black Dog / Led Zeppelin

Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move
Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove.
Oh, oh, child, way you shake that thing
Gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting.
Hey, hey, baby, when you walk that way
Watch your honey drip, can't keap away.

Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah, ah, ah.
Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah, ah, ah.

I gotta roll, can't stand still,
Got a flame in my heart, can't get my fill,
Eyes that shine burning red,
Dreams of you all thru my head.

Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah.

Hey, baby, oh, baby, pretty baby,
Tell me what you do me now.
(Repeat)

Didn't take too long 'fore I found out
What people mean my down and out.
Spent my money, took my car,
Started tellin' her friends she wants to be a star.
I don't know but I been told
A big legged woman ain't got no soul.

Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah, ah, ah.
Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah, ah, ah.

All I ask for when I pray,
Steady rollin' woman gonna come my way.
Need a woman gonna hold my hand
And tell me no lies, make me a happy man.

Do You Feel Like We Do / Peter Frampton

Well, woke up this morning with a wine glass in my hand. 
Whose wine? What wine? Where the hell did I dine? 
Must have been a dream I don't believe where I've been. 
Come on, let's do it again. 

Do you...you, feel like I do? 
How'd ya feel? 
Do you...you, feel like I do? 

My friend got busted, just the other day. 
They said,"Don't walk, don't walk, don't walk away." 
Drove him to a taxi, bent the boot, hit the bag. 
Had to play some music, wonder why's he [brag or drag]. 

Do you...you, feel like I do? 
How'd ya feel? 
Do you...you, feel like I... 

Do you...you, feel like I do? 
Yes ya do. 
Do you...you, feel like I do? 

Champagne for breakfast and a Sherman in my hand. 
Peached up, Peached Ale, never fails. 
Must have been a dream I don't believe where I've been. 
Come on, let's do it again. 

Don’t Know Why / Nora Jones

I waited 'til I saw the sun
I don't know why I didn't come
I left you by the house of fun
I don't know why I didn't come
I don't know why I didn't come

When I saw the break of day 
I wished that I could fly away
Instead of kneeling in the sand
Catching tear drops in my hand

My heart is drenched in wine
You'll be on my mind
Forever

Out across the endless sea
I would die in ecstasy
But I'll be a vagabond
Driving down the road alone

My heart is drenched in wine
You'll be on my mind