Five Songs Worth a Listen

This is something I have been thinking about for the past few days. I was trying to come up with my five favorite songs of all time, but that proved impossible to determine. So I instead came up with five songs that in my opinion are very good and are worth listening to. Each of these songs comes from a different genre (although two of them are in the super-genre classic rock, they are distinctly different styles of classic rock). If you know me and what type of music I traditionally listen to (classic rock), some of the songs on this list may surprise you. As I stated earlier, these are not my five favorite songs of all time, but some of them do fall on that list. Enjoy.

And these are not in any particular order, just the order that I felt like writing about them.

-- So Small - Carrie Underwood
     Last year, I took my sister to a Carrie Underwood concert because, in spite of not knowing anything about Carrie Underwood myself, I knew that my sister was a pretty huge fan of her and I had heard that her live performances were spectacular. I started listening to her music so I could at least say "hey, I know this song" at the concert instead of just standing there clueless. This song stood out to me immediately the first time I heard it, and after listening to all her other songs and going to the concert, which was awesome by the way, I came to the conclusion that this was my favorite song of hers. Now, I have gradually come to the conclusion that it is, believe it or not, one of my favorite songs of all time. It is hard to explain why this song is so appealing to me. Carrie's voice is amazing and after seeing her perform live, I can attest to the fact she can sing just as good on stage as she can in the studio. Her band is also excellent, featuring a mixture of keys, strings and percussion both electric and acoustic. But of course, these things can only add to a song, not make it great. Greatness comes when all these elements come together with the lyrics to make magic. As I said, it's hard to explain exaxctly what this song means to me, but every time I listen to it, it makes me calm down, stop worrying, and apprecite what I have.

--Desperado - The Eagles
     This song is already a classic, so I don't need to say anything about the musical merits of the song itself. This is another one of those songs that has the ability to calm you down and make you relax. This song has great lyrics throughout, and like all Eagles songs, is very well thought out, from the words to the notes to the rhythms.

--Airplanes - BoB featuring Hayley Williams
     This is, in my opinion, a rare gem in the modern mainstream music scene. It might just be me, but modern rap is pretty much noise to me. Was it just me being a teenager, or was rap way better back when we wre in high school? In any case, if I hear rap on the radio, I usually change stations pretty fast. However, ever since I listened to my first Linkin Park song, I have been a fan of rap used in good ways. Up until Minutes to Midnight, I was a huge fan of Linkin Park because of lyrics that seemed like they actually meant something (even though I didn't know what that something was in most cases) and the musicallity of it all. I also really liked the Rising Tied, Fort Minor's first album (Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park's group). It was a rap album, but there was a huge infusion of keys and other musical instruments, and again, the lyrics were thoughtful. I like "Airplanes" for the same reason that I like T.I. and Rihanna's "Live Your Life". Both these songs talk about how rap has become 'fake'. They actually blend music into the songs, instead of just relying on base rhythms. And the lyrics seem sincere. I chose "Airplanes" over "Live Your Life" for this list because the infusion of Hayley Williams voice adds the perfect finishing touch.

--What it Takes - Aerosmith
     Power ballads were a staple of 80's rock, and I am admittedly a sucker for them. There is something about the blend of a tender love song with electric guitar riffs and power chords that is awesome. There are so many ballads from so many different groups, that it is hard to pick out just one. However, here is one of my favorites from the great American rock band Aerosmith. There's not too much to say about this song. It is what it is. Most power ballads are popped out of cookie cutters, and I still love them, but this one is a little bit different. I was trying to decide between this song and "Cryin", but in the end the vocal harmonies and bluesy feel of this song won out.

--Star Wars Main Theme - John Williams
     First of all, John Williams is a beast. The main theme of Star Wars is one of the most well-known movie themes of all time. It starts off each Star Wars movie (and most Star Wars video games) as the crawler begins to scroll. Hearing this song ivokes the excitement and sense of novelty that comes with seeing a Star Wars movie for the first time and entering into a new world. This is a feeling for me that is aking to being the first one to walk on an untouched lawn full of fresh snow. Although John Williams "Battle of the Heroes" for Episode III came close to emulating the sense of grandeur and majest of the title theme, nothing can beat that old king.