# First 10 random songs on your ipod? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920 "2008-04-04T13:52:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/61 "2008-04-05T02:50:25Z")
1. Méfie Toi de Moi - Hélène Segara 2. Shizukana Hibi no Kaidan wo - Dragon Ash 3. La La La - Ohguro Maki 4. Komm Mit - Laith al-Dean 5. Schütze Mich - Ich + Ich 6. Boukensha Tachi - Do As Infinity 7. Anytime Smoking Cigarette - Globe 8. All the Small Things - Blink 182 9. Dämonen - Ich + Ich 10. Ola Kala - Sakis Rouvis Well, that certainly was random! ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/62 "2008-04-05T03:10:47Z")
1. Elephant Machine - Younger Brother 2. Angel Sigh - Spiritualized 3. So In Love - k.d. lang 4. Waiting Here For You - The Thrillseekers ft. Aruna 5. Winter (Nuspirit Helsinki remix) - Bebel Gilberto 6. Involver - Sasha (mix cd) 7. Prophetic Sines - Bluetech 8. Cafe Europa - Deep Forest 9. Ceremony Of Passage - Vas 10. Degenerates - Moby ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/63 "2008-04-05T04:47:33Z")
Let’s see what my iPod is shuffling up: 1. Hearts and Bones - Paul Simon 2. Put Your Lights On - Santana and Everlast 3. She’s All Right - Double Trouble 4. I Wanna Melt With U - Prince & The New Power Generation 5. Thunder Island - Jay Ferguson 6. Say It Isn’t So - Hall and Oates 7. I Am A Rock - Simon & Garfunkle 8. Let It Flow - En Vogue 9. Joy The Beltane - Friedemann 10. I’ve Got The Rhythm - Wild T and The Spirit Well, that sort of confirms something I’ve suspected - iPod doesn’t shuffle as randomly as I would like (two Simon and/or Garfunkle songs out 10 doesn’t equal 28 in 3882). ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/64 "2008-04-05T05:16:45Z")
1. Nostradamus - The World Goes to Riyadh- Al Stewart 2. Wonderful World - Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon & James Taylor 3. I Had a King - Joni Mitchell-live at club 47 4. Three Little Birds - Black 47 5. Red Rubber Ball - The Cyrkle 6. The Ocean - Dar Williams 7. Windy And Warm - Doc And Merle Watson 8. I Cheat The Hangman - The Doobie Brothers 9. Poisoning Pigeons In The Park - Tom Lehrer 10. Eastern Rain - Fairport Convention ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/65 "2008-04-05T06:22:29Z")
[QUOTE=HoboStew] Ugh. I could write 1000 words on why I hate that song. Basically it boils down to this: that was the first song of theirs that got national attention. It was the first song of theirs I ever heard, and where I was growing up, all the dumb jocks latched on to them and the song as like a “see, we aren’t just dumb jocks, we are enlightened men” sort of anthem, which led to their fanbase having a disproportionate number of dumb jocks. That was how it happened in my area at least. [/quote] Are you from Southern CA? I’m pretty sure it was only a regional hit, not national. I’m 100% sure it didn’t get radio play where I lived. I don’t think it ever charted, either. > [@Hobo Stew](#): > > Anyways its not a horrible song, but the lyrics are beyond simplistic, reducing a complex issue into the most absolute black & white “look the bad guy was punished!” terms. The story I heard was that Bradley heard some guy at a party say, “if it wasn’t for date rape I’d never get laid” and he thought it was such a funny/absurd statement that he wrote the song right pretty much on the spot. > [@Hobo Stew](#): > > There may be something to this. I made a mix of theirs for my SO and she liked it OK but it didn’t jump out at her, and we have pretty similar tastes in music. Im willing to accept the possibility that their sound is a little dated, but I think their best songs still hold up. You’re probably right. You picked a good one. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/66 "2008-04-05T06:30:04Z")
1. Alice In Chains “Down in a Hole” 2. She Wants Revenge “Sister” 3. Kidney Thieves “Dyskrasia” 4. Sheryl Crow “A Change Would Do You Good” 5. Pepper “No Control” 6. Lincoln Brewster “Shine” 7. Kina “Girl From The Gutter” 8. Ladytron “Destroy Everything You Touch” 9. The Rasmus “Back in the Picture” 10. Air “Playground Love” I think I must have ripped the Rasmus song by accident. It’s got to be the worst on the whole CD. Yuck. This is balanced by the Ladytron song, which I love. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/67 "2008-04-05T07:28:52Z")
Such Sweet Thunder - “Second Best” - from a compilation of Lincoln/Omaha bands from the early 90’s The Who - “Too Much of Anything” Le Tigre - “Friendship Station” “Weird Al” Yankovic - “Hardware Store” Black Sabbath - “N.I.B.” Motley Crue - “Afraid” Mousetrap - “Black and Blue all Over” - another Omaha band Soft Cell - “Tainted Love” N.W.A. - “Compton’s in the House (Live)” The White Stripes - “Death Letter” This is shockingly representative of my musical taste, save for the egregious absence of Hanson. _I’m not kidding about Hanson either…_ ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/68 "2008-04-05T15:05:30Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Well, that sort of confirms something I’ve suspected - iPod doesn’t shuffle as randomly as I would like (two Simon and/or Garfunkle songs out 10 doesn’t equal 28 in 3882). [/QUOTE] You’re actually expecting the iPod to shuffle non-randomly. If it’s picking songs with no memory of previous songs, then there’s no reason why two songs featuring Paul Simon shouldn’t show up close to one another in a long enough sequence. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/69 "2008-04-05T15:16:07Z")
1. Apologize (featuring OneRepublic) by Timbaland 2. Bring on the Wonder by Susan Enan 3. Lonely Day by System of a Down 4. Concerning Hobbits by Howard Shore 5. Odysee by Scarf! 6. Dark Horse by Amanda Marshall 7. Twilight and Shadow by Howard Shore and Renee Fleming 8. You Can Do it by Ice Cube 9. That Song by Big Wreck 10. Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fergie ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/70 "2008-04-05T15:17:36Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] You’re actually expecting the iPod to shuffle non-randomly. If it’s picking songs with no memory of previous songs, then there’s no reason why two songs featuring Paul Simon shouldn’t show up close to one another in a long enough sequence. [/QUOTE] Put it this way: 28 S&G songs out of 3882 means that the probability of a second one appearing after the first, no more than ten songs later, is 1 in 14. Edit: I think. Could somebody check my maths, please? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/71 "2008-04-05T15:28:35Z")
It’s not just one song by one band, either; there’s usually two or three bands that keep showing up within minutes of each other. For example, I’ll be listening to my iPod on shuffle at work, and it will keep playing Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hall and Oates, and Ashley MacIsaac all morning, with other songs mixed in. I have 11 days worth of music on my iPod; I don’t think I should be hearing the same three bands over and over one morning. Doesn’t anyone else notice this with their iPod shuffling? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/72 "2008-04-05T15:42:24Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] It’s not just one song by one band, either; there’s usually two or three bands that keep showing up within minutes of each other. For example, I’ll be listening to my iPod on shuffle at work, and it will keep playing Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hall and Oates, and Ashley MacIsaac all morning, with other songs mixed in. I have 11 days worth of music on my iPod; I don’t think I should be hearing the same three bands over and over one morning. Doesn’t anyone else notice this with their iPod shuffling? [/QUOTE] I notice it, yes, but it doesn’t mean it’s not random. We just have a tendency to see a significance in such apparent trends. OK, there’s 4000 or so tracks to choose from, but of each track played, there’s another ten or so from the same album, and perhaps a hundred from the same artist. This means that for the first ten random tracks played, there’s many hundreds of ‘matching’ tracks, perhaps a quarter of the entire library. Among the next ten random selections, a few of these will appear. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/73 "2008-04-05T16:04:33Z")
Not as eclectic as I’d hoped, but here goes… 1. Stabbing Westward - Haunting Me 2. Splashdown - A Charming Spell 3. Metallica - No Leaf Clover (S&M Version) 4. Cake - The Distance 5. Deltaforce 23 - Striking Out 6. Tool - Lateralus 7. The Kingsmen - Louie Louie 8. Cracker - Low 9. Matisyahu - Indestructible 10. Nirvana - All Apologies ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/74 "2008-04-05T20:41:56Z")
1. I am the Walrus - the Beatles 2. My Heart’s in the Highland - Dylan 3. Complicated - Rolling Stones 4. Sunshine of Your Love - Cream 5. Life Goes to a Party - Benny Goodman 6. Revolution 1 - The Beatles (White Album version) 7. Adagio - from the Brandenburg Concertos - Bach 8. Petrushka - Stravinsky 9 I Want You (She’s So Heavy) - The Beatles 10 Shades of Time - Santana ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/75 "2008-04-05T21:34:30Z")
1. So Nice So Smart – Kimya Dawson 2. I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself – The White Stripes 3. It’s Coming Down – Cake 4. Mixed Emotion – Rolling Stones 5. New Way Home – Foo Fighters 6. You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. – Bright Eyes 7. Wise Up – Aimee Mann 8. Kid Fears – Indigo Girls 9. Misery Business – Paramore 10. Supermassive Black Hole – Muse ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/76 "2008-04-05T21:51:57Z")
Bet I’ll be the first (maybe the only) with mostly country: 1. Yesterday, When I Was Young – Roy Clark 2. Forty Hour Week – Alabama 3. Watching Airplanes – Gary Allen 4. Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves – Cher 5. Commited to Parkview – The Highwaymen 6. Only the Good Die Young – Billy Joel 7. 17 – Cross Canadian Ragweed 8. Take It Easy – The Eagles 9. Weave Me the Sunshine – Peter, Paul & Mary 10. Lover’s Cross – Jim Croce Only half country – I’m surprised. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/77 "2008-04-06T00:04:29Z")
ipod - 12139 songs 1. Yes! I am a Long Way From Home - Mogwai 2. In My Opinion - The Kooks 3. Breaking The Law - Supersuckers 4. In a Zone - Anthrax 5. The Good Times Are Killing Me - Modest Mouse 6. Shoulders & Arms - Tokyo Police Club 7. Betrayed By Life - Hatebreed 8. Replica - Fear Factory 9. Immortal - Clutch 10. 21 Reasons - Frank Black & The Catholics ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/78 "2008-04-06T03:41:32Z")
On my mac mini now, which has a slightly different library. \* The Long Black Veil\*, by **The Country Gentlemen** _Mercedes Benz_, by **Janis Joplin** _Zoot Suit Riot_, by the **Cherry Poppin’ Daddies** _Out of Reach_, by **Voltaire** _Morning Sun_, by **Tea Leaf Green** _Hammerheart_, by **Bathory** Very nearly skipped this one. Due to Quorthon’s weak clean voice, this was not exactly Bathory’s finest hour. _Gothic Stone_, by **Candlemass** _My Dark Reflections of Life and Death_, by **Green Carnation** Dangit, why has a twenty minute long song got to come up in the middle of this? I love it, it’s true, but… it’s 20 minutes! This might turn out to be an eight song list if I get impatient. _I’ve Been Everywhere_, by **Johnny Cash** Made it after all. A pox on those hotel (Days Inn?) commercials for nearly ruining this song for me. I turn the TV off when they come on. _Formulations in Black_, by **Simple Aggression** An excellent cut by a short-lived local band to round out the ten. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/79 "2008-04-06T04:57:03Z")
_Random picks from a pool of 6593. Let’s spin the clickwheel of sound!_ **Day After Day - Badfinger** [classic rock, okay] **Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan** [more classic, but glad to see Bob popped up] **You Want Her Too - Paul McCartney / Elvis Costello** [I’ve got a lot of ex-Beatle stuff. Costello helps offset a little McCartney syrup here] **Pulling Mussels (from the Shell) - Squeeze** [Nice solid showing from the 80’s] \*\*Bring it on Home - Sonny Boy Williams (Rice Miller) \*\*- [Solid blues from a true bluesman] **Unreflected - Mazzy Star** [90’s neo-psychedelia] **Sound and Vision - David Bowie** [One of my more favorite Bowie songs] _Still nothing from this century… growing concern about being percieved as s dinosaur… C’mon… no whammy, no whammy…_ **Not Me - Robert Mitchum** [ARGH. Not even close. I like this goofy little track, though.] **Pasadena Girl - Nellie McKay** [Whew. Okay, not my favorite McKay track, but at least I’m in the 21st Century Club] **Wolly Bully - Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs** [Oh for… ah well.] ---
**Author:** ![runninblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbce88/32.png) [@runninblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runninblue)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920/80 "2008-04-06T05:46:02Z")
Mother’s Day Song - Stephen Lynch The Wind - Cat Stevens Disposition - Tool My Own Peculiar Way - Willie Nelson Cousin Kevin - The Who You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire - Queens of the Stone Age Into The Ether - The Crushadows Slowly Growing Deaf - Mr. Bungle Blue Veins - The Raconteurs If I should Fall From Grace - The Pogues [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-10-random-songs-on-your-ipod/443920.md?page=5)