# Let's do the 30 Day Song Challenge. For everyone who does every day with me, I'll Paypal a dollar. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 2, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997 "2016-04-02T23:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/1 "2016-04-02T23:34:33Z")
Here’s my idea. Being bored a few minutes ago–and listening to a favorite song of mine–I thought about how it might be interesting to do the 30 Day Song Challenge. Only it’s not half as interesting doing it alone. I thought “You know, it might be cool to try out on the SDMB, and see the stories behind posters’ choices daily” Not only that, but to also get exposed to new music and genres and songs I wouldn’t normally listen to or even know about. So I figured not only would I do this on here, but I’d even add an incentive. For every poster who gets all the way to June 2nd with me, **having done/posted/participated in every day of the challenge** , I will Paypal a dollar.\* I know…whoa nellie, right? Just don’t go off and spend it all in one place, you hear? The requirement here, though, is you must do every day, you can’t miss any and you must also share/post the answer to any question I put forth about the daily song we’re posting about. Also, note the asterisk above… this means… \*100 person limit. I’m willing to Paypal a dollar up to one hundred people (all of that being 100 dollars total), but if over a hundred participate, every day, in the very first thread…then I will have to declare the Paypal offer null and void. I’m sure you’ll all live, though. : p **If less than 100 people take part in this, I will split up 100 dollars among however many posters did wind up doing every day** (_since I am/was willing to spend 100 dollars on it any way_). * * * This is the first day, I’ll post one every two days…so, really, it will take 60 days to do–but that’s just so I don’t have twenty or thirty topics all on the first page all at once. Hopefully two days is enough for them to drop off the page. But for all I know, these might not garner much interest or just get, like, one or two others doing it. If that’s the case, though, then I’m sure the other two or three will be happy since it will mean 35 dollars for each of them. Anyway…Day 1: Your favorite song. I realize you might have a lot of favorites, but just choose one out of them…although posting at least one other is fine if it’s a close one between two and/or you want to share a song that used to be number one, but was knocked out by another song. [This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3t9SfrfDZM) has been my favorite song ever since I first heard it 20 years ago. Before that, [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk1MpWFtteU) was my favorite song for 23 years or so (and now it’s my second favorite song). ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/2 "2016-04-03T01:18:05Z")
I’m in. I have long considered this song to be the ultimate Rock N Roll tune. Amazing vocals, amazing guitar, perfect end-of-song mini-solos. I actually smiled yesterday when I randomly heard it. [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiAypzL9dFk) mmm ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/3 "2016-04-03T01:36:00Z")
I’ll try to play. Here’s my favorite song from fifth grade. I was head-over-heels crazy about Carlos Castellano, but he was already going with Tina Martinez. Who one day threatened me on the playground with her itty, bitty pocketknife. Being a big, ol’ chicken, I then decided it’d be better to lament what could’ve been than to get my butt whipped. So, Yvonne Elliman spoke for me. Sigh. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-4VTz7gSHds/hqdefault.jpg "Yvonne Elliman - If I Can't Have You (Top Of The Pops)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4VTz7gSHds) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/4 "2016-04-03T01:54:40Z")
I’m up for it and am happy to listen to others. The fact you’ll be making a new thread for each “day” will make it easy to find. I suggest you come up with a consistent naming format so those of us in can search for “Day 2” or “Day 3” and so on very easily. Favorite song? Wow, I’ll go with one I just want people to hear. I like KMFDM a lot and I think this song of their Adios album is one of their best. Something about the orchestrated beginning builds to such an awesome beat. [D.I.Y. by KMFDM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4-gmECiENQ) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/5 "2016-04-03T02:12:10Z")
Not a hijack, but a slightly related throw-back. If you are curious, I actually had an ongoing thread nearly 3 years ago called “My thought on albums everybody has already heard.” It was about how I was sheltered(uh, ignorant) of a lot of famous music and wanted to listen to as much as possible. [I kept it going for awhile and did discover some great new music. You can read it here if you like.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4-gmECiENQ) ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/6 "2016-04-03T02:21:40Z")
I’ve recently been expanding my musical horizons by downloading recommended albums on Amazon Prime Music. My current favorite is [this](https://youtu.be/CaHYe_cE-qo). It always cheers me up. You just can’t not dance to it. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/7 "2016-04-03T02:33:30Z")
I’ll play. I wanted to post this song anyway, since I saw this bass player play for the first time this week (with the Melvins, not this band). I probably trashed the speakers to 2-3 cars with this song. Steve McDonald’s bass intro is just too good. Redd Kross - [What They Say](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BZbbVMmuy0) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/8 "2016-04-03T02:41:59Z")
This, of course, depends on how you define “song.” My favorite song is the aria \*Dein ist mein ganzes Hertz, \*from Franz Lehar’s operetta “The Land of Smiles.” It’s a very romantic love song, usually performed by a tenor, rarely performed as a [trio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa58TdbRGJ4), adding a certain element of humor. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/9 "2016-04-03T03:09:33Z")
Count me out of your dollar, but I’ll throw in one for today’s challenge - I always had a special spot for Traffic’s “Sometimes I feel so uninspired” (play on #3 [here](http://www.stevewinwood.com/releases/traffic/traffic_live_on_the_road)) … the line “But don’t let it get you down/There is every reason for not failin’” for some reason really spoke to me at that point in my life. Just the framing of it I guess … not winning just not failin’ … I can do that. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/10 "2016-04-03T03:46:55Z")
Trying to come up with a less pretentious word than “powerful” to sum this one up, but yeah I’ll go with sombre, and sobering, power. Not too many tunes that get my hairs going up, at points, and this one never ceases to knock my socks off: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jREUrbGGrgM/maxresdefault.jpg "The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM) ---
**Author:** ![TheInimitableMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TheInimitableMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInimitableMaven)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/11 "2016-04-03T04:17:24Z")
I’m in! I am quite sure beyond sure I have more ‘original’ favorite songs I could post, but I gotta go with **[this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIX0ZDqDljA)** due to its being a favorite literally from the first listen since being able to make heads and tails of classic rock radio as just a five/six/seven or so year old. AND it’s also very much among my personal philosophies, and no amount of radio overplay and overuse in movies and television (but all much deserved) will ever change that. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/12 "2016-04-03T05:14:55Z")
\*Starship Trooper \* **Yes** ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/13 "2016-04-03T06:01:47Z")
I’ll give it a go. My favorite song came out in 1994. [Interstate Love Song](https://g.co/kgs/fp1FO) by Stone Temple Pilots. Made on 3 April, 4:01pm ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/14 "2016-04-03T06:20:32Z")
Taking a page out of **panache45** ’s book, I’ll start with [Franco Corelli’s 1967 performance of _E lucevan le stelle_ (Tosca) from Parma, Italy.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-RrG4sfdis) The phrase he sings from 1:54 to 2:16 is simply obscene (in the divine sense), especially given that this was live, and he didn’t have the benefit of re-takes. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/15 "2016-04-03T07:48:31Z")
Ooh! Maybe I’ll find some new good tunes, or be reminded of some old favs, like with MMM’s contribution of, “Stay with Me”. Idle Thoughts, you and I share similar tastes. I even have Mr. Loaf’s autograph on the back of a concert ticket, and I’ve recently been introduced to the joy that is Bruce’s, “Live at the Main Point”. Though I, too, love, “Born to Run”, I somewhat favor, “She’s the One.” Back when I finally joined the CD revolution (somewhat later than most) around 1990-91, I picked up 2 CD’s with my player. The first, Cosmo’s Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival, had some [old favorites](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmjNIJ4YIFI&list=PL0ryVRgv4iE23rwPW4wnrtOJy411kXKio) on it, and so assured that I would have some music I wanted to hear right out of the gate. The second CD was a somewhat blind risk: Steve Vai’s, “Passion and Warfare”. I’d heard of him, and heard a bit of his playing here and there. I wanted something new and flashy, something with modern production that might take full advantage of the new tech. On it contained what was to become, if you CAN definitively state such a thing, my all-time favorite instrumentals, [“For the Love of God”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBRoI0sG8Jg). I gotta whole lotta mo’. . . ETA: Eddie The Horrible, my first concert ever was The Band, opening for Crosby, Stills and Nash. Quite memorable. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/16 "2016-04-03T09:56:42Z")
I’m not gonna promise to stick with this for the whole 30 days, but I’ll give it a try. Choosing a favorite is somewhere between hard and impossible, but I think the one thing that tends to come up most consistently is [Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tupelo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQvLKvEo530). It’s gotta be a Nick Cave song—listening to him for the first time all those years ago was a damn near revelatory experience: suddenly, I realized what music is supposed to do; that it’s not just some tolerable background noise, but that it can take the stage front and center, and speak directly to you in a way few other things can. As for Tupelo, it’s the apocalyptic mood, the unrelenting drums, coupled with Nick’s (then) trademark allegorical storytelling brand of songwriting, veering from mad evangelism to Elvis fanaticism in a single line—few songs like that have ever been written. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/17 "2016-04-03T15:37:55Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > \*Starship Trooper \* > > **Yes** DAMN the concluding “Wurm” section is another goose-bumpy awesomeness - a slowly building crescendo (that I’ve always imagined would making a good score for a lengthy jiggy scene in a film) that is capped off by my favourite Steve Howe solo, which absolutely _bleeds_ with intense passion, as it pans from left to right channels in a sort of “trade-off” fashion. > [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Though I, too, love, “Born to Run”, I somewhat favor, “She’s the One.” For me - it’s “Candy’s Room” > [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Eddie The Horrible, my first concert ever was The Band, opening for Crosby, Stills and Nash. Quite memorable. aw you lucky duck! > [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I’m not gonna promise to stick with this for the whole 30 days, but I’ll give it a try. Moi aussi on this, especially when: > [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Not only that, but to also get exposed to new music and genres and songs I wouldn’t normally listen to or even know about . ok…as the month progresses, my choices will gradually become more obscure. Meaning, there’s a lot of stuff out there I put on a pedestal that 99.9% people would “barf with the displeasure” at, so, I’m guessing a fine balance should be struck between stuff that one exalts in, and stuff that “most” people would consider “accessible”, then? ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/18 "2016-04-03T15:39:53Z")
oh right :smack:…my choice… [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OVtpnpCOKM) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/19 "2016-04-03T15:54:48Z")
My favorite song changes by the hour sometimes, but if I had to pin one down, I consistently come back to Elvis Costello and I there’s something about [Brilliant Mistake](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2IBoQOomTU) that always grabs me. I like the clever lyrics, the way the choruses are slightly different from the sentiment to the drum fills leading into them. I wish I could write songs like Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997/20 "2016-04-03T18:29:33Z")
_Zip City_ **Drive-By Truckers** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-the-30-day-song-challenge-for-everyone-who-does-every-day-with-me-ill-paypal-a-dollar/750997.md?page=2)