You know when you hear a song for the first time and you just love it? It makes you feel great and you crave it. It becomes a soundtrack for good memories. The last one that did that to me was Passion Pit- Sleepy Head(not their video clip but I can’t resist that cute wedding).
What was the last song that gave you music tingles? Feel free to post a link to it for my listening pleasure.
From last year, Neko Case’s People Got A Lotta Nerve
It’s a bluegrass cover of “Pride” by U2.
O Yeah by Yello.
Pump up the Volume by M.A.R.S.
Sign of the Times by Prince.
The Last Time by The Rolling Stones
Last time by Keane.
Oh, jeez, probably the most recently recorded song that did that was Rilo Kiley’s “Portions for Foxes”, and that was a few years ago.
Still, I always get chills when I hear (and this is just a random sampling of five; there are many more):
[ul]
[li]“Artic World”, by Midnight Oil[/li][li]“Paris 1919”, by John Cale[/li][li]“Every Day”, by Buddy Holly[/li][li]“The Old Home Place”, by J.D. Crowe and the New South[/li][li]“A Change Is Gonna Come”, by Sam Cooke[/li][/ul]
Two things do it for me, more so than specific songs.
First, I love a song that builds up as it goes along. A song that starts out slow, but ends with a crescendo gets me if it’s well done.
Secondly, kinda goes with the first actually, is a song that has large group singing along at the right moment. This can be an audience singalong, if it’s a good audience and recorded well, or a choir brought in at the right moment in the song to give it that emotional punch.
Examples?
Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage for one that builds. Interesting unofficial video with this one.
I’ll go old school for one with a choir AND an audience. Foreigner - I Want to Know What Love Is Yeah, I know I’ll get lambasted for that choice, but I like it, so I’ll deal with it.
Sting’s Fields of Gold. Still makes me stop and enjoy it, after all these years. Dunno why.
Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody – if I really listen to it and not just have it playing the background. Oh, and The Allman Brothers Band’s Whipping Post. I don’t know the musical term for it, but whatever’s going on at 3:50 to 4:30 in the studio version gets me every time (call and response with keyboard and guitars?). It defines rock and roll for me.