“The Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ogQ0uge06o
The Bare Necessities is a song featured in the 1967 Disney classic, The Jungle Book. It is sung by Baloo and Mowgli in order to teach Mowgli how to survive in the wild. The song really introduces the laid-back character of Baloo through some of the lyrics.
So just try and relax, yeah
Fall apart in my backyard
‘Cause let me tell you something little britches
If you act like that bee acts, uh uh
You’re working too hard
This song is one of the Disney movie songs on my iPod right now because I am a huge Disney dork. When I was younger, my family would go to my grandparents’ house for dinner almost every week. My cousin and I would beg for one of the adults to put in The Jungle Book, Aristocats, or Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I have probably seen The Jungle Book at least a hundred times because for me, it is one of those movies that never get old. Whenever I hear this song, it takes me back to my childhood and makes me feel like a little kid again.
“Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M11SvDtPBhA
This song has been heard in frat parties across the nation since its release in early August of 2009. So far it has been Miley’s highest charting single yet, remaining in the top ten of the Hot 100 for 16 weeks and was certified platinum after only 14 weeks. The song is considered to be in the synthpop genre because of its use of synthesizers.
I won’t lie. I think Party in the USA is kind of awesome. This song was extremely popular in the fall of 2009, and as Halloween was approaching and I had no costume ideas, my friends talked me into being Miley Cyrus. I was excited to be singing Party in the USA all night. Unfortunately I got sick and lost my voice for Halloween so I was a mute Miley, but that was probably for the best since I am one of the few people with a worse singing voice than Miley herself. As terrible a singer as Miley is, you have to admit, this song is catchy and fun to sing with your friends. Even if you hate this song, you still probably know all the words to it. It’s one of those songs that when it comes on the radio, you have to belt it out.
"Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrK5u5W8afc&feature=related
"Unchained Melody" was originally recorded by Alex North and Hy Zaret, and has since become one of the most recorded songs of the 1900's with an estimated 500 versions. Its first recording was in 1955 with much success, but was rerecorded in 1965 by the Righteous Brothers where it reached the height of its popularity. It even topped adult contemporary charts again for two weeks when it was rereleased by the Righteous Brothers in 1990. The song is considered to be soul or R&B.
I choose to use this song because my parents use to sing it as a bedtime song when I was younger. Every night before I went to sleep they would sing the opening line and add a line with my name in it.
"Oh, my love, my darling,
my darling Kelsey Ann..."
Sometimes they would sing more of the song, but I can't even remember the words because for some reason the first two lines usually put me to sleep. I only started listening to this song again when I was thinking about this project, and it seems to still have the same effect. The song is very soothing and calming with its slower beat.
“Here We Go” by NSYNC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67D3-2_gEbo
This song was released in the US on NSYNC’s first album on March 24, 1998, but was first released almost a year earlier in Germany. Shipping over 10 million records, this album was certified 10x platinum. It is definitely a pop song, being from the boy band genre.
In fifth grade we didn’t decide if we liked a song by the thoughtful lyrics or deeper meaning. This was the age of boy bands and this was our song. Every day after school, my brother, next door neighbor, and I would race to our swing set (there were only two swings so it was a crucial race) and play on them for hours. Whoever wasn’t swinging was in charge of the boom box. Every time we would put in our NSYNC CD and changed it to #3. “Here We Go” definitely doesn’t have meaningful lyrics, but man was it catchy. We would listen to that same song for hours each day. Sometimes we would even pretend to be NSYNC members (I was Lance Bass because he had cute blonde hair). Most of the time though, we would just swing and listen to that one song.
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH3giaIzONA
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” was the first single from Whitney’s second album released in 1987. It was her second most successful single selling 4.2 million copies worldwide. The genre of this song is a mix between dance, pop, and R&B. It was originally written as more of a country song, but was transformed into a dance song when it was decided that Whitney Houston was going to record it.
As the title of the song suggests, this song makes me want to dance. I could listen to 80’s dance hits like this for days. I really like the song because of its upbeat tempo and it just puts you in a good mood when you listen to it. When I started driving my brother to high school in my senior year, we would try to listen to this type of music to wake us up. We ended up having stop light dance parties almost every day. Whenever I hear this song, I think of all the fun memories I’ve had with my brother. Honestly, we probably have more inside jokes than my best friend and I.
“Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4ujS1er1r0&feature=fvw (skip to 1:10)
Any song that talks about fried chicken and cold beer is most likely in the country genre, just like “Chicken Fried”. It was originally released by the Zac Brown Band in 2005, and was released again in 2008 where it had more success. The writing of this song lasted several years before its original release. The third patriotic verse was added shortly after the September 11 attacks.
I think this song is pretty self-explanatory. I mean, who doesn’t like fried chicken, cold beer, and well-fitting jeans? This song is really about growing up in the south, particularly in very rural areas, but it can relate to anyone and has a message that I can appreciate.
And it’s funny how it’s the little things in life that mean the most
Not where you live, what you drive or the price tag on your clothes
There’s no dollar sign on a piece of mind this I’ve come to know
Overall, I like the message of it’s not where you come or how wealthy you are that matters because these things can’t define your own happiness.
“Smile” by Uncle Cracker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj03CIizqFQ&feature=related
This song was released on Uncle Cracker’s 2009 album Happy Hour. It has had some success as a pop-country song, peaking on the billboard top 100 at #43.
I choose this song for my playlist because it’s happy and I generally like happy, upbeat music. I started listening to this song during exams last semester. I had texted my boyfriend that I was really stressed and he told me to listen to this song, and I know this is cliché, but it made me smile. This type of song really helps to de-stress me because it makes me think about all the great things in life. It reminds me of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, not so much in the way it sounds, but in the message it conveys about life and love. These are two of my favorite lines from “Smile” because they really bring out that point.
You make me dance like fool, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
“Bye Bye” by Mariah Carey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqfLVDIZcP8
This is one of Mariah Carey’s more somber songs. It definitely still fits in with her pop/R&B genre, but deals with a more serious subject. She wrote the song about her deceased father, but extended it so that it related to anyone “who just lost somebody.” It was first played on radio stations on March 7, 2008.
My hockey coach of nine years was killed in a motorcycle accident on March 14, a week after the song first aired. Coach Wayne was more like a second father to me than a coach. He always took my brother and me out to eat for our birthdays and his two boys were some of our best friends. The first time I heard “Bye Bye” was in my bedroom a few days after the funeral, so the loss was still fresh in my mind. Listening to the song felt a little like closure, but I couldn’t listen to it on the radio or with friends because it reminded me of his death. Even today when my iPod is on shuffle and it comes on, I can hardly bear to hear it without the emotions from that week coming back.
And on a lighter note, I also choose this song because someone needed to rep a MiMi song after the way she was bashed in class on Monday.
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