songs?

I like it. Here I go:

ROCK/POP/ETC. (get ready for a very eclectic selection)

Chase This Light – by Jimmy Eat World (love the whole album, very positive, uplifting)

Stairway to Heaven – by Led Zeppelin (duh)

One – by U2 (it’s not just about a girl)

Viva la Vida – by Coldplay (need I say more?)

You Get What You Give – by New Radicals (one hit wonder, punk, from the late 90’s but hey, the message is obvious)

Shower the people – by James Taylor (simple – love people)

Close to You – by The Carpenters (cheesy, uplifting, and dang she has an awesome voice)

Black or White – by Michael Jackson (seriously, let’s look past our differences)

You can’t always get what you want – by The Rolling Stones (one of life’s greatest lessons)

What a Wonderful World – by Louis Armstrong (’nuff said)

1812 Overture – by Tchaikovsky (moves me like no other)

Cheesy (and not so cheesy) Mormon Culture songs (don’t laugh) 😆 :

Face to Face – by Kenneth Cope (the whole album. I just think he’s brilliant, and moving, with a great voice)

My Soul Hungered – on the Book of Mormon video

Which Part is Mine – by Michael McLean (describes how I feel much of the time)

O Divine Redeemer – by MoTab (particularly the requiem by John Ritter, which is absolutely the best requiem of all time)

Primary Songs:

I’m Trying to be Like Jesus – if only we all did this more often

I Often Go Walking

Where Love Is

Hymns:

Be Thou Humble

The Morning Breaks

Master the Tempest is Raging

Hymns:

#308 Love one another.

Could it be more simple and clear? This is my favorite hymn. I am particularly fond of the swaying rhythm of 6/8 time, which is unusual for hymns.

Pre-Modern Music (Classical, Baroque, Early, etc.):

“Bist Du Bei Mir” (BWV 508) and Aria by JS Bach. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7JgXjRmYG4” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7JgXjRmYG4 (Sorry about the video attached being so grim, but I really love this particular recording of the piece).

Lyrics translated (singer is addressing God):

“(If) you are close to me, I will go with joy unto death and to my rest. Ah, how pleasant my end would be, your loving hands closing shut my trusting eyes.

“Exultate Jubilate” by Mozart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wROok2083Mk” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wROok2083Mk. An expression of pure joy.

“Canticles of Ecstasy” by Hildegard von Bingen, performed by Sequentia. Hildegard was a 12th century catholic nun and mystic. Link to opening section: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxhpqCOJR9w&feature=related” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxhpqCOJR9w&feature=related

I am also a fan of most Ave Maria’s

Modern Music

“Carolyn’s Fingers” by the Cocteau Twins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh83z5vIP0w” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh83z5vIP0w. You can rarely understand any of the lyrics in their songs (which I like) because she sings in a made-up language. Pure expression of ecstasy. A close second for me is a song called “Iceblink Luck” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl5EqjtRuGU&feature=related” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl5EqjtRuGU&feature=related If Elizabeth Fraser doesn’t sing in the Celestial Kingdom, I ain’t going there.

“Non Ex Nihilo 396, Sequentially Layered Octaves and Perfect Fifths v1.3.2” by Brian Johnston. http://www.staylds.com/non-ex-nihilo-396-1-3-2.mp3” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.staylds.com/non-ex-nihilo-396-1-3-2.mp3

Yes. It might be arrogant to love my own composition . A microtonal, minimalist composition that explores difference in the most mathematically harmonious possible ratios, with no element included without reason. I sometimes listen to this as a meditation.

“Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPPlGFh6OpQ” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPPlGFh6OpQ, also later redone by other various groups. If they actually played this just once in General Conference with a live band and we all sang along, I would never leave the Church. NEVER! 😆 The lyrics of this song embody Mormon theology in such a funny way, if you really think about it. “When I die and they lay me to rest, i’m gonna go to the place that’s THE BEST!”

Wouldn’t it be nice? – The Beach Boys (and most of the other stuff on the Pet Sounds album)

Strawberry Fields – The Beatles

Thank you Lord – Bob Marley and the Wailers (one of the best religious pop songs ever done)

Oliver’s Army – Elvis Costello and the Attractions (It sounds a bit like Abba, but unlike that group, I don’t feel bad about listening to it.)

Ghetto Defendant – The Clash (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWc1-QdNe30 )

Chop Suey – System of a Down (is this even allowed?!)

Classical –

Wagner – The Pilgrim’s Chorus from Tannhauser (sadly much abused at a certain period in history, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coLxM2hq_gA Curiously, the older Brigham Young and Wagner look quite similar)

Beethoven – Symphony no 7

Smetana, pretty much all of Ma Vlast especially this piece -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E54TFSDvkCM

SIbelius – Violin Concerto

Bach – Ich ruf’ zu Dir

Hymns (not all used within the LDS!)

* Guide me O thou Great Jehovah

* I lift mine eyes to the Hills

* How firm a foundation (albeit in moderation!!!)

* We Plow the Fields and Scatter

If bagpipes are good enough for President Hinckley, they’re good enough for me.

Actually, I LOVE bagpipes – unless it’s listening to someone who’s learning to play them. We had an amazing bagpipe section in our Marching Band in high school (used to make adult Scottish groups irate when we would kick their butts in competition at Scottish Games Festivals!!). Take it from someone who has heard the entire spectrum, bagpipes can be celestial instrumentation, but they can be Hell’s instrumentation, as well. The thought of being locked in a room with someone who is just starting to learn to play them fills me with dread.

I was staying in downtown Charlette North Carolina last Christmas, and they had a couple of Bagpipe bands and Irish folk singers that would just go from one pub to another — played all night long. It was a-a-a-aaawesome!

I would put every song by The Corrs or Nickle Creek on my list.

How can NONE of you have listed – If You Could Hie to Kolob, as one of your hymns? Come on, that is a sin.

Actually, I kind of like the song, especially when it is played by someone who really knows their way around an organ.

[img]http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/11324533/2/istockphoto_11324533-cartoon-haggis-in-tartan-kilt-playing-bagpipes.jpg[/img]

Right now I’m way into:

The Killers (they’re kinda nom)

The Strokes

Arctic Monkeys

Band of Horses

I wish some ward would have the cajones to do the hymn “Ring Out Wild Bells” at New Year. It rocks! Yes, even for a hymn.