Ricockulous

That is how difficult it is to determine a wedding song. Like a first song sort of thing. The problem really isnt even that Katie and I have different tastes in music. The problem is that most songs which are about 2 people who totally love each other and there are no problems suck.

I mean, think about it, who writes music about shit going really well and being really really in love with someone who loves you back. Even most pop songs aren't about that. The ones we have found are even kind of difficult. Katie's parents used Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" which is a great song, but means that we probably shouldn't. Regardless, it is, at this point, definatively the best that we have found. We also don't want one which is too long or anything. I thought Purple Rain would be cool and I suppose that it still would, but even the abbreviated version of the song is like 5 minutes and is, fundamentally, not a truly happy song, more about an unrequited love.

We tried to work something out with Stevie Wonder, but Katie doesn't tend to like the songs I like. I think we will move in the direction of some other classics. Katie also rejected Tom Waits, which isn't a big surprise, but I think it would have been sweet to have a Tom Waits song as a first dance. We are looking into Willie Nelson at the moment. This was spurred by the CMA's releasing of the 100 Best Country Songs of all time, a list which, at least in my relatively uninformed country-music opinion, is ridiculous.

The Gambler, which I think is definatively the best song the genre has ever produced, was ranked 26. It was also the top Kenny Rogers song. Kenny Rogers top song is at number 26!! Seems ridiculous to me. I also would have put The Devil Went Down to Georgia in the top 10, probably higher. Surprisingly absent to me was Garth Brooks' The Thunder Rolls, what I would have selected as his top song. Garth appeared on the list only twice, for The Dance and Friends in Low Places, both good songs. Friends in Low Places however, was number 6, which may be a little high. Johnny Cash had a good amount of hits and Ring of Fire was 4th I think, fairly respectable. If I had to generate my own list I think I would have:

1) The Gambler
2) The Devil Went Down to Georgia
3) Ring of Fire
4) The Thunder Rolls
5) Mommas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys

The CMA had these songs at 26, 69 (heh heh), 4, unranked, and 10 respectively. You can see that me and people who listen to country music differ slightly. I might work in some Dolly Parton up there, she rocks.

There were a number of songs which I never would have considered country music until I read them on this list. Passionate Kisses, Desperado, anything by Ray Charles! I have to imagine that he is the only black person on this list, though I don't know that for sure, Katie thinks a couple other dudes may be, but we are not certain.

I can't believe I actually spent this much time talking about country music, which I haven't listened to in any serious capacity since like 8th grade when me and Maroney were big into the "Thank God for You." I wonder if there are similar lists for any other genres, has any respectable agency actually made a 100 Best Songs in rock and roll. MTV does the 100 Best Videos, but that obviously excludes a majority of the Rock Music made before like 1984. Notably also, I dont think anyone would contend seriously that either GNR's November Rain or Metallica's Enter Sandman are the best couple rock songs ever written. They are, however, legitimate contenders for best video ever made.

MTV tends to redo that list every couple years, all of them later than 1995 or so, after all of these songs came out at least, and none the less, each of these editions has included a different video at number one. At various times I have seen Thriller, November Rain, Enter Sandman, Jeremy, and Smells Like Teen Spirit listed as the best video ever. For all of them except the Nirvana song there is a legitimate argument. While the heroin boys from Seattle were no doubt extraordinarily influential on the world of music and maybe will fulfill all the predictions that Nirvana will be to the next generation what the Beatles are to ours, their videos were cool, but not to the level of the others listed there. November Rain for its spectacle, Enter Sandman for its filmic attributes, Thriller for the length and choreography of a short film, and Jeremy for the emotion, surprise, and avant-garde videography that was really non existant at the time it was introduced.

Enough, bored and hungry now.

Peace,

MB-K