Don't Tread On Me

Happy Memorial Day!
Featured songs in this post include: "Dig" by Incubus, "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" by Chicago, and "Don't Tread On Me" by Metallica.

Don't Tread On Me - This is an appropriate song to feature on Memorial Day. Aside from being the unofficial start of Summer, today is a day to remember all of those who have put themselves in harm's way, even sacrificed their lives, for our freedom. It's a debt we can never repay. War is a horrible thing to be avoided; but, warriors should be revered, honored, and glorified. It takes remarkable courage to lay your life down in service of others. So, while you enjoy your barbecue today, say a prayer and give thanks for the brave men and women in the service, and those who came before them.

These are the best songs on my iPod related to servicemen and women - it's dominated by Iron Maiden. Over the course of the band's career, they have continually returned to this theme. I've left more of their songs off the list than I've included, actually.
10) These Colours Don't Run - Iron Maiden
9) Don't Tread On Me - Metallica
8) Battle Cry - Triumph ("I think the loneliest man in the world is a soldier.")
7) Citizen Soldier - 3 Doors Down
6) Aces High - Iron Maiden (The Battle of Britain)
5) Paschendale - Iron Maiden (The horrors of WWI trench warfare)
4) The Trooper - Iron Maiden (The story of one infantryman participating in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War)
3) The Longest Day - Iron Maiden (DDay)
2) One - Metallica (About a man completely destroyed, but not killed, by a landmine)
1) Hammerhead - The Offspring (Homage to a Marine)


Dig - As promised in my last entry, I have to feature this song. I love how the song describes a growing couple - keeping each other in check, knowing that they'll always be there for each other. I've quoted it to my wife a few times. She continues to think I'm an idiot who should come up with his own words. Which isn't entirely unjustified.
"When weakness turns my ego up
I know you'll count on the me from yesterday.
If I turn into another,
Dig me up from under what is covering the better part of me.
Sing this song.
Remind me that we'll always have each other
When everything else is gone."

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - This is my favorite Chicago song. It's an entreaty to slow down and enjoy the good things, instead of getting caught in modern life. And this was written before the PC and cell phones chained many of us to our work. Other songs in this post have a similar theme, such as "DOA" by Foo Fighters and "Different World" by, you guessed it, Iron Maiden. In the bridge, there is a spoken part that makes the song's point quite clear: "People runnin' everywhere/Don't know the way to go/Don't know where I am/Can't see past the next step/Don't have to think past the last mile/Have no time to look around/Just run around, run around and think why."

• Die Like This - Fuel
• Die With Your Boots On - Iron Maiden : "If you're gonna die, die with your boots on." Discusses Nostradamus and predestination.
  
• Difference (In the Garden of St. Anne's-On-the-Hill) - King's X
• Different Strings - Rush : "Different eyes see different things/Different hearts beat on different strings/But there are times, for you and me, when all such things agree."
  
• Different World - Iron Maiden : "I would like you to know/When you see the simple things/To appreciate this life/It's not too late to learn."
• Dig - Incubus
• Dig a Pony - The Beatles
• Digital Man - Rush : More conflict about technological progress.
  
• Diminished - R.E.M. : Creepy song about a guy who killed someone - is he guilty or insane?
  
• Dirty Second Hands - Switchfoot
• Disappear - Army of Anyone
• Disappear - INXS
• Disappear - R.E.M. : "I looked for you everywhere/Tell me why you're here/I came to disappear."
• Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins
• Disconnected - Goo Goo Dolls
• Diseased - Seether
• Disenchanted Lullaby - Foo Fighters
• The Distance - Live : "Oh, are we locked into these bodies?/Let's hold out for something sweeter/Spread your wings and fly."
• Distant Early Warning - Rush : "The world weighs on my shoulders, but what am I to do?/You sometimes drive me crazy, but I worry about you."
  
• Disturbance at the Heron House - R.E.M. : One of my favorite R.E.M. tunes. I've listened to it hundreds of times and still have absolutely no idea what it's about.
  
• Dizzy Miss Lizzy - The Beatles
• Do It Again - Queens of the Stone Age
• Do the Evolution - Pearl Jam
• Do This Anymore - Nickelback
• Do You Know - Tonic
• Do You Remember - Jack Johnson
• Do You Right - 311
• DOA - Foo Fighters : Life is fleeting, so make the most of it. "Take a good hard look for the very last time/The very last one in a very long line/Only took a second to say goodbye."
• Doctor Robert - The Beatles
• Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - Chicago
  
• Dog Years - Rush : OK, you get the picture that I'm a huge Rush fan. I can't get on board with lyrics that are this laughably bad, though - even if the music is good. "In a dog's life/A year is more like seven/And all too soon a canine/Will be chasing cars in doggie heaven"
• Doll - Foo Fighters
• The Dolphin's Cry - Live
• Don't - Elvis Presley
• Don't Be Cruel - Elvis Presley

Two in a row from the King.

• Don't Be There - Switchfoot
• Don't Believe - Chalk FarM
• Don't Believe It (It's Easier Said Than Done) - King's X : King's X is a criminally underappreciated band.
  
• Don't Break Me Down - The Donnas (yes, The Donnas)
• Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• Don't Do Me Like That - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Super back-to-back Petty songs.

• Don't Fade - Toad the Wet Sprocket
• Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Harry Connick, Jr.
• Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel : I can listen to this song again and again and again.
  
• Don't Give Up On Me - Fastball : "I need a little leeway and an angel to watch over me."
  
• (Don't Go Back To) Rockville - R.E.M. : "At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me."
• Don't Know Why - Norah Jones
• Don't Let Me Down - The Beatles
• Don't Make Me Dream About You - Chris Isaak
• Don't Mean Much - Chalk FarM
• Don't Panic - Coldplay : "We live in a beatiful world, yeah we do, yeah we do!"
  
• Don't Stand So Close to Me - The Police
• Don't Stay Home - 311
• Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac : "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow/Don't stop, it'll soon be here/It'll be better than before/Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone"
  
• Don't Stop Dancing - Creed
• Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
• Don't Take Your Guns to Town - Johnny Cash : More like a short story than a song - a very sad short story.
  
• Don't Tell Me You Love Me - Night Ranger
• Don't Touch My Hat - Lyle Lovett : Lyle Lovett is hilarious. "If it's her you want/I don't care about that/You can have my girl/But don't touch my hat."
  
• Don't Tread On Me - Metallica
• Don't Worry 'bout Me - Frank Sinatra
• Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds : One of my favorite 80's songs. I can't hear it without picturing "The Breakfast Club."
  
• Double Agent - Rush : "My angels and my demons at war/Which one will lose/Depends on what I choose/Or maybe which voice I ignore." The "Double Agent" is our internal struggle between wrong and right.
  
• Down - Fuel
• Down - Kutless
• Down - Stone Temple Pilots
• Down - 311

Ranking the 4 songs called Down:
1) 311, 2) Kutless, 3) Stone Temple Pilots, 4) Fuel

• Down Inside of You - Fuel
• Down Poison - 3 Doors Down
• Down There By the Train - Johnny Cash
• The Down Town - Days of the New
• Downtown - Petula Clark
  

Summary:
Listened to 72 songs, skipped 2 (Live version of "Dirty Second Hands" and live acoustic version of "Don't Give Up On Me")
6 Do, but 29 Don't - That seems about right - we're told much more often what NOT to do than what TO do.
3 Disappear, 9 Downs (including 4 simply titled "Down")

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Now playing: Metallica - Don't Tread on Me
via FoxyTunes