As a teenager, I rediscovered it on some '70s Hits!' compilation I picked up at Pamida, and its talk of pines trees lining winding roads and (especially) the north wind whistling down the sky spoke profoundly to me, though I was still unable to wrap my head around the message.
Now, of course, life IS well on its way to passing me by, so, road trip or not, I feel I gotta keep moving. Gotta keep moving.
From 1973, this was one of the last songs Croce recorded before his death, reluctantly, because he did not write it. But it fits well in his repertoire, and seamlessly into the singer/songwriter vibe of the time, when many songs emerged that traded hipness for a recognition of something else...something personal and satisfying that we don't always reveal to other people, but surely gets bandied about our minds in moments of reflection, and makes many of these types of songs enduring classics. I was pretty devastated (okay, just highly annoyed) when I Got a Name appeared in a Remax commercial last year, though have since learned that it's been used in many commercials and films over time...no doubt for for that very 'personal and satisfying' element.
"They can change their mind, but they can't change me..."
#15) 'Sister Christian' by Night Ranger - Hard as it is for me to believe, or admit, this song has probably commanded more of my attention over the years than any other, on account of two separate heated arguments I've had about it.
The first, when I was eighteen, driving somewhere with a girlfriend. Sister Christian was playing on a mixed tape, and at the end I took it upon myself to sing the last bellowing note - the (overwrought) 'YEEAAAH....MOTORING!...'
This annoyed her more than impressed her, but she didn't know what she was getting herself into when she said I sounded flat.
The second, many years later, was a far less emotional, more intellectual, debate over whether the song should be lumped in, and dismissed, with other 'hair metal' power ballads of the day.
I'll address the singing part first: yeah, I was probably flat. In fact, I'm sure I was. I just couldn't be told anything in those days. My Herculean ego could only interpret her (mostly passing) critique as a totally unfair, and heartless, criticism. Had I been in her shoes, I might have conceded just to shut me up, but (to her credit) she didn't. She stood her ground, insisted that it didn't matter how many times I rewound the tape and sang again (determined to prove I could hit the note), I was still coming up flat every time. All these years later I have no problem admitting she was right.
As to whether Sister Christian is a 'typical' power ballad, deserves to be deposited on the ash heap of 80s hair metal history along with Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison, Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue or Carrie by Europe, I don't think so. I won't presume to bore the reader with what I think the song's about (or pretend that I care much), but merely from a musicality standpoint, I think Sister Christian stands head and shoulders above any other swaying lighter stadium anthem.
The piano at the beginning and end really is quite lovely, the line 'You're motoring...', as it's applied here, fairly poetic (though, admittedly, much of the rest of the song's lyrics are pretty awful). The guitar solo acts as all good guitar solos should, spinning wildly away from the original melody but never at its expense, instead taking the song to a new place for a moment. And I especially like the thunderous drumming at the very end (the result of the song's composer and singer, Kelly Keagy, being Night Ranger's drummer). I think it blends with the piano, and punctuates the melancholy of the song. To me it's always sounded like noises coming through walls from the next room, or the next apartment, or the house next door. You wonder what's going on, but you may never know because it doesn't concern you. Not everything that happens concerns us. And that thought by itself has always struck me as sad.
The video, though, I admit, is kind of hilarious...how old were the band members, like 35, cavorting with school girls?
"And you know that you're the only one to say okay/but you're motoring..."
#16) 'Master of Puppets' by Metallica - I think it was Kurt Loder from MTV who once aptly called Metallica the 'thinking man's metal band'. They were also, in their day, hugely ground breaking. How crazy must it have been to be a teenager in '83 and hear The Four Horsemen or Whiplash for the first time? These days fast and loud of that caliber is a common tool of the trade in metal, but thirty years ago it was largely unheard of and, for kids needing such an outlet, probably perceived as a form of alchemy.
"That's life, and as funny as it seems/some people get their kicks, stomping on a dream..."
This annoyed her more than impressed her, but she didn't know what she was getting herself into when she said I sounded flat.
The second, many years later, was a far less emotional, more intellectual, debate over whether the song should be lumped in, and dismissed, with other 'hair metal' power ballads of the day.
I'll address the singing part first: yeah, I was probably flat. In fact, I'm sure I was. I just couldn't be told anything in those days. My Herculean ego could only interpret her (mostly passing) critique as a totally unfair, and heartless, criticism. Had I been in her shoes, I might have conceded just to shut me up, but (to her credit) she didn't. She stood her ground, insisted that it didn't matter how many times I rewound the tape and sang again (determined to prove I could hit the note), I was still coming up flat every time. All these years later I have no problem admitting she was right.
As to whether Sister Christian is a 'typical' power ballad, deserves to be deposited on the ash heap of 80s hair metal history along with Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison, Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue or Carrie by Europe, I don't think so. I won't presume to bore the reader with what I think the song's about (or pretend that I care much), but merely from a musicality standpoint, I think Sister Christian stands head and shoulders above any other swaying lighter stadium anthem.
The piano at the beginning and end really is quite lovely, the line 'You're motoring...', as it's applied here, fairly poetic (though, admittedly, much of the rest of the song's lyrics are pretty awful). The guitar solo acts as all good guitar solos should, spinning wildly away from the original melody but never at its expense, instead taking the song to a new place for a moment. And I especially like the thunderous drumming at the very end (the result of the song's composer and singer, Kelly Keagy, being Night Ranger's drummer). I think it blends with the piano, and punctuates the melancholy of the song. To me it's always sounded like noises coming through walls from the next room, or the next apartment, or the house next door. You wonder what's going on, but you may never know because it doesn't concern you. Not everything that happens concerns us. And that thought by itself has always struck me as sad.
The video, though, I admit, is kind of hilarious...how old were the band members, like 35, cavorting with school girls?
"And you know that you're the only one to say okay/but you're motoring..."
#16) 'Master of Puppets' by Metallica - I think it was Kurt Loder from MTV who once aptly called Metallica the 'thinking man's metal band'. They were also, in their day, hugely ground breaking. How crazy must it have been to be a teenager in '83 and hear The Four Horsemen or Whiplash for the first time? These days fast and loud of that caliber is a common tool of the trade in metal, but thirty years ago it was largely unheard of and, for kids needing such an outlet, probably perceived as a form of alchemy.
But Loder was right. There was more to Metallica than merely metal for the sake of metal. They were fantastic musicians, really did play as fast and precise live as on their albums, but more to the point, James Hetfield, the primary songwriter, was a kind of poet, and as such, their songs tended to be not just 'fast and loud', but worthy indictments of injustice and tragedy far and wide.
By 1986, Metallica hit their stride musically. Master of Puppets, the song, is what kids today might call epic. Almost nine minutes of emotionally complex metal virtuosity, and probably a stronger anti-drug message than 'Just Say No' spoken in a hundred different languages.
"Needlework the way/never you betray/life of death becoming clearer..."
#17) 'Blackened' by Metallica - From 1988's ...And Justice For All (their best album, for my money; the one that introduced me to the band), Blackened is another sterling example of Hetfield's poetry, further evidence that Kurt Loder hit the nail on the head. If environmentalists took this tack to get their message out, we might have a cleaner, more livable world on our hands, global warming a thing of the past.
Metallica could sustain me clear across the wind-swept plains if I needed them to. Maybe I'll devote an entire state to them....Nebraska?
By 1986, Metallica hit their stride musically. Master of Puppets, the song, is what kids today might call epic. Almost nine minutes of emotionally complex metal virtuosity, and probably a stronger anti-drug message than 'Just Say No' spoken in a hundred different languages.
"Needlework the way/never you betray/life of death becoming clearer..."
#17) 'Blackened' by Metallica - From 1988's ...And Justice For All (their best album, for my money; the one that introduced me to the band), Blackened is another sterling example of Hetfield's poetry, further evidence that Kurt Loder hit the nail on the head. If environmentalists took this tack to get their message out, we might have a cleaner, more livable world on our hands, global warming a thing of the past.
Metallica could sustain me clear across the wind-swept plains if I needed them to. Maybe I'll devote an entire state to them....Nebraska?
"Blackened is the end/winter it will send/throwing all you see/into obscurity..."
#18) 'That's Life' by David Lee Roth - In the end, the big end we all face, this song is really all that's left to say. This is our charge on Earth: to roll with things, with the lemons, the shit sandwiches, the shit that happens, the treachery and dishonesty, disappointment and hurt feelings...to grin and bear it, to laugh out loud as much as possible, try not to take things too seriously for too long, least of all ourselves.
#18) 'That's Life' by David Lee Roth - In the end, the big end we all face, this song is really all that's left to say. This is our charge on Earth: to roll with things, with the lemons, the shit sandwiches, the shit that happens, the treachery and dishonesty, disappointment and hurt feelings...to grin and bear it, to laugh out loud as much as possible, try not to take things too seriously for too long, least of all ourselves.
Roth has always been good at not taking himself (too) seriously, and he really shows his range here, legitimately belting this number out without making you wonder why he's bothering. You got to respect anyone who can shift from the likes of Panama to That's Life, from (Just a) Gigolo to Yankee Rose.
Whether it's Frank Sinatra's version or David Lee Roth's, That's Life has done a better job of casting me out of funks than any other song. It is critical musical gear for 1/48/50.
Whether it's Frank Sinatra's version or David Lee Roth's, That's Life has done a better job of casting me out of funks than any other song. It is critical musical gear for 1/48/50.
"That's life, and as funny as it seems/some people get their kicks, stomping on a dream..."
