Nevermind The Posers

Sometimes when we hear a certain song, we think about how much it describes ourselves, whether it be a personal anthem or lyrics that just fit your personality just right…or just right at the moment.  This week, NVMP dug deep and came up with our Top 5 Personal Theme Songs.  Enjoy!

TNT’s Top 5
5. “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen – I know this song has made many of my top 5 lists, but hopefully by now you realize just how amazing it is.  “Don’t stop me now/I’m having such a good time, I’m having a ball.”  I’m grateful to say this song is one of my personal themes; I’m always having fun.  If you’re not having fun, then what’s the point?
4. “Touch of Grey” by Grateful Dead – “I will get by, I will survive.”  Sometimes we all need to repeat this line.  This song frequents many playlists of mine; it’s so uplifting, no matter where you are in life.
3. “Queen of the World” by Ida Maria – “I’m queen of the world/I bump into things/I spin around in circles/And I’m singin’ and I’m singing’ and I’m singing”.  Well, I am always singing and I do spin in circles at random.  I am also very clumsy and at times, think I’m queen of the world (majority of the time I’m drunk…good thing the first line of this song is “Whiskey please, I need some whiskey please.”)
2. “Eyes of the World” by Grateful Dead – “Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own.”  This song is full of lyrical gems like this one!
1. “TNT” by AC/DC – Well, this was a no brainer, being that my initials really are TNT  🙂

Hoverbee’s Top 5
5. “Nitemare Hippy Girl” by Beck – Once upon a time, in a land far away, this was my theme song.  I was a magical, sparkling tease.  I was a rainbow choking the breeze.
4. “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” by Cake – I was the girl who gets up early and stays up late.  My fingernails shined like justice and my voice is still dark like tinted glass.
3. “Born Under a Bad Sign” by Albert King (Cream’s Cover Version) – Born under a bad sign, I’ve been down since I began to crawl.  If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.
2. “Changes” by David Bowie – The only constant theme in life is change.  Oh how the others must see a faker, but I’m much too fast to take that test.
1. “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan – When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.  I have no direction home and my life is a complete unknown.

Mark’s Top 5
5. “Steady As She Goes” by Voodoo Glowskulls – Raucous and fun metal tinged-ska.  Not so much a personal theme as it would be a ‘going to the bar or show’ theme.
4. “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck Quartet – Leading a stress free life would be made much simpler if I had good ol’ Dave’s best known tune to slow things down and smooth the rough patches over.  Everything’s gonna be just fine.
3. “Superman Main Theme” by John Williams – EPIC.  The perfect excuse for smashing through people’s windows instead of ringing their doorbells.  As long as this music is behind me, no one could ever get upset.  In fact, they would probably clap and cheer.
2. “Love on Haight Street” by BT–  Glitchy, yet smooth hip-hop beats led by the impeccable flows of Roscoe and Fifty Grand, perfect for my slow motion walks into various establishments, or leading the transition from party down to late-nite chillin’ with friends.
1. “Theme from Star Trek: The Next Generation” by Jerry Goldsmith – A swashbuckling and sweeping score that would be fitting as any man’s theme song, especially that of a Trekkie.  I can hear it roaring in its epic glory as I explore the galaxy, or head to the bar to drink, so either way I’ll end up in space with a great theme to follow me.

Angela’s Top 5
5. “Gimme More” by Britney Spears
4. “Turnin Me On” by Keri Hilson ft. Lil Wayne
3. “Disappearing Boy” by Green Day
2. “Lil’ Freak” by Usher
1. “Paralyzer” by Finger Eleven

Stigz’s Top 5
5. “Drug Ballad” by Eminem –  Rarely would I ever say a hip-hop track should be my theme song, but back when Mark Wahlberg was Marky Mark, this is how we used to get the party started….lol
4. “The Big Payback” by James Brown – Don’t ask me why, but this track makes me want to put on sunglasses and walk down the street, kicking over garbage cans and small children.
3. “Show Me How To Live” by Audioslave – Lyrical evidence of my disdain for religion, authority, social norms, and anything else that passes as status quo.
2. “Idiot Box” by Incubus – Just the opening lyrics say it all. “You keep your riches and I’ll sew my stitches/you can’t make me think like you, mundane”
1. “This Could Be Love” by Alkaline Trio – “I got a book of matches/I got a can of kerosene/I got some bad ideas/involving you and me”.

Klone’s Top 5
5. “Hero of the Day” by Metallica – I think there was a time in my life, especially circa the release of the Load album, where this was the kind of song that would literally call out to me.  I can vividly remember being in a friend’s car, driving around listening to the “new” Metallica album (as it had been years between their self-titled album, commonly known as “The Black Album“, and Load) and thinking to myself that Metallica was really the band that I identified with.  For the guys who brought us “Sanitarium (Welcome Home),” “One,” and “My Friend of Misery” to also have this torn ballad within them, was just mind-blowing to me.  Of course the friend who was driving skipped the track ahead after a single verse and chorus, which led me to believe that he, among the millions of other fans who detested Load, just didn’t get it.  (Of course, come St. Anger and I’m off the Metallica bus, but that’s a different story…)
4. “All Along The Watchtower” by Bear McCreary ft. Bt4 (cover) – I’ve never been a particular fan of the original rendition of this song by the prolific and gifted Bob Dylan, in fact I wasn’t even crazy about the Jimi Hendrix version of the song either, but understood its place in the pantheon of classic rock.  When I heard this rendition, heavily stylized for its use in the ScyFy series “Battlestar Galactica”, I was instantly enthralled.  The atmosphere alone is awe-inspiring, and the sense of drama that drips from the track, whether you experienced it by watching the show or heard it played on its own, is dark and foreboding yet breathtaking.
3. “The Crowing” by Coheed & Cambria – If Rush and Tool ever got too drunk at a party and hooked-up sans protection, the unintended love-child would be Coheed & Cambria.  A concept band where you can take or leave the concept and still enjoy the music, Coheed’s songs are very complex and heavily laden with time-changes and so many parts you’d almost call them chapters.  “The Crowing” in particular is a track that is rooted in traditional guitar rock, with very precise and deliberate pick-strokes that create a sense of urgency that drives the song.  It ultimately goes through a time/key change and moves into this very dramatic, grandiose ending.  The lyrics are clearly telling a small part of a larger story (one where “The Crowing” is some sort of person or event worth revering), but even without having the context to make the story accessible, the lyrics flow like poetry.  The song is an anthem…and I’m glad to co-opt it and make it one of my anthems.
2. “She Gathers Rain” by Collective Soul – There’s no big explanation about this one, other than I feel like I was a rock-oriented kid who gave these guys a chance when they were new on the scene.  Of course, catching them open for Van Halen somewhat helped in that regard, but these guys are actually a pretty bad-ass rock band as long as you’re not listening to “The World I Know”.  If you listen to this and don’t get that awesome rock feeling, you might be dead.
1. “Nobody Like You” by Limp Bizkit feat. Jonathan Davis  and Scott Weiland – SICKNESS!  TOTAL SICKNESS!  Not to mention that it’s pulled off by a consortium cats who define cool…in that way Gods of Rock and Metal can.  This was an amazing collaboration from an album that was already an eye-opener in the surprise department.