Songs Stuck In Your Head!

[ernstinen]

Ya know how you get a song in your head, want it to go away, but it just "plays" over and over!?Well, I'm not a big Billy Joel fan because I find his music to be somewhat, er, derivative. And his MOST derivative song, a "tribute" to the Four Seasons is "Uptown Girl."But I just CAN'T get that tune out of my head! Maybe it's because it's a really GOOD song! How he gets in and out of the bridge is just frankly brilliant songwriting.MAKE IT GO AWAY! AAAAAUGGHH! Ern

[ncc1701]

My vacation last month was a road trip with my husband. We started out in Oregon and took I-5 south until turning east toward Las Vegas. Then we traveled much of what used to be known as Route 66 across the Southwest.As soon as I started looking at our directions on the map, I couldn't keep the song "Route 66" out of my head. Do you know how annoying it is to be trapped inside "Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino" for DAYS?The other problem was that it wasn't Nat King Cole I was hearing sing it, or the TV show theme, or even Justin Guarini when he did it on "American Idol." It was my old high school swing choir! So not only did I have the song rattling around my brain, I had a BADLY SUNG VERSION of it in there torturing me. Kathleen

[matthoggard]

DAMN!Thanks guys now I have a crossbreed version of uptown girl gettin her kicks on route 66 stuck in my head!!There goes my recording session for the day!I dont like alot of Billy Joel's music but some of his songs are really brilliant.

[mojobone]

The cure for Route 66 is to listen to the Brian Setzer Orchestra version, at least then you'll be hearing a good one.

[byllsong]

Was coming from the food store a while ago.Billy Joel on the radio."You may be right...dada dada dada da...I may be CRAZY!"Billy

[ernstinen]

Aug 30, 2008, 10:10am, byllsong wrote:Was coming from the food store a while ago.Billy Joel on the radio."You may be right...dada dada dada da...I may be CRAZY!"BillyArrrgh! That's the NEXT song that's been in my head, "You May Be Right." Another good song, but a Stones rip-off. That's what bugs me about Billy Joel --- who is HE as an artist? Stones, Beatles, Four Seasons, the list goes on. Even "Piano Man" rips off Harry Chapin. Harry Chapin, for godsakes! --- Oh well, he's made a lot more $$ writing songs than I have, that's for sure! Ern

[byllsong]

I guess we are all influenzed by some one.

[tedsingingfox]

Alright, alright.... Enough of bashing the Billy Joel. I need to represent here for a minute...He is a brilliant musician and a consummate songwriter, no matter what you might think of the way he comes up with his stuff.If you've ever seen or read an interview with him, that's how he got started. When he was struggling through piano lessons as a kid, he got bored with Bach and Beethoven, but his mother was always in the kitchen making dinner and listening to him practice every day...and she always punished him for not following his classical lessons. So, he started making up his own songs that SOUNDED like Bach and Beethoven, and she was never the wiser.WHY would any of us fault him for that? Even the Stones readily admit that ALL of their early stuff were direct rip-offs of old southern "Negro music" (i.e.: southern blues...Muddy Waters, Little Richard, etc.). Please!! Besides, I could list 20 or more songs of his that you couldn't say came from anywhere but his own head, no matter his background. None of us can afford to be so high and mighty, including ME.And it's only fair to say (and probably obvious by now) that I own 11 of his albums and have enormous respect for his talents...And in today's music scene, NO ONE is more guilty of ripping off previous recordings than Sheryl Crow, starting with her very first single, the rhythm section of which was a BLATANT steal from Steeler's Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle with You". She has also more recently boldly stolen from The Steve Miller Band and many, many others. We ALL build what we are writing now on the shoulders of those who've gone before us. Et tu, Brutus?(OK, he slowly steps down from his soap box...)AND then, back to the topic at hand, I have found that the one and only way to get one of THOSE songs out of my head is to make a conscious choice to start singing a song that I dislike even MORE, and somehow THAT one seems to slip into oblivion a little easier.

[ernstinen]

Aug 30, 2008, 4:28pm, tedsingingfox wrote:Alright, alright.... Enough of bashing the Billy Joel. (OK, he slowly steps down from his soap box...) Alright, alright, ted, step down, and take a deep breath --- Notice that while I "bash" his obvious copying of styles, the others you have noted let their influence "flow" through their souls to make "new" music. Everyone is "influenced." Can you state with authority that "Uptown Girl" isn't a direct remake of a Four Seasons song? Huh? Listen to the vocal. He's copying Frankie Vallie note for note.And Billy Joel should be sued by Jagger/Richards RE: "You May Be Right" (as George Harrison once was for "My Sweet Lord"), for COMPLETELY ripping off the verse melody and not giving credit to the original composers. That's not being "influenced," it's plagarism.But that's not my intent with this thread! I wanted this to be a fun discussion of songs that "bug" you that you can't forget.Say --- How about a melody you can't forget when you visit Disneyland!? Best Regards,Ern

[sgs4u]

Aug 30, 2008, 4:28pm, tedsingingfox wrote:Alright, alright.... Enough of bashing the Billy Joel. I dunno if anyone knows Billy Joel's initial contract story with a manager. It tool him a very long time to get out of a very raw deal, and he lost a lot of money because of it. On the other hand, Mr Joel's done quite well since then. I've had periods where I thought he was the best ever, and other times when I just couldn't take any more of him, for some of the things Ern is talking about. Everyone has a story, and everybody does great, and not so great things. Even when a song I don't enjoy, is stuck in my head, I have to give the songwriter/artist/producer credit. CAUSE IT WORKED!