My Top Ten Favorite Songs (and why)

I listen to a lot of music. And I mean a LOT of music. So over the years I've gotten a taste of pretty much everything there is to listen to, and here are my favorite songs covering all ages and genres.

10.  Exile Vilify by The National
This one holds a special place in my heart for two reasons. 1.) I learned my love for the art of Cinematography through the application of this song in a movie me and my friends produced. 2.) It is featured in Portal 2, my favorite game of all time (spoiler for a later post). The song is simple, the words are powerful, and it puts me in a very meditative mood. I love this song, and so should you.

9. Sail by AWOLNATION
No, my caps lock was not on, that's really how his name is spelled, I promise. This song is just one of those songs that just about everyone knows. Used in countless jokes about boats and sailing, the song is an easy opportunity to break out in to epic song. My friend Zach Harbaugh described this song in one word, and it has always stuck with me, "Classy". It took me a long time to figure out what it meant, and now I understand. I'm not going to tell you what it is I mean, but that doesn't matter. Sail is a masterpiece in its own right, and it deserves more light than it is given.

8. Someone by Future of Forestry
This song was brought to my attention relatively recently, and Future of Forestry has become my favorite band ever since. This song constantly reminds me of my best friend, and the song describes our relationship down to a tee. It's all about trust, see? It's the fact that you can trust someone with anything, therefore, they become someone you care about indefinitely. Someone is a sentimental song for me, as well as a song my falsetto loves to sing.

7. What a Wonderful World by Louie Armstrong
Let's be perfectly honest, who doesn't like this song? Truly? This song is the best when I'm driving in my car, whether rain or shine, I can look outside and feel the earth glowing in beautiful harmony. Sometimes my car's blinker will click in time with the track, making my drummer brain in full harmony with what is going on around me. This song brings back my hope for humanity. Way to go Louie, you restored our hope in humanity more than fifty years later.

6. Changing of the Seasons by Two Door Cinema Club
Featured as one of my Tasty Jams of the Day, this song rocks. Two Door's techno-punk feel makes this song come alive, and it's some head bopping, toe-tapping fun. I could listen to this song over and over again, and it won't be boring. This song is in no way a masterpiece, but I love nothing more than an amazing jam to rock out to, and there's not one better in my opinion.

5. Ticking by Elton John
If I asked for an example of an Elton John song at my high school, I would get two answers. 1.) Crocodile Rock or 2.) Who's Elton John? The latter would result in an immediate facepalm, but that doesn't matter. Ticking is about a murderous rampage led by Charles Whitman in a New York bar. Elton John did his research for this song, because he knew that if any part of it was incorrect, it would be his head. It details him as a young child and all of his quiet tendencies, and how well he did in school. The song details him growing older and spiraling out of control, until he finally snaps, gun raised in a New York bar, telling them all to stay on the ground. The seven and a half minute song ends with the police pumping him full of rifle shells. A true masterpiece. If you haven't checked it out, do so now.

4. Car Radio by Twenty-One Pilots
This song is the song I use when I'm having a rough day and I just need to blow out my rage. It reminds me that here is always music, and whenever you need it, it's there. Now, this isn't a heavy sounding song by any means, but it's the true story of the lead singer's stolen car radio. It may sound downright ridiculous to make a song for, or be set as number four on my ten favorites list, but it goes much deeper than what it appears to be. It goes in to the reflections you have when you are in your car in silence, and how there's now no sound to hide behind when there isn't a radio to provide it. It explains the implications that being alone in our car can have on us. I remember a time where I really needed to think, and I decided that music would not be the best thing to help me focus at that time. After a while, my head got to me, and I began to cry. So much so that I had to pull over in to a McDonald's parking lot to be able to pull myself together. I then understood what the song was conveying.
"Because somebody stole my car radio, and now I just sit in silence."

3. What Sarah Said by Death Cab for Cutie
Sarah is dying. The song begins with a man in an ambulance, describing the despair around him in the form of medical equipment. The song is mostly describing the scenario he is in, and how much Sarah means to him. The song climaxes with five words. Five words that have forever changed my view on love.
"Love is watching someone die."
Enough said

2. Adam's Song by Blink-182
There are Blink-182 songs, and then there is Adam's Song. The song was written by Mark Hoppus when he was in a state of depression. Though the ending message was that everything was going to be okay, that's not how the basis of the song ended up. The band received an email with an attachment, a letter. The letter was written by a young boy to his parents, the note he wrote to them before he committed suicide. His name was Adam. The song echoes deeply what the letter spoke of, and whenever I listen to it, I can't help but feel joy that there is nothing so bad that suicide is the option. Mark wrote this song in a depression, Adam's Song got me out of a depression. Thank you Blink-182, I owe my personality to you.

1. Deathbed by Relient K
The eleven minute epic that is Deathbed is a story I will never forget, and one I refuse to push from memory. The song details a man dying of lung cancer in a hospital bed, alone. It goes through his life, and all the things he wants to redo, and also remembering the things he never wants to change. It tells a fully despairing story, a story with little hope, little love, and little reason to go one. Until Jesus shows up. All worship songs tell of Jesus' love for us, and they do it well I guess. But I have not ever (nor will I ever) see a better example of Jesus' true love shown through redeeming the irredeemable. The bridge's symbolism about the wolf and the lamb makes me cry every time. The song is truly an epic, and deserves a high place in any music library. If you have not heard the song, I recommend an immediate purchase. There is no other song that should have topped my list.

Honorable Mentions:
We're Going to be Friends by The White Stripes
Tighten Up by The Black Keys
Butterflies and Hurricanes by Muse
Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men

(If you were offended in any way by the Blink-182 album cover, I take no responsibility. That's actual cover of the album and I was going to stick with my album covers)