Video hit Oleta Adams

Oleta Adams - Get Here

This song was written and originally performed by Brenda Russell, who was working on an album in Stockholm, Sweden when inspiration struck. Says Russell, "It was a beautiful day, and I was looking outside. I was staying in a penthouse in Stockholm, so I was looking out over the city... Stockholm's a beautiful city. And then there were hot air balloons flying that day. And I was really tripping on how many ways you can get to a person. But anyway, I knew that's not what the [record] company wanted, and I went to bed. Later, I woke up, and the music was still there. And because I don't read or write music, it's extraordinary if a song is still in my head that I haven't jotted down or recorded. So if it's still in my head overnight, I think that's something extra special, it's like somebody trying to tell me something... So I said okay, well, maybe I'd better finish writing that song, because, you know, this never happens to me. So I wrote it... It was such a game for me writing that song, you know, how many ways you can get to a person. And the visuals. Like climb a tree and swing rope-to-rope, take a sled and slide down slope, ride a trailway, railway. You know, how many ways can you get to a person. And that became a fun thing to do."

Not surprisingly, Russell hears many stories from people who find comfort in this song when their loved ones are far away. But she was initially surprised that the song touched people on a deeper level. Says Russell, "The engineer, this fellow I was working with, came over, and he was the first person that I played the song for. I was kind of embarrassed because I thought it was pretty corny. It was so funny, because I always hear artists say this about songs that people love. Like John Mayer thought the Fathers and Daughters song was really corny. When I heard that I laughed, because that's exactly what I thought about 'Get Here.' You know, it's so corny, and meanwhile this guy's sitting here like, 'This song is great. What do you mean corny?'"

Oleta Adams' version of this song became a worldwide hit. Ironically, Adams first heard the song in a record store in Stockholm, Sweden. Says Russell, "It was so bizarre. It's like, that's where I wrote the song. And because I had written it there they were playing it a lot there. Because they were kind of proud of me, the Swedes. And she just happened to be in this record store and they were playing it, and she went, 'Whoa, what is that? I've got to have that.' That's how she found it, in the very city in the world where I wrote it."

After a long career playing piano bars, hotel lounges and showrooms in Kansas, Oleta Adams was discovered by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith of Tears For Fears while touring America in 1985. Oleta Adams was playing in the bar of a Kansas City hotel and the duo paid $1.50 to get in as she was singing. They were impressed by her talent and 2 years later invited her to sing on 2 tracks, "Woman In Chains" and "Badman's Song" on their The Seeds Of Love album and perform with them on the subsequent European tour. This led to her own contract with Tears For Fears' Phonogram label, and Roland Orzabal co-produced her Circle of One album.

This was sung by Justin Guarini on the first season of American Idol 2002. Guarini came in second to Kelly Clarkson.

The lyrics:

You can reach me by railway, you can reach me by trailway

You can reach me on an airplane, you can reach me with your mind

You can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an Arab man

I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can

You can reach me by sailboat, climb a tree and swing rope to rope

Take a sled and slide down the slope, into these arms of mine

You can jump on a speedy colt, cross the border in a blaze of hope

I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can

There are hills and mountains between us

Always something to get over

If I had my way, surely you would be closer

I need you closer

There are hills and mountains between us

Always something to get over

If I had my way, surely you would be closer

I need you closer

You can windsurf into my life, take me up on a carpet ride

You can make it in a big balloon, but you better make it soon

You can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an Arab man

I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can

I don't care, I don't care

I need you right here right now

I need you right here right now right by my side yeah yeah

Get here

I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can.

Video hit Canned Heat

Canned Heat - Going Up The Country (1969)

Canned Heat's band members were notoriously avid record collectors; this was derived from an old and obscure Blues song called "Bull Doze Blues" by Henry Thomas. The song caught on in the summer of 1969 and was very popular among Hippies who appreciated the nature theme.

This was written by Alan Wilson, who was Canned Heat's vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter. Wilson committed suicide on September 3, 1970, becoming one of the first 27-year-old Rock casualties, a group that would soon include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.

Canned Heat played this at day 2 of the Woodstock Festival, which was a big moment for the band. The song was kind of an anthem for the festival, as "Going Up the Country" described the pilgrimage to Yasgur's farm in upstate New York where the event took place. The band didn't put much effort into practicing for their appearance, and their 10 song set was uneven - their co-founder Bob Hite said in a 1974 Sounds interview, "We've always just fallen into something within a couple of days and then just gone out on the road and played. Sometimes it's shown it and sometimes it's been incredible. The Woodstock performance which although there were a couple of tunes which weren't too good, ‘Going Up The Country’ was one of them."

The song was included on the Woodstock album, but Canned Heat's set was edited out of the official movie. It can be seen on the director's cut of the film.

Bob Hite sang lead on most Canned Heat songs, but this one was sung by Alan Wilson in his distinctive tenor.

The prominent flute in this song was played by Jim Horn, who made his biggest impact as a saxophone player, appearing on tracks by The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and The Beach Boys.

The lyrics:

I'm goin' up the country, baby don't you want to go?

I'm goin' up the country, baby don't you want to go?

I'm goin' to some place where I've never been before

I'm goin' where the water tastes like wine

I'm goin' where the water tastes like wine

We can jump in the water, stay drunk all the time

I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away

I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away

All this fussin' and fightin' man, you know I sure can't stay

Now, baby pack your leavin' trunk

You know we've got to leave today

Just exactly where we're goin' I cannot say

But we might even leave the U.S.A.

'Cause it's a brand new game and I want to play

No use in your runnin', or screamin' and cryin'

'Cause you got a home as long as I've got mine

Video hit Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller - Chattanooga Choo Choo (1941)

This song was featured in Sun Valley Serenade, a 1941 movie starring Sonja Henie, Milton Burle, and Joan Davis. It became the #1 song across the US in December of that year, and remained there for 9 weeks, due in large part to the performance of it in the movie. The 78 rpm recording sold 1.2 million copies.

Glenn Miller's version of this song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996.

The inspiration for this song was a wood-burning steam locomotive owned by the Cincinnati Southern Railway, but it was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren while they were aboard Southern Railway's Birmingham Special. The Cincinnati Southern Railway train is a museum artifact.

The lyric for this song tells the story of a man traveling aboard a coal burning train from Pennsylvania to Chattanooga, Tennessee, describing all the stops along the way.

Two German songs about trains were adapted from this song, and both share the same opening line of "Pardon me."

TV's I Dream of Jeannie star Barbara Eden starred in a 1984 movie with the same name of this song.

The lyrics:

Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?

Track twenty nine, boy you can gimme a shine

I can afford to board a Chattanooga Choo Choo

I've got my fare and just a trifle to spare

You leave the Pennsylvania station 'bout a quarter to four

Read a magazine and then you're in Baltimore

Dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer

Than to have your ham 'n' eggs in Carolina

When you hear the whistle blowin' eight to the bar

Then you know that Tennessee is not very far

Shovel all the coal in, gotta keep it rollin'

Woo, woo, Chattanooga, there you are

There's gonna be a certain party at the station

Satin and lace, I used to call funny face

She's gonna cry until I tell her that I'll never roam

Teatrul ne antrenează obligațiile etice

Testament pentru Memorie și Neuitare

Azi, de la ora 19.00, la Sala Rapsodia a Teatrului de pe Lipscani (nr. 53) COMPANIA DE TEATRU PASSE-PARTOUT DAN PURIC și ASOCIAŢIA ARTIST LIBER vă invită la un spectacol emoționant, construit ca un omagiu adus celor care s-au jertfit în una din cele mai triste și negre epoci pe care am traversat-o ca neam și țară: 1944-1990.

Având o distribuție care numără 23 de actori, spectacolul regizat de Fineta Grigorescu cuprinde nouă scene în două tablouri, cu Prolog și Epilog.

Scenariul este inspirit din versuri semnate de: Radu Gyr, Valeriu Gafencu, Andrei Ciurunga, Virgil Maxim, Aurel Dragodan, Petru Baciu, Mihai Văleanu, Demostene Andronescu, Corneliu Coposu și Mihai Eminescu, mixate într-un spectacol total, care îmbină arta recitativă cu pantomime și proiecțiile video.

Spectacolul Testament a avut premiera în 4 aprilie 2012 și este un produs artistic de o interdisciplinaritate care surprinde.

Acolo unde Justiția și Politicul n-au reușit să sancționeze, teatrul devine tribuna de la care se face dreptate.

Teatrul are mai multă putere în a fi critic decât orice media, iar acest spectacol cu o durată de o oră și 15 minute este o veritabilă lecție despre cei care și-au închinat viața luptei pentru neam și credință, devenind modele autentice pentru o generație aflată în derivă, crescută într-o perioadă de turbo-capitalism care cere individului o conduită darwinistă.

“Teatrul ne antrenează obligațiile etice”, spune Dan Puric.

Pentru rezervări și bilete: 0213158980; 0761319819.

Oscarurile Demnităţii şi Gândirii Româneşti

Azi, după spectacolul Testament de la ora 19.00, la Sala Rapsodia a Teatrului de pe Lipscani (nr. 53) va avea loc Gala Fundației Aiud.

În cadrul Galei se vor decerna Premiile "Demnitate Românească" celor care au suferit în temnițele comuniste și au ținut vie memoria unei generații de eroi români prin scrieri, poezie, mărturisiri: Marcel Petrișor, Demostene Andronescu, Vasile Iamandi și Nicolae Purcarea – toți foști deținuți și autori de volume de memorialistică.

Premiile "Gândire romanescă" vor fi acordate unor intelectuali tineri care au conservat și au împărtășit această memorie eroică generațiilor de azi prin studii, reviste, lucrări și proiecte cultural-istorice: Alin Mureşan pentru studiului Fenomenul Pitești, Sorin Lavric pentru volumul Noica și Mișcarea Legionară, Claudiu Târziu pentru editarea revistei Rost.

La ceremonie vor fi prezeți prof.univ.dr. Radu Iftimovici – premiat al Academiei Române, inventatorul Mircea Tudor - dublu laureat al marelui premiu la Salonul Internațional de Invenții Geneva, prof. univ. dr. Ilie Bădescu și alte peronalități de marcă ale culturii și societății românești autentice.

Fundația Aiud îl are ca director pe dr. Pavel Chirilă, iar ca președinte pe Dan Puric.

Pentru rezervări și bilete: 0213158980; 0761319819. 

Testament pentru Memorie și Neuitare

Sâmbătă, 27 aprilie, ora 19.00, la Sala Rapsodia a Teatrului de pe Lipscani (nr. 53) COMPANIA DE TEATRU PASSE-PARTOUT DAN PURIC și Asociația Artist Liber vă invită la un spectacol emoționant, construit ca un omagiu adus celor care s-au jertfit în una din cele mai triste și negre epoci pe care am traversat-o ca neam și țară: 1944-1990.

Având o distribuție care numără 23 de actori, spectacolul regizat de Fineta Grigorescu cuprinde nouă scene în două tablouri, cu Prolog și Epilog.

Scenariul este inspirat din versuri semnate de: Radu Gyr, Valeriu Gafencu, Andrei Ciurunga, Virgil Maxim, Aurel Dragodan, Petru Baciu, Mihai Văleanu, Demostene Andronescu, Corneliu Coposu și Mihai Eminescu, mixate într-un spectacol total, care îmbină arta recitativă cu pantomime și proiecțiile video.

Spectacolul Testament a avut premiera la 4 aprilie 2012 și este un produs artistic de o interdisciplinaritate care surprinde. Acolo unde Justiția și Politicul n-au reușit să sancționeze, teatrul devine tribuna de la care se face dreptate.

Teatrul are mai multă putere în a fi critic decât orice media, iar acest spectacol cu o durată de 1 oră și 15 minute este o veritabilă lecție despre cei care și-au închinat viața luptei pentru neam și credință, devenind modele autentice pentru o generație aflată în derivă, crescută într-o perioadă de turbo-capitalism care cere individului o conduită darwinistă.

“Teatrul ne antrenează obligațiile etice”, spune Dan Puric.

Spectacolul va fi urmat de Gala Premiilor Fundației Aiud care va decerna Premiile "Demnitate Românească" celor care au suferit în temnițele comuniste și au ținut vie memoria unei generații de eroi români prin scrieri, poezie, marturisiri: Marcel Petrișor, Demostene Andronescu, Vasile Iamandi și Nicolae Purcarea – toți foști deținuți și autori de volume de memorialistică.

Premiile "Gândire românescă" vor fi acordate unor intelectuali tineri care au conservat și au împărtășit această memorie eroică generațiilor de azi prin studii, reviste, lucrări și proiecte cultural-istorice: Alin Muresan pentru studiului Fenomenul Pitești, Sorin Lavric pentru volumul Noica și Mișcarea Legionară, Claudiu Târziu pentru editarea revistei Rost.

La ceremonie vor fi prezenți prof.univ.dr. Radu Iftimovici – premiat al Academiei Române, inventatorul Mircea Tudor - dublu laureat al marelui premiu la Salonul Internațional de Invenții Geneva, prof. univ. dr. Ilie Bădescu și alte peronalități ale culturii și societății românești autentice.

Fundația Aiud îl are ca director pe dr. Pavel Chirilă, iar ca președinte pe Dan Puric.

Pentru rezervări și bilete: 0213158980; 0761319819. 

Video hit Vanessa Carlton

Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles

This describes the feelings of anyone who has lost someone they really loved. Carlton sings about how she would do anything to be with that person, or even to just to see them. It is about a person who is in an untouchable world because of the pain they have from their loss. 

This got Grammy nominations for both Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year, but like just about everything else that year, it lost both to "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones. Carlton performed this on the show.

This song features prominently in the 2004 movie White Chicks, starring Shawn and Marlon Wayans as FBI agents who go undercover as white girls. The agents are nearly busted when they're riding in a car with some real white chicks, and "A Thousand Miles" comes on and they don't know the words live every white girl should. Later in the movie, we find out that it's the favorite song of another character in the film, who happens to be a big black guy. The movie was trashed by critics and nominated for a Golden Raspberry award for Worst Movie, but some people love the film and lots of people saw it both in the theaters and on its many TV showings.

When we spoke with Vanessa Carlton in 2011, we asked her how she felt about her song in the movie. She said: "I thought it was hilarious. Those guys are really nice, too. I ran into them backstage or something, and they asked me if they could use it. They're like fans, they're so cute. But the scene that was in was hilarious." When we asked how she feels about the song being used as a white girls anthem, she replied, "If you've seen it, that's not the message of it. That is not the way that they plug it in the film. It's actually the secret song of that big, black dude in the SUV, it's like his jam. But the irony is that people associate it with a white girl playing the piano. It's like his secret jam, so it's able to push through all of those micro genres and you can't profile who's going to like the song. That's what they were displaying in that scene. And I really liked that a lot."

The lyrics:

Making my way down town

Walking fast

Faces pass

And I'm home bound

Staring blankly ahead

Just making my way

Making a way

Through the crowd

And I need you

And I miss you

And now I wonder

If I could fall

Into the sky

Do you think time

Would pass me by

'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles

If I could just see you, tonight

It's always times like these

When I think of you

And I wonder If you ever think of me

'Cause everything's so wrong

And I don't belong

Living in

Your precious memory

'Cause I need you

And I miss you and now I wonder

If I could fall

Into the sky

Do you think time

Would pass me by, oh

'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles

If I could just see you tonight

And I, I don't want to let you know I,

I drown in your memory I,

I don't want to let this go

I,I don't.

Making my way down town walking fast

Faces pass

And I'm home bound

Staring blankly ahead

Making my way

Making a way

Through the crowd

And I still need you

And I still miss you

And now I wonder

If I could fall into the sky

Do you think time, would pass us by

'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles

If I could just see you, now

If I could fall into the sky

Do you think time would pass me by

'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles

If I could just see you

If I could just hold you, tonight.

Video hit Charlene

Charlene - I've Never Been To Me

Charlene originally recorded this in 1976, and it got to #97 in the American charts. Six years later, it was re-released after a Florida radio station started playing it to great public acclaim, by which time Charlene had moved to England and was working in an Ilford, Essex sweet shop. The re-release became a huge hit in England as well. 

The song was originally written from a male perspective but was rewritten by Ron Miller for Charlene. The use of the line "I've been to crying for unborn children" was not written about abortion. The line refers to a woman who is at a point in her life that she wished she had taken the time to have children.

There are many misconceptions about this song. The spoken bridge in the song was not about or did it mention abortion - it was deemed too feminist and when Charlene's first album was re-released in 1977, the spoken bridge had been deleted. When the song became an unexpected hit in 1982 it was the version WITH the spoken bridge intact that was released. It has also been widely reported that the 1982 single was a re-recording, it is not. 

Charlene was signed to Motown Records, but this was her only hit.

When this song was first released in America in 1976, Charlene's full name was Charlene Duncan through her marriage to record producer Larry Duncan, but when the song was released for a second time in 1982, her name was then Charlene Oliver because of her marriage to Englishman Jeff Oliver. (thanks, Terry - Northampton, England)

This was used in the 1994 movie The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert.

There have been several cover versions of this song by both male and female artists, including Nancy Wilson, Randy Crawford, The Temptations, Walter Jackson and Howard Keel.

Charlene filmed the video for the song at Blicking Hall, Norfolk, England in the very same dress that she got married in. 

The lyrics:

Hey lady, you, lady, cursin' at your life

You're a discontented mother and a rich inventive wife

I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do

But I wish someone had a talked to me like I wanna talk to you

Ooh I've been to Georgia and California, oh, anywhere I could run

Took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun

But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free

I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me

Please lady, please, lady, don't just walk away

Cause I have this need to tell you why I'm all alone today

I can see so much of me still living in your eyes

Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived a million lies

Oh I've been to Nice and the isle of Greece

While I sipped champagne on a yacht

I moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got

I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things

That a woman ain't s'posed to see

I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me

Hey, you know what paradise is? It's a lie. A fantasy we create about

People and places as we'd like them to be. But you know what truth is?

It's that little baby you're holding, and it's that man you fought with

This morning, the same one you're going to make love with tonight.

That's truth, that's love

Sometimes I've been to cryin' for unborn children

That might have made me complete

But I, I took the sweet life and never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet

I spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that cost too much to be free

Hey lady, I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me

I've been to paradise, never been to me

(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)

I've been to paradise, never been to me

(I've been to Nice and the isle of Greece

While I sipped champagne on a yacht)

I've been to paradise, never been to me

(I've been to cryin' for unborn children)

Video hit Maroon 5

Maroon 5 - Harder To Breathe

As the album title suggests, many of the songs on it are about Jane, who is lead singer Adam Levine's ex-girlfriend. This song, however, is not about Jane. It's about their record label, and how they put pressure on the band to make certain songs and put a record out. Levine thought the label was smothering them. (thanks, Nina - Ridgecrest, CA)

Regarding his contribution to the song, guitarist James Valentine told Ultimate-Guitar.com: "That was a pretty straight-ahead riff and we went the Jimmy Page route on recording that. I believe it was one of Matt Wallace's little Gibson Supros, which is pretty ironic because it's probably the biggest guitar sound on the record and it's probably from the smallest amp."

The lyrics:

How dare you say that my behavior is unacceptable

So condescending unnecessarily critical

I have the tendency of getting very physical

So watch your step 'cause if I do you'll need a miracle

You drain me dry and make me wonder why I'm even here

The double vision I was seeing is finally clear

You want to stay but you know very well I want you gone

Not fit to fuckin' tread the ground I'm walking on

[Chorus]

When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love

You'll understand what I mean when I say

There's no way we're gonna give up

And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams

Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe

Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe

What you are doing is screwing things up inside my head

You should know better you never listened to a word I said

Clutching your pillow and writhing in a naked sweat

Hoping somebody someday will do you like I did

When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love

You'll understand what I mean when I say

There's no way we're gonna give up

And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams

Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe

Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe

Does it kill

Does it burn

Is it painful to learn

That it's me that has all the control

Does it thrill

Does it sting

When you feel what I bring

And you wish that you had me to hold

When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love

You'll understand what I mean when I say

There's no way we're gonna give up

And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams

Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe

Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe

Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe

Video hit Procol Harum

Procol Harum - Conquistador

Procol Harum's lyricist Keith Reid told us the story behind this song: "Gary Brooker and I, before we formed Procol Harum, when we were just working together as songwriters and getting into it, we had this regular deal where he lived about 40 miles from London near the ocean, and I'd jump on a train once a week and go visit him. He'd have a bunch of my lyrics and he'd play me whatever he had been working on. This particular time, though, I'd got down there and he'd been working on a tune. He said, 'What does this sound like to you?' And I said, 'Oh, conquistador.' It had a little bit of a Spanish flavor to it. I went into another room and started writing the words there and then. 99 out of 100 of those Procol Harum songs were written the words first, and then were set to music. But that particular one, the words hadn't existed before he had the musical idea."

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers who set out to conquer the Americas after their discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

This became a hit when Procol Harum recorded it live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on November 18, 1971. It was released in 1972 on the aptly titled album Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. When we spoke with Gary Brooker in 2010, we asked him what he considered to be his best vocal performance. Brooker replied: "I would say something off of the Edmonton Symphony Live album. I don't mind which one, really. But it always gives one a great deal of pleasure if you know that when you sing live, that you sing as well or better than you did in the studio. And, of course, when you get excited, when you're playing on stage, a bit more adrenaline, it always fits well in with the feeling. When we played in Edmonton with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra that first time, it was a very inspiring evening, and there was a lot of good music going on from everybody, and the vocals had to get over it all."

The lyrics:

Conquistador your stallion stands in need of company

And like some angel's haloed brow

You reek of purity

I see your armor plated breast

Has long since lost its sheen

And in your death mask face

There are no signs which can be seen

And though I hoped for something to find

I could see no maze to unwind

Conquistador a vulture sits, upon your silver sheath

And in your rusty scabbard now, the sand has taken seed

And though your jewel-encrusted blade

Has not been plundered still

The sea has washed across your face

And taken of its fill

And though I hoped for something to find

I could see no maze to unwind

Conquistador there is no time, I must pay my respect

And though I came to jeer at you

I leave now with regret

And as the gloom begins to fall

I see there is no, only all

Though you came with sword held high

You did not conquer, only die

And though I hoped for something to find

I could see no maze to unwind

And though I hoped for something to find

I could see no maze to unwind

Video hit Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies - Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson is the lead singer of The Beach Boys. He went into seclusion after experiencing drug problems and a nervous breakdown. For about 3 years, he spent most of his time in bed.

Wilson likes this song. He performed it on his 2000 Pet Sounds tour, usually as his first song.

Barenaked Ladies included this on their first album in 1992, but did not release it as a single until 1997, after they had gained popularity.

Brian Wilson cover of "Brian Wilson"

Brian Wilson rearranged and sang this song a cappella with his new band at live concerts, one of which was recorded for a live album he recorded in 2000. Brian Wilson visited Barenaked Ladies while they were recording Maroon (album producer Don Was was an associate of Brian Wilson) to play the track for the band, whereupon they played him some of their works-in-progress, and then he played them his version of "Brian Wilson". At the end, he turned to them and asked, "Is it cool?" Upon his departure, his advice to the band was "don't eat too much." The band described the entire experience as surreal.

In honour of his covering their song, in recent performances the band has started singing the first chorus a cappella, eliminating all instrumentation (the rest of the song continues as normal).

The lyrics:

Drove downtown in the rain

Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,

Just to check out the late-night

Record shop.

Call it impulsive

Call it compulsive,

Call it insane;

But when I'm surrounded

I just can't

Stop.

It's a matter of instinct

It's a matter of conditioning

It's a matter of fact.

You can call me Pavlov's

Dog,

Ring a bell and I'll salivate,

How'd you like that?

Dr. Landy tell me

You're not just a pedagogue

Cause right now I'm

[Chorus]

Lying in bed

Just like Brian Wilson did

Well I am

Lying in bed

Just like Brian Wilson did.

So I'm lying here

Just staring at the ceiling tiles,

And I'm thinking about

Oh what to think about.

Just listening and relistening

To Smiley Smile,

And wondering if this is some kind of creative drought

Because I'm

[Chorus]

And if you want to find me

I'll be out in the sandbox,

Wondering where the hell all the

Love has gone,

Playing my guitar and

Building castles in the sun and

Singing "Fun, Fun, Fun"

[Chorus]

I had a dream

That I was three hundred pounds

And though I was very heavy

I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground

I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground

Somebody help me,

I couldn't see the ground

Somebody help me because I'm

[Chorus]

Drove downtown in the rain

Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,

Just to check out the late-night

Record shop.

Call it impulsive

You can call it compulsive,

You can call it insane;

But when I'm surrounded

I just can't

Stop.

Video hit Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Far From Me

This song about an intense love affair was inspired by Cave's relationship with the English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. He finished this song when their affair went wrong and the pair broke up. Cave told Q magazine June 2008 that he needed to "experience the disaster to complete the work." He added: "I'll do anything to get a good song. Even be involved in a disastrous relationship. Love dies. What remains is the art. I can look back at my songs and piece my life together. I have songs waiting now for the catastrophic element to manifest itself."

Cave's relationship with Harvey started when they made a video for their duet "Henry Lee." Several other songs on The Boatman's Call are thought to have been inspired by their fling including "West Country Girl," "Black Hair" and "Green Eyes."

The lyrics:

For you dear I was born

For you I was raised up

For you I've lived and for you I will die

For you I am dying now

You were my mad little lover

In a world where everybody fucks everybody else over

You who are so far from me

Far from me

So far from me

Way across some cold neurotic sea

Far from me

I would talk to you of all matter of things

With a smile you would reply

Then the sun would leave your pretty face

And you'd retreat from the front of your eyes

I keep hearing that you're doing best

I hope your heart beats happy in your infant breast

You are so far from me

Far from me

Far from me

There is no knowledge but i know it

There's nothing to learn from that vacant voice

That sails to me across the line

From the ridiculous to the sublime

It's good to hear you're doing so well

But really can't you find somebody else that you can ring and tell

Did you ever

Care for me?

Were you ever

There for me?

So far from me

You told me you'd stick by me

Through the thick and through the thin

Those were your very words

My fair-weather friend

You were my brave-hearted lover

At the first taste of trouble went running back to mother

So far from me

Far from me

Suspended in your bleak and fishless sea

Far from me

Far from me

Video hit Blue Diamonds

Blue Diamonds - Oh Carol (1960)

The Blue Diamonds were a Dutch 1960s doo-wop duo, best known for their million-selling chart-topping single, "Ramona". Indo (Dutch-Indonesian) brothers Ruud de Wolff (12th May 1941 – 18th December 2000) and Riem de Wolff (born 15th April, 1943) founded the group shortly after immigrating to the Netherlands in 1949. They were born in Batavia (now Jakarta), Indonesia.

Called the 'Dutch Everly Brothers', The Blue Diamonds covered many Everly Brothers songs, but became famous in 1960 with their version of "Ramona", a song originally written for the 1928 film, Ramona. The song was written for promotional appearances with Dolores del Río (star of the film) but not featured in the film itself.

The Blue Diamonds up-tempo version of it reached the American Billboard Hot 100 at #72. It sold over 250,000 copies in the Netherlands (the first record to ever do so) and over one million copies in Germany by 1961.

Although their last hit was in 1971, they continued to perform together up until Ruud de Wolff died at the end of year 2000. Riem de Wolff continues to perform and release albums.

The lyrics:

Oh! Carol, I am but a fool

Darling, I love you though you treat me cruel

You hurt me and you make me cry

But if you leave me, I will surely die

Darling, there will never be another

'Cause I love you so

Don't ever leave me, say you'll never go

I will always want you for my sweetheart

No matter what you do

Oh! Carol, I'm so in love with you

Oh! Carol, I am but a fool

Darling, I love you though you treat me cruel

You hurt me and you make me cry

But if you leave me, I will surely die

Darling, there will never be another

'Cause I love you so

Don't ever leave me, say you'll never go

I will always want you for my sweetheart

No matter what you do

Oh! Carol, I'm so in love with you 

Video hit Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline

In 2007, Neil Diamond revealed that this song is about Caroline Kennedy, who is the daughter of the American president John F. Kennedy. After performing the song via satellite at Caroline's 50th birthday party, he told the Associated Press: "I've never discussed it with anybody before - intentionally. I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday. I'm happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy."

Diamond added that he was a young, broke songwriter in the '60s when he saw a cute photo of Caroline Kennedy in a magazine. Said Diamond: "It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony. It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there." A few years later, Diamond wrote the song in a Memphis hotel in less than an hour. Caroline was 11 years old when the song was released.

David Wild wrote in his book He Is...I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond, "Diamond says that 'Sweet Caroline' just seemed to come out of 'the excitement of the moment.' More specifically, Diamond's excitement seemed to focus on a chord in the song's 'touching hands' section, a relatively unusual A6 chord that he had never played before."

Even though the song has nothing to do with Boston, the Red Sox, baseball or New England, it is played at Red Sox home games in Fenway Park between the 8th and 9th innings. The song was first played in honor of a Red Sox employee who named her newborn daughter "Caroline" in 1998, and it caught on with the fans, getting regular play since 2003. It's an audience participation number in that the crowd sings "dum-dum-dum" after the words "Sweet Caroline" in the chorus and "so good, so good, so good" after "good times never seemed so good." This Fenway ritual is portrayed in the Drew Barrymore/Jimmy Fallon movie Fever Pitch. (thanks, Bob - The Colony, TX)

Neil Diamond told AOL Music Canada that Frank Sinatra's version of this with a big band is his favorite of all the covers of his material. He explained: "He did it his way. He didn't cop my record at all. I've heard that song by a lot of people and there are a lot of good versions. But Sinatra's swinging, big band version tops them all by far." Other artists to record the song include Waylon Jennings, The Drifters, Julio Iglesias and Elvis Presley.

The lyrics:

Where it began, I can't begin to knowing

But then I know it's growing strong

Was in the spring

Then spring became the summer

Who'd have believed you'd come along

Hands, touching hands

Reaching out, touching me, touching you

[Chorus]

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

I'd be inclined

To believe they never would

Oh no, no

Look at the night and it don't seem so lonely

We filled it up with only two

And when I hurt

Hurting runs off my shoulder

How can I hurt when I'm holding you

One, touching one

Reaching out, touching me, touching you

[Chorus]