Ice Breaker – Songs On Your Playlist

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Jon Stolpe

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It’s Friday! How did it come around again so quickly?

Friday means Ice Breaker time here on The Stretched Blog. In case you’re new here or you forgot, ice breakers are questions used to help us get to know each other a little bit better. Each week, I ask a question which I answer first. After that everyone else answers the question by posting their answer in the comments.

Without further delay, here’s this week’s question: If you could make a playlist of your favorite songs, what five songs would make the list?

My answer:

1) Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton

2) Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas

3) Where The Streets Have No Name by U2

4) Love Is The Seventh Wave by Sting

5) The Best Thing by Big Tent Revival

Each of these songs carries a memory of a time or place. Leanne and I shared our first dance to Wonderful Tonight. I remember listening to Sting’s song and playing hacky sack with my brother, Brian Willem, and Shane D’Entremont on the beach during a high school youth group camping trip. And the Big Tent Revival song reminds me of Creation 97. Leanne and I went to the music festival that year while she was five months pregnant with our daughter, Hannah.

Now it’s your turn. What’s on your playlist? I can’t wait to hear your answers!

http://deuceology.wordpress.com Larry Carter

1. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road — Lucinda Williams
2. Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones
3. Sunday Morning Coming Down — Johnny Cash
4. Tangled Up In Blue — Bon Dylan
5. The Long And Winding Road —— The Beatles
- http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe
  
  After a long and winding week, it’s great to see the wonderful comments of The Stretched Community. Thanks as always for contributing.
  - http://deuceology.wordpress.com Larry Carter
    
    Nice reply!!!
http://www.pastormattblog.com/ Matt

”Paradise City” Guns N’ Roses, “For Whom The Bell Tolls” Metallica, “One Vision” Queen, “Rock & Roll” Led Zeppelin and “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash.
- http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe
  
  Matt, I love the mix of music that this post generated. I’m glad to see the Metal world representing.
http://www.facebook.com/michael.shaw18 Michael Shaw

Our Love is Here to Stay by Nat King Cole

Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool by Dinah Washington

It Could Happen to You by Sarah Vaughan

I Wish I Were In Love Again by Ella Fitzgerald

Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolf by Bobby Darin

It is unusual for someone my age, but my love is the Great American Songbook, beautiful and meaningful lyrics sung by great singers who were heavily jazz influenced. Most of these songs were recorded in the 1950s to the early1960s, just as the jazz era was coming to an end. Once the Beatles and youth-oriented music of the 1960s (what we call rock) took over, few songs like these were written or recorded.

Our Love is Here to Stay: Quintessential romantic balled penned by the Gershwin Brothers. I love Nat King Cole’s version for the power and sheer beauty of his voice. This was our wedding song.

Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool: The cynical and bitter side of my personality. It expresses my dissilusionment with people and the world as I’ve gotten older. Dinah Washington’s voice is a subtle mix of anger, humor, sadness and beauty.

It Could Happen to You: This song is romantic and idealistic. It expresses how love is a magical force that can change anyone’s life. Saragh Vaughan sings with a full chorus in the version on my iPod.

I Wish I Were In Love Again: A prime example of the witty, sophisticated lyrics from the Great American Songbook. Music by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Ella makes it seem as if singing these complicated words and complex rhymes is as easy as pie. No one writes songs like this anymore.

Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolf: An obscrure song that might have been written for a movie of the same name which in turn was based on a play. The song expresses the dark, risky underside of romance. Adult love is a great risk, one we take knowing that if we fail it could destroy us. A song of foreboding. Not a song for teenie boppers.

This is a selection from more than a thousand songs on my Great American Songbook/Great Singers playlist.
- http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe
  
  I love these classics. You may not know this, but I used to play a lot of jazz music when I was in high school.
http://www.tnealtarver.wordpress.com TNeal

1) “Happy Together” by the Turtles – This is Ellen’s and my song. I don’t remember why except it just is.
2) “Holy, Holy, Holy” – This was the hymn played when Ellen walked down the aisle on her brother’s arm at our wedding. Best decision we made because churches sing this one a lot. And it always makes me smile.
3) “And Can It Be” by Charles Wesley – This is the national anthem of my seminary. I had never heard it before I went to Asbury but heard it plenty there. Nothing like 500 students, mostly men, fired up for God and singing this hymn with enthusiasm.
4) Is the song I recognize when I hear it but forget both the title and the singer. It’s the one we heard while attending chapel at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. We attended with our son on Father’s Day.
5) I’ll give this one a little more thought.
- http://www.tnealtarver.wordpress.com TNeal
  
  Gave it some more thought. #5) “Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys. It’s simply the first song I remember hearing. My mom had the radio on when we headed across the bridge into Corpus Christi. We were going to visit my dad at his job.
  - http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe
    
    The Beach Boys. Did you see them on The Grammy’s? Wild to see them as they’ve aged.
    - http://www.tnealtarver.wordpress.com TNeal
      
      Didn’t see the Grammy’s but the Beach Boys (with only one original member) hit Richland Center about 10 years ago for our big country music festival. A friend’s wife (her name was Rhonda) and I had a great time at the outdoor concert. I usually am ready to leave any concert after the first half but I could have stayed a lot longer (I won’t exaggerate and say “All night” but definitely longer) that night.
http://billgrandi.com/ bill (cycleguy)

#1- Crystal Blue Persuasion- Tommy James & the Shondells
#2- Carry on Wayward Son by Stryper. Kansas’ version close 2nd
#3- Can’t Take My Eyes Off You- Frankie Valli & 4 Seasons
#4- Whole Lotta Love- Zep
#5- Power of Love- Huey Lewis (from my all-time favorite movie)
- http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe
  
  Some great stuff here, Bill. Any list that includes Stryper and Huey Lewis and The News is sure to be an interesting list.
  - http://billgrandi.com/ bill (cycleguy)
    
    Don’t know if you read get this or not Jon. You caught me on a Friday, my day off, and my brain sort of goes into hibernation I think. No way should I have included the Zep song. Besides being vulgar, it is not even one that would be in my Top 10. I could have put Lord of Lords or Lead Me to the Cross by Brooke Frasier or even Open Arms by Journey or a Styx song. But it hit me over the weekend what song should be there without a doubt: Long Distance Runner by DeGarmo & Key. That has, and probably always will be, my favorite Christian song. Sorry for the mess up by including that Zep song.
http://www.theisleofman.net/ Kevin Haggerty

All time is just too hard. I love too many songs and the answer changes too frequently. I decided to go with my favorite 5 songs at the moment:

1) Slumber by Needtobreathe
2) Switzerland by Bison (a new band out of Chesapeake, VA that everyone needs to check out!)
3) Forever Reign by Hillsong United
4) To Be Alone With You by Sufjan Stevens
5) Grounds for Divorce by Elbow

TGIF everybody!!!
- http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe
  
  TGIF to you as well!
http://randomlychad.com Chad Jones

This changes from week-to-week, but the ones on frequent rotation right now are:

1) Civilian by Wye Oak
2) Rolling in the Deep by Adele
3) Who Am I? by Casting Crowns
4) Anything by Demon Hunter/Disciple/Decyfer Down
5) Set Fire to the Rain by Adele
- http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe
  
  Adele has definitely picked up on the popularity list.
Erik Stolpe

1. A Perfect Circle – The Hollow. Haunting, direct, to the point, and just a great example of concise effective composition.

2. Porcupine Tree – Sentimental. again just great well thought out composition. complex yet simple at its core.

3. Thrice – The Earth Will Shake A riff on prison chant. Dynamic and again straightforward.

4. Mutemath – Backfire. Starting to see a theme with short, sweet and to the point?

5. Vertical Horizon – Wash Away. Specifically the version off Live Stages. These guys were/ maybe still are an under appreciated force to be reckoned with live and the flow of this live track with great lyrics and musicianship are something I could listen to every day.
- http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe
  
  Erik, Thanks for stopping by. I guess I’m out of touch. You’ll have to give me a listen to some of these songs in a couple weeks. See you soon!
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