Reaching Musicpause

Musicpause appeared in the January 24th version of Toronto Star's weekly feature "The week's best invented words".

I think musicpause is an excellent addition to our vocabulary. Most of us recognize that there comes a point in our lives when "the music stops" . It's around that time when, sounding like our parents, we hear ourselves saying something like "why isn't there any good music anymore" or "I don't understand kids today. They call that music?" At that point, our musical taste stops evolving, and we find ourselves stuck in a particular decade or musical style that stays with us for the rest of our lives.

Now I don't want to say that I've reached that point. But the evidence suggests that I may have.

I theorized that I'd entered musicpause a little later than most people, in part because my interest in music has continued well into my 40s. I still purchase music, attend concerts, and even plan vacations around music festivals. So I decided to test this theory by developing a list of my Top 100 favourite songs.  A quick glance through the list reveals a preponderance of music from the seventies and a smattering from the eighties. But what you may find even more surprising is an almost total absence of anything from the nineties - or for that matter, from the first seven years of this decade. Musicpause? Well, I was 28 years old in 1990, which fits with the definition I provided earlier. However, I have a more plausible explanation. When I was drawing up the list, I deliberately excluded francophone and jazz/blues, and that is what I have been listening to for the last twenty years or so (note some exceptions, e.g. the songs I selected from Diana Krall's The Girl in the Other Room are not jazz in the traditional sense, so I've included them on this list instead). I will publish a list addressing the jazz and francophone categories, as well as my favourite albums, on a future post. But for now, I will share my Top 100 English song list (non-jazz) with you.

Having had a chance to review this list and thinking about your own selections, you may want to ask yourself - have you reached musicpause?

Danica’s Favourite Songs – Top 100 Rock/Pop/Folk (in no particular order!)

English

1.        Heart of Saturday Night                                                     Tom Waits

2.       Jersey Girl                                                                           Tom Waits

3.       Departure Bay                                                                     Diana  Krall

4.       Black Crow                                                                          Diana Krall

5.       In the Air Tonight                                                                Phil Collins

6.       The Roof is Leaking                                                            Phil Collins

7.       I Love L.A.                                                                           Randy Newman

8.       Moondance                                                                         Van Morrison

9.       Reeling in the Years                                                           Steely Dan

10.   Handy Man                                                                         James Taylor

11.   I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For                        U2

12.   Wheat Kings                                                                       Tragically Hip

13.   Ain’t Even Done With the Night                                         John Mellencamp

14.   White Hot                                                                           Tom Cochrane and Red Ryder

15.   Life is a Highway                                                               Tom Cochrane

16.   Kiss Me                                                                              Sixpence None the Richer

17.   Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning                                Cowboy Junkies

18.   Oregon Hill                                                                        Cowboy Junkies

19.   You’re My Best Friend                                                       Queen

20.   Sign of the Times                                                               Prince

21.   Band on the Run                                                                McCartney and Wings

22.   The Dog Song                                                                    Nellie McKay

23.   Harvest Moon                                                                   Neil Young

24.   Old Man                                                                            Neil Young

25.   Say It Ain’t So, Joe                                                             Murray Head

26.   Can’t You See                                                                    Minglewood Band

27.   Anchorage                                                                         Michelle Shocked

28.   3 a.m.                                                                                Matchbox Twenty

29.   Danny’s Song                                                                    Loggins and Messina

30.   Lightning Crashes                                                             Live

31.   Sunny Days                                                                       Lighthouse

32.   One Fine Morning                                                             Lighthouse

33.   Which Way Does the River Run                                        Lennie Gallant

34.   Chelsea Morning                                                               Joni Mitchell

35.   Carey                                                                                 Joni Mitchell

36.   Have a Little Faith in Me                                                  John Hiatt

37.   Feels Like Rain                                                                  John Hiatt

38.   I’m Lucky (I can walk under ladders)                                Joan Armatrading           

39.   New York’s Not My Home                                                 Jim Croce

40.   Crimson and Clover                                                          The Hollies

41.   Magic Man                                                                        Heart

42.   Morning Has Broken                                                         Cat Stevens

43.   Wild Horses                                                                      Gino Vanelli

44.   Baker Street                                                                      Gerry Rafferty  

45.   Keep Your Hands to Yourself                                            Georgia Satellites

46.   Space Oddity                                                                     David Bowie

47.   Go Your Own Way                                                             Fleetwood Mac

48.   Bennie and the Jets                                                           Elton John

49.   Daniel                                                                                Elton John

50.   Hotel California                                                                 The Eagles

51.   Sultans of Swing                                                                Dire Straits

52.   Rock On                                                                             David Essex

53.   The Last Spike                                                                   Cowboy Junkies

54.   Clocks                                                                                Coldplay

55.   Sailing                                                                                Chris Cross

56.   Ride Like the Wind                                                            Chris Cross

57.   The Way It Is                                                                     Bruce Hornsby

58.   Satin Green Shutters                                                         Chris de Burgh

59.   Summer of ’69                                                                   Bryan Adams

60.   Lovers in a Dangerous Time                                             Bruce Cockburn

61.   Where the Water’s Deep                                                  Bonepony

62.   We’ve Got Tonight                                                            Bob Seger

63.   Night Moves                                                                      Bob Seger

64.   Ode to Billie Joe                                                                Bobby Gentry

65.   Morning Bound Train                                                         Jimmy Rankin

66.   5 Days in May                                                                    Blue Rodeo

67.   English Bay                                                                        Blue Rodeo

68.   Italian Restaurant                                                              Billy Joel

69.   New York State of Mind                                                     Billy Joel

70.   Piano Man                                                                          Billy Joel

71.   In My Life                                                                           Beatles

72.   Bad Time                                                                            Grand Funk Railroad

73.   You Could've Been a Lady                                                  April Wine

74.   Fast Car                                                                              Tracy Chapman

75.   Tonight’s the Night                                                            Rod Stewart

76.   The Killing of Georgie                                                        Rod Stewart

77.   Thunder Road                                                                    Bruce Springsteen

78.   Streets of Philadelphia                                                      Bruce Springsteen

79.   Blinded by the Light                                                          Manfred Mann

80.   Afternoon Delight                                                              Starlight Vocal Band

81.   More Than a Feeling                                                          Boston

82.   Rock On                                                                              David Essex

83.   Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo                                                Rick Derringer

84.   New York’s Not My Home                                                  Jim Croce

85.   This Old Porch                                                                    Lyle Lovett

86.   She’s No Lady                                                                     Lyle Lovett

87.   Smooth                                                                                Santana/Rob Thomas

88.   Hey What’s Going On                                                         Four Non Blondes

89.   I Believe in Music                                                               BJ Thomas

90.   American Pie                                                                      Don McLean

91.   Make Me Do Anything You Want                                      A Foot in Cold Water

92.   I’m Not in Love                                                                  10CC

93.   Don’t Stop Believin’                                                           Journey

94.   A Routine Day                                                                    Klaatu

95.   Dark Horse                                                                         Amanda Marshall

96.   What I Am                                                                          Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians

97.   Caramel                                                                              Suzanne Vega

98.   All I wanna do                                                                    Sheryl Crow

99.   Louisiana 1927                                                                   Marcia Ball

        100.Onion Girl                                                                                                     Holly Cole