Entries categorized as “Top Five” 56 results

Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesTop Five Songs About Running Into Your Ex

Valentine's Day is this weekend. In Chicago, temperatures will be in the teens, a meteorological fact that seems to be winter's way of telling everyone to just stay inside. Even if you don't have someone to cuddle in a blanket fort with, you should still take heart; leaving your house is one of the best ways to unexpectedly run into one of your exes, and who needs that? Certainly not the five artists on the list below. As you get ready to hunker down for another Valentine's in the deep freeze, take their songs as a cautionary tales: other people are everywhere, and they pop up when you least expect (or desire) them.

1) Arab Strap - "New Birds" (1998)

Key lyrics: "You remember the way she swung her arms when she held your hand but you can't remember how she kissed and now you've got the chance to find out."

Say what you will about the narrator of Arab Strap's "New Birds": although he lets himself get tantalizingly close to drunken, scot-free infidelity with his old flame, he makes the right choice. What makes him err on the side of good? The thought of his new girlfriend, and the belief that any attempt to reignite lost sparks or vindicate hurt feelings is inherently worse than fucking up a love that still works. Another lesson to take from this one? When in doubt, always take separate cabs.

2) Syd Straw - "CBGBs" (1996)

Key lyrics: "Are you doing what you wanna do? / Did you follow your intentions? / All the dreams you had, / has even a single one of them come true?"

Seeing your ex is a form of time travel. In addition to dredging up all of the emotional wreckage that comes with a break-up, it also snaps you back into the mind of the person you were when the two of you were dating. For Syd Straw, that means reevaluating the choices she's made in the 10 year since she'd last seen her lover. The times they reminisce over are actually sweet; it's the swift passage of time, and realization that all of the big plans you made when you were still a club kid either didn't come to pass or weren't as great as you expected.

3) Beat Happening - "Cat Walk" (1988)

Key lyrics: "I look at them out together / I don't mind he's an okay fella / Anyway, it's probably better"

The last time I saw one of my major exes with her new boyfriend, I hid behind a tree. It wasn't my best Saturday. I would've much rather reacted like the narrator of "Cat Walk," who experiences one of the rarest ex-sighting emotions of all: level-headed maturity. He greets the sight of his old girlfriend, wearing his sweater and strolling with a new boy, with a little shrug and some healthy introspection. As lessons from two-minute pop songs go, this is a surprisingly healthy one.

4) Dan Fogelberg - "Same Auld Lang Syne" (1981)

Key lyrics: "The beer was empty and our tongues were tired / And running out of things to say / She gave a kiss to me as I got out / And I watched her drive away"

It came down to this, Harry Chapin's "Taxi," and Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" for the "sad songer-songwriter from the '70s" spot on this list. The edge goes to Fogelberg for three reasons:

1) He was from Peoria, a place where (and, as a former four-year resident, trust me on this one) the heartache comes honest.

2) The song is based on a true, real-life meet-up between Fogelberg and one of his high school girlfriends.

3) It captures the realistic, bittersweet awkwardness of even the cheeriest of chance meetings, the slow-dawning acknowledgement that time has left you two different people with two different lives and not a ton of stuff to talk about anymore. Plus, it's a Christmas song, which make it even more of a bummer.

5) Yo La Tengo - "Damage" (1997)

Key lyrics: "I used to think about you all the time / I would think about you all the time / Now it just feels weird, that there you are"

Listen, we're not kidding anyone: seeing someone you used to date but don't date anymore is an annoyance at best and a night-ruining cataclysm at worst. It's a reminder of failures, a resurrector of greivances, and reaffirmation of your inability to a) find someone worth dating or b) keep hold of that person once you find them. On Valentine's Day, those emotional landmines is amplified tenfold. So, like I said in the intro: stay in your house, draw the blinds, and listen to these tunes. Maybe play a board game, if that's your thing. Just, please: under no circumstances should you leave the house, or venture anywhere near his favorite bar or the coffee shop where she writes sometimes. It'll just end... wait. Is that your coat? Don't put that coat on! Don't give me the finger through your mitten! Where are you going? DID YOU EVEN READ THIS LIST?

Eddie writesTop 5 Great Uses of David Bowie Songs in 21st Century Movies

by Eddie Sayago

David Bowie resonated with a lot of people from all walks of life. The soundtrack to my life includes plenty of songs that have been included in the soundtrack of countless of movies. Here are five of them, all films released after 2000.

R.I.P. David Bowie, 1947-2016.

1. "Heroes" used in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Teenagers, especially those struggling with depression, sexuality, and high school (or all three at once), were able to look at his music and his life and see that it was okay to be different. Some people say that his music saved their lives. Terri Hemmert once said that a song that take you right back to a certain moment in your life like it just occurred yesterday. When Sam found “Heroes” she needed to take a drive down that tunnel outside their small town and stand on top of the truck, so she could have her moment with this song. For a few minutes, the uncertainly of adolescence and the fear of the unknown just washed away. For the rest of their lives, Charlie, Patrick, and Sam's moment with "Heroes" will consist of driving down that tunnel, finding temporary (and hopefully a permanent) escape from their small town.

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Craig Reptile: Your Sunday Sonic Sundowner writesTop Five Special: Fictional Guided by Voices Song Titles

Even though Guided By Voices broke up (again) over a year ago, that hasn’t stopped veteran frontman Robert Pollard from releasing new music. This year has seen the release of his 21st solo album and new music from two of his sixteen “side projects,” Circus Devils’ Stomping Grounds and three full-length records from Ricked Wicky.

This week marks the release of Suitcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won The War, a four CD collection of 100 previously unreleased tracks, including rarities, alternate versions, outtakes and discards including classics like "Postal Blowfish," "Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory," "Motor Away," "Hardcore UFOs," "Echos Myron," "Tractor Rape Chain" and "Queen Of Cans And Jars." Also included are demos from Pollard’s next solo album, due in 2016.

If it’s anything like the Suitcase 1-3 releases, each track will be credited to a different fake band name (he hasn’t used Sergeant Sebaceous and His Cysts yet, but here’s hoping), and if you’re wondering how you can fit 100 song titles and band names on a CD, never fear-- it comes with a custom magnifying glass to assist with your reading.

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JimK writesTop Five (Make That Seven) Songs About Math

Clearly there need to be seven entries into this list, seven being the number reached after six, without proceeding to eight.  Because if you bump the table too hard, eight may tip over onto its side, and become infinity…ain’t nobody got time for that.∞

1. "Never Ending Math Equation" by Modest Mouse

So good.  “The plants and the animals eat each other,” which is kind of a math story problem.  You want Mandelbrot?  “…infinity spirals out of creation…”  OH.  The main creative force in this band, Isaac Brock, has had his share of getting a little out of balance, but man he writes some good lyrics.  If you don’t care for his noisy musical palette, check out Sun Kil Moon’s cover of the song.

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Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTop Five: Sounds From Chicago’s Championship Years

There are many years in Chicago when the arrival of Autumn means it’s time to wrap up two disappointing baseball seasons and get ready for a disappointing football season. That’s not the case in 2015, though. The North-Side baseball franchise is battling for a spot in the playoffs, and the local gridiron team is showing signs of life after two years of being led by a well-meaning but novice coach. Fall is also the time when artists and bands come off the outdoor festival circuit and release their end-of-the-year albums. This annual transition of sports and music got me thinking what were folks listening to when Chicago’s five pro sports franchises went all the way?

Here’s a list of what the world was listening to the year each of the city’s five major sports franchises last won a championship, from two perspectives: the top album on the Billboard 200 chart, and other albums released during the year that are now, thanks to time and the perspective/wisdom it brings, regarded as classics:

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