I have a couple iTunes libraries, and one of them contains every song I have ever collected. I decided to load it up on one of my flash modded iPods a few days ago, shuffling, and having some fun listening to music I haven't listened to in a long time.

I was about 25 songs in when the autotuned mess of Untitled by The Title came on and a wave of nostalgia and disgust washed over me.

It's so terrible, I can't believe I used to listen to the album on repeat, but it tickled my brain the same way it did when I was 12.

Any nostalgic cringe songs you've been listening to? Or what are your guilty pleasures songs?

There're maybe 2 aspects to the question: what makes you prefer a certain genre over another? and within that genre, what criteria makes you think one piece performs better than another?

I get that this is a very subjective and probably subconscious thing. Just curious to see how everyone would describe their own tastes.

For me I'm not much of a music person, most music I found were just soundtracks from films or videogames. So I guess the music is good if the film/game is good. Listening is a way to put me back into the moods of the scenes it came from.

Edit: I also listen to meme songs a lot so I guess I like them for just being funny, which is not a very musically relevant criteria I suppose

My favourite not-all-that-Christmassy song that it wouldn't really be Christmas without is Tar Barrel in Dale by The Unthanks. It's really more of a new year's song and it's certainly not very jolly. But it is very lovely, I think best enjoyed on a cold afternoon in mid-December, with a nice hot drink and a warm coat.

"It's too early for Christmas", you may be saying, but you may also be a Scrooge and I won't abide by it. Christmas is just about 2 weeks away and I'm ready to listen to some Christmas music. So what are some of your favorites?

Also any non-Christmas December holiday music can be shared as well! I'm just not aware of any of the others having much music (unless you're into that Adam Sandler song).

edit: I put together a Spotify playlist of everything (so far as of Dec 13 @ 1pm EST) -- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FY6Ngmo60so3xzy3xCTY5?si=729f98cd8da34283

edit 2: I've been adding songs as they trickle in. Last updated Dec 20

"Youth" by Glass Animals and "Yulia" by Wolf Parade simply gut me. They're not associated with anyone in my life; I'm just extremely susceptible to their emotional content. Got any music like that? Do you seek out the listening experiences for the catharsis?

The main reason I ask this is that, given these types of songs exist mainly to rile up a people in support or opposition to something, which leaves very little serious discussion to be had, other than the top comment offering some context. So what do you think? Given these songs are mostly more about nations, peoples, faiths, I'd probably post them in ~humanities inst of just ~music, but I want other opinions. I also generally make exceptions to sad music of this type, mainly because it's more meaningful.

Might be a weird one, but I like the uh..... aesthetic? I guess?

Some examples would be:

Maybe that atmospheric death metal band you like recorded an acoustic folk cover of a Rihanna song. Maybe that bubblegum pop artist you follow made an experimental post-rock album.

The goal is to highlight range: try to find two songs that are as "far away" from one another as possible while still being from the same artist.

Link the songs here, and identify what makes them so different.

My husband and I recently started listening to Tones and I who has a song called Johnny Run Away. It’s a short story about a boy who has feelings for another boy and is told by his dad to “run away” not because the father is homophobic but because he’s trying to protect his son from getting bullied:

His daddy walked by with a sigh
Said, "Johnny, sit by my side
I'm gonna give you the best advice
You've ever heard in your life
See that boy named Jimmy, yeah, he's a cutie
But no, no, Johnny, no, no, no
Johnny run away”

I like the song partially for its musicality (so catchy!) but also its narrative is genuinely touching to me. My father-in-law once told me he knew his son (my husband) was gay early on. He said that never changed how much he loved his son, but he was always worried about how much harder life would be for him because of that. I think a lot of parents support their LGBT kids but also live with the very real fear of knowing that the rest of the world won’t necessarily do the same, and I think this song captures that perspective.

Anyway, I would love to hear about other songs that feature LGBT stories and perspectives, especially if they’re personally resonant for you or someone you know.

The main reason I know musicals exist is Undertale, the Musical by Man on the internet. Out of the songs I have listened to (and aren't cliche), Star is definitely my favorite. There is a long review someone wrote on YouTube that was fixed by the creators of the video, and it describes why it's a good song in far greater detail than I could even imagine by myself.

This time the "iron chef" ingredient is storytelling. What's a song you know that tells a good story?

Ground rules:

• One song per comment, so we can vote for them individually.
• One top-level comment per user, so pick your favorite song.
• If you want to post more than one song, reply to yourself to add more comments.

Previously in this series:

• Happy Songs
• Cover songs with an an unusual instrument
• Good singing in a language you don't understand

I'm looking for some new material for my ice dancing playlist.

Anything decently musical and rhythmic is good. Current favorites: weapon of choice, stop the bot, uptown funk, blackheart (tsfh), burn (Goulding).

What I mean by this: information that is not self-contained in the song/album enhances or changes our interpretations of it. It can be something the artist said/did, the historical or cultural context surrounding the music, the inspiration for the song or its writing/recording process, or anything else that makes the target music more meaningful.

Arguably any music can benefit from knowing its "outside story", so I'm looking for particularly noteworthy examples -- ones where this information is especially significant. This is of course subjective, so really anything goes! If you think it's important, well, then that's good enough to share!

Based on the hype song thread recently posted here.

Particular to me:

Rakim: The saga begins (Instrumental): Maybe it's just me but this instrumental has always given a very sad, 'navigating a crisis' vibe, which I find really compelling now.

Vaporwave rickroll: A Mashup of the vaporwave song and never gonna give you up; which thanks to this random video I now associate with broken expectations and melancholy.

Twisted by Kevin Macleod: The march in the song kinda feels like marching into the unknown, regardless if what you find.

Less specific to me however:

Eminem: It's OK (instrumental): kind of the same thing as the saga begins, except the full song is kinda like that too.

Jazz liberatorz -Speak the language

MF - Doom: Great day: 2 songs that give me a somewhat chill/day-to-day vibe most lo-fi songs aim to capture.

Gran Turismo 4 OST: An old Bassman...: This either is or should be the anthem of existential dread.

Diário de um detento (instrumental): This is less a song that feels like navigating a crisis but just kinda living through it without much thought other than a mild irritation.

NIN: Downward spiral: Very aptly named.

respite. - blackdeku: The word 'resignation' comes to mind.

Short of drugs, I find music to be one of the most effective ways of inducing an emotional state on demand. If you want to hype yourself up, get that adrenaline flowing, what's your go-to song?

For me, it's definitely DJ Mehdi - Signatune (Thomas Bangalter edit). Hard-hitting French House. It's repetitive and brutal, and not at all what I would choose for a cozy, relaxed listening experience. But god damn if it doesn't get the adrenaline flowing.

What's yours?

Here's an article about one of the recent Grammy winners: "Billie Eilish's Grammy hit features a surprising Australian sound"

The story about how Eilish and her brother sampled a pedestrian crossing signal is interesting enough - but you have to watch the embedded video, where the SMH people use the same signal to make their own backing track to an Aussie classic!

We had a discussion here last year about "Baby, It's Cold Outside", and whether the lyrics to this song encourage rape. This came after a radio station pulled the song from its playlist after people complained it was too "rapey".

Well, John Legend has re-written this song "to remove the 'date-rape' lyrics". Here is the song and here are Legend's new lyrics.

What do you think? Did the song need to be re-written? Is this an improvement? Is this the "Christmas" song we need for a post-#metoo era?

Two asides: