Stuck In My Skull 337 -- "Song of the Caged Bird"

Song: "Song of the Caged Bird" || Artist: Lindsey Stirling || http://youtu.be/inb8MMZ-QmA ||

[youtube http://youtu.be/inb8MMZ-QmA]

Comments: Short entry today, guys. The always-wonderful Lindsey Stirling brings us another excellent new song. Check it out, and enjoy the weekend!

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ETC #24 "Somebody"

Song: "Somebody"
Artist: Reba McEntire
Link: http://youtu.be/p14-lNyBovM

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p14-lNyBovM]

Comments:  Hey all, HAPPY FRIDAY! I have been on a Country music kick the last few days and I was listening to Miss Reba here thinking about how much I love her songs.  I sat this song aside thinking maybe I would think of something else to use and then I realized that she has never been used on the blog and I decided that needed to be changed.  Here's a song that is a bit old, but it is excellent. This song is one of my favourites of hers.  I highly recommend listening to some of her music if you haven't already.  She has been musically oriented all her life (with an astounding amount of success and awards for her amazing vocals), started her own show, and even has a clothing line.  Here's the Wiki if you have an interest in reading more about her.  One of her favourite things are ballads and many of her songs tell a story of some kind.  Furthermore, she has a voice that I miss hearing in some contemporary music; she has a lot of power and is very pure when she sings. This song in particular might help those of you who are feeling discouraged in love.  Happy listening!

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AMANDA-- "DON'T STOP ME NOW" by QUEEN

Happy Thursday all! Here's one of my absolutely favorite songs from the legendary band Queen. As far as I'm concerned, Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest singers who ever lived. Those pipes. That stage presence. Brian May is equally excellent on guitar. Anyway, this is song has become one of their most popular in recent history. I personally remember it from a hilarious scene in the comedy Shaun of the Dead. Here we see Queen do what they do best, combining layers and layers of sound on top of one another. The end result is a three and a half minutes of glorious fun and rock'n'roll.  "Don't Stop Me Now" never fails to get me pumped up and excited about my day. Hopefully it'll do the same for you. Enjoy!

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Stuck In My Skull 336 -- "So Cold"

Song: "So Cold" || Artist: Breaking Benjamin || http://youtu.be/rTiGlNDnOtE ||

[youtube http://youtu.be/rTiGlNDnOtE]

Comments: Let me think. I first heard this song... I can't even remember when I heard it. I was just getting into Breaking Benjamin when I ran into this song. As I recall, I had a playlist.com playlist full of about 6-8 songs that I listened to over and over. This song is excellent-- vintage Breaking Benjamin, and exemplifies their sound wonderfully. Take a listen!

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ETC #23 "Good Girls Go Bad"

Song: "Good Girls Go Bad"
Artist: Cobra Starship Ft. Leighton Meester
Link: http://youtu.be/Ix5z1bRz4Sc

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix5z1bRz4Sc]

Comments: Hey all. I'm sorry to say that I don't have much to report on this song. It's got a good beat and the video is relatively entertaining. The song did well on the charts; it hit the Top 10 list. Ms. Meester is apparently more popular than I realized.  It would seem that she's more into acting than she is singing, but does both. Here is the Wiki if you want some more information. Happy listening!

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AMANDA-- "LANDSLIDE" by FLEETWOOD MAC

Hello all! As a child, my mother fed me a steady diet of classic rock, metal, and r&b. I have her to thank for my diverse taste in music and so I'm dedicating this song to my loving, supportive mom. At an early age, she instilled in me a love for Fleetwood Mac, especially the incredible Stevie Nicks, who wrote "Landslide." The song's  lyrics have always resonated with me although they mean something a little different now that I'm older. In my mind nothing tops the original, what with  the tenderness and frailty in Nick's singing and the use of both acoustic and electric guitars, but I was impressed by the Dixie Chicks cover on their 2002 album Home. Both versions are worth checking out. Enjoy!

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Stuck In My Skull 335 -- "Homecoming"

Song: "Homecoming" || Artist: Kanye West || http://youtu.be/LQ488QrqGE4 ||

[youtube http://youtu.be/LQ488QrqGE4]

Comments: Of all the unexpected combinations of artists, Kanye West and Chris Martin of Coldplay fame. Wow. Didn't see that one coming. Err, came. This song actually came out quite awhile ago, and I'm just behind the times. Regardless of relevance, this song is actually pretty good. It's a sound I'm not used to hearing in rap, and it's hook-- sung by Chris Martin-- is fabulous. Check this song out!

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ETC #22 "God Gave Me You"

Song: "God Gave Me You"
Artist: Blake Shelton
Link: http://youtu.be/nCf2PoTuh4Q

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCf2PoTuh4Q]

Comments: Good Monday morning, all.  I hope that the week is going to start off well for you. I am bringing this song to you today because as I was going through a list of songs that I wanted to share I realized that many of them had already been used.  I was going through some country because it hasn't been used in a while and remembered that I have been meaning to use this song. It is a beautiful song and while I always think about it in the relationship that I have with my boyfriend and the relationship we have the video does a good job of putting this same theme in other perspectives (i.e. a mother and her child, a doctor and their patient).  What I just found out while doing some searching is that this is actually a cover of the Dave Barnes' version, a contemporary Christian artist.  It's amazing the difference in views on the same song.   They both scored similarly on the Adult Contemporary Billboard, but Blake's version did superior in his respective field than Dave's.  I hope you all appreciate the second version I've provided just as much as Blake's because both of them are excellent. Happy listening!

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Stuck In My Skull 334-- "Snow (Hey Oh)"

Song: "Snow (Hey Oh)" || Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers || http://youtu.be/fmXLzY8kbYA ||

[youtube http://youtu.be/fmXLzY8kbYA]

Comments: Good morning, folks. Sorry about this post going up late-- my turkey-stuffed stomach and tryptophan-addled brain didn't remember to write this last night. Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't already used this song. I first heard it ages ago, running in the credits to an obscure, live-action movie based on a manga that I watched on youtube years ago in ten minute chunks. Yep, it was old enough that youtube still had the ten minute video limit. I heard it once, and I was hooked, and my love of RHCP began. This song is catchy as all get out, has an incredible guitar, and is that sort of awesome that only the Red Hot Chili Peppers can produce. Enjoy!

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ETC #21 "Walk This Way"

Song: "Walk This Way"
Artist: Aerosmith
Link: http://youtu.be/bKttENbsoyk

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B_UYYPb-Gk]

Comments: HAPPY FRIDAY!  After many of you are probably still recovering from the large amounts of food from Thanksgiving and possibly going shopping today (depending on your tolerance for massive crowds) so, I thought I would send an oldie, but an excellent song to get you motivated to get up and do something fun today.  I was in the car with my dad the other day and we had the radio up quite loud to this sound because, why the heck not?  I'm sure majority of the audience has probably already heard it, but here's a little 70s for a change up.  Not only does it have the awesome guitar and good beat, but it also has some excellent rap throughout by RUN-DMC. This song was released back in 1976 and reached the top 10 from their album Toys in the Attic.  It's music video also did very well on the charts being well inside the top 25 on 4/5 charts it's listed on.  I hadn't seen the video up until a few minutes ago and it is definitely worth watching.  Here is the link the Wiki because I'd love to share how well it did, but I don't want to make a huge list for those who don't necessarily want to read it all. Rock out this morning and happy listening!

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