Song in My Head (and in my classroom)

During the past few weeks, I have been teaching poetry.  As a segway into our anthology, I used this Shel Silverstein classic.  Our biggest discussion point" is the word "bitch" necessary or not.  What do you think they feel? 
Originally, Johnny Cash did not want to record his friends poem, but was convinced by his wife June Carter Cash to do it.  He debuted it at the San Quentin Prison, and the inmates loved it.  Here's "A Boy Named Sue."

Video Vault Friday

Johnny Cash is one of the coolest people to ever live.  Who else could have every prisoner in America in the late 60's have your back, and still record Shel Silverstein poems?

My favorite Johnny Cash song is "Cocaine Blues."  There is something about the C&W baseline that drives the song along like a freight train.  No remorse for what the main character did, just lay off the drugs. 

Surprisingly, I like the Joaquin Phoenix version form the movie Walk the Line.  He does a nice job embodying Cash, and much like Val Kilmer's take as Jim Morrison, received few accolades for a great performance. 

This live version is not a strong as the Phoenix recorded soundtrack.  I respect Phoenix for going in the studio and recording all the songs himself instead of using a Cash soundtrack.  He does a pretty good job.  Maybe too good, for he thought about becoming a hip-hop star after this.

15 for 15

NME is out with its top 150 songs of the past 15 years. There's a lot on their list, but the songs that I'd consider the best of the past 15 years are nowhere to be found. More on that later. For now, here are my Top 15 from NME's 150, with their ranking in parentheses:

#15 Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk" (62)

#14 TV on the Radio - "Wolf Like Me" (46)

#13 Blur - "Out of Time" (73)

#12 Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out" (27)

#11 Johnny Cash - "Hurt" (35)

#10 M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (15)

#9 Futureheads - "Hounds of Love" (89)

#8 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero" (39)

#7 Animal Collective - "My Girls" (91)

#6 Beck - "Where It's At" (76)

#5 The Strokes - "Hard to Explain" (36)

 #4 Bloc Party - "Banquet" (20)

#3 Jay Z - "99 Problems" (24)

#2 Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood" (141)

#1 The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony" (9)

Honorable mention goes to "Milkshake" by Kelis. Just kidding. Santogold's "L.E.S. Artistes" and Belle and Sebastian's "The Boy with the Arab Strap" just missed my Top 15. As did "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I went with "Zero"). And MGMT was a late cut as well.

But my overall thought is that the NME list really missed the mark. How does Hole's "Celebrity Skin" make the list but "Malibu", a far better song, get left off? And I appreciate the love for LCD Soundsystem --- after all, "Someone Great" might be the single best song of the past 15 years. But it's nowhere to be found. Yet "All My Friends" is on the list at #118. Art Brut's "Formed a Band" is #102 -- I would have included "Direct Hit" instead. And "Men's Needs" by the Cribs is a fine song, but their better work came after Johnny Marr joined the band. Let me go on: The Streets "Dry Your Eyes" (#87) should have been "Has It Come To This?" or "Geezers Need Excitement" or -- if you needed to keep the schmaltz, "It's Too Late". I would have liked to include Radiohead and Arcade Fire -- but I wasn't thrilled with NME's choices. And don't get me started about Super Furry Animals. The song NME chose - "The Man Don't Give a F---" - wouldn't even make my top 15 of SFA songs.

This post was John's idea... so I'm eager to see what his list looks like... John?