music madness: "don't" stop the music - fun with the iPod

The other day I had a hankering for Don't Stop Believin'. Don't judge. When I scrolled to it by song title (I rarely use this function) on my iPod, I found I had two versions. The original, of course and also a cover by Marnie Stern. This got me curious about what other "don't" songs I had on my iPod. Turns out quite a few--it took me about a week to get through the list. I thought all that effort could make for an interesting blog exercise. Since I'm still laying low, what better way to spend my Friday evening than doing a little track-by-track for you?

1. Don't Be On With Her - Miami Horror: Start off the don'ts with a little dance, shall we?
   
2. Don't Be Shy - Cat Stevens: One time my dad organized his and my mom's vinyl collections into "crap" and "not crap." I think Cat Stevens was one of the few of Mom's folk records that made the "not crap" pile. I agree. I know people like Sheryl Crow like to cover him, but there's something about songs like this that make you smile.
3. Don't Be Shy - Spektrum: This song is truly awful. It looks like I acquired it from a free iTunes download. I now have an extra 3.2 MB on my iPod.
4. Don't Care - Threatmantics: I have no idea where this catchy tune by this catchy Welsh band came from, but it's certainly, uh, catchy! I'll keep it.
5. Don't Change - INXS: Shut up. INXS 4 Eva! Besides, I dare you to watch the video and not lick Michael Hutchence in all his '80s glory.
6. Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind) - Loretta Lynn: This ended up on my iPod after Pitchfork ran their "Best of the '60s" feature a few years ago. I really wish I'd listened Loretta's tale a little closer -- or posted the lyrics on my back door.
7. Don't Dance - Hot Chip: Hot Chip's albums flow together though and I think out of context some songs just start off weird, which I think is the case with this one. The intro seems really out of place following Loretta Lynn, but once you get into the meat of the song it's quite excellent.
   
8. Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House: Hey now, hey now, stop mocking me. Besides, this is apparently the 7th best Australian song of ALL TIME (at least through 2001).
9. Don't Fear - Maps: Another mysterious appearance, but I'm glad it's here. A very pretty song. Fairly cool video too.
   
10. Don't Forget Me - Way Out West: Yeah, yeah, it's from the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack, but I'm allowed to have a girly side, okay? I have a soft side for sad, haunting music.
    
11. Don't Give Up - Noisettes: I suspect this may also be a Grey's addition. I'm also allowed to have girly pop-punk too.
    
12. Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Sergio Mendes: Look! Bossa Nova! I'm soooo super cool. Actually this song is pretty damn sweet. And it takes me away to swinging '60s Brazil, where I bet it's a lot warmer than Milwaukee (even with our 50 degree heat wave baby, yeah.) Sorry I couldn't find a link. Elton John dominates in this category.
    
13. Don't Leave - Frankel: Quite an enjoyable tune from an eMusic sampler. Can't seem to find a link, but trust me, it's nice.
    
14. Don't Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston: Do I need to explain one of the best songs of all time? I think not. Dare you not to boogie down or sing along. I also believe this song is about 20 minutes too short.
    
15. Don't Leave the City - Magnolia Electric Co.: Here's a depressingly beautiful song that it's cool to like. I would definitely work this into a soundtrack somewhere when I achieve my dream of becoming a soundtrack supervisor.
    
16. Don't Let Go - Pacha Massive: Another tolerable eMusic sampler find. It's sort of Spanglish jam in a Santana meets the Cardigans sort of way.
    
17. Don't Let Him Waste Your Time - Jarvis Cocker: Jarvis is one of my musical crushes and I wish I'd listened to him along with Loretta Lynn.
    
18. Don't Let It Get You Down - Spoon: Spoon does not get me down. Especially when their current homepage links to about 30 YouTube videos of Obama celebrations! Spoon apparently really likes "don't" songs though, as this is the first of several on this list. I am huge fan of "old" Spoon and this track off Kill the Moonlight is one of my faves.
    
19. Don't Let Me Explode - The Hold Steady: Well we already know that this is the best band of all time, so of course this song off Separation Sunday is perfectly fine.
    
20. Don't Let The Sun Go Down - Daniel Johnston: Wow, I seem to be in the hip part of my Don't run at the moment. Let's enjoy this before something embarassing pops up.
    
21. Don't Lie To Me - Big Star: Also essential for any soundtrack I would ever create.
    
22. Don't Look Back In Anger - Oasis: Yeah, we may have temporarily exited Coolsville and traveled to Meghan's obsessions circa 1996. You're definitely singing it in your head right now.
    
23. Don't Make Me A Target - Spoon: Told you there'd be more Spoon. Did I mention it'd also be excellent?
    
24. Don't Mistake Me - Keisha White: You could probably use this song to sell tampons, yogurt or shoes, but you know what, I kinda like it.
    
25. Don't Panic - Coldplay: I liked Coldplay before it was cool to like Coldplay, and definitely way before it was uncool to like Coldplay.
    
26. Don't Read Dostoyevsky - Alaska In Winter: Don't let the band name throw you off, this gorgeous music has nothing to do with Sarah Palin. At least I certainly hope not.
    
27. Don't Sleep In The Subway - Petula Clark: Petula Clark is full of jams. I love this song, not just because of my love of public transit, but because it basically rules. Not wanting your amor to be homeless. Well, that's love. Unfortunately you lose the grand production in the live clip.
    
28. Don't Stop - Girl Talk: One of my favorite tracks off Feed the Animals. It samples Born Slippy and In Between Days for goodness sake!
    
29. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey: The track ultimately responsible for this entire undertaking and several monumental moments in pretty much anyone's life who was a teenager after 1981 to the present. For me it'll always remind me of my trip to France when this got stuck in my friend Dan's head and he used it to teach English to French middle schoolers. He gave them a list of phrases from the song and asked them to write a story: "small-town girl," "midnight train," "city boy"...etc.
    
30. Don't Stop Believin' - Marnie Stern: This chick is so impressive at shredding a guitar, I can allow this cover to coexist peacefully on my iPod.
    
31. Don't Talk Like - Sleater-Kinney: Perhaps Marnie Stern would've never covered Don't Stop Believin' if Sleater-Kinney had never existed. How's that for blowing your mind?
    
32. Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s) - Los Campesinos!: I'm currently holding a grudge against this awesome Welsh band because they are playing a free show in Madison and ignoring Milwaukee. Still, this song is really brilliant.
    
33. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan: My best friend, Kat, used to play this for me whenever I got bummed out over stupid high school boys. Stupid high school boys were so not worthy of this song. Or of me.
    
34. Don't Try to Fool Me - Miss Li: I'm guessing another Grey's entry. Stop judging.
    
35. Don't Worry Baby - The Beach Boys: My mom hates the Beach Boys, my dad loves them. I think I have to go with Dad on this one.
    
36. Don't You Evah - Spoon: The final Spoon song in the "don'ts." And yeah, two are off the same album. How do you feel about that?
    
37. Don't You Want Me - Human League: You were waiting for it, weren't you? I know I was!
    
38. Don’t Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up - Cortney Tidwell: Technically this is the Ewan’s Objects In Space remix. It's pretty epic and a solid way to bring us out of this bizarre exercise.

Next listening project will be the "downs." Any other song prefixes you'd like me to tackle?