Last night I watched NBC’s Saturday Night Live in the 90’s special and though I loved seeing the best of Carvey, Spade, Farley, Sandler and of course Farrell, I enjoyed the brief snippets of live performances over the years.  All the popular bands were featured, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Dave Matthews Band and more but I heard two songs that I’d forgotten about how good they were.

First was Macy Gray’s I Try, a song that reminds me of someone back in Columbus whenever I hear it, no matter when, where or whatever mood I’m in.  And damn, those lyrics are good but the delivery was even better.  She introduced me to the song LONG before it ever hit the radio and I was kinda bummed when it finally became so popular.

I play it off but I’m dreamin’ of you
I’ll keep it cool but I’m fiendin’

I try to say good bye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it’s clear:
My world crumbles when you are not near

Second was Blues Traveler’s Hook, a self referential ditty that is so clever that I get goose bumps every time I hear it.  I’m a big lyrics person and these are, ironically, some of the best I’ve ever heard.

It doesn’t matter what I say
So long as I sing with inflection
That makes you feel that I’ll convey
Some inner truth of vast reflection
But I’ve said nothing so far
And I can keep it up for as long as it takes
And it don’t matter who you are
If I’m doing my job then it’s your resolve that breaks

Because the hook brings you back
I ain’t tellin’ you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely

 The song is obviously a rant about the shallow lyrics a lot of musicians use and the lemmings that follow them over the cliff and buy their albums year after year.  John Popper was a genius.

Sure the above songs aren’t cool anymore to have blasting out your car radio but they’re timeless and I think it’s even more fun to rediscover something old than something new.  You gain a new respect for the memories you had and can look back with a new perspective with the experiences you’ve had in the years since. 

In other music news, you can check out what I’m listening to at my Last.fm page- every song I listen to is automatically logged (7,559 songs logged since 8/12/2006).