FutureBaby Playlist: O-S

You know, there are really a remarkable number of bands whose names begin with “S”… There may be more “B” or “T” acts in my library, just because I own a bazillion songs by Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, but there sure are a lot of “S” artists.

This set continues to show that sing-along-ability is the most important criterion in picking FutureBaby tunes. On strict moral grounds, the Pogues have no business on such a list, not due to lyrical content, but rather the make-up of the band, but how could I not include a couple of theirs?

  • “Murder (Or A Heart Attack),” Old 97’s (Despite the title, it’s a sweet song about a lost cat.)
  • “Big Brown Eyes,” Old 97’s
  • “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay,” Otis Redding
  • “Yellow Ledbetter,” Pearl Jam (I have no idea what the actual words are, but it’s a great song to mumble along to)
  • “Sussudio,” Phil Collins
  • “Take Me Home,” Phil Collins
  • “Out All Night,” The Pietasters
  • “Without You,” The Pietasters
  • “The Irish Rover,” The Pogues
  • “The Broad Majestic Shannon,” The Pogues
  • “Whiskey In the Jar,” The Pogues (It’s hard to find Pogues songs without much booze and death…)
  • “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” Queen
  • “Under Pressure,” Queen & David Bowie
  • “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville,” R.E.M.
  • “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” R.E.M.
  • “Like Dreamers Do,” The Radiators
  • “Rockaway Beach,” The Ramones
  • “Shake A Tail Feather,” Ray Charles
  • “Four-Eyed Girl,” Rhett Miller
  • “I Live In Trafalgar Square,” Richard Thompson (I considered “When I get to the Border,” but the mental image of a toddler singing “Say I drowned in a barrel of wine…” put that to rest…)
  • “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” Righteous Brothers
  • “Lockjaw,” The Rugburns
  • “Hardest Way Possible,” Rustic Overtones
  • “New York, New York,” Ryan Adams
  • “Don’t Pull Your Love,” Sam & Dave
  • “Hold On I’m Comin’,” Sam & Dave
  • “Soul Man,” Sam & Dave
  • “Soothe Me,” Sam & Dave
  • “You Send Me,” Sam Cooke
  • “Wonderful World,” Sam Cooke
  • “Cupid,” Sam Cooke
  • “Another Saturday Night,” Sam Cooke
  • “Twistin’ The Night Away,” Sam Cooke
  • “Bring It On Home To Me,” Sam Cooke
  • “Soothe Me,” Sam Cooke (I have a lot of songs by guys named Sam.)
  • “Goodbye to You,” Scandal (Yes, I’m a child of the 80’s)
  • “Singing In My Sleep,” Semisonic
  • “Beautiful Wreck,” Shawn Mullins
  • “See My Vest,” Simpsons
  • “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Sinéad O’Connor
  • “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” Sinéad O’Connor
  • “I Second That Emotion,” Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
  • “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow,” The Soggy Bottom Boys
  • “Got To Get You Off My Mind,” Solomon Burke
  • “Diamond In Your Mind ,” Solomon Burke
  • “Somebody To Shove,” Soul Asylum
  • “Misery,” Soul Asylum
  • “Two Princes,” Spin Doctors
  • “The Underdog,” Spoon
  • “My Coco,” Stellastarr*
  • “Have A Nice Day,” Stereophonics
  • “The Joker,” Steve Miller Band
  • “All Over The World,” Strange Fruit
  • “Bye, Bye,” The Subdudes (Which I will now have stuck in my head for the rest of the day…)
  • “All The Time In The World,” The Subdudes
  • “Hoover Dam,” Sugar
  • “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,” Sugar (Relatively mellow songs from Bob Mould.)
  • “You Can’t Hurry Love,” The Supremes

The next batch will be the end of the playlist, at least for this draft.

5 comments

  1. One of the artists my parents exposed us to at a young age was Simon and Garfunkel. They have a number of songs which may be suitable: “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)”, “Scarborough Fair”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)”, “The Boxer”, etc. Some of Paul Simon’s solo work would fit well also, particularly “Loves Me Like A Rock”.

    Since you’re a child of the 1980s, I’m surprised you didn’t list anything by the Police or Sting. “Synchronicity I” is a candidate (though it has a lot of big words). “Love Is The Seventh Wave” would work even better.

  2. You also ought to have some Pete Seeger in there. There’s a lot of his stuff on iTunes, including a bunch of traditional children’s songs from the “Stories and Songs” album.

    Not exactly sing-along, but a great way of introducing kids to classical music is the wonderful, up-tempo a capella stuff from the Swingle Singers.

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