music, again
Mar. 6th, 2026 01:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thedarlingoneOne problem with sorting my music is I can't do it at the same time as anything else or I'll simply zone out and stop noticing the music enough to process any of it.
* Dark as a Dungeon. I have two Johnny Cash covers (studio and live), one by Kathy Mattea, and one from 200 Years of American Heritage In Song/Great American String Band. I don't love the instrumentation of the Johnny Cash studio cover, it's a little more complex than his usual in a way that doesn't process well for me? The Kathy Mattea version is the first one I remember hearing and I really like it, it showcases her voice well in an acappella-ish style with a very simple backing track that slowly grows more complex, starting with piano chords and adding in guitar and maybe some other instruments? I think it also has more verses than the Cash cover. The 200 Years version is... peppier than I expected, male baritone with a country twang, banjo and fiddle backing, three verses only. The Johnny Cash live version (which is alphabetized last as "Dark As *the* Dungeon") has I think a snare drum in the backing? Something that makes the audio feel fuzzy. I'd expect to like the Johnny Cash versions better than I do, his voice is well suited for it.
* Dark Eyed Molly, Stan Rogers. Ballad-ish, sounds traditional, guitar and fiddle, can't say it's grabbing me. Too many notes per syllable, I can't keep track of the lyrics properly.
* Darlin' Companion, Johnny Cash. Live recording from his Folsom Prison album. The name of the song sounds familiar but the song itself doesn't at all? Something about the audio mixing is jangling my ears a bit, I'm not sure I'll keep it around.
* Darling Corey, The Weavers. I thought I'd had all the songs from this album (The Weavers at Carnegie Hall) on shuffle for years but this one doesn't sound familiar. It's also not grabbing me, I guess?
* Dashing White Sergeant/Annie Laurie, 20 Favourite Songs for Dancing by The Jim Campbell Band. Another bagpipe album I originally had under a different title. This was one of the albumstabbiewolf was able to track down for me on YouTube specifically because of this medley combination, where an instrumental I wouldn't be able to pick out of a lineup turns into Annie Laurie halfway (I can recognize instrumentals if they're songs I know the lyrics to sing along to). Definitely a keeper.
* Dawson Finds Olivia, The Great Mouse Detective soundtrack. I'm probably not keeping any of the instrumentals from this soundtrack, but this one is very pretty, violin and I think glockenspiel?
* Dawson's Glen/Loch Lomond, The Jim Campbell Band. All of the tracks from 20 Favourite Songs for Dancing are combinations of two different songs, which I hadn't actually known until I found the album under its real name and tracklist. Another keeper; most of my bagpipe tracks are.
* Day-O, Raffi in Concert with the Rise and Shine Band. This album was one of the ones I've heard my whole life, and I tend to favor the live renditions from it over Raffi's studio covers any day. This particular song isn't my top favorite, especially as my mother (who makes up conspiracy theories like it's her job) was dedicated to insisting that it's not "day-o" but "Deo", as in the Latin dative/ablative for God, and secretly about wanting to die and go to Heaven? Which... isn't *impossible* as a secondary meaning for a work song, but to the best I can find out is not part of the history of this one.
* Daydream Believer, The Monkees. A classic. I have a ridiculous amount of trouble remembering the difference between Daydream Believer and I'm a Believer off the top of my head, but I like this one slightly more.
* Dayenu, Pete Seeger. Live rendition from a children's concert of some sort with backing banjo. Shitty audio quality, probably due to the live venue acoustics. ...you know what I should get ahold of is the Prince of Egypt soundtrack, huh.
* De Colores. I have a Raffi version from Raffi in Concert with the Rise and Shine Band, which of course I'm very attached to, and a Pete Seeger version I'm not sure I've ever actually heard. (I have never been able to understand any of Raffi's non-English songs without seeing the lyrics, even when I know what language they're supposed to be; I have a vivid memory of my sisters and myself trying to figure out the lyrics to "Savez-Vous Planter Les Choux" as kids and completely failing to realize that what we heard as "haluanta" in the chorus was the same word as "Alouette" in the song by that name that our mother sang sometimes.) The Seeger version is Pete's banjo with a children's choir called the Riverside Kids, I think from one of his more recent albums after his voice pretty much gave out, and it's not grabbing me particularly.
* De Grey Goose, Pete Seeger. I don't think I'm familiar with this song; there are a lot of songs called variants of Grey Goose, including a Huguenot dance tune I've never actually found but which I heard of in the bibliography of the Constance Rourke biography of Davy Crockett (which I read not long after I learned to read as a toddler, although it's intended for 1930s middle-grade reading level, and did demonstrably formative things to my brain). This one is in a call-and-response style with the refrain "Lawd, Lawd, Lawd", so I suspect it's in the tradition of spirituals.
* Death of Jesse James, Pete Seeger and Ramblin' Jack Elliot. I really like traditional songs about specific events, and this cover is well done (and also it's helpful to have a version of the original around so I know the references Pete's parody "Ballad of October 16" is making).
* Death of McKinley (Cannonball Blues), Great American String Band. I think I reviewed my other duplicate of this before and decided to keep this one.
* Deck the Halls. I have two versions, one by Mannheim Steamroller and one from the Bing Crosby radio special I've mentioned before. I'm not in love with the Mannheim Steamroller version; it's not one of my top favorite Christmas carols anyway, but I'm keeping the Bing Crosby version because nostalgia and also I do really like the full-orchestra treatment it gets.
* Delia's Gone, Johnny Cash. Two different versions with significantly different lyrics. Perfectly cromulent Johnny Cash song, neither version is grabbing me.
* Delivery Delayed, Stan Rogers. I don't think I understand this song.
* Desperado, Johnny Cash. This one, I don't fully understand but it is grabbing me. I have to sift through so many songs to find a new one I like, but occasionally I do find one.
* Detroit, The Happiest Millionaire soundtrack. Ridiculously singable Disney song about... Detroit, "the land where golden chariots are molded out of dreams"? This movie is a *trip*, okay.
* Detroit City, Great American String Band. The vocals on this one are too yowly for my taste, which is saying something, I usually enjoy a bit of a yowl in folk-style vocals.
* Devil Went Down to Georgia, Charlie Daniels. The first place I heard Charlie Daniels was on the VeggieTales parody of Indiana Jones, "Minnesota Cuke", for which he did the theme song (which I don't think I actually have but it's a banger), so I can't help hearing that in his narration here, but it's still a damn good fiddle piece and he's one of the best to do it. (Also, I've had Great American String Band on shuffle long enough that I can almost recognize some of the pieces Johnny's fiddle riffs are from, which has got to be a really fun part of this song if you can remember instrumentals properly.)
* Devil's Dream, Great American String Band. Speaking of. ^_^
* Diamonds In the Rough, Johnny Cash with Mother Maybelle Carter. Goes to a hymn tune I can't identify, not grabbing me.
* Die Gedanken Sind Frei, Pete Seeger. I think this is a translation of a traditional song? It's a studio cover, so he doesn't explain it in advance like most of his live concert recordings I have, but it's a fun song.
* Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead; Wizard of Oz soundtrack. Cuts off rather abruptly which is annoying.
* Diplomat March, John Phillip Sousa. One of the ones I can sort of loosely recognize by ear?
* Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog, Johnny Cash. Not grabbing me.
* Dirty Old Town, The Pogues. Live recording. I think I might enjoy a different cover more, the Pogues are always a bit more wall of noise than I can process, but it does fit their style well.
* Dixie. I have three different covers, from Great American String Band, Brentwood, and Gettysburg. The first one is very... plunky, maybe a mandolin or banjo, with a drum-set ostinato on the backing track? Very simply done. Brentwood is full orchestra and some choral bits, as they do; it doesn't wander off into superfluous twiddles as much as a lot of Brentwood tracks do, but it's a bit ponderous. The Gettysburg version is a very fast-paced peppy fife and drum cover that *does* wander off into superfluous twiddles for a bit, surprisingly. I honestly don't know if I want any of them, let alone all three.
* Do Lord, Johnny Cash. Simple guitar cover of a traditional Southern hymn, from his album "My Mother's Hymn Book" which is basically that. I'm very fond of this one because it has a strong singable rhythm (and is not one of *my* mother's Bible-camp songs so I don't have any associations about it from her).
I think that's about enough music listening for me for one day. There are so many more D songs to get through, but I'm burning out.
* Dark as a Dungeon. I have two Johnny Cash covers (studio and live), one by Kathy Mattea, and one from 200 Years of American Heritage In Song/Great American String Band. I don't love the instrumentation of the Johnny Cash studio cover, it's a little more complex than his usual in a way that doesn't process well for me? The Kathy Mattea version is the first one I remember hearing and I really like it, it showcases her voice well in an acappella-ish style with a very simple backing track that slowly grows more complex, starting with piano chords and adding in guitar and maybe some other instruments? I think it also has more verses than the Cash cover. The 200 Years version is... peppier than I expected, male baritone with a country twang, banjo and fiddle backing, three verses only. The Johnny Cash live version (which is alphabetized last as "Dark As *the* Dungeon") has I think a snare drum in the backing? Something that makes the audio feel fuzzy. I'd expect to like the Johnny Cash versions better than I do, his voice is well suited for it.
* Dark Eyed Molly, Stan Rogers. Ballad-ish, sounds traditional, guitar and fiddle, can't say it's grabbing me. Too many notes per syllable, I can't keep track of the lyrics properly.
* Darlin' Companion, Johnny Cash. Live recording from his Folsom Prison album. The name of the song sounds familiar but the song itself doesn't at all? Something about the audio mixing is jangling my ears a bit, I'm not sure I'll keep it around.
* Darling Corey, The Weavers. I thought I'd had all the songs from this album (The Weavers at Carnegie Hall) on shuffle for years but this one doesn't sound familiar. It's also not grabbing me, I guess?
* Dashing White Sergeant/Annie Laurie, 20 Favourite Songs for Dancing by The Jim Campbell Band. Another bagpipe album I originally had under a different title. This was one of the albums
tabbiewolf was able to track down for me on YouTube specifically because of this medley combination, where an instrumental I wouldn't be able to pick out of a lineup turns into Annie Laurie halfway (I can recognize instrumentals if they're songs I know the lyrics to sing along to). Definitely a keeper.* Dawson Finds Olivia, The Great Mouse Detective soundtrack. I'm probably not keeping any of the instrumentals from this soundtrack, but this one is very pretty, violin and I think glockenspiel?
* Dawson's Glen/Loch Lomond, The Jim Campbell Band. All of the tracks from 20 Favourite Songs for Dancing are combinations of two different songs, which I hadn't actually known until I found the album under its real name and tracklist. Another keeper; most of my bagpipe tracks are.
* Day-O, Raffi in Concert with the Rise and Shine Band. This album was one of the ones I've heard my whole life, and I tend to favor the live renditions from it over Raffi's studio covers any day. This particular song isn't my top favorite, especially as my mother (who makes up conspiracy theories like it's her job) was dedicated to insisting that it's not "day-o" but "Deo", as in the Latin dative/ablative for God, and secretly about wanting to die and go to Heaven? Which... isn't *impossible* as a secondary meaning for a work song, but to the best I can find out is not part of the history of this one.
* Daydream Believer, The Monkees. A classic. I have a ridiculous amount of trouble remembering the difference between Daydream Believer and I'm a Believer off the top of my head, but I like this one slightly more.
* Dayenu, Pete Seeger. Live rendition from a children's concert of some sort with backing banjo. Shitty audio quality, probably due to the live venue acoustics. ...you know what I should get ahold of is the Prince of Egypt soundtrack, huh.
* De Colores. I have a Raffi version from Raffi in Concert with the Rise and Shine Band, which of course I'm very attached to, and a Pete Seeger version I'm not sure I've ever actually heard. (I have never been able to understand any of Raffi's non-English songs without seeing the lyrics, even when I know what language they're supposed to be; I have a vivid memory of my sisters and myself trying to figure out the lyrics to "Savez-Vous Planter Les Choux" as kids and completely failing to realize that what we heard as "haluanta" in the chorus was the same word as "Alouette" in the song by that name that our mother sang sometimes.) The Seeger version is Pete's banjo with a children's choir called the Riverside Kids, I think from one of his more recent albums after his voice pretty much gave out, and it's not grabbing me particularly.
* De Grey Goose, Pete Seeger. I don't think I'm familiar with this song; there are a lot of songs called variants of Grey Goose, including a Huguenot dance tune I've never actually found but which I heard of in the bibliography of the Constance Rourke biography of Davy Crockett (which I read not long after I learned to read as a toddler, although it's intended for 1930s middle-grade reading level, and did demonstrably formative things to my brain). This one is in a call-and-response style with the refrain "Lawd, Lawd, Lawd", so I suspect it's in the tradition of spirituals.
* Death of Jesse James, Pete Seeger and Ramblin' Jack Elliot. I really like traditional songs about specific events, and this cover is well done (and also it's helpful to have a version of the original around so I know the references Pete's parody "Ballad of October 16" is making).
* Death of McKinley (Cannonball Blues), Great American String Band. I think I reviewed my other duplicate of this before and decided to keep this one.
* Deck the Halls. I have two versions, one by Mannheim Steamroller and one from the Bing Crosby radio special I've mentioned before. I'm not in love with the Mannheim Steamroller version; it's not one of my top favorite Christmas carols anyway, but I'm keeping the Bing Crosby version because nostalgia and also I do really like the full-orchestra treatment it gets.
* Delia's Gone, Johnny Cash. Two different versions with significantly different lyrics. Perfectly cromulent Johnny Cash song, neither version is grabbing me.
* Delivery Delayed, Stan Rogers. I don't think I understand this song.
* Desperado, Johnny Cash. This one, I don't fully understand but it is grabbing me. I have to sift through so many songs to find a new one I like, but occasionally I do find one.
* Detroit, The Happiest Millionaire soundtrack. Ridiculously singable Disney song about... Detroit, "the land where golden chariots are molded out of dreams"? This movie is a *trip*, okay.
* Detroit City, Great American String Band. The vocals on this one are too yowly for my taste, which is saying something, I usually enjoy a bit of a yowl in folk-style vocals.
* Devil Went Down to Georgia, Charlie Daniels. The first place I heard Charlie Daniels was on the VeggieTales parody of Indiana Jones, "Minnesota Cuke", for which he did the theme song (which I don't think I actually have but it's a banger), so I can't help hearing that in his narration here, but it's still a damn good fiddle piece and he's one of the best to do it. (Also, I've had Great American String Band on shuffle long enough that I can almost recognize some of the pieces Johnny's fiddle riffs are from, which has got to be a really fun part of this song if you can remember instrumentals properly.)
* Devil's Dream, Great American String Band. Speaking of. ^_^
* Diamonds In the Rough, Johnny Cash with Mother Maybelle Carter. Goes to a hymn tune I can't identify, not grabbing me.
* Die Gedanken Sind Frei, Pete Seeger. I think this is a translation of a traditional song? It's a studio cover, so he doesn't explain it in advance like most of his live concert recordings I have, but it's a fun song.
* Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead; Wizard of Oz soundtrack. Cuts off rather abruptly which is annoying.
* Diplomat March, John Phillip Sousa. One of the ones I can sort of loosely recognize by ear?
* Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog, Johnny Cash. Not grabbing me.
* Dirty Old Town, The Pogues. Live recording. I think I might enjoy a different cover more, the Pogues are always a bit more wall of noise than I can process, but it does fit their style well.
* Dixie. I have three different covers, from Great American String Band, Brentwood, and Gettysburg. The first one is very... plunky, maybe a mandolin or banjo, with a drum-set ostinato on the backing track? Very simply done. Brentwood is full orchestra and some choral bits, as they do; it doesn't wander off into superfluous twiddles as much as a lot of Brentwood tracks do, but it's a bit ponderous. The Gettysburg version is a very fast-paced peppy fife and drum cover that *does* wander off into superfluous twiddles for a bit, surprisingly. I honestly don't know if I want any of them, let alone all three.
* Do Lord, Johnny Cash. Simple guitar cover of a traditional Southern hymn, from his album "My Mother's Hymn Book" which is basically that. I'm very fond of this one because it has a strong singable rhythm (and is not one of *my* mother's Bible-camp songs so I don't have any associations about it from her).
I think that's about enough music listening for me for one day. There are so many more D songs to get through, but I'm burning out.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-06 09:39 pm (UTC)It's Archie Fisher's originally, which you may not like any better.
Delia's Gone, Johnny Cash. Two different versions with significantly different lyrics. Perfectly cromulent Johnny Cash song, neither version is grabbing me.
My favorite version is the mid-'90's alt-folk jangle of Cordelia's Dad.
Detroit, "the land where golden chariots are molded out of dreams"?
I had not realized I remembered that song, thank you for tripping that memory off.
Dirty Old Town, The Pogues. Live recording. I think I might enjoy a different cover more, the Pogues are always a bit more wall of noise than I can process, but it does fit their style well.
I unironically love the Mountain Goats. (Otherwise I just have Peggy Seeger.)