There are few bands better--by my count there are only five--than Manchester's New Order, and though they have produced enough amazing music over the years to dominate this list o' mine, I've decided to showcase perhaps their most commercial hit, "Bizarre Love Triangle." Not their strongest lyrically--though New Order's strength has never been in their lyrics--"BLT," as I like to confusingly refer to it, is a kinetic cavalcade of synth-pop amazingness that never fails to put me in a dancing mood which, surprisingly enough, is quite rare for me.
14. "Bizarre Love Triangle" (Frente!)
The best cover of a New Order song ever! Frente!'s version of this New Order classic is sweet, quiet, and beautifully sung by Angie Hart.
By the way: what the fuck happened to Frente!? I loved these guys! I totally wore out my Marvin the Album cassette tape in 1994.
Other Frente! songs I love but regrettably cannot purchase on iTunes: "Most Beautiful"; "No Time"; "Labour of Love"; "Accidentally Kelly Street"
Frente! song I love that can be purchased on iTunes since it appears on the Melrose Place soundtrack: "Ordinary Angels"
15. "Walkin' After Midnight" (Patsy Cline)
Hi. My name is Matt and I am a song flipper.
When I am alone in my car it isn't an issue, but when my iPod is providing the tunes for, let's say, a road trip with the wife, my incessant flipping can become quite tiresome. Sometimes I'll flip before a song even has a chance to state its case. This is not such a big deal. More often I will flip halfway through a song. This, I've been told, is extremely irritating. Why do I do this? Easy. When I get "the point" of a particular song, I'm ready to move on. When I figure out what a song's getting at, what kind of wisdom it's trying to impart or mood it is trying to create, I move on. No sense in settling in and wasting time. There are millions of songs out there that I need to get to in my lifetime. I can't devote hours upon hours to every one.
There are, however, a few songs on my infinite playlist that I cannot flip away from. I've tried, but to no avail. For instance, once Rihanna's "Umbrella" starts, I'm hooked. Couldn't break away even if I wanted to.
"Walkin' After Midnight" is another song I can't bear to leave behind once it starts. It's haunting, borderline disturbing even. I mean, why the hell is a weeping willow crying on its pillow anyway? Who gave that tree a pillow in the first place? That's insane! The image of a desperately lonely, deeply depressed Patsy Cline roaming along the side of the highway after midnight hallucinating tree-sized pillows is too sad to comprehend. And yet I listen dutifully every time it comes up in the rotation.
"Walkin' After Midnight" is country music at its very saddest and, therefore, its very best.
16. "Bury Me Closer" (Palomar)
Favorite lyrics: "We won't be saved. We won't meet up again. We won't be found. We'll be lost underground."
