Don't Tell a Soul, Vol. 45 (DYNO1)

Good day, and welcome to the fold.

What you're about to witness -- the latest installment of "Don't Tell a Soul" -- is a mix tape of the "awesomest" caliber.

I only wish I were kidding.

ANYWAY, to encourage the consumption of music that doesn't suck, I have provided -- wherever available -- links to free, artist-sanctioned MP3s of the songs.

Most of today's tracks were selected for a certain undefinable quality -- they're all kind of halfway between pure, unadulterated escapism and plain ol' surrealism -- so, instead of trying to define them, I thought I'd switch things up and provide each song's opening lyrics.

We probably won't be any closer to a solution (as to what connects these seemingly miles-apart tracks) -- and you're most likely a whole lot dumber for even reading this far -- but, hey, only one life to live, right?

After listening to them, trying pondering this, though: Do the mostly abstract lyrics hold a flame to their respective songs' mind-expanding musical accompaniments?

Don't have too much fun, pally!
Matt

(Questions or comments? E-mail mperrine [at] duluthbudgeteer [dot] com.)

1. The Beach Boys - "I'm Waiting for the Day"
"I came along when he broke your heart / That's when you needed someone / To help forget about him."

2. The Who - "Pure and Easy"
"There was once a note, pure and easy / Playing so free like a breath rippling by / The note is eternal, I hear it, it sees me / Forever we blend it, forever we die."

3. Wilco - "Pot Kettle Black" (listen here)
"Crazy rides rockets / Who has a magic wand / Empty out your pockets / Words without a song."

4. Grandaddy - "The Group Who Couldn't Say"
"The tale I'm gonna tell / Is about the group who couldn't say / Together they discovered with each other the perfection of an outdoor day."

5. Antipop Consortium - "Ping Pong" (listen here)
"Watch the ball / Watch the way I climb around your hall / Walkin' up walls sideways and I stall."

6. Atmosphere - "Modern Man's Hustle" (listen here)
"The first time I met the devil was at a Motel 6 / She left hell to spend the weekend on Earth just for kicks / Sexy little bitch, shorter than expected / About 5-foot-5, getting thick in the breast and thighs."

(p.s. Atmosphere's "Sunshine," from the group's latest EP, "Sad Clown Bad Summer," is available here -- as well as tons of other Rhymesayers classics.)

7. Beck feat. Petra Haden - "Rental Car"
"Hey now, girl, what's the matter with me / We're on a back road, driving to sea / Straight as a razor, kicking up dust / Digging through ditches and falling to rust."

8. The Doors - "Take It As It Comes"
"Time to live, time to lie / Time to laugh, time to die."

9. The Beach Boys - "Let's Go Away for Awhile"
Uh, oops, instrumental....

10. Pearl Jam - "Aye Davanita"
Again, instrumental ... oops!

11. George Harrison - "I Dig Love"
"I dig love / I dig love / I dig love / I dig love, in the morning / I dig love, in the evening / I dig love, and I want you to know I dig love."

12. Modest Mouse - "Here it Comes"
"Walked to your house on my lunch break, here it comes / Come inside and pour a drink, here it comes / You'll probably tell me everything you think, here it comes / The place and the time when we knew everything could go wrong."

13. Olivia Tremor Control - "Define a Transparent Dream"
"Look over the surface and into the distance / Constantly showering me with decision / Define a transparent dream."

(p.s. You wouldn't believe how many Elephant 6 MP3s are available for free online....)

14. Radiohead - "Everything in its Right Place"
"Everything / Everything / Everything / Everything / In its right place."

15. The Postal Service - "Such Great Heights"
"I am thinking it's a sign / That the freckles in our eyes are mirror images / And when we kiss they're perfectly aligned."

16. Tripping Daisy - "Your Socks Have No Name"
"It's all that you do that carries you through / And the power that you receive destroys you / So you take little guns and you zap 'em / 'Cause all you ever wanted was the truth."

17. Both - "Becoming Un-Plastic"
No lyrics, per se. (Just a lot of cool samples!)

18. Cloud Cult - "Brain Gateway"
"I'll turn my stupid brain into a gateway / Meet me in the place where life comes to get away."

19. Outkast - "GhettoMusick"
"Turn me up, don't turn me down / Cut me up, don't let me down."

20. Download - "Possession"
OK, so the lyrics here are all but undecipherable, so good luck with that one....

21. Cypress Hill - "Spark Another Owl"
"Once again the powers of the herb open up the mind / Seek deep inside, tell me what you find / Come on, come on, come on...."

22. The Chemical Brothers - "Music:Reponse"
"Music / Reponse / Music / Reponse / Music / Response." (It continues on this way for awhile....)

23. R.E.M. - "Summer Turns to High"
"Mercury is rising still / Turn the fan on high / I won't step on my own shadow / No one wants to cry."