Mixtapemotions

  • "She Kissed Me" by Leagues, Tuesday, February 8, 2022 + Romantic Mix 2022: YouTube Edition

    Leagues has long since broken up. Lead singer Thad Cockrell has a solo project. He appeared on Jimmy Fallon with The Roots after the late-night host Shazam-ed one of Cockrell’s songs while he was at a hardware store. “She Kissed Me” appears on the deluxe edition of Leagues’s debut, You Belong Here. Unfortunately, the songs on the deluxe edition do not appear on streaming services. Thanks to iTunes Match, I can enjoy this song whenever I want. The overwhelming ’60s wall of sound can build in my AirPods, baptizing me with the sweet guitars of Tyler Burkum and the falsetto of Cockrell, anytime I want.

    I WAS TAKEN BY THE LUXURY. The problem is what about everyone else? I’m left with this gap in my main-feed playlists for Spotify and Apple Music. Fortunately YouTube has several live performances of this song, so 1/3 of the problem solved. Last year, when I researched this song, I realized it was a cover of The Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me,” and the song was covered by The Beach Boys and KISS. I decided to go with the original Crystals’ version in my main playlists. But that’s a jarring leap coming from yesterday’s Underoath track. I realize that jumping from Underoath to Leagues is also a bit of a jump. I could pick KISS‘s version because KISS is at least related to hard music, even though they never sound as heavy as you expect them to sound. But then I think about the playlist I’m making today. Romantic Mix 2022: YouTube Edition. Leagues wrote many romantic songs on You Belong Here. I could chose their down-and-out track “Lost It All,” which I talked about last year. However, I think I’ll go with their first single, “Spotlight.” It’s upbeat, fun, and romantic. Happy early Indie Valentine’s Day, y’all.

    Below is the YouTube Playlist. I might release a Spotify edition before Valentine’s Day, but until then enjoy this romantic gesture:

    Alternate track: “Spotlight”:

  • "In Motion" by Underoath, Monday, February 7, 2022

    Spencer Chamberlain didn’t grow up in a Christian home, but became a Christian, influenced by his step brother who was a pastor. Chamberlain’s conversion story was a perfect marketing tool for the Christian music industry: a young man who struggled with mental health and substance abuse turns to Christ and makes rock music about how God helped him through his struggles. The problem was that when Chamberlain relapsed, he had to stick to his conversion story or face being ousted at first from the band, which happened briefly in 2006, or the Christian music scene. The band was divided on how to handle the secret.

    THESE EVENTS ARE ALREADY IN MOTION. Last month, I dug into a new song by Underoath from their latest album Voyeurist. Today, I listened to Episode 1 of Labeled: Deep Dives. Last month’s Episode 0 provides an overview of the band’s creative process, but Episode 1 focuses on the contributions and perspectives of guitarist Tim McTague and engineer JJ Revell on the record as a whole and specifically on the opening track and lead single, “Damn Excuses.” The series reveals how much disdain the band has for their former record, Erase Me, though they have no regrets about making it. Many long-term Underoath fans, too, took issue with 1) the album’s profanity, 2) the album’s lack of heavy songs, and 3) Underoath’s rejection of Christianity. Having heard a lot of the band’s promotion of surrounding Erase Me, hearing how the album was “the best one [they’ve] recorded” and all the promo talks fans often think are sincere, Voyeurist seemed to be part of the same story told in the last album. I was shocked to find out how much the band ended up hating their last record, and that the lyrics in Voyeurist deal with the conflict that comes from six bandmates being able to veto any choice in the band, particularly coming from a time when the band was on their best behavior in 2018, trying to keep the usually volatile work environment from being the cause of another break-up.

    SHOULD’VE DIED A THOUSAND TIMES OR MAYBE MORE. “In Motion” is the penultimate track on the standard edition of Erase Me. I’m not a huge heavy music fan, so Erase Me is my favorite Underoath record. The album still sounds fresh with its elements of modern rock and radio-friendly active rock, unheard on other Underoath records. On Episode 1 of Labeled: Deep Dives, Tim McTague says there will never be another Underoath album with a song like “Wake Me.” Another point of contention was Chamberlain’s penchant for singing rather than screaming on Erase Me. The band had been constructed around Chamberlain’s screaming and drummer Aaron Gillespie‘s clean vocals. On Voyeurist, though, Chamberlain screams and sings in a fluid motion. After listening to Episode 1, I wanted to revisit Erase Me. The reason I loved it is the same reason the die-hards hated it. When I was a teen, I could take a few songs from They’re Only Chasing Safety and Define the Great Line, but the dark, screaming music never truly resonated with me. Today’s song, besides sounding like the theme music from The IT Crowd, made me think about something Spencer and Aaron talk about on Episode 0, a fight that they had after playing nice for nearly 10 years. Spencer talks about overdosing in a hotel, and he used this experience in several of the band’s songs. Aaron argued that that experience was just as much his own because Aaron was the one who found Spencer and called 911. After that conversation, I thought that the perspective on Voyeurist merited itself, whereas I thought essentially they were the same album, except Voyeurist was heavier, more profanity-heavy, and bleaker towards Christianity. Do I love Voyeurist? Not really, but I think it’s a piece of art worth a listen. Today, though, it’s all about Erase Me. 


  • "Afterthought" by City of Auburn ft. Stephen Christian, Sunday, February 2022

    If you search “City of Auburn” on YouTube, you’ll find several YouTube channels for city councils in various states. But today, we’re not talking about any of those places, nor Auburn University, located in Auburn, Alabama. We’re talking about a small Christian Rock band with about 32,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The band comes from McKinney, Texas, and have released several EPs starting with 2014’s Soul Searcher, which was a solo project of lead singer Michael James Osborn at the the time. For City of Auburn’s second EP Spinning in 2018, the band recorded with producer Matt Goldman. You may recall Goldman is especially known producing most of the Solid-State era Underoath records as well as producing a wide range of mostly Christian records from Casting Crowns to The Chariot. 


    I’M TAKING THE NEXT TRAIN. You may also recall that Goldman is also responsible for recording Anberlin‘s demos that garnered the interest from Brandon Ebel at Tooth & Nail Records. Drummer Nate Young returned to Goldman to produce the drums on Anberlin’s Lowborn. So, working with a connected producer, City of Auburn was able to secure a featured spot on their 2018 EP with Anberlin’s lead singer, Stephen Christian, who wrote and contributed the second verse of the song. However, a guest spot with a superstar of Christian Rock has yet to propel streams to City of Auburn. A move like this would have sealed them into a major label in the ’90s and early ’00s. Despite a marketing campaign, sponsoring The BadChristian Podcast to promote Spinning–the ad featuring today’s song which features Stephen Christian–the band hasn’t cracked Christian Rock radio stations like RadioU or ChristianRock.net. The band put out a video for “Afterthought” back in 2021, perhaps in hopes of promoting the single. However, Stephen Christian doesn’t appear in the performance video, making the video a bit cringy to watch. 

    I’LL TRAVEL BACK TO THOSE PLACES WITH YOU. City of Auburn released two new singles last year and is rumored to release music again this year. While the band hasn’t garnered radio play, they have been talked about on IndieVisionMusic and JesusFreaksHideout, where they were featured on their indie compilation, Songs We’ve Been Trying to Tell You About, Vol. 8. And as controversial as it it, I’m going to feature today’s song on 2022+ because the music video was released last year, meaning the single was still being pushed in 2021, of course replacing the song for a newer one should other City of Auburn songs strike me later this year. Today’s song, though, has been encouraging me through very hard times the last few months. I added it to one of my playlists that I listen to in the morning, often before work. “Afterthought” reminds me that “everything will work out fine.” It seems that everything is going to work out, even if it’s not exactly as I planned it. It seems that everyone will be okay. It seems that 2022 will be a year of change and opportunity for new starts. Everything will work out fine.


  • "Madness" by Anchor & Braille, Saturday, February 5, 2022 + Lovers' Quarrel Playlist

    In 2020, Stephen Christian released his fourth Anchor & Braille album, Tension. When he released his third A&B project, Songs for the Late Night Drive Home in 2016, many of his fans were still mourning the disbandment of Anberlin. But starting in 2018, Anberlin had started to play one-off shows and even started touring the next year. In 2020, the band was supposed to announce a tour with Memphis May Fire and perform at several festivals. But in lieu of the pandemic, the band started a livestream concert series. While Anberlin was active, Christian released Tension, an album of the most straight-forward pop songs Christian has released to date. 


    TRY TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF TO A STONE WALL. Last year, I wrote about 13 love songs leading up to Valentine’s Day. This year, I’m not sticking to that format, but as Valentine’s Day approaches, I thought I’d make a few playlists compiling the love songs I’ve written about. 

    1. “Madness” by Anchor & Braille. The song of the day.

    2. “Breathing Underwater” by Mike Mains & the Branches talks about a spouse’s struggle and love when dealing with a mental health crisis. 
    3. “You’re All I Have” by Snow Patrol is a song about appreciating the person you love.
    4.”Should You Return” by Copeland could be seen as a break up song, but it also works as an apology. 

    5. “Beth/Rest” by Bon Iver. The lyrics to this song are a bit nonsensical, but the atmosphere of it sounds like music for making up.

    6. “Don’t Give Up on Us” by Nick Jonas. The opening track to his latest record Spaceman, an album of love songs to his bride Priyanka Chopra, is a spacey R&B track pleading with his love not to give up on him. 
    7.  “Let’s See It” by We Are Scientists is a song about convincing a partner that the speaker is truly in love with her.
    8. “All I Have” by Until June is a song about trying to do your best but still coming up short. 
    9. “My Bad” by Advanced ft. Shaun & Julie Bergan
    10. “Put Me Back Together” by Ivory Circle ft. Aaron Marsh. With only 450 monthly listeners, this band is severely underrated. Lead vocalist Connie Hong is a powerhouse vocalist. This sad song speaks to when a person reaches out to a partner for healing.

    11. “Untitled” by Paper Route is a song about preparing for the inevitable storms in life by investing in love. 

    12. “Take Me” (As You Found Me) by Anberlin. Stephen Christian said in the livestream As You Found Me that this song was inspired by an elderly divorced couple who lived next to each other. She came over to his house every day “to drain [his] blood because he was on dialysis.
    13. “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran is a bit of a devastating song about the hardships of love. Ultimately, Sheeran broke up with Nina Nesbitt, the musician he was dating long distance. But in “Photograph” he is trying to make it work.

    14. “Hang on Love” by The Wedding
    15. “This Love” by Maroon 5 comes from Maroon 5’s first album. Although “Jane got on a plane/ Never to return again,” Adam Levine says that he “won’t say goodbye anymore.” 
    16. “Make Me No King” by Bones Owens
    17. “Great Divide” by Lovedrug is a song about building a bridge between two distant parties. It gives hope to any relationship.
    18. “Part of It” by Relient K
    19. “Without You” by Tyler Ward ft. Alyson Stoner is a sweet song about how success is meaningless if you have nobody to share it with.
    20. “Sprite” by COIN
    21. “Sleep Better” by Pete Yorn
    Wishing you all the best in relationship health!

  • “Cynical” by Propaganda ft. Aaron Marsh & Sho Baraka, Friday, February 4, 2022 + Black History Month playlist pt. 2

    I was first turned on to Propaganda on The BadChristian podcast. Back in 2014, when the podcast started, the goals of the hosts were to question the status quo of the evangelical church. In 2015, Propaganda first came on to talk about hip hop as social commentary and racism of the day. I heard the song “Precious Puritans,” a song calling out conservative Christians who elevate conservative figures of the past despite their spiritual blindness in matters of race. When Propaganda came back on the podcast, he promoted his 2017 album Crooked, an album which dug deeper into the political and culture divide, particularly with white evangelicals acceptance of the policies and personality of the forty-fifth president.

    WHY DO YOU LOVE YOUR GUNS THAN OUR SONS. I dug deeper into this song last year. Unlike yesterday, when I wanted to keep the focus on “Fast Car,” I’d like to take the rest of this post to explain my picks for my Black History Month playlist. I’ll list the links for songs I’ve talked about before.

    1. “Cynical” by Propaganda ft. Aaron Marsh & Sho Baraka-Today’s song of the day.

    2.”Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd set a record for most weeks on the Hot 100 as a single.
    3. “The Best” by Tina Turner. Turner was the first black woman on the cover of Rolling Stone. The story of her comeback, resilience, and radical forgiveness pushes us all to greatness. 

    4. “Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals. This song has a long history of covers from The Beach Boys to KISS to Leagues. 

    5. “Right Now” by Mary J. Blige comes from the singer’s 2014 London Sessions album. 
    6. “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix
    7. “Looking for America” by Switchfoot ft. Lecrae
    8 “Points of Authority / 99 Problems / One Step Closer” JAY-Z, Linkin Park is another song from my If Every Man Became a King playlist. The song reminds listeners that police brutality isn’t a new thing.


    9. “Mental” by Hundred Year Storm

    10. “Where Is the Love” by Black Eyed Peas
    11. “Black or White” by Michael Jackson
    12. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross 
    13. “What’s Goin’ On” by Marvin Gaye
    14. “Colored People” by DC Talk
    15. “Superstitious” by Stevie Wonder
    16. “Diamonds” by Rihanna 
    17. “Trinity” Paper Tongues is a multi-racial band from Charlotte, North Carolina. “Trinity” is a song about the Christian duty to humankind.

    18. “I’ll Rise” (Asteroid) by All Together Separate
    19. “Here We Go” by Grits
    20. “No Church in the Wild” by JAY-Z, Kanye West ft. Frank Ocean and The Dream. Bending the rules a little bit for this one as JAY-Z is both a primary on this track and on the Linkin Park track; however, both albums include a co-lead artist. This song it’s Kanye. I thought that the question asked at the beginning of this song on which we often base human society on is thrown out the door when people don’t have security. Instead it’s “no church in the wild.”
    21. “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz. Inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Prince and former classmate and friend of Slash, Kravitz is one of the few black ’90s guitarists. Some listeners don’t care for his music, but it’s certainly catchy. 
    22. “Stomp” by God’s Property ft. Kirk Franklin
    23. “Shackles” (Praise You) by Mary Mary was one of the hottest gospel tracks in 2000. The energy will make anyone’s day better.
    24. “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman
    25. “Hey Ya!” by Outkast

    26. “Three Hour Drive“(A Colors Show) by Alicia Key ft. SiR is a simple song about a very human moment, reflecting on the intersection of generations, of birth and death. 

    27. “Love on Top” by Beyonce I think is one of the best vocal performances by this powerhouse.
    28. “Summertime” by Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald. What a wonderful way to finish this cold month.

    Please stay tuned. I will update this playlist and this post. It’s been a very long day, so I’ll try to update tomorrow.


  • "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman + Black History Month playlist, February 3, 2022

    In 1988, Tracy Chapman‘s first single “Fast Car” rose to Number 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Her performance at Wembley Stadium in Nelson Mandela’s 7oth birthday tribute helped to kick-start the singer’s career. At the time Mandela was still serving time in prison, and the tribute concert gave a strong message to world against South African apartheid. Chapman produced a string of hits in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but she is best known for today’s song, “Fast Car.”


    SPEED SO FAST, IT FELT LIKE I WAS DRUNK.  I’m kicking myself because this song is incredible, and it’s kind of like I’m just now understanding its beauty. Last week, listened to a cover by Boyce Avenue and Kina Grannis, and that was my first exposure to the song as a whole, but today I listened to the original, which is better than the Boyce Avenue version. For the life of me, I can’t remember where I’ve read about Chapman, whether it was Malcom Gladwell or Chuck Klosterman or if it was something I heard in a YouTube video, but I vaguely remember the discussion about the anomaly of Chapman’s career. In a Rolling Stone interview, Chapman discusses her musical influences and whether or not she embracing being a folk singer, a genre most associated with white singer-songwriters. She says:

            I think what comes to people’s minds is the Anglo-American tradition of the folk
           singer, and they don’t think about the black roots of folk music. So in that sense,
           no, I don’t. My influences and my background are different. In some ways, it’s a
           combination of the black and white folk traditions.

    If I remember my prior reading correctly, the music industry really didn’t know how to market Chapman because music was, and still is, largely segregated. I’m certainly not a music expert, just a fan. And for not being a music expert, I’m much less an expert on race. I’ve written last year several times about my prior experience with musical segregation–how artists of color were not often given the same amount of airplay or chance at airplay as white artists. I grew up listening mostly to Christian music, and for every Michael Tait, there were at least a Kevin Max and a Toby Mac. 

    I GOT A JOB THAT PAYS ALL OUR BILLS. This year I decided to celebrate Black History Month by making a playlist of (mostly) black artists. I included 28 songs, a song a day. This year, I’m much less concerned about making a perfect year with a perfect song to encapsulate that month. I’ll listen to my Black History Month playlist again and let the songs speak to me organically, but I’ll also listen to other songs which might be a song of the day. I feel it’s important, though, to stretch my musical tastes, to include the voices of artists I often dismissed, ignored, or forgot about. I’m not going to go on about each song in the playlist today, and yet, I feel that “Fast Car” deserves much more than the “white guilt” post. I think that every song on this list deserves a post, and may get one at some point. Songs like “Right Now” by Mary J. Blige and “Cynical” by Propaganda did. Others like “Diamonds” and “He Kissed Me” were covered by other artists, but for this playlist, I decided to go with the originals. I don’t think that dc talk’s “Colored People” stands the test of time, but it was a song that got evangelicals talking about race in a time when some had been trying to forget that they were a part of segregation. This is by no means a perfect playlist, and I’ll edit it as I find better songs. But until then, happy listening:



     

  • "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis, Wednesday, February 2, 2022

    With the release of their sophomore album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, Oasis were on track to be one of the biggest rock bands in the mid-’90s. With a sound decidedly different from the grunge of the early ‘90s, Oasis looked to fellow British bands from the ’60s and ’70s, taking the chords of The Beatles and other acts and combining those elements with a heavy “wall of sound.” While it’s not fair to credit Oasis with the foundation of Brit-pop, they certainly enjoyed the crest of the wave. The story of Oasis is one of arrogance and the fleeting attention of music listeners. From a band that claimed to be the next Beatles to brothers who couldn’t stand to be in the same room as each other and who could be forgotten to their predecessors Radiohead or their successors Coldplay, Oasis encapsulated a short period in the ’90s when listeners wanted to hear Top-40 friendly guitar music without the intensity of Kurt Cobain or the gruffness of Eddy Vedder. 

    SOMEDAY YOU WILL FIND ME. You might remember from the Lindsey Lohan remake of The Parent Trap The La’s 1988 hit “There She Goes.” The song was re-issued in 1990, and is largely known as a predecessor of Brit-pop. The song sounds like it could be from 1966. While The UK has been exporting British acts since the Beatles, the distinct sound of Brit-pop was a ’90s phenomenon. It was in contrast to Punk or New Wave, sometimes called Post-punk, but beyond that it is a little hard to define. The rubric, though, is Oasis and their biggest competitors, Blur. Netflix’s original series This Is Pop details the feud between Oasis and Blur from Blur’s side of the story, while looking into the sub-genre as a whole. While Radiohead’s first hit was the grunge-inspired “Creep,” the band veered into art rock, often flirting with a Brit-pop sound. Coldplay started with a Brit-pop template, but learning from Oasis’s decline in popularity, producer Brian Eno pushed Coldplay into pop trends that would keep them relevant throughout their 20+ year career. Oasis had two big albums. Their third record sold well at first; however, sales dropped off. The band made less and less impact on American audiences. And with Oasis’s fade out, Blur branched out of the confines of Brit-pop in 1997, releasing their grunge-inspired “Song 2.”


    WHERE WERE YOU  WHILE WE WERE GETTING HIGH. Closing Morning Glory is the 7-and-a-half minute track “Champagne Supernova.” The song was the final single released and topped the U.S. Alternative charts after the band’s most remembered song “Wonderwall.” Critics preferred Oasis’s debut album, Definitely Maybe and criticized the band’s songwriting and production on Morning Glory.  The mixed metaphors in “Champagne” are a little jarring when reading the lyrics. But musically, it works. It’s Oasis “getting high” on their own music. They are celebrating the fact that they are rock stars enjoying the pleasures that The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Guns N’ Roses, and hundreds of other bands have enjoyed since rock took hold of popular culture. “Champagne” is certainly on a list of Oasis’s best songs, along with other tracks from their first two albums, like “Morning Glory,” “Live Forever,” “Wonderwall,” and “Supersonic.” But the band never evolved. Blur moved on. In fact, frontman Damon Albarn, when he’s not feuding with Taylor Swift, is creating concept albums with his virtual band, The Gorlliaz. Radiohead evolved. And as controversial with music fans it is, Coldplay evolved. On the other hand, what if Oasis updated with the times? What if they went EDM dance pop? It probably wouldn’t have worked and it would probably have been more forgettable then their post-’95 career. So maybe, there’s merit in keeping the Brit-pop Wonderwall sealed in the ’90s.
     

  • Year of the Tiger Playlist: songs [loosely] about cats including "Say So" by Doja Cat ft. Nicki Minaj, Tuesday, February 1, 2022

    Amala Ratana Zandile Dlamini was born to a Jewish mother and a Zulu father, who, according to him returned to South Africa in hopes of his family following him, but according to Dlamini, a.k.a Doja Cat, he abandoned his family. Doja Cat produced music on Soundcloud at the beginning of her career. In 2019, her single “Say So,” today’s representative song topped the Billboard Hot 100. What the hell is a doja cat? I thought. I certainly was getting too old to keep up with pop music. Turns out, three years later, “Say So,” is hella catchy. And with an interesting Wikipedia page full of lived experience, I wonder if there’s a little treasure in a discography that, to me, originally just sounded like music for cats in heat. Time will tell.


    YOU AIN’T COMIN’ OUT YOUR SHELL. We’re entering another playlist-heavy month, and to kick it off, I’m sharing my AppleMusic playlist I created several years ago about cats. Why cats? It was kind of a gift to my partner. Why do I share this playlist today? Today is the first day of the Lunar Year. Countries that use a lunar calendar such as China, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea celebrate what in many countries is called Chinese New Year. In Korea, the day is called Seollal (설날). The Chinese Zodiac says this is the year of the tiger, so let’s celebrate this year with our feline friends. I’ll post the playlist and comment on the original songs in the playlist. I might add songs as I discover more in my listening:

    1. “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. Sylvester Stallone personally commissioned the band to write a song like the band’s first Top 40 hit, “Poor Man’s Son” and Queen‘s “Another One Bites the Dust” for Rocky III.

    2. “Year of the Cat” by Al Stewart is a beautiful song from the Alan Parson-produced album.
    3. “Cat” by Relient K imagines the band practicing in the garage and a rough-looking street cat wonders in. Singer Matt Thiessen admires the cat and compares himself to it. Check out my post about this song for September 13, 2022.

    4. “Honky Cat” by Taron Egerton & Richard Madden is a cover of Elton John‘s hit and appeared in the biopic Rocketman.

    5. “Alley Cat” by Sherwood is a synth-y, Owl-City era song. The speaker spends the time complaining that someone, presumably a girl, is practically feral.
    6. “Cat” by Nell is a ’90s-sounding song about ambivalence, the way that cats are ambivalent.
    7. “Tiger Teeth” by Paper Route is a fun ’80s grooving song.



    8. “Now That I Found You” by Carly Rae Jepsen. The lyrics of the song would lead listeners to believe that this song is about a man, but the video makes the song about a cat. Does it work?

    9. “Can’t Hug Every Cat” by The Gregory Brothers ft. Cara Hartmann. Check out the post I wrote last February.
    10. “Say So” by Doja Cat. Today’s representative song. Oh and there’s a tiger in the music video. 
    11. “Roar” by Katy Perry references the Survivor song. I’ve used this song to help my students work on r and l pronunciation. “You’re gonna hear me roar!” Check out the hilarious music video below:

    12. “My Bad” by Advanced ft. Shaun. The line in Korean about living with three cats and a dog in a small apartment. Kind of cute.

    13. “Lion Heart” by Girls’ Generation is a classic-sounding girl group song. 
    14. “Night of the Hunter” by Thirty Seconds to Mars. Check out the cover to the left.
    15. “Paper Tigers” by Thrice. A “paper tiger” comes from the Chinese word zhilaohu (simplified: 纸老虎, traditional: 紙老虎) meaning someone who appears threatening, but is actually weak.

    16. “The Resistance” by Anberlin. Speaking of paper tigers. Check out my post from last January on this song. 

    Born to South African immigrants, the Canadian rock star wishes to return to the dust via lion when his time comes.
    18. “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. “Two cats in the yard.” As of today, this song was still on Spotify following Neil Young’s protest against the Swedish streaming company. 

     

    19. “Wild World” by Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam). Yes, I picked this song because of the artist’s name. It certainly was a great season finale for the first season of Skins. 

    20. “Lionhearted” by Billie Marten. Another chosen due to the title.
    21. “Lion’s Mane” by Iron & Wine. Another calm song for the coffee shop/lazy afternoon section of the playlist.
    22. “Take It All Back” (String Quartet Op. 9 in C Major) by Judah & the Lion. When you’re a Christian rock group fronted by a man named Judah Akers, naming your band after the Lion of Judah seems pretty smart. 
    21. “Year of the Tiger” by Sufjan Stevens from his instrumental album based on the Chinese Zodiac, Enjoy Your Rabbit.