Ben Kenobi's Death/TIE Fighter Attack

Wow, it's been way too long since I've written one of these and I apologize...even though I doubt a soul is still looking in on this blog. Nevertheless, I hate leaving things incomplete, so I'm going to make an effort to get this going again.

I've already professed my love for Star Wars and the music of John Williams, but that fanaticism goes far beyond the standard theme or "The Imperial March." I own the soundtracks for every film and when it comes to the original trilogy, I can even quote dialogue to match what's happening in the movie to the music. Sad, huh?

Anyway, the sequence of music that comprises "Ben Kenobi's Death/TIE Fighter Attack" from Star Wars: A New Hope (the original film) is easily one of the most rousing and memorable. The piece opens slowly with a brief snippet of Luke's theme rolling into the shocking death of Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi at the hands of Darth Vader, prompting Luke to scream angrily, a quick firefight and our heroes escaping the Death Star after Ben's sacrifice. There is little time to mourn, though, as the Imperials launch four TIE Fighters to intercept and stop the heroes aboard the Millenium Falcon.

Dashing pilot Han Solo shakes Luke from his reverie to help him man the guns to take on the attacking ships. As they strap in to their gunner stations and anxiously await their pursuers, the music slowly builds (with strings and light percussion) again before the fighters come into view, guns blazing and the brass explodes throughout the tense and exciting dogfight, a theme that would recur several times in the saga and represent the triumphs of the Rebels over the Empire.

Meanwhile, I'm geeking out all over the place, no matter how many times I see and hear it...

37/365

Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

There are a lot of great Who songs, but this one is all about Roger Daltrey's scream. To quote Whitman (and Dead Poet's Society), he sounds his "barbaric yawp" in defiance before finishing one of the great anti-establishment tunes with:

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss.

Beyond brilliant lyrics and Daltrey's vocal prowess, we have a solid rocker with amazing work from Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, contributing a great jam session and memorable organ work before that aforementioned scream. I have an interesting habit of often hearing this song on my MP3 player on solo walks and it always energizes me.

36/365

Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Though rock is making a distinct comeback lately, I don't know if we'll ever see it become as epic and powerful as it was in the 1970s. I think they'd take your groupies and leather away from you if you didn't put at least one eight minute supersong on your album with a guitar solo longer than half the cuts on top 40 radio today.

That's probably why I love bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. I really know very little about Blue Oyster Cult, but as a classic rock fan, I'd be remiss if I didn't love this tune.

My first exposure to the song that I recall was in the miniseries for Stephen King's The Stand. (Lyrics were also featured in the book.) When the song breaks down before the solo, it has the kind of creepy tone that works perfectly.

I wonder how many others had their first taste of the tune in the now-classic SNL "more cowbell" skit.

35/365

Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve

I'm not sure if it's Richard Ashcroft's voice, the lovely orchestral arrangement of a Rolling Stones tune or the lyrical sentiment:

Cuz it's a bittersweet symphony,
That's life.
Try to make ends meet,
Try to find somebody,
Then you die.

This has always been one of my favorite tracks. I don't really have a lot more than that to say about it...no special association with a cherished moment in my life or a heartfelt romance gone wrong. It's simply a brilliant piece of 90's Brit rock.

33/265

Live Forever - Oasis

There was a long-running dispute between myself and an old friend about who heard Oasis first. I'm sure we were easily the two biggest fans in the Tri-State area in the late 90s, but I'll confess that he really took a shine to them first. I simply think I heard "Live Forever" on the radio before he did.

I really didn't know at the time that I'd discovered what would become my favorite band, one that would help turn me in a whole new direction in my musical tastes. Honestly, I'm not sure I thought the song was all that good. The first album, Definitely Maybe, despite being the best selling debut in British history (well, before the Arctic Monkeys, I believe), has never been one of my favorites from Oasis.

Still, as a fan reflecting and with a much deeper appreciation for this first foray into music genius, there is a lot to love. Sure, Liam's voice is incredibly nasal and the beat is pretty simplistic, but the lyrics are sharp and the guitar solo is beautiful, especially to hear in concert.

32/365

Bleed American - Jimmy Eat World

September 11, 2001 was a strange time to be an American, to be sure. I'm not going to delve into the political or historical aspects of it, but censorship reared its ugly head in many ways in the wake of the attacks. I was working in a bookstore at the time and saw books being removed from shelves that depicted the Twin Towers to be replaced by new versions without the "offensive" buildings on the covers.

One of the most absurd changes I encountered was Jimmy Eat World's breakthrough album. Originally titled Bleed American (the lead track), the band made it self-titled in the wake of the attacks, fearing misinterpretation. It's sad that that was probably a wise choice. I've even seen the track name changed to "Salt Sweat Sugar" in some formats.

Regardless, though the album would garner national attention on later singles (most notably "The Middle"), I was hooked when I heard "Bleed American," a rocker with strange lyrics that gets you right into the fray of an album I couldn't stop listening to for months after getting it and still adore today.

31/365

Song 2 - Blur

Is there ever a song more suited to sporting events or drunken sing-alongs? At a handy two minutes, it's all over the spectrum from slow strum and almost nonsense lyrics ("I got my head checked by a jumbo jet"?) to that crashing, simple chorus.

WOO HOO!!

I simply can't hear this song somewhere and not have the urge to throw my arms up and "woo hoo" right along with Damon Alburn. This is probably Blur's best-known tune (at least in America) and I get the impression it was mostly a throwaway. They didn't even give it a name, after all. I took some time warming up to Blur as a band, seeing several of their videos before this one sold me. Now, I think they're one of the most brilliant acts to come out of the mid-90's Britpop era.

30/365