Today's song is the second song that played from my playlist this morning. The Emptiness Machine by Linkin Park. This song is so catchy and again, once I hear it, it's stuck in my head most of the day. Definitely a good thing since I really do like Linkin Park with their new sing Emily Armstrong.

[Verse 1: Mike Shinoda]
Your blades are sharpened with precision
Flashing your favorite point of view
I know you're waiting in the distance
Just like you always do, just like you always do

[Pre-Chorus: Mike Shinoda]
Already pullin' me in
Already under my skin
And I know exactly how this ends, I

[Chorus: Mike Shinoda]
Let you cut me open just to watch me bleed
Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be
Don't know why I'm hopin' for what I won't receive
Fallin' for the promise of the emptiness machine
The emptiness machine

[Verse 2: Emily Armstrong, Emily Armstrong & Mike Shinoda]
Goin' around like a revolver
It's been decided how we lose
'Cause there's a fire under the altar
I keep on lyin' to, I keep on lyin' to

#CrucialTracks #Music #LinkinPark #LP #TheEmptinessMachine #Alternative

What's your favorite song about growing up?

The song I'm choosing for today's prompt is Watching You by Rodney Atkins. This was a song that came out when my son was little and the lyrics were pretty accurate in so many way. It's a song that still to this day makes me think back to when he was just a little kid, growing up and learning life.

[Verse 1]
Driving through town
Just my boy and me
With a happy meal in his booster seat
Knowing that he couldn't have the toy
'Till his nuggets were gone
A green traffic light turned straight to red
I hit my brakes and mumbled under my breath
His fries went a-flying and his orange drink covered his lap
Well then my four year old said a four letter word
That started with "S" and I was concerned
So I said, "Son now where did you learn to talk like that?"

[Chorus]
He said "I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool?
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad?
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you"

[Verse 2]
We got back home and I went to the barn
I bowed my head and I prayed real hard
Said, "Lord please help me help my stupid self"
Then this side of bedtime later that night
Turning on my son's Scooby Doo nightlight
He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
And spoke to God like he was talking to a friend
And I said, "Son now where'd you learn to pray like that?"

[Chorus]
He said "I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool?
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama's hand
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad?
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you"

#CrucialTracks #Music #RodneyAtkins #WatchingYou #CountryMusic #GrowingUp

Today's song literally just started playing and I figured I'd choose it for the song. The Pretender by the Foo Fighters. Such an upbeat song to have play at any time of the day or night. The Foo Fighters are an amazing band and one of my all-time favorites when it comes to their genre. Not much by them that I don't like.

[Intro]
Keep you in the dark, you know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark and so it all began

[Verse 1]
Send in your skeletons
Sing as their bones go marchin' in again
The need you buried deep
The secrets that you keep are ever ready
Are you ready?
I'm finished makin' sense
Done pleading ignorance, that whole defense
Spinning infinity, boy
The wheel is spinnin' me, it's never ending, never ending
Same old story

[Chorus]
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

#CrucialTracks #Music #FooFighters #ThePretender #Alternative

What song would you dedicate to your younger self?

Today we're going to use the daily prompt as this is a good one and an easy one for me to choose a song for. Forever Young by Rod Stewart is my song of choice today. This was also my high school graduating class theme song in 1989, which is when the song came out.

Just an overall great song that has a pretty powerful meaning about trying your best to stay young in life and enjoy it to the fullest.

[Verse 1]
May the good Lord be with you
Down every road you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
Surround you when you're far from home
And may you grow to be proud
Dignified and true
And do unto others
As you'd have done to you

[Chorus]
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart, you'll always stay
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young

#CrucialTracks #Music #RodStewart #ForeverYoung #ClassOf89 #ClassOf1989 #1989 #Graduation #ClassSong

While I was typing up the missed track from Saturday the 14th, all of a sudden Click Click Boom by Saliva popped in my head. This is a song I used to listen to constantly back when I first started listening to alternative music. Saliva just has a lot of talent in my opinion and this song was of course so catchy and played on the radio constantly.

[Intro]
C'mon, c'mon
C'mon, c'mon

[Verse 1]
All those Saturdays when kids go out and play
Yo, I was up in my room, I let the stereo blaze
Wasn't faded, not jaded
Just a kid with a pad and pen and a big imagination
All this, I seek, I find
I push the envelope to the line
Make it, break it, take it
Until I'm overrated

[Chorus]
Click, click, boom
I'm comin' down on the stereo, hear me on the radio
Click, click, boom
I'm comin' down with a new style and you know it's buck wild
Click, click, boom
I'm on the radio station, tourin' 'round the nation
Leavin' the scene in devastation

#CrucialTracks #Music #Saliva #ClickClickBoom #Alternative

Since today is Father's Day, I'm going to make today's song one from my dads favorite country singer, Don Williams. The song is You're My Best Friend. The reason is, my dad, or as I called him a big majority of my life, Pops, was certainly my best friend!

Pops passed away almost 4 years ago and Father's Day is a very difficult day for me now without him. So here's to you Pops! I miss you so much and I love you more than I could ever put into words. Always remember, You're My Best Friend!

[Verse 1]
You placed gold on my finger
You brought love like I've never known
You gave life to our children
And to me a reason to go on

[Chorus]
You're my bread when I'm hungry
You're my shelter from troubled winds
You're my anchor in life's ocean
But most of all you're my best friend

[Verse 2]
When I need hope and inspiration
You're always strong when I'm tired and weak
I could search this whole world over
You'd still be everything that I need

[Chorus]
You're my bread when I'm hungry
You're my shelter from troubled winds
You're my anchor in life's ocean
But most of all you're my best friend

[Outro]
You're my bread when I'm hungry
You're my shelter from troubled winds
You're my anchor in life's ocean
But most of all you're my best friend

#CrucialTracks #Music #CountryMusic #CountryAndWestern #DonWilliams #YoureMyBestFriend #BestFriend #Pops #FathersDay

I got busy on Saturday and didn't post anything, so I'm going to make up for it this morning. Not sure why, but the song Same Blood by Pop Evil has come to mind this morning and right now it's stuck in my head for whatever reason. Really weird, as it's not a song I listen to a lot. A song I like, just not something that plays too often.

[Intro]
We're all the same blood
(Blood, blood, blood)
We're all the same blood
(Blood, blood, blood)
Blood

[Verse 1]
Some people grow up too afraid to change (Ooh)
Some people wake up in a place they hate (Ah)
Some people give up when it's hard to stay (Ooh)
But some people press on when their world begins to shake

[Pre-Chorus]
I've seen a million different faces
Now I'm starting to see

[Chorus]
We're all the same blood (Same blood)
Every child and еvery race
We'rе all the same blood (Same blood)
Every life we can't replace
I've seen a million different faces
Now I'm starting to see

#CrucialTracks #Music #PopEvil #SameBlood #Alternative

Since we lost Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys two days ago, I'm going to stick with them for today's song just like I did yesterday. Except today it's going to be a song that was done much later in their career, as in from 1988. Kokomo by the Beach Boys is another one of those songs that the moment I hear it, it's then instantly stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

It's such a great, catchy song and I song I absolutely love. Not my favorite by them, as I like their older stuff better, but it's in the top 5 or so I feel.

[Intro: Mike Love]
Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take ya
Bermuda, Bahama, come on, pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby, why don't we go?
Jamaica

[Verse 1: Mike Love]
Off the Florida Keys
There's a place called Kokomo
That's where you wanna go
To get away from it all
Bodies in the sand
Tropical drink melting in your hand
We'll be falling in love
To the rhythm of a steel drum band
Down in Kokomo

[Chorus: All, Carl Wilson]
Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama, come on, pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, Ooh, baby why don't we go?
I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We'll get there fast
And then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go
Way down in Kokomo

#CrucialTracks #Music #BeachBoys #Kokomo #BrianWilson #RIP #RestInPeace

Today's song is in honor of Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, who passed away yesterday at the age of 82. I grew up listening to the Beach Boys, as they were one of my dad's favorites. I love their style and their music is always uplifting and fun to listen to. So with all of that said, Surfin' USA is the song I'm picking. They had so many great songs, but this one has really just always stuck with me and is always the first song I think about when I hear anything about the Beach Boys. Brian, you will be hugely missed and thank you for all the good music over the decades!

[Verse 1]
If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californ-i-a
You'd see them wearing their baggies
Huarache sandals too
A bushy bushy blond hairdo
Surfin' U.S.A

[Chorus]
You'd catch 'em surfin' at Del Mar
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Ventura County line
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Santa Cruz and Trestles
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Australia's Narrabeen
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
All over Manhattan
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
And down Doheny Way
(Inside, outside)
Everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A

#CrucialTracks #Music #BeachBoys #SurfinUSA #BeachMusic #BrianWilson #RIP #RestInPeace

What's your favorite opening line from any song?

Yep, super easy one for me today. This is actually the very first song I posted about here on CrucialTracks, but it's my favorite opening line from a song and it happens to be my favorite song of all time, Livin' On A Prayer by Bon Jovi.

[Intro]
Once upon a time
Not so long ago

[Verse 1] Tommy used to work on the docks
Union's been on strike, he's down on his luck
It's tough, so tough
Gina works the diner all day
Working for her man
She brings home her pay for love
Mmm, for love

[Pre-Chorus]
She says, "We've gotta hold on to what we've got
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
We got each other, and that's a lot for love
We'll give it a shot"

[Chorus]
Oh, we're half way there
Oh-oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it, I swear
Oh-oh, livin' on a prayer

#CrucialTracks #Music #BonJovi #LivinOnAPrayer #80sMusic #HairBands