Shel Silverstein, "You're Always Welcome at Our House"

14 Days to Find a Home



And we hope you will stay.

D Aid

"We are never, ever, ever getting back together."

--Swiftian proverb

D Aid

1. Janet Jackson, "What Have You Done For Met Lately"
2. Alanis Morissette, "You Oughta Know"
3. Sinéad O'Connor, "No Man's Woman"
4. Madonna, "Don't Tell Me"
5. Fiona Apple, "Paper Bag"
6. Liz Phair, "Divorce Song"
7. Patsy Cline, "Crazy"
8. Marvin Gaye, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
9. Nina Simone, "To Love Somebody"
10. Lily Allen, "Smile"
11. Harry Nilsson, "You're Breakin' My Heart"
12. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, "I Hate Myself For Loving You"
13. Deftones, "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)"
14. The Pharcyde, "Otha Fish"
15. Shel Silverstein, "Pathetic Way of Getting Over Me"
16. John Waite, "Missing You"
17. Beck, "Lost Cause"
18. Joni Mitchell, "A Case of You"
19. Fleetwood Mac, "Don't Stop"
20. Prince & the Revolution, "Purple Rain"

You can probably tell that D is having a tough week.

She was born in the '90s, and she knows more about Santigold, Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé than I ever will. Rather than try to be a hip old man, I'm treating her to some of my favorite pop hits from days gone by. I'm sure that she already knows the Sharon Jones version of "What Have You Done For Me Lately," so I'm starting with Janet's original* and running through 20 of the best songs for weeks like this one.

One of my favorite things about making mixes for folks with hipper taste than mine is that it gives fresh ears to songs like "Crazy," "You Oughta Know" and "Purple Rain." I'm almost embarrassed to admit that the most modern rap break-up song I could think of without consulting a search engine was The Pharcyde's "Otha Fish." Maybe there will be some Kanye on the next one.

I plucked three songs from the last break-up mix I made, but I wanted this one to be a little funnier, hence the Lily Allen and Shel Silverstein. Nilsson offers "You're Breakin' My Heart" instead of "Without You." But of course break-ups suck, and you need to do more than laugh, as most of these songs testify.

The one request that I got when I offered to put this mix together was "not too much rock n' roll." Thus, I've included only two hard rock songs, via Joan Jett and the Deftones, and stuck them next to each other. Not that you'd want to skip over them.

* "You ought to be thankful for the little things/But little things are all you seem to give." How did I miss that?

Dad Rock

Dad mixes are some of the hardest to make. Almost by definition, your father hates the music that you listen to. Mothers get far more musical tributes, and most father songs ("Come to Daddy," "Papa Don't Preach," "Had a Dad," "The End") are wildly inappropriate. Thus Father's Day mixes can be a chore, but let's give it a shot.

 

Dad Rock

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Under the Bridge"
2. The White Stripes, "My Doorbell"
3. Shel Silverstein, "Dirty Ol' Me"
4. Squeeze, "Is That Love"
5. Fiona Apple, "Paper Bag"
6. Stevie Wonder, "Boogie on Reggae Woman"
7. Smashing Pumpkins, "Tonight, Tonight"
8. Sex Pistols, "Pretty Vacant"
9. Elvis Presley, "All Shook Up"
10. James Brown, "Night Train"
11. The Rolling Stones, "Loving Cup"
12. Harry Nilsson, "Maybe"
13. The Clash, "Rudie Can't Fail"
14. Jerry Lee Lewis, "What'd I Say"
15. R.E.M., "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
16. Joni Mitchell, "Free Man in Paris"
17. Radiohead, "No Surprises"
18. Roy Orbison, "Only the Lonely"
19. Prince, "Starfish and Coffee"
20. Neil Young, "Comes a Time"
21. Santana, "Samba Pa Ti"
22. Shel Silverstein, "Comin' After Jinny" 

In the five years where DC101's playlist was the most important thing in the world to me, Dad would occasionally meet me halfway, at "Under the Bridge" or "Tonight, Tonight" (he never came around to "March of the Pigs.") I met him at Neil Young and Prince, and years later at Joni Mitchell.

Dad and I share an appreciation for Shel Silverstein, who appears in the giddy "Dirty Ol' Me" and the bittersweet "Comin' After Jinny," and we've also agreed on "Samba Pa Ti," Santana's best number and a subject of Nick Hornby's 31 Songs. On a limb, I'm hoping to increase Dad's appreciation for Jerry Lee Lewis, The White Stripes and especially the Rolling Stones, gracing us with my favorite song here.  Dad prefers the Beatles, so I've added Squeeze's best impersonation of the Fab Four.

This year, I've gone on Radiohead and Fiona Apple kicks, represented by father-friendly tracks, and more recently caught up to Roy Orbison, who joins a few of my favorite rock pioneers. The influence of artists like James Brown and Elvis Presley is now universal, and therefore taken for granted. A mix CD is ideal for emphasizing why they really matter.

The sore thumb here is "Pretty Vacant," which outguns everything else here by miles and shouldn't be on a mix for anyone over age 30. That being said, I do worship the Sex Pistols, and Dad likes Johnny Rotten's letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so I'm taking a chance.

PS: Metalsucks has an excellent photo gallery of Metal Dads right here.