bironic: Neil Perry gazing out a window at night (Default)
[personal profile] bironic
I have this really fun vid in mind for historical roleplay, but I am struggling to find the right song to set it to. Usually my vid ideas start with a song or a song/fandom pairing, not the other way around. I was lucky to have thought of "Jerk It Out" so quickly for the humping robot.

Anyway. What I am looking for is a fun/chipper/energetic/happy/sweet/along-those-lines song that's about being nostalgic for a bygone era, or about loving the past or some point in history, or about wishing you'd been born in another time or place, or even about loving roleplay. Gen is much more appropriate than romance, which has knocked out of the running almost every song I've found. Country, pop, rock, folk-rock, musicals, dance, hip-hop, maybe alternative, could all work; I haven't had much luck with heavy metal, and I'm not sure an instrumental piece would get the point across effectively.

I have drummed up two decent candidates so far, but neither is quite right: "Born Too Late" by The Clarks (YouTube w/lyrics) has the right tone and subject matter but may be a little too specific with all the names, and the lyrics start right away, so I'd have to do some audio editing; "Should've Been a Cowboy" by Toby Keith (YouTube/lyrics) is the right idea, but may have too much about cowboys. Googling has mostly turned up songs about lost romance and playlists that make the playlist creators feel nostalgic for their childhoods.

Any ideas?

Date: Jun. 22nd, 2011 11:13 pm (UTC)
ext_25882: (Go board)
From: [identity profile] nightdog-barks.livejournal.com
How about Istanbul (Not Constantinople), by They Might Be Giants?

Or Bonnie Raitt's Angel From Montgomery? Although, hm, that one's not very chipper.

Date: Jun. 22nd, 2011 11:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deelaundry.livejournal.com
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) could work if the time signature works. (Bironic if you pick that, I have it.)

Purple Toupee by TMBG is a weird look back at childhood and mixed-up memories of history. Very silly and nostalgic at the same time.

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:32 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
LOL, Dee, I have no idea what they just said. I think I could make out a dozen words in the whole thing. This is one of my problems with TMBG. I'm sorry! I know you love them.

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deelaundry.livejournal.com
It's so easy to understand their lyrics! All you have to do is listen to the song a thousand times and then read the liner notes or Google for the bits you couldn't catch!

:D

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:45 am (UTC)

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 12:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deelaundry.livejournal.com
Ooh, found one: Everything Old Is New Again - Hugh Jackman in "The Boy from OZ"

YouTube here. Song doesn't start until 1:03 or so, and ends about 2:53, followed by a reprise.

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 12:22 am (UTC)
ext_25882: (Roman Brooch)
From: [identity profile] nightdog-barks.livejournal.com
Or When We Was Fab, by George Harrison.

:-D

Haven't looked for it yet on YouTube.

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 12:32 am (UTC)
ext_25882: (Go board)
From: [identity profile] nightdog-barks.livejournal.com
Ah, here's the vid. Pretty goofy, but it's nice to hear that song again. :-)

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:31 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Heh. That is silly. A little too dark/odd for what I'm looking for, but I had a good time browsing around his songs on YouTube just now starting with that one. :)

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:34 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Ha, that was fun. I guess I'm looking for more of an "I wish everything new were old again" theme instead, but I enjoyed the vid and appreciate the suggestion!

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:37 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
I can't listen to "Angel from Montgomery" without hearing James Marsters' (Spike from BtVS) band butcher it, heh. But Bonnie Raitt had a nice live recording I found YouTube. You're right, though, it's not the tone I'm looking for. Still - nice listen.

TMBG are a little ... frenetic ... for me, and I find it hard to hear them over their instruments a lot of the time. YouTube did have a fun version from the original band (whose name I've already forgotten, whoops; something like The Four ... Somethings ... from an English town) that is slower, but still, I think I'd like something ... broader? I am apparently very picky, sorry!

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:43 am (UTC)
ext_25882: (Roman Brooch)
From: [identity profile] nightdog-barks.livejournal.com
No, it's cool! I'm having a good time trying to think of things and poking around YouTube.

:-D

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:47 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Oh, good! :) I just had a lot of fun ripping a dozen-ish episodes of one of my all-time favorite shows to make this vid, in anticipation of eventually finding the right song.

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 03:11 am (UTC)
ext_25882: (Go board)
From: [identity profile] nightdog-barks.livejournal.com
Well, you know there's always The Happiest Song in the Universe -- David Byrne's cover of 'Don't Fence Me In'. *g*

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 11:39 pm (UTC)
ext_2047: (wilson embarrassed)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
For that matter, there is always "Let's Do the Time Warp..."

Date: Jun. 22nd, 2011 11:30 pm (UTC)
sholio: sun on winter trees (Art-red blue leaves)
From: [personal profile] sholio
Maybe Vintage Wine by the Moody Blues? It might be a little too specifically geared towards the 1960s and towards playing music, however.

I'll let you know if I think of anything else!

ETA: Another one I thought of is Nothing I Can Do About It Now by Willie Nelson -- it's more regretful/wistful, though.
Edited Date: Jun. 22nd, 2011 11:46 pm (UTC)

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:30 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Hm. Probably not Willie Nelson - it's a bit too personal/individual - but I enjoyed listening to it! "Vintage Wine" is not bad, although I wish it would "pop" a little more.

/picky

Thanks for the tips!

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 12:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] no-detective.livejournal.com
Hmmmm. Maybe The Golden Age by the Asteroids Galaxy Tour? (now with the link to the full song *g*)
Edited Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 12:21 am (UTC)

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:29 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Man, I don't know, but I just listened to it like five times in a row. Super-catchy! Took me a minute to realize why I knew them - danegen used them in her vid "Around the Bend."

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 02:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deelaundry.livejournal.com
I remembered a song that's the opposite! Born at the Right Time by Paul Simon

Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 11:41 pm (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Well, I did find one that would be really, really wrong to use, and yet amusing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sdWLqaAzH4

Still - hope I can find a good fit with a happy gen song.

ETA: ...Uh, and I just got to the second half of that song, and never mind. Ew.
Edited Date: Jun. 23rd, 2011 11:45 pm (UTC)

Date: Jun. 24th, 2011 12:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deelaundry.livejournal.com
Yeah, the lyrics are explicit, but at least the singer is talking about being a partner with his lover! "Or maybe my teacher; I'm the listener and you're the leader." And there's even a reference to missionary position as kink. Hee.
Edited Date: Jun. 24th, 2011 12:10 pm (UTC)

Date: Jun. 30th, 2011 11:27 pm (UTC)
ext_25882: (Go board)
From: [identity profile] nightdog-barks.livejournal.com
Hmmmm ... okay, how about Bryan Adams' Summer of '69?

Or John Cougar Mellencamp's Cherry Bomb?

Date: Jun. 30th, 2011 11:31 pm (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Oh God, I'd forgotten how much John (Cougar) Mellencamp used to look like Blair Sandburg from The Sentinel.

Those two are possibilities, although I should amend the post to say that ideally the song will be about a time *before* the singer (characters) lived, so it's less about their own childhood/past than about a past point in time. But I am not discounting these. Thanks again.

Date: Jun. 30th, 2011 11:34 pm (UTC)
ext_25882: (Roman Brooch)
From: [identity profile] nightdog-barks.livejournal.com
*g*

I just happened to hear these on the radio the other day and thought of you. :-D

Date: Jul. 2nd, 2011 03:35 am (UTC)
bell: rory gilmore running in the snow in a fancy dress (amber & thirteen in bw)
From: [personal profile] bell
Mmmm, if you want to use the Summer of 69 song, there's a cover by PYT, the members of which I think weren't really around in 1969. :3

Date: Jul. 2nd, 2011 11:06 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Oh, thanks - I'll check it out!

Date: Jul. 2nd, 2011 02:26 pm (UTC)
bell: rory gilmore running in the snow in a fancy dress (misc red shoes)
From: [personal profile] bell
Lemme know if you need a copy :D

Date: Jul. 1st, 2011 12:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mer-duff.livejournal.com
It doesn't really fit unless you're vidding about hiking through the wildneress, but the best I can come up with is Northwest Passage

Date: Jul. 1st, 2011 08:19 pm (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Hm, yeah, probably not, but I enjoyed listening to it!

Glad you got back from your travels all right, too! I heard we all made it to Born Yesterday just in time.

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