Music A to Z: E is for…

E is for…

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This week’s letter on Music A to Z is “E”! Use that as your jumping off point and give me five songs that either fit into a category or categories that begin with the letter “E”. If you prefer, you can share songs that are meaningful to you by artists whose names or songs whose titles begin with the letter “E”. Be creative, I don’t care. Just share, share, share!

NOTE: My free Linky Tools subscription has expired. Since only a couple of us were linking up through this mechanism, I’m wondering if we need it at all? So, this week, rather than linking up through Linky Tools, how about we try just mentioning the other submissions at the end of our blog posts? If you link to this post in your own post, I will see it through the track back feature, I will then promote your post here and via my other social media accounts. Let’s see how it works out. If it’s unsuccessful, I’ll pony up the $25 and continue the Linky Tools subscription. Sound like a plan?

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This week I’ve chosen to concentrate on artists who have the “E” in common. (All I could think of that fit the “E” category was, well, “everything” — and that just wouldn’t do!)

I could probably do five Elton John songs if I wanted to — he’s certainly composed quite the canon over the years — but, I selected, instead, one that many of you may not be familiar with. It’s from his 1976 double album, “Blue Moves”. This album was kind of all over the place, which, I think, is why I loved it. The only certified hit single was Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word.

Cage the Songbird, though, his tribute to French singer, Edith Piaf, has long been one of my favorite Elton John songs. Listen carefully to the background vocals, an integral part of the song, which are provided by none other than David Crosby and Graham Nash. And, maybe it’s just me, but I think there is something distinctly “Fogelbergesque” about this song. I don’t know. You tell me.

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Because I gave you the song that Elton John wrote for her, because she is also an “E”, and because how often will I ever be able to include Edith Piaf in one of these posts? I figured, “What the heck?” and decided to provide, for your listening pleasure, one from “The Little Sparrow” herself — her most famous song, La Vie en Rose (The Life of a Rose)*. Enjoy! C’est magnafique!

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Naturally, when one thinks of artists associated with the letter “E”, Elvis springs to mind. Yup. I love me some Elvis Costello. He had some great song, great songs. My favorite, though, is Veronica. Incidentally, it was written with some guy named Paul McCartney. Some of you may be familiar with him.

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Coming of age as I did in the 1970s, the Elvis Presley that I was most familiar with was not the sexy, hip-shaking, blue jean clad bad boy that my parent’s generation had swooned over. No. Sadly, my generation would remember the “puffy” Elvis. The guy who sported those heinous bell-bottomed bedazzled unitards — Elvis’ costumer was the original bedazzler, folks — and, had he not been THE Elvis Presley, would have ended his career a second-rate lounge act in Vegas. Still, In the Ghetto is a good song. Sure, it’s a departure from his normal fare, but I think that’s why I like it.

In an interesting turn of events, In the Ghetto was written by Mac Davis. Yes, THAT Mac Davis. The guy who gave the world Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me, the guy most famous for his ’70s variety show. THAT Mac Davis.

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One of the greatest lyrics EVER written may be “Don’t try to fix me. I’m not broken.” from the song Hello by Evanescence. In addition to loving this (and many other) Evanescence lyric, I’m a big fan of Amy Lee’s voice, as well as her intonation. Her style, I’ve always thought, is kind of a mash up of Enya and Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs. Give it a listen, tell if you hear it, too.

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BONUS TRACK
*Recently, La Vie en Rose was featured on one of the last episodes of “How I Met Your Mother” — it’s where Ted first meets his wife — he hears her singing this song and, before ever seeing her, is instantly smitten.

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SAM over at My Write Side uses this week’s letter perfectly! Check it out here:

Music A to Z: This is Epic

The Peachster over at Peachy Teachy, one of my nearest and dearest interwebby friends, joined us this week! She’s a Music A to Z first-timer! Lets show her some love, shall we?

Music A to Z EEEEEEEEEEEE HAH!

Louise over at Baby Gates Down — one of my fave bloggers — had this to contribute: http://babygatesdown.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/enchantment-and-ever-afters/