Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Like A Rolling Stone

Less than a week until we move. It feels like we move a lot. In fact if we make it for the whole three year degree it will be, incredibly enough, the longest my wife and I will have lived anywhere in our 10+ years of marriage. I wonder what it might feel like to gather a bit of moss.

For now, however, we're rolling on, propelled especially by the gestures of support shown to us by friends and family this last little while. This Sunday our church joined the ranks of grace by sending us off for our overseas excursion feeling very supported, encouraged, and appreciated.

One aspect of this send-off was a great parting gift from my colleagues on staff at the church: A $60 iTunes gift card! It has not taken long to spend.

First I filled a hole in my collection (U2's October), then I snatched up 10 favourite songs from my past that I never bothered owning, and finally, as I love to do, I introduced myself to two bands who are completely new to me. In the latter case, it is a stunning pleasure to have stumbled across Stars' brilliant 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire (where has this been for five years of my life?) and Camera Obscura's thoroughly enjoyable 2009 album My Maudlin Career (thanks for the recommendation Jeff and Dave)! This is some fantastic music, fittingly made in Canada and Scotland respectively.

Also fittingly, among the "songs from my past" are six from The Rolling Stones (who also gather little moss). I couldn't resist, even though I bawked at the idea of going to see the Stones when they were in Regina a couple years ago. Once I saw their set list from that tour I remembered that I was pretty into them in high school and, despite my distaste for tight leather pants, still like several of their songs. So here's a couple questions for you:

1) If you owned zero Rolling Stones songs but were to buy six of them, which would they be?

2) What should I buy with my remaining $11?

14 comments:

Unknown said...

1. never liked the Stones much... even in my rebellious teen years.
2. do you have "Modern Times" by Bob Dylan...fantastic stuff on so many levels.

Jon Coutts said...

I do have Modern Times and you are right. I'm not particularly a fan of the Stones either, but what I'm guessing is that all of us have heard tons of their music and most of us would actually like half a dozen songs or so.

Anonymous said...

Does itunes sell m&m's?

If they dont then...

Rolling Stones songs: I Got The Blues, Shine a Light, Sweet Virginia, All My Love's In Vain

dave will add more later.

p.s. I also recommend grabbing Karen Dalton's song " Something's On Your Mind". And the Drive By Truckers' song "I'm Sorry Huston".

Dave M said...

rounding out the McGregor top six Stones songs: You Got the Silver, and let's go with Honkey Tonk Woman for the last spot.

I was at that Regina show, worst concert crowd I've ever seen. There was even a 'go riders go' chant before the music started. Though some people might think of that as being the best concert crowd they've been a part of. Probably the same guys that hit you in the head with that watermelon a few years back. Ah, Regina.

Jon Coutts said...

ha ha! m&ms & watermelons. oh man.

those are some more stones songs that i need to check. i knew i could rely on the mcgregors to expand my horizons on this one.

Jon Coutts said...

if i could get peanut m&ms on itunes my $11 would be gone.

s$s said...

6 Stones songs:

-Wild Horses
-Tell Me
-Paint It Black
-Gimme Shelter
-Time Is On My Side
-I Just Want to See His Face

11$ on Itunes:
One long word: Veckatimest.

(and Springsteen's 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' -the song, not the album).

s$s said...

Amen to Forrest's 'Something's on Your Mind' suggestion.

And I just realized: being in Regina for that bizarre Stones concert was the last time I saw you in the flesh, Jon. I'm pretty sure. We were just embarking on this friendship, or had not yet quite started (I can't remember).

Online nostalghia.

Jon Coutts said...

yeah it was. and i think we'd just begun to interact on here.

i still don't have any sprinsteen, peculiarily enough. i may just need to buy Nebraska and call it a day.

Tony Tanti said...

never listened to the Stones much but I did always like Sympathy for the Devil and Paint it Black.

Amy brought me a 1kg bag of peanut M&M's back from a recent trip she took to Regina. It's flawless.

Trev said...

Wait, what's flawless...the stones or the m&m's?

Either way, rock'n'roll.

Jon Coutts said...

Regina is flawless.

Jon Coutts said...

Thanks for the input, all. Haven't decided what to do with the $11 yet but it will either be a smattering of your recommendations or an album...

You've given me some more Stones songs to check out, but here are the six I already went for. Pretty standard fare, but classics I decided I needed in my collection nonetheless:


1) Paint it Black,
2) You Can't Always Get What You Want,
3) Ruby Tuesday,
4) Angie,
5) Sympathy for the Devil
6) Tumbling Dice

The Knitter said...

1. Let It Bleed
2. You Can't Always Get What You Want
3. Winter [a real gem of a song]
4. Till the Next Time We Say Goodbye
5. Sway
6. I Just Wanna See His face

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