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On The List: Eric Matthews

Songs for a dying friend, or a beautiful girl that you wish to own

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Tracks

1. The Beatles - For No One

It's easy to be distracted away from the content of a song with all of these great G.Martin arrangements, but for me, this was the first Beatles song that totally worked. The chords, the lyrics, the arrangements, the band, everything perfect. Smart yet simple and for a little kid in the 70's every bit of the reason that I became interested in making songs myself.

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2. The Beach Boys - In the Back of My Mind

Dennis' first real vocal debut in my estimation, and on a song that will tear you up if you listen deeply enough. Too many nice things to say about Brian but this album and songs like this one are often overlooked. Today is greater than Pet Sounds. There, I said it.

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3. Bee Gees - Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You

This song is creepy and gigantic. Check out the reverb. I think it must have been recorded in a cathedral. When I was a kid I would put it on and get frightened and I still do. I believe that this song introduced the world to gothic pop.

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4. The Damned - Under The Floor Again

Strawberries is my favorite Damned album and it's loaded with great songs which makes it difficult to choose a clear representative. This song is the weightiest of the bunch and the least fun so I pick it. Later when all those Ann Rice novels became popular I was kind of sad to learn that this set of lyrics is about the vampire Lestat but I tried to not let all the hype ruin what was to me a great little story inside a very dark Damned classic.

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5. The Church - A month of sundays

These early Church records were the coolest. The songwriting (words and music) were right up there with the best of the era. S.Kilby's voice against the electric/acoustic approach of the band became a rare combination. This song is pure ease, and breeze, and sitting back wondering about the cool life that the lyric's singer must be leading.

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6. ABC - Valentine's Day

Listen closely and you will find a new genre, one that never got repeated as far as I know. Valentine's Day is Terror Disco. This song is frightening in it's dark intensity and digs deeper than the dance beat might normally suggest. The lyric describes a world in which everything all the time goes wrong. The strings and brass and Martin Fry (the best singer on the planet in 1981) will give you a headache. Terror Disco.

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7. David Sylvian - When Poets Dreamed of Angels

This album is perfect and this song is but one of my favorites. David Sylvian is a melodic gymnast and here, against an insane set of chords hands over a song that is challenging to the listener, as it is just plain beautiful. David Sylvian is the voice and sound of my life. This is the one album that I wish to take to Heaven with me.

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8. Scott Walker - Two Ragged Soldiers

Scott Walker is the finest lyricist we ever had. His story telling and almost pure 19th century French literature approach makes this particular story one of my favorites. Matching that with the over the top orchestral arrangement and some of the bravest melodies I have ever heard makes this one of my all time favorite songs.

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9. Robert Wyatt - Vandalusia

"Beyond the dotted line, over the border…" this song is just organ and voice and it is what I imagine heroin must feel like. Musical narcotics. If only the masses knew of such things we might do away with all of the anxiety pills that people take.

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10. U2 - Shadows And Tall Trees

I hate U2. Bono has done more to soil himself and the magic of his early years than any other man in the history of the planet. I am a peace loving man but if he were here I would kick him in the nuts. This song is an example of what I think made U2 such a great band in the first place. They rocked (wavo style) but the 6 or 7 ballads contain the meat and mystery of the band I fell in love with. A voice like this, on this song, happens only once every 50 years. I wish I were a singer.

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11. The Police - Darkness

The song is great but let us not talk about the song. Instead let me just point out that the best, most serious, Police song was written by Stewart Copeland. I got a boot with Sting's crotch on it if he wants to come over.

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12. Duran Duran - Lonely in Your Nightmare

I love pop music. "Lonely In Your Nightmare" is not a pop song. Duran Duran did 6 or 7 songs from 81-86 that were slow, quiet, creepy, and cooler sounding than anybody, totally futuristic and almost imaginary. This is one of the only songs of that set that was an actual album track. Listen to this sound and really check out the words and you might believe, like I do, that Simon was actually an incredible lyricist. I am so wave.

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13. Spookey Ruben - Leave the City

It's hard for a modern artist to make this list but 1994 had a few good things, this was my favorite. "Leave the City" is another slow heavy song deep in harmonic texture and rich with melody ideas that knock me out. Spookey's music comes from place of deep crisis and yearning and this is communicated perfectly in this song.

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14. Jason Falkner - Don't Show Me Heaven

Jason has so many great songs but this one, the lyric I suspect, make it so special to me. Jason knows of Christians and know what they are "called to do". This lyric is a sort of prayer, a request, that God not show him heaven or reveal the truth of Christ's message. If God does not answer this prayer of Jason's, Jason will be forced, passionately to rearrange many things about living in order to follow God. Nobody has ever tackled such a thing in a song. I love Jason.

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15. Divine Comedy - Commuter Love

Little Neil Hannon is the most significant musical mind of my generation. If he asked that I jump off a bridge I might do it. "Commuter Love" is one his brightest moments. It's a huge musical world he operates in and like Spookey, some deep crisis and yearning seems at the center of his creativity. The main character is in love, in a pure way, with a girl on a train. "I don't want to see her undressed". Like Baudelaire and I, Neil seems to, on occasion, worship beauty and we all know that you mustn't defile absolute beauty.

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16. Men At Work - Down By The Sea

This is one of the best bands of that time. I will never convince anybody of this but the songs really are important. "Down by the Sea" is sort of the rock ballad. Colin sings of a woman down by the sea where he "unwrapped her hidden treasures". The shape of this song is really amazing. Please give it a listen.

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17. A Ha - Living A Boy's Adventure Tale

This is one of the best bands of that time. I will never convince anybody of this but the songs really are important. Vocally, this is about as far out as anybody was going at the time. This song illustrates pretty clearly just how much musical muscle beautiful guys sitting around eating fruit can actually have.

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18. The Smiths - Please, Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

Morrissey is one of the great sufferers and it showed like crazy on these Smiths albums. This is my favorite of all the songs as it is the band at its best. People always talk about J.Marr and his guitar genius and it is songs like this one that should be pointed to in that discussion. A band this great will never happen again. Coldplay is The Smiths little toe. And speaking of kicking guys in the nuts, we are in for some major suffering when Chris gets old and crazy like Bono has been for the past 20 years.

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19. Stevie Wonder - Golden Lady

A blind man with a European sense of harmony and song construction and I dig it. Golden Lady sounds like a beautiful pool of melted gold. There are so many great Stevie songs so this was hard, but I picked a relatively up-beat one (against my general tastes) because this is one of those songs that just makes me feel good. Now back to the stuff that gives me a stomach ache.

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20. Paul McCartney - The Back Seat Of My Car

Paul is a rocker but on this one is a very quiet intense way. It's about young love, practically forbidden, and sneaking off to snoggle in the back seat of his car. The song has several different section, from fast to slow, from mellow to almost angry. Dramatic chromatic insanity.

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21. Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours

What a heavy topic for a song. It's about the seemingly random tragic events throughout a life and how they are, not only from heaven (of God's hand) but sometimes forcefully merciful. And that through this "mercy" god displays a sense of humor. I have never fully agreed with the premise but it is a fascinating concept. That the chords and melody are as huge in what they achieve makes this my favorite Depeche song. "And when I die, I expect to find God laughing…"

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22. Dead Can Dance - Enigma of the Absolute

A bigger music has never been made. It is the power and majesty of all the great literature and all the great symphonies all balled into a set of about 6 records that has life changing properties. The profundity of Brendan Perry will always make me feel like a silly little human.

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23. Gary Numan - Slowcar To China

This whole album is one long hypnosis session. For years I used it as a sleeping aide. Just getting into the sound of the record would be enough but there is chords, melody, and some of the strangest lyrics ever. "Slowcar To China" is a great sample to the new listener and again, what I imagine what heroin might be like. Junkies are stupid.

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