Erin O'Riordan writes smart, whimsical erotica. Her erotic romance novel trilogy, Pagan Spirits, is now available. With her husband, she also writes crime novels. Visit her home page at ko-fi.com.
14. "Joke's On You" Charlotte Lawrence - this is on the soundtrack of the Birds of Prey movie and therefore somewhat Joker-related, and therefore included on my Folie à Deux playlist
13. "Want You Bad" Bite Me Bambi - ska cover of the Offspring song from the year 2000
12. "I Want a Little Sugar In My Bowl" Nina Simone
11. "1979" The Smashing Pumpkins - probably my 2nd favorite SP song, lyrics-wise. It genuinely captures, impressionistically, the feeling set of teen years fading into dawning adulthood
10. "Malibu" Hole
9. "Pink Pony Club" Chappell Roan
8. "Already Gone" Kelly Clarkson - I very specifically associate this song with fictional Vicky in "A Broken Man & the Dawn."
7. "Drunk In Love" The Dan Band - this tongue-in-cheek Beyoncé cover slotted nicely into the Destiel playlist
6. "Poet" Bastille - I know I've been listening to this writing-themed song at least since September, when I shared in this Linda Pastan post.
5. "Spider Pig" Hans Zimmer
4. "Cruel Summer" Taylor Swift. I came late to this song, but I was hung over from watching Good Omens season 2 and the line "Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes" pulled me in. (The Aziracrow of it all, yes, but also Gabriel and Beelzebub. I thought Gabe and Bub made a nice celestial couple.)
Taylor Swift really is a very talented lyricist. The more lyrics I learned, the more I liked this.
3. "Crazy For You" New Found Glory - Madonna Louise Ciccone was coming up in too many of my playlists, so I banished her and made a playlist exclusively of Madonna covers. This happens to work for Destiel playlist too
2. "Ava Adore" The Smashing Pumpkins - these are my favorite Billy Corgan lyrics; there’s a lovely symmetry to them. I love the guitar parts, and I love Ms. D’Arcy Elizabeth Wretzky’s bass part at the end.
30. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth? Live at the Palace 1999" - R.E.M.
29. "20%" Hans Zimmer - instrumental, from the Rush soundtrack, went onto my Daniel Brühl playlist
28. "Come As You Are" Nirvana
27. "II Most Wanted" Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus - this was my favorite song on Cowboy Carter
26. "Red Wine Supernova" Chappell Roan
25. "One Night In Bangkok (US club remix)" - Murray Head
24. "Ralph Wiggum" - Bloodhound Gang
23. "Wicked Game (Live, Acoustic)" Stone Sour - Destiel playlist
22. "Fake ID" Riton, Kah-lo - I first heard this one when Tit Elingtin had Sirius XM satellite radio in his car and we listened to the Chill channel the first time we drove down to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to visit my cousin's son. That was Memorial Day Weekend this year.
Riton is a dj from the UK; Kah-lo is the Nigerian-born American singer
50. "Disease" Lady Gaga - the song came out on October 25th and Spotify cuts off its metrics a week or two into November, so that gives some indication of how much I've had this track on repeat
40. "Loverboy" Billy Ocean - I heard this song randomly in a CVS drug store and I thought, yes, that was a pretty good song from my childhood. So I listened to it some more.
Written by Billy Ocean, Keith Diamond, and Robert "Mutt" Lange, this song masterfully combines '80s synthpop with soul. It's really well-crafted, from the back-up singers' "oooh-waahs" to the galloping bassline.
Also the video is giving Lando Calrissian and I love that for it.
Mutt Lange is Shania Twain's ex-husband. This recent podcast episode dives deep into the careers of two Canadian pop stars, Twain and Celine Dion.
39. "Till the World Ends" Britney Spears
38. "Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula" The Diamonds - Halloween playlist. Note that there was also a LVCRFT cover that came out this year.
60. "Buffy Theme" The Breeders - instrumental, on the Reading Playlist. My mom watched Buffy; I never did. But I know it had Anthony Head, the brother of Murray Head.
56. "Baby Daddy's Weekend" Elle King - fluffy summer party song about getting drunk and high
55. "Fictional Men" Peggy - is this the only song on the list that makes explicit mention of the COVID-19 quarantine? I hope so. I feel like I dug deep enough back into that trauma when I read Amanda Gorman
54. "Crush" Billianne - feels true. That IS what it feels like to have a crush
53. "No Ordinary Love" Deftones - Destiel playlist
51. "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" - Shaboozey - interpolates "Tipsy" by J-Kwon, which reminds me of the years I worked at a child & adolescent mental health facility and alternative school. It came out in January 2004
70. "Simply the Best (from Schitt's Creek)" Noah Reid - Reid's newer album is great, but this super-romantic Patrick x David track from the tv show is irresistible. I like to imagine that by this point in their marriage, David has totally given in to Patrick's wish to have children and they currently have 3 or 4.
68. "Why Can't I?" Liz Phair - I may have been inspired to listen to Liz Phair after hearing this back episode of Chelsea Devantez's books podcast
67. "The Diva Dance - Remix by SWO" - Eric Serra, Inva Mula, SWO - on the Reading playlist
66. "SMOKE HOUR" Beyoncé, Willie Nelson - another short, spoken word track that frequently made its way into the rotation while I was enjoying Cowboy Carter
65. "Hard To Be the Bard" Christian Borle
64. "Starman" David Bowie - I made a meme.
63. "Radioactive - GROUPLOVE & Captain Cuts Remix" Imagine Dragons. Ages ago, this song was used in the advertising for the film based on Stephenie Meyer's The Host. I like this remix because it sounds like it's playing while I'm riding the merry-go-round.
78. "Typing" Nico Muhly - Instrumental track that emulates the sound of a typewriter, from the Kill Your Darlings soundtrack, on the Reading playlist. [And I still haven't seen Tulip Fever.]
77. "Falling In Love Again" Friedrich Hollaender, Marianne Faithfull - cover of the song made famous by Marlene Dietrich in her film The Blue Angel. One day last July I happened to hear the Diahann Carroll version of this song. Terrible. It sent me scrambling for Faithfull's very good cover.
76. "You Ruined Nirvana" McKenna Grace - Grace plays the granddaughter of a Ghostbuster in the last two movies in the franchise. Which is funny because the next song is...
75. "Good Girls (from the Ghostbusters Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [2016])" Elle King - that's the all-woman Ghostbusters reboot with the Chris Hemsworth scene that cracks me so consistently up. I laughed my ass off at that movie.
The lyrics are written from the POV of a naughty woman who may be some kind of minor demon or evil spirit. I had it on my Halloween soundtrack.
74. "I Like It Rough" Lady Gaga
73. "Algorhythm" Childish Gambino - samples "Hey Mr. DJ" by Zhane (1993)
Dave: Ondaatje started a food fight, salmon mousse all over the scene
All: Spilled some dressing on Doris Lessing, these writer types are a scream!
I like to go out dancing
My baby loves a bunch of authors
We'll be together for ages
Dave: Eatin' and Sleepin' and
Jean (in bus driver voice): Eatin' and Sleepin' and
Mike (as Dr. Ruth): Eating und Sleeping und
Murray: Turnin' pages
All: Yeah!
From the Liner: Mike-vocals; Murray-vocals, bass, spring muffler; Jean-vocals, sheet metal, snare; Dave-lead vocal, guitar
You can tell this is a song from the ‘90s because it contains the words “new cd player.”
*You can still go to the Sidewalk Cafe in Venice Beach, California, but they don't have this awesome literary menu with a sandwich called the Mario Puzo anymore.
90. "It's Oh So Quiet" Betty Hutton - I learned the Björk version first and so was surprised and delighted by this original. Except that Björk correctly noticed that the word "gorge" is meant to be short for "gorgeous," whereas Hutton mispronounces it as "George."
89. "Sugar In My Bowl" Camille O'Sullivan - on my March playlist of Irish music. She doesn't get all the words quite right, which I sometimes feel forgiving of and at other times get annoyed by. I like how she belts, though.
O'Sullivan is the life partner of actor Aidan Gillen, who can be found reciting poetry in English and Irish on Spotify. I most recently saw him as the big bad in Mayor of Kingstown, but remember him best as the heroic Aberama Gold in Peaky Blinders, late-life love of Aunt Polly (Helen McCrory).
88. "Dead End Road" Jelly Roll - the song from the Twisters soundtrack is simply a bangin' country-rocker
87. "David Duchovny, Why Won't You Love Me? (The Reboot)" Bree Sharp
86. "Me and Mr. Jones" Amy Winehouse
85. "S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun)" The Glorious Sons - I don't love the band name; it sounds like something Confederate sympathizers would name themselves. And it might not be great for one's mental health, as it implies suicidal ideation. But it's a very catchy song.
84. "You & I" Lady Gaga - I listened to Lady Gaga in anticipation of the release of Joker: Folie à Deux. (I still haven't seen it.)
83. "Sacrilege" Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Fallen for a guy/ [who] Fell down from the sky." On my Destiel playlist
82. "It's the End of the World As We Know It" R.E.M.
81. "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home) (GOLDHOUSE Remix)" Elle King, Miranda Lambert, GOLDHOUSE
