Random Sample

And you thought I was giving up on this. Ha! Another group of Random Sample goodness for the long weekend.

First up!

Arrested Development, “Tennessee” (Download) I can’t say that I’m a fan of “the hip-hop,” but this song has always been one that I found intriguing. I was reading an interview with Speech and he said that the song came about after going to Tennessee for his grandmother’s funeral and reconnecting with his brother. A week after they put his grandmother in the ground, his brother died. This song is about Speech trying to come to terms with all that tragedy.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, “Crimson and Clover” (Download) From the “high school” files. This song was released the same year that I started at my third high school. I befriended a guy who was pretty much into The Doors, Led Zep, drumming, and smoking a lot of dope. He was the first person to start talking about the song “I Love Rock n Roll” before I heard it on the radio. After that, I bought this LP and loved the covers she did — like this one! One song that made me kind of laugh was the pop punk version of “Little Drummer Boy” that was on the same LP.

Iron Maiden, “Run To the Hills” (Download) This one is not so random because Julie and I were at Safeway this morning and one of the checkers who has known us since Maya was a baby looked at me said: “Are you going to see Iron Maiden?” I had no idea they were touring, and said “No.” She added, “It’s going to be great…a really drunk-fest.” Sounds fun, but Julie confessed that she didn’t really know their music, so I started singing this song, and she said “I still have no idea what that is.” So, here ’tis! Now you can sing along.