jTunes
Exile on Francisco Street

When I was 16 I got my first tape deck and promptly made a compilation of my favorite songs. After I got a CD burner, it was only a matter of time before I attempted something similar in the digital medium. All of these tracks are significant to me for one reason or another, and many have been personal favorites for years.

  1. Back on the Chain Gang/Pretenders (Hynde)

    I found a picture of you
    What hijacked my world that night
    To a place in the past
    We've been cast out of?
    Now we're back in the fight
    We're back on the train
    Oh, back on the chain gang

    A circumstance beyond our control
    The phone, the tv and the news of the world
    Got in the house like a pigeon from hell
    Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
    Put us back on the train
    Oh, back on the chain gang

    The powers that be
    That force us to live like we do
    Bring me to my knees
    When I see what they've done to you
    But I'll die as I stand here today
    Knowing that deep in my heart
    They'll fall to ruin one day
    For making us part

    I found a picture of you
    Those were the happiest days of my life
    Like a break in the battle was your part
    In the wretched life of a lonely heart
    Now we're back on the train
    Oh, back on the chain gang

  2. (Don't Go Back to) Rockville/R.E.M. (Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe)

    Looking at your watch a third time waiting in the station for a bus
    Going to a place that's far, so far away and if that's not enough
    Going where nobody says hello, they don't talk to anybody they don't know
    You'll wind up in some factory that's full time filth and nowhere left to go
    Walk home to an empty house, sit around all by yourself
    I know it might sound strange, but I believe
    You'll be coming back before too long

    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    And waste another year

    At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend
    I don't care if you're not here with me
    'Cause it's so much easier to handle
    All my problems if I'm too far out to sea
    But something better happen soon
    Or it's gonna be too late to bring you back

    It's not as though I really need you
    If you were here I'd only bleed you
    But everybody else in town only wants to bring you down and
    That's not how it ought to be
    I know it might sound strange, but I believe
    You'll be coming back before too long

  3. Waterloo Sunset/Kinks (Davies)

    Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
    Flowing into the night
    People so busy, make me feel dizzy
    Taxi lights shine so bright
    But I don't need no friends
    As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
    I am in paradise

    Every day I look at the world from my window
    But chilly, chilly is evening time
    Waterloo sunset's fine

    Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station
    Every Friday night
    But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
    I stay at home at night
    But I don't feel afraid
    As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
    I am in paradise

    Every day I look at the world from my window
    But chilly, chilly is evening time
    Waterloo sunset's fine

    Millions of people swarming like flies 'round Waterloo underground
    But Terry and Julie cross over the river
    Where they feel safe and sound
    And they don't need no friends
    As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset
    They are in paradise

    Waterloo sunset's fine

  4. Secret Nothing/Cub

    Meet me down on the corner
    We'll talk it over
    You'll see me if I don't see you first

    Make sure you bring some quarters
    And we'll go get a soda
    Hop a bus, I'll show you my new dress

    Sunday afternoon, nothing much to do
    But there's no one I'd rather do nothing with than you

    Tell me a secret and I'll give you a kiss
    I'll bake a cake for you if you'll just make a wish

    Meet me down by the river
    It's hot but you make me shiver
    Let's go under the pier
    We'll take off all our clothes

    Sunday afternoon, nothing much to do
    But there's no one I'd rather do nothing with than you

  5. Drifting/Jimi Hendrix (Hendrix)

    Drifting
    On a sea of forgotten teardrops
    On a lifeboat
    Sailing for
    Your love
    Sailing home

    Drifting
    On a sea of old heartbreaks
    On a lifeboat
    Sailing for
    Your love
    Sailing home

  6. (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay/Otis Redding (Redding/Cropper)

    Sitting in the morning sun,
    I'll be sitting when the evening comes
    Watching the ships roll in,
    Then I'll watch 'em roll away again.

    Yeah, I'm sitting on the dock of the bay,
    Watching the tide roll away.
    Ooh, I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay,
    Wasting time.

    I left my home in Georgia,
    Headed for the Frisco Bay.
    'Cause I've had nothing to live for
    And looked like nothing's gonna come my way.

    So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay,
    Watching the tide roll away.
    Ooh, I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay,
    Wasting time.

    Looks like nothing's gonna change;
    Everything still remains the same.
    I can't do what ten people tell me to do,
    So I guess I'll remain the same.

    Sitting here resting my bones,
    And this loneliness won't leave me alone.
    Two thousand miles I roamed,
    Just to make this dock my home.

    Now I'm just gonna sit at the dock of the bay,
    Watching the tide roll away.
    Ooh, I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay,
    Wasting time.

  7. I'll Be Your Mirror/Velvet Underground & Nico (Reed)

    I'll be your mirror, reflect what you are
    In case you don't know
    I'll be the wind, the rain, and the sunset
    The light on your door
    To show that you're home

    When you think the night has seen your mind
    that inside you're twisted and unkind
    Let me stand to show that you are blind
    Please put down your hands
    'cause I see you.

    I find it hard
    to believe you don't know
    The beauty you are
    But if you don't,
    let me be your eyes
    A hand to your darkness
    So you won't be afraid.

    When you think the night has seen your mind
    that inside you're twisted and unkind
    Let me stand to show that you are blind
    Please put down your hands
    'cause I see you

    I'll be your mirror

  8. Bad/U2 (Bono/U2)

    If you twist and turn away
    If you tear yourself in two again
    If I could, yes I would
    If I could, I would let it go
    Surrender, dislocate

    If I could throw this lifeless lifeline to the wind
    Leave this heart of clay, see you walk, walk away
    Into the night, and through the rain
    Into the half-light and through the flame

    If I could, through myself, set your spirit free
    I'd lead your heart away, see you break, break away
    Into the light and to the day

    To let it go and so to fade away
    To let it go and so fade away
    I'm wide awake
    I'm wide awake, wide awake
    I'm not sleeping

    If you should ask, then maybe
    They'd tell you what I would say
    True colors fly in blue and black
    Bruised silken sky and burning flag
    Colors crash, collide in bloodshot eyes

    If I could, you know I would
    If I could, I would let it go

    This desperation, dislocation
    Separation, condemnation
    Revelation, in temptation
    Isolation, desolation
    Let it go and so to fade away
    To let it go and so to fade away
    To let it go and so to fade away

    I'm wide awake, I'm wide awake, wide awake
    I'm not sleeping
    Oh no, no, no

  9. In Your Eyes/Peter Gabriel (Gabriel)

    Love, I get so lost sometimes
    Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
    When I want to run away
    I drive off in my car
    But whichever way I go
    I come back to the place you are

    All my instincts, they return
    And the grand façade so soon will burn
    Without a noise,
    Without my pride
    I reach out from the inside

    In your eyes
    The light the heat
    In your eyes
    I am complete
    In your eyes
    I see the doorway to a thousand churches
    In your eyes
    The resolution of all the fruitless searches
    In your eyes
    I see the light and the heat
    In your eyes
    Oh, I want to be that complete
    I want to touch the light
    The heat I see in your eyes

    Love, I don't like to see so much pain
    So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
    I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
    I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

    And all my instincts, they return
    And the grand façade so soon will burn
    Without a noise, without my pride
    I reach out from the inside

    In your eyes
    The light the heat
    In your eyes
    I am complete
    In your eyes
    I see the doorway to a thousand churches
    In your eyes
    The resolution of all the fruitless searches
    In your eyes
    I see the light and the heat
    In your eyes
    Oh, I want to be that complete
    I want to touch the light
    The heat I see in your eyes
    In your eyes

  10. You Got the Silver/Rolling Stones (Jagger/Richards)

    Hey babe, what's in your eyes?
    I saw them flashing like airplane lights
    You fill my cup, babe, that's for sure
    I must come back for a little more

    You got my heart, you got my soul
    You got the silver, you got the gold
    You got the diamonds from the mine
    Well that's all right, it'll buy some time

    Tell me, honey, what will I do
    When I am hungry and thirsty too?
    Feeling foolish and that's for sure
    Just waiting here at your kitchen door

    Hey baby, what's in your eyes?
    Is that the diamonds from the mine?
    What's that laughing in your smile?
    I don't care, no, I don't care

    Oh babe, you got my soul
    You got the silver, you got the gold
    If that's your love, just leave me blind
    I don't care, no, that's no big surprise

  11. All I Have to Do Is Dream/Everly Brothers (B. Bryant/F. Bryant)

    Dream dream dream dream
    Dream dream dream dream

    When I want you in my arms,
    When I want you and all your charms,
    Whenever I want you all I have to do is
    Dream dream dream dream

    When I feel blue in the night,
    And I need you to hold me tight,
    Whenever I want you all I have to do is dream

    I can make you mine,
    Taste your lips of wine,
    Anytime night or day
    Only trouble is, gee whiz,
    I'm dreaming my life away

    I need you so, that I could die,
    I love you so and that is why
    Whenever I want you all I have to do is
    Dream dream dream dream

    I can make you mine,
    Taste your lips of wine,
    Anytime night or day
    Only trouble is, gee whiz,
    I'm dreaming my life away

    I need you so, that I could die,
    I love you so and that is why
    Whenever I want you all I have to do is
    Dream dream dream dream
    Dream dream dream dream

  12. It's Not Peculiar/Hüsker Dü (Mould)

    Is it sensible, life is what it seems
    When you're living in a dream
    Could you care enough? While pausing on a thought
    Can you think of what you've got?
    (Only you know what matters in your life)

    When it's pouring out, you're pondering inside
    And all the times you shouted, everybody cried
    You've got to learn to compromise
    To live inside the others' lives

    It's not peculiar, there's nothing to devise at all

    On a stormy night, you're sitting on the floor
    Is it nothing anymore?
    Waking up to fix it, making up the fight
    Will it be one more tonight?
    (Some things we said will never wash away)

    Taking all of this into another day
    Recollections of the words we used to say
    The times you looked into my eyes
    Whispered vowing not to lie

    It's not peculiar, there's nothing to devise at all

    Hear the telephone, it's raining in the fall
    And you hope I never call
    Sending messages that never get received
    But we're trying, I believe
    (Sometimes we wonder what our lives are for)

    Taking all of this is taking all of me
    Sometimes I wish I had the energy
    When it falls apart like fragments of our lives
    Give a little bit, and give a lot to die

    It's not peculiar, there's nothing to devise at all

  13. I Lost It/Lucinda Williams (Williams)

    I think I lost it, let me know if you come across it
    Let me know if I let it fall along a back road somewhere
    Money can't replace it, no memory can erase it
    And I know I'm never gonna find another one to compare

    Gimme some love to fill me up, gimme some time, give me some stuff
    Gimme a sign, give me some kind of reason
    Are you heavy enough to make me stay, I feel like I might blow away
    I thought I was in heaven, but I was only dreamin'

    I think I lost it, let me know if you come across it
    Let me know if I let it fall along a back road somewhere
    Money can't replace it, no memory can erase it
    And I know I'm never gonna find another one to compare

    I just wanna live the life I please, I don't want no enemies
    I don't want nothin' if I have to fake it
    Never take nothin' don't belong to me, everything's paid for, nothing's free
    If I give my heart, will you promise not to break it

    I think I lost it, let me know if you come across it
    Let me know if I let it fall along a back road somewhere
    Money can't replace it, no memory can erase it
    And I know I'm never gonna find another one to compare

    Money can't replace it, no memory can erase it
    And I know I'm never gonna find another one to compare

  14. All Come to Meet Her/Skip Spence (Spence)

    All come to meet her now
    All come to meet her now

    All come to meet her now
    Won't you meet me too?
    I come to meet her now
    Won't you meet me now?
    I come to meet her now
    Won't you come too?

    Come on down
    Come on down

    I come to meet her
    I come to
    I come to meet her
    With you

  15. Ballerina (live)/Van Morrison (Morrison)

    Spread your wings
    Come on, fly awhile
    Straight to my arms
    Little angel child
    You know you're only lonely
    Twenty-two story block
    And if somebody, not just anybody
    Wanted to get next to you
    Just like me
    All you gotta do
    Is ring the bell
    Step right up, step right up
    Step right up
    Just like a ballerina
    Grab it, catch it

    Well, I may be wrong
    But this time I know I'm right and I don't think so
    You know I saw the writing on the wall
    When you came up to me
    Child, you were heading for a fall
    But if it gets to you
    And you feel like you just can't go on
    All you gotta do is
    Ring the bell
    Step right up, step right up
    Step right up
    Just like a ballerina
    Grab it, catch it, let it shine

    Well, it's getting very, very late
    Yes, it is
    And it's time I should think you should slip into your slumber
    The light is on the left side of your head
    And I'm standing in your doorway and I'm mumbling
    And I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head
    Here come the man, he say the show must go on
    All you gotta do is ring the bell
    Step right up, step right up
    Step right up, step right up
    Step right up, step right up
    Step right up
    Just like a ballerina
    Grab it, catch it
    Just like a ballerina
    Keep moving on up, keep moving on up

  16. A Heart Needs a Home (alt. take)/Richard and Linda Thompson (R. Thompson)

    I know the way that I feel about you
    I'm never gonna run away
    I'm never gonna run away
    Never knew the way when I lived without you
    I'm never gonna run away
    I'm never gonna run away

    I came to you when no one could hear me
    I'm sick and weary of being alone
    Empty streets and hungry faces
    The world's no place when you're on your own
    A heart needs a home

    Some people say that I should forget you
    I'm never gonna be a fool
    I'm never gonna be a fool
    A better life, they say, if I'd never met you
    I'm never gonna be a fool
    I'm never gonna be a fool

    Tongues talk fire and eyes cry rivers
    Indian givers, hearts of stone
    Paper ships and painted faces
    The world's no place when you're on your own
    A heart needs a home

  17. That's How Strong My Love Is/Otis Redding (Jamison)

    If I were the sun, way up there
    I'd glow with my love most everywhere
    I'll be the moon when the sun goes down
    Just to let you know that I'm still around

    That's how strong my love is
    That's how strong my love is
    That's how strong my love is
    That's how strong my love is

    I'll be the weeping willow drowning in my tears
    You can go swimming when you're here
    And I'll be the rainbow after the tears are gone,
    Wrap you in my colors and keep you warm

    I'll be the ocean, so deep and wide
    And catch all the tears whenever you cry
    I'll be the breeze after the storm is gone
    To dry your eyes and love you warm

  18. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes/Thelonious Monk Quintet (Kern)

  19. Sweet Jane (live)/Velvet Underground (Reed)

    Anyone who's ever had a heart
    Wouldn't turn around and break it
    and anyone who's ever played a part
    Wouldn't turn around and hate it

    Sweet Jane, sweet Jane
    Sweet, sweet Jane

    Waiting for Jimmy down by the alley
    Waiting there for him to come home
    Waiting down on the corner
    Thinking of ways to get back home

    Anyone who ever had a dream
    Anyone who's ever played a part
    Anyone who's gonna live lonely
    Anyone who's ever stood apart

    Heavenly wine and roses
    seem to whisper to me when you smile
    Heavenly wine and roses
    seem to whisper to me when you smile

  20. Glynis/Smashing Pumpkins (Corgan)

    Here's a name you cannot forget
    Her name is Glynis, yes
    And with these tears of respect
    Conforms a sadness
    For anyone who's ever lost
    One who's dearest, and the love of a friend

    On our worried knees
    Given to all beliefs
    Scarecrows and disease haunt us all
    Ooh, bury your heads in the sand
    Ooh, bury your heads

    So have we stumbled from grace
    Are we being punished for fate
    My God is subtle and great
    He can't be wounded
    By the gossip and the hate of the frightened
    Who took their paths on the sand, yeah

    Fear that grips us all
    Gives us an awful sound
    Can't help anything but ourselves
    Ooh, bury your head in the sand
    Ooh, bury your head, yeah
    Ooh, bury your head

    Ooh, I believe in one love
    Ooh, I believe in one love
    Ooh, I believe in one love
    Yeah, yeah

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