Dave Matthews Band Songs: Ranked

 If you know me, or even anything about me at all, you know I am a Dave Matthews Band fan. Since 1997! They have a very large catalogue of songs, and for the fun of it, I thought I would rank the songs from my favorite to my least favorite. I got the inspiration to do this from my mate kit10phish, because she is doing that with the Indigo Girls, of which she is a big fan of. You can find her blog here: http://kit10phish.wordpress.com

Now a disclaimer: I am a big Dave fan. A Davehead, if you will. BUT... a lot of these fan favorite songs are not on my "Awesome" list because I have heard them sooooo many times that I've just gotten exhausted of them. So don't get upset if you see YOUR favorite on my "meh" list or something.

I included songs from Dave's solo album, and a few of these also might be live-only, but if they're played a lot they ended up here.

I have set this up in terms of Awesome, Great, Good, and Meh. Originally, the categories were "Fave", "Good" "Okay" and "Not Fave." But I realized even their worst (in my opinion) songs are still pretty damn good. So please remember this is MY opinion, and probably nowhere near the same opinion as anyone else. I have unique tastes. Later, I plan on ranking their albums (not including live... there's like 50 Live Trax and other live releases and that would take way too long to try and rank). 

Awesome

Grey Street

Don't Drink The Water

Jimi Thing

Rhyme & Reason

Crush

You Might Die Trying

One Sweet World

The Stone

Halloween

**Whenever I see them live and they play these songs, I get super excited. I won't say 'freak out' because I keep my cool on the exterior. But I am always super happy.

Great

Tripping Billies

Bartender

Warehouse

Seek Up

You Never Know

Dancing Nancies

The Last Stop

Stay

Two Step

#41

Stay or Leave

Corn Bread

Lie In Our Graves

Sweet Up & Down

Drive In, Drive Out

Drunken Soldier

Shake Me Like a Monkey

You & Me

So Right

Big Eyed Fish

If Only

Sweet

#27

Dreaming Tree

Eh Hee

Rooftop

Why I Am

Squirm

You & Me

Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)

Can't Stop

She

Come Tomorrow

Diggin a Ditch

Gravedigger

Captain

Grace is Gone

Dodo

Too High

Stay or Leave

Minarets

I Did It

 

**These songs are on my top list for enjoyment when seeing them live and I am always happy to witness these get played.

 

Good 

 

Satellite

Ants Marching

Granny

Recently

Song That Jane Likes

Raven

#40

So Much to Say

Too Much

So Damn Lucky

Typical Situation

Cry Freedom

What You Are

Everyday

PNP--> Rapunzel

Pig

Out of My Hands

Old Dirt Hill

Alligator Pie

Time Bomb

Louisiana Bayou

The Idea of You

The Space Between

Broken Things

The Riff

Snow Outside

Funny The Way It Is

Lying In The Hands of God

Dive In

Spaceman

Seven

Baby Blue

That Girl Is You

Pay For What You Get

Idea of You

Virginia In The Rain

Again and Again

Come on Come on

Do You Remember

Crash Into Me

Kit Kat Jam

Busted Stuff

Save Me

Trouble

Oh

Up Up & Away

When The World Ends 

If I Had It All

Angel

Fool To Think

 

** These songs are ok, some of them are really good but just played way too much. Others are just not catchy or just not even played often enough to register on the rating scale very much.

 

Meh 

 

Where Are You Going

True Reflections

Christmas Song

I'll Back You Up

Say Goodbye

What Would You Say

Stolen Away on 55th

Some Devil

Belly Belly Nice

Mercy

Gaucho

Belly Full

Here On Out

Let You Down

Lover Lay Down

Proudest Monkey

When I'm Weary

Grey Blue Eyes

An' Another Thing

Baby

Dreams of Our Fathers

Mother Father 

Sleep to Dream Her

 

** Ok these songs aren't terrible, I just really don't prefer them, and I will skip over them if i can, or, if at a concert, these are my bathroom break songs. 

If I forgot any songs please let me know.

 

Dreamgirl

 Yesterday I asked my mate, Kit10phish, a question. I asked her, if her vision of what she likes in a woman is nothing like me, why'd she choose me?

I had never thought of that before but it was an honest question. The answer made complete sense. What you dream about isn't necessarily what you would actually wind up liking in real life. I dream of someone like Taylor Swift, but in reality she'd be too high maintenance for me (love ya Taylor no worries!). And Kit10phish would love a Karlie Kloss. But I am soooooo not like Karlie. Who am I like? Me.

I am... 5'3", 140 lbs (was lower but Oct - Dec is food time), Blonde & grey hair down to my shoulders (curly at the bottom and frizzy on top.. ugh), and very much not very girly. Don't get me wrong, I am feminine, but girly? No. I don't put barrets in my hair, I don't wear nail polish, I strongly dislike the color pink, and I walk very dykey. But I am not particularly masculine, either. I wear men's clothes and have the aforementioned Dyke walk, and from time to time have short hair (I hate how hair is used as a stereotype for sex and gender). But I lack a penis (thank god) and all that body hair that comes with being a male dude. On that Kinsey scale, if 1 were completely feminine and 10 totally masculine, I'd be a 6. Slightly more masculine than feminine, in looks. In personality and mannerisms, I'd be probably a 4.5. 

People are all different shapes, colors, sizes, etc. and just because I like things a certain way doesn't make me sexist, it just means that I like what I like. My refusal to wear nail polish because it is deemed as "girly" may come off as sexist, but it is so deeply ingrained because generally speaking most men, whose style I identify more with, do not wear nail polish.

What I'm trying to say, is that we as a society do not even notice when something is sexist or stereotyped. You have to look and see that I have boobs to know I am a woman? Well you should stop thinking of people who wear "men's" clothes and have short hair, as males. We girls can do that too. And why can't men wear skirts? Who said that only women wear those? I am trying to show the world that not all people are fitting into the mold of what they're "supposed" to look or act like, nor should anyone. Just be yourself. 

Like, if you're a girl... if you dig men's jeans because they don't have the built-in-hips (right??) why should that be "weird"? If you just did what you wanted and not what society tells you to want, you might look and act slightly different - and that's good! I am still a girl - I got the parts - but I just like what I like. I do have a shirt that is pink and I actually really like it. But it is a men's button-down with navy blue accompanying the pink. So I like to think I compromised, men's style, girl's color. But why is it a girl's color? I mean, I understand that men and women are built differently so our clothes naturally would be sized and formed differently. But colors? 

I don't like that baby boys get blue and baby girls get pink. Who says? Why? If I had a baby it would have a pastel yellow, or a pale green, as it's "theme" color. I'd paint its room with a neutral, and let the kid grow up liking whatever the fuck it wants to like. You're a boy and you play with barbies? Cool, whatever. You're a girl and you only like G.I. Joe? (Do they still have those?) Cool, whatever! I mean why do we have to fill roles?

I am very lucky to have found my mate. She is exactly perfect. Perfect in that she may not look like Taylor Swift, but no one else does either. She is her, and that is the most magnificent thing about her. Kit10phish is just who she is. And I like that. She is not "girly" (ugh) nor is she "manly" (ugh). She is feminine, definitely not masculine, but she's "sporty" and very cute. I thank my lucky stars! 

The other day my Father-In-Law-Ish-Type-Person (me & Kit10phish are not married) who has Parkinson's and therefore he is not always in his right mind/personality (thus not a sexist asshole or anything like that), didn't want to talk to us on a video call because he said, "Women chatter." Well that didn't really go over very well with us. I didn't know how to respond but she called him out on it. It's just so deeply ingrained in all of us. Can we ever break free?

Best of What's Around

 I am here to tell you that if you make excuses not to do something, there's also always a reason to do it. 

I have asthma (cough variant), and large boobs. I do not like having either thing. But do I let that stop me from running as fast as I can on the treadmill? No.

For asthma I take 3 medications. Qvar inhaler, Albuterol inhaler, and Montelukast pills. I slowly but surely stretched my lungs so that now I can run at an 8.3 MPH on the treadmill and not be winded or out of breath. I do this because I take my medications everyday, and I worked my way, slowly, to that speed. I started running at a 4, and then I'd go up a speed when my lungs no longer felt like they would implode. It took time but it was worth it. Take that, lung disease!!!

As for the boobs... well in 2007 I tried to get rid of most of them, but the Doctor couldn't get as much stuff out of there as I would have liked so they are still big. I dislike them a lot. They hurt and you can't run unless...

What do you do when you buy a new piece of furniture but there's no room in the vehicle for it? That's right - you strap 'em down! Which is exactly what I do. I wear 3 bras when I run. The first one is a Glamorize regular non-wire, the 2nd is a tight fitting medium sized sports bra, and the 3rd is a small sports bra. You want the tighter small one on top, and you pull it up so that the bottom is in the middle, so that the top part of your chest doesn't shake, rattle & roll as well. Done.

So I have these 2 seemingly disabling qualities about myself, yet I do not let it ruin my progress toward achieving my proper fitness levels. So to anyone who says, "I can't run, I have asthma" I say - go get medications, start out slow, work your way up. To gals who say "I can't run, I have very large boobs" I say - go get yourself  regular bra, a medium sports bra, and a small sports bra. Tape those fuckers down. Then run, run, run! Run, Forrest, run!

Sweet Up & Down

 So Thursday we weighed & measured ourselves before the end of a 24 hour fast, and we were horrified. I gained 4 lbs, and inches everywhere. Today, we decided to try again after eating just to see if it is the same or worse - and we saw we'd both lost some of the weight we'd put on. Not all of it, but some. Not sure what is happening there. I don't see how we gained weight when we do 24-hour fasts two times a week, run 1 mile every morning, lift weights for 10 minutes, elliptical for 10 minutes, every morning, and intermittently throughout the day do ab exercises on the floor. What the ever living fuck!

I started running on the treadmill in February of 2020. I started out weighing 165 at that time. I got down to as low as 133 lbs (August or September) before now bouncing back up to 141. Sigh. October through December is bad because it's candy & yummy food&bev time. Then you spend the next 6 months working all of that off. But we continued our exercise throughout that whole period. In fact my mate has ran 1 mile every single day since Jan 2, 2014. Everyday. That is over 1000 days now.

I did not create a New Years resolution that has anything to do with physical health, because I'm more apt to put exercise & diet into a routine if there is less fake pressure to do so. Speaking of pressure, why is my blood pressure so high again more still?! What gives! Is it sodium? I try not to ingest much of that but let's face it - it's added to like, everything that goes into your mouth (except for fruit & vegetables I guess). It's been hovering right around 135/82 ish. The yellow zone. Not great.

In other news I let a co-worker friend listen to the music I made and he liked it which was really cool. I am never sure of it, it always sounds 'weird' or 'off' to me when I listen to what I created. I listen to myself quite frequently, but that's just because it takes me a while to figure out what I need to change or do differently. 

Been listening to a lot of Psybass (favorite artist in this style is Symbolico) and even Dubstep (favorite artist in this style is Bassnectar). I wish I knew how to make this kind of music. I don't understand the structure and timing of these genres, and how do you get such a deep, rich sub bass sound? Without over-doing it with the limiter? I might compress the bass too much and then it sounds flat. I tried a few hybrid-wobble-type weird tracks and they did not turn out well. 

I am currently drawing the album art. If it is in fact going to be an album. I don't think I could find any sort of label that would accept my eclectic style though. It would have to be a self release. My mate wants me to put my stuff up on Spotify. I don't know if it's THAT good though. We'll see what I do.

I would also mention the "storming of the US Capitol" that occurred Weds the 6th but that shit makes me so incredibly angry at humans. I think maybe that is why my blood pressure is so high lately. I am just an angry person marching around disliking my fellow mankind so much. So much! And the serious hypocrisy of BLM vs. Trumpers is just insane. I don't even want to get into it.

We'll see what I do!

Here Is How I Feel

 Symptoms:

- Dizziness/Lightheadedness

- Pressure in the head/Dull headache

- Slightly blurred vision

- Nausea

- Slightly elevated blood pressure

 

I have no idea why I'm feeling gross. It started yesterday afternoon. I thought/hoped it would go away after I woke up from sleep, but I think I actually woke up because of the symptoms a few times in the night. 

I thought maybe it was a migraine. Nausea, blurry vision, the light from my computer monitors at work hurt my eyes today, and I didn't listen to much music because it made the headache worse. A friend said I should ask my doctor about it. Maybe it's a high blood pressure-induced headache? I don't know if there is such a thing.

I'm not allowed to look up health stuff or ailments because I have been known in the past to get obsessed with what might be wrong with me (sometimes people use the word 'hypochondriac' but that definition is more crazy than I). I am trying not to be too worried about this, but my main problem is that everything is driving me crazy.

The pressure in my head is so annoying that thinking about things hurts. Watching the news, being angry on Twitter, it's all too much and I am overwhelmed. I want to vomit every time I think about anything on a real serious level. That's another reason why I didn't listen to music for very long today. 

I sure hope it goes away. I think if it is hypertension related it will go away if I can get my blood pressure under control. I have medications I take at certain times, but I'm going to fit one more in there (I used to don't worry) to see if it helps. If my BP goes down but this weird thing continues, I'll know it's being caused by something else.

If I could explain how I felt, I'd say my head feels "weird" like there is a hole in it, or like something is missing. It's similar to that headache you get when you're going through SSRI withdrawals. Almost like I could say that my head is feeling nauseous. 

Why I gotta feel icky while COVID19 is out and about?? I can't go to the doctor. I haven't left the house, really, since March 15 2020. Not about to start going places now! Especially since the news today announced that Arizona has the most COVID... IN THE WORLD right now. Ok if I think about it I'm going to puke so I'd better go now. 

Net Names

 How many of you have had more than one username for things on the internet? My mate has had exactly ONE username for everything. I can't decide if that's better or worse than my, like, 20 usernames for different things. 

Do you remember your first one? Which one is/was your favorite? Here is a list, not complete probably, of the usernames I've had on the internet for different thing over the years.

Agent96 (my very first username for the internet)

Chupacabra

Redgloam (also my old artist name for music)

Plastikfear

Killthief

Twodarkspirals

2Spirals

Alien Navel Cord

AllGreyedOut

KidronTheGreat

Icebear12

Octobear810

I am sure there are more, but those are the ones I can remember at this moment. I'm sure if you were to google those, you'd see a bunch of stupid stuff that I posted in my youth or something. I feel like I want to find everything with those names and scrub it from the internet. I think I'd just like to have ONE username. 

Just thought that would be interesting. I am envious of my mate's ONE username her whole life. You know, there SHOULD be something where you could scrub yourself clean on the internet. You put in a username and validate that it's you, and hit "submit" - and tada! Your username and all your old crap has been removed from all over the web. Wouldn't that be great?

DJ Mixes, too!

 I am going to preface this by saying I am by NO means a DJ or anything of the sort. I do however like to create mixes under the moniker Alien Navel Cord. I do all styles of electronic but my favorite is psychill.

http://mixcloud.com/aliennavelcord

Today I am uploading a mix I did (I do these just on the computer, I don't have fancy DJ equipment) that features artists from the Progg'N'Roll records label. It's a 2-hour mix which is pretty long. Mine are usually 30-60 minutes but this is a New Years special. 

My Music. No, really.

 So.. one of my problems in life is that I always feel misunderstood. I also have a small creative streak. I feel like I can express myself through making music. The problem is, I don't know how to make it. I just do what I think sounds good. If I had lots of $ I'd take some production courses. I don't have time for that either. 

So I just use software on the computer to make stuff that I like. I tried to share with my Facebook friends and family but no one seems to want to even check it out for some reason. I really do like constructive criticism and since I know the music I create is anything but perfect, I think it would be easy to provide feedback.

So, you, dear reader, are invited to have a listen to the recent creations that I've posted here, and tell me what you think. Don't be mean, just be honest (nicely of course, I'm just a baby).

https://www.soundclick.com/artist/default.cfm?bandID=1471158 

 

If that link doesn't work for any reason, try http://www.soundclick.com/artist/manikfox

That might work too. Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it. Drop me a comment here.

My Goals for 2021

 

YAY 2021 is here finally! It was not as bad for me as it has been for some though so I thank my lucky stars every day.

 

First, let's go over my resolutions from 2019 for 2020. Well… I failed at these 3 things I chose to work on. Maybe not entirely, but I fell short of what I thought would be goals I could really accomplish.

 

I set 3 goals for myself that were unlike the usual goals people have, of dieting, exercising, etc.. I wanted to be realistic. Besides I already diet and exercise (well no fasting from Oct - Dec for obvs reasons). #1 was read more books. #2 was "unicorn my life" by being more efficient, positive, and cheeky. #3 was be authentic. No more dishonesty or hiding things or being in denial to myself and others. #4 an honorable mention was to travel and go to a baseball spring training game. HAHAHAHAH

 

 

1. I read some books. Partially. I read a full mystery/detective novel, I read half of a book about Prohibition in the USA and a partial book about life after death for pets & their messages to us from 'beyond'. So.. Not exactly 100% fulfilling my goal but I did make the attempt a lot better than previous years. I love to read. Finding time is just… difficult.
2. Unicorning my life wasn't as easy, either, because a lot of the things the "Unicorn your Life" book suggested involved other people, and it was just me & my mate and our 3 cats this year.
3. Being authentic wasn't too bad… I was better at that this year than any year previous. But I still struggle with developing a way to tell if I am in a manic episode. It usually falls on my mate's responsibility to tell me when I am behaving inappropriately. I need to work on this.
4. Honorable mention: Travel. Oh goodness. This one was totally not my fault at all.

 

 

So it looks like I made some progress but have some things to work on.

 

Now for my "resolutions" (I hate that word. I'm never "resolute" about anything - I'm a bipolar Gemini).

 

#1. I need to work on doing things full-heartedly. What I mean by that, is that right now I'm always rushing through things, or trying to do things in the laziest way possible. Chores, work, relationships, I need to buckle down and be more thorough and do things with whole heart. So my first resolution for 2021 is to stop being so fucking lazy. One of the reasons I am like this is because if I am manic, I am in a hurry - time moves way too slow for me so I get frustrated. I need to slow down and take it easy. Mania strategies would help. Also, I grew up in a hoarder household where my dad was lazy and didn’t organize or clean. I need to keep in mind my motivations for doing whatever activity full-heartedly.

 

 

#2. This one is a do-able possibility for 2020, post-vaccination: I'd like to purchase a vehicle. I had my piece of shit towed away in September, and now we only have one car that I can't drive because it's a stick shift, which, fuck those and the people who decide to make them. Yuck. I'd like a decent car, that would be less than 130k miles on it, less than $5000, and preferably no prior damage. I plan on (after a vaccine) looking at cars on the apps, and if I see a good one, I'm telling my mate so she can ask questions and get a carfax, etc. And we're taking it slow and easy, in order to ensure we don't get a lemon.

 

#3. Keep in better touch with my side of the family. I barely ever like to talk on the phone, and for some reason old people do not like to use texting or any other messenger service. So Instead I have to find time and find the will to  make phone calls to both my dads. I spoke with my Step-dad and my Dad on Christmas which was nice, but it made me feel bad because I know my mother would get disappointed with me if she was alive, to know I was not talking much to them or my sister. So I'm realllly going to try and convince them that I use text messaging waaaay more than the phone call bit, so they need to get on it, if they are to hear from me more often. And if I can't… I will have to be a big girl and call them. My sister is good with texts, being that she is an X-er like me. I need to put it into my routine. Do it before it's dark and I'm tired. If I find I have nothing to talk about, I can make a list of things before hand to say. 

 

#4. I need to stop trying to be 'right' all the time, with the last word, perpetuating arguments. I have this need to always explain myself, because I feel like no one understands me and maybe if I just explain why I did things the way I did them, everyone would suddenly understand and see that I am right in my actions. But it doesn't work out that way. Instead, me trying to explain myself just perpetuates arguments and makes things worse. So if I just took accountability instead of needing to prove things, it would make things a lot easier for all parties involved. 

 

So… there. 4 things I think I can work on successfully this year.

 

How to accomplish goal 1: Break things up into baby steps. Ask for help if I need it. Be positive, not negative. Admit accomplishments. Use mania strategies if that is why I am feeling lazy/half-hearted.

 

How to accomplish goal 2: Get a vaccine. Be patient. Listen to my mate. Don't be pushy.

 

How to accomplish goal 3: Make a call once a month to the dads and the sister, even if I feel like there's no time for a phone conversation. Work it into a routine each month. Same day each month even, might make a good routine. Disengage if the call is going too long so I don't feel lateness-phobia or an urgency. Maybe do the calls while it's light out so I don't feel exhausted after each call.

 

How to accomplish goal 4:  Maybe a mantra I can repeat to myself each time I get the "I'm always right" itch would help remind me to let it go. I need to put my arguments on the back burner because half the time I don't even know what my ultimate goal is. I just have to b be right about everything. So something to remind me to chill out on stuff. I don't always need to be right. 

 

2020 was actually, in all positivity, the least stressful year for me. I know it was not that way for most people. Most people lost their jobs and had no money and it was awful. Me and my mate are very very fortunate to work for a company that switched us to remote working when the pandemic got bad, and we continued to earn a living, from home. That gave us a lot more freedoms, too, that I am thankful for. The freedom to get a new kitty and spend time with him and the others. Freedom to shower at lunch time during the day. Not having to get your hair all ready. Working in your pajamas and sweats & tees. Wearing hats while I work. Having things like groceries, restaurants, and alcohol delivered to us. Not having to socialize and feel awkward all the time (being an introvert is hard - the world belongs to extroverts!).

 

So I am super thankful for my job. We even got some bonuses, and I got a yearly raise in July. So 2020 for us was actually not that bad. I did have plans to travel, which won't happen until we're vaccinated now, but other than that, it actually wasn't as bad as the rest of the world feels it is, for us anyway.

 

We did donate $ to causes that were important to us. To help animals, and people.

 

I feel like 2020 , looking back, will have changed a lot of things in our society (at least here in America). It was a difficult year for many, but I think our resilience, and our true adaptability, means things will never be the same again.

 

I even started wearing rings and more jewelry. It just feels good.