Favourite Songs I Heard for the First Time in 2009

What were your favourite pieces of music that you heard for the first time last year?

I don’t necessarily mean music that came out last year, just that you heard it for the first time last year because it was new to you. If you care to share, you can put it in the comments following the post. I’d love to know to expand my musical horizons.

Below are a list of favourite songs I heard for the first time in 2009, enough that would fit on CD were I to have made one. Most were from musicals as I really got into them in 2009 after my classic jazz year in 2008. A few were one-off takes on television events, though, so I’ll start with one that was both. It was available on YouTube like most of my selections so I have included the videos to have the music right here for you. I also linked the songs to blog posts I did inspired by them, where I did one.

Someone Like You

from Jekyll & Hyde
Linda Eder & Frank Wildhorn on 2000 PBS Special
Linda Eder delivers a loving performance of this gorgeous song with touching lyrics, accompanied by husband Frank Wildhorn, who had composed the song. (blog post)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Upload of this video sometimes seems a bit slow so please be patient.

If You Were Gay

from Avenue Q
Rick Lyon and John Tartaglia

Love and humour, not just in song but also video spoof. (blog post)

The Internet is for Porn

from Avenue Q
Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Rick Lyon & the Guys
Possibly the funniest song I have ever heard! (blog post)

Mix Tape

from Avenue Q
Stephanie D’Abruzzo and John Tartaglia

A song that dragged my emotions up and down, enhanced by Stephanie’s nuances of acting while singing this song. (blog post)

As Long as You’re Mine

from Wicked
Idina Menzel and Norbert Leo Butz
An often overlooked song from Wicked that I only heard once I saw the musical, rather than hearing the more popular songs from it. However, I loved it immediately, especially the soft-spoken ending.

Academy Awards 2009 Introduction

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway
This number was both brilliant and unexpected in being clever, funny and spectacularly performed. My intro to the full talents of Hugh Jackman. (blog post)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Monologue Song

from Saturday Night Live November 7, 2009
Taylor Swift

How to trash everybody you want to with class and humour while being really cute about it. (blog post)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Dark Eyes

by Bob Dylan
Judy Collins
Judy Collins gives this sad Dylan song a haunting rendition. (blog post)

Better Angels

Lesley Gore
The original It’s My Party girl seriously grows up with this beautiful tune I first heard on CSI Miami (compilation video of episode shown below).

I Got a Feeling

Black Eyed Peas
Just an awesome dance song, ’nuff said cause I’m getting dancing! Best 2009 song in my opinion. (I chose the flash mob version shown on Oprah for the video cause it’s also so awesome!)

Wake-up

The Arcade Fire
I heard this song via the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are and thought they had made a pretty good choice for a theme song.

The Closest Thing to Crazy

by Mike Batt
Katie Melua
Pretty much describes what feeling in love feels like to me. (blog post)

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Gayla Peevey
I heard it on a Telus commercial and loved it immediately, a bit surprised I had never heard this 1950s seasonal classic until now. (blog post)

You’ve Gotta Have a Gimmick

from There’s No Business Like Show Business
Bernadette Peters, Julia McKenzie, Ruthie Henshall
This is probably the ultimate example of my claim that girls have all the fun songs in musicals, and the video only emphasizes the point.

Married

from Cabaret
Ron Rifkin, Michelle Pawk
A charming little song about marriage. A compact version is shown below.

Mystery

performed on the show Inside the Actor’s Studio
Hugh Laurie
A hilarious and charming example of how lyric writing sometimes feels like to me, trying to find desperate rhymes and more desperate words that conform with desperate rhymes. (blog post)

Love, Look in my Window

from Hello Dolly!
Ethel Merman

There isn’t a video for this one but the piece was written for Ethel Merman when she joined Hello Dolly! If you hear her perform it with the emotions she does, you’ll know why it was written for her. I can hardly keep from crying at points in it. Probably good I don’t have the music for that reason!

Random Acts of Kindness Challenge: A Facebook 2.0 Picture Tagging Meme

Here’s a Facebook picture tagging meme that will allow you to make a difference in the world while having fun! It’s for the real people who live life in the real world, not Facebook addicts stuck in the virtual world.

The potential of social media like Facebook and the Web 2.0 is its ability to organize people. However, there’s a lot of doubt about it because of how people use it a lot for games like traditional themed Facebook tagging memes. Nobody gets up to do anything to make difference in the world with them, and might even annoy some people.

I had tried to evolve these Facebook picture tagging memes previously with versions like Should Try and Dare to Wear, where you have to do something to fulfill them rather than just tag someone to a picture. However, this Random Acts of Kindness challenge is even better because there is a true benefit with each action taken by someone. They are also practical, costing either just a little bit of money or time. Best of all, they’ll make you feel good about yourself, and someone else feel good about life and the world!

So are you up for the challenge to tag it on and recruit your friends to make the world a better place?

Here’s how to get this graphic for your Facebook contribution to a better world:

  • Click on the picture below to get it at full size.
  • Right click on that picture and save to your computer.
  • Upload it to your Facebook profile.
  • Tag your friends!
  • Click the Back button on your browser to return to this post.

Please click here for a complete list of over 100 Facebook picture tagging memes on this site with which you can use for fun with your friends.


You may wish to hand out or leave a card with your random act of kindness (click to enlage, save and print out), although it is not customary to do so.

  • Cover another rider’s fare. The next time you’re on the bus, find someone who doesn’t have a pass and offer to pay so they can save their ticket or change.
  • Run an errand for someone. You’ll probably need to know the person/s because there is some trust required here, but your time is more valuable than your money.
  • Leave quarters at a pay phone. You can leave it on top of the phone or tape it to a RAK card.
  • Make goodie basket for seniors home. Unless you know someone at the home, it’s probably best to just buy some things because for safety’s sake, they will be cautious to take gifts out of the blue from strangers. Such is the world in which we live.
  • Make or buy lunch for a homeless person. If you don’t want to create expectations, you might want to do this where you don’t walk frequently.
  • Plug a parking meter. If you can afford more than a few dollars, you can plug the whole block! It’s even funner if you pick a busy block and make a scene. 🙂
  • Refuse to pay for a task. We all do things that people give us money for from time to time. Refuse it the next time. Or volunteer one of your professional skills.
  • Leave an extra large tip. Remember, 15% is the standard tipping rate. Make it at least 25%, eh?
  • Show up to volunteer at a building project. This may not be easy to find, especially if you live in cold weather during winter, but often, there are a lot of simple labour jobs anyone showing up can do. Just ask and they’ll probably let you. They may keep you safe away from the action, but if it’s menial, do you think those paid to do it enjoy it any more than you would?
  • Buy someone lottery tickets. This is risky cause if they win, you could feel bad. But RAKs aren’t about that. Besides, how often do you get to look someone in the eye and say “Do you feel lucky today?”
  • Pick up litter on your block. You can do this all year round, not just when tagged on Facebook, and it has real value to everyone who goes through. Better yet, organize a small group to do this regularly.
  • Make baked goods for a shelter. Shelters don’t often get home made stuff, just things out of cans and so on. Baked goods would be a nice surprise treat for people if you deliver it directly, bringing ID if they don’t know you. I’ve heard baked goods are not liked by shelters because they don’t know their origins, freshness state and so on, and that’s true if they get it in a box. But if you come with a smile on your face, and ID if they want to check, I’m sure they’ll love you for it.

You can search “random acts of kindness” for other ideas, but what I found was that a lot of them were either impractical (visit a nursing home where they won’t likely let strangers in), may not satisfy someone (giving candies to kids whose Parents are trying to teach them discipline or prevent cavities), or are just expected out of good citizens (donate seat on bus to elderly).

Share