DJ Allyn – The Soundtrack for my Life

Hangin Tree ~ Queens of the Stone Age  

Queens of the Stone Age are a rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. Originally formed under the name Gamma Ray by guitarist Josh Homme, Queens of the Stone Age developed a style of riff-oriented, heavy music which Homme described as ‘robot rock’, saying that he “wanted to create a heavy sound based on a solid jam, and just pound it into your head”. The band is frequently described as stoner rock, although they reject the term.

Queens of the Stone Age began with Josh Homme in 1996. Originally called ‘Gamma Ray’, Homme changed the name to ‘Queens of the Stone Age’ in 1997 as German power metal band Gamma Ray was threatening to sue:

“When we were making a record in 1992, under the band Kyuss, our producer Chris Goss, he would joke and say “You guys are like the Queens of the Stone Age.” The band was originally called Gamma Ray, but we got threatened with a lawsuit because someone else had it. So we were Queens of the Stone Age.”

On why the band chose the name ‘Queens of the Stone Age’ rather than ‘Kings of the Stone Age’:

Kings would be too macho. The Kings of the Stone Age wear armor and have axes and wrestle. The Queens of the Stone Age hang out with the Kings of the Stone Age’s girlfriends when they wrestle, and also it was a name given to us by Chris Goss. He gave us the name Queens of the Stone Age. Rock should be heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls. That way everyone’s happy and it’s more of a party. Kings of the Stone Age is too lopsided.

Hangin Tree

Would you like our way home
I bleed my own

Round the hangin tree
Swayin in the breeze
In the summer sun
As we two are one
Swayin

Can you see under my thumb
There you are

Round the hangin tree
Swing in the breeze
In the summer sun
As we two are one
Swing

Hey There Delilah ~ Plain White T’s  

Plain White T’s is a pop punk band, originating from DuPage County, Illinois.

Born in the suburbs of Chicago, lead singer Tom Higgenson was originally fascinated with the drums, performing in various pop and rock bands in high school. One of these groups was Harvey’s Daughter, where he met bass player Ken Fletcher. The group disbanded but another was re-formed, with Higgenson taking over lead duties as songwriter and singer. Friend and drummer Dave Tirio joined and, in the fall of 1997, the pop-punk group was formed. Plain White T’s performed around various Chicago clubs gaining a small but devout following. In the summer of 1999, Higgenson was almost killed in a car accident. The event, which resulted in a ruptured kidney and lacerated lung, gave him a newfound appreciation for life. As a result, the songwriting process grew and the band was being noticed.

The group self-released Come on Over in 2001, then jumped to Fearless for the 2002 LP Stop. Plain White T’s struggled with lineup shifts even as they toured heavily in support of the album, but were able to muster up the record All That We Needed, released through Fearless in early 2005. By that point the band’s roster had solidified with vocalist Higgenson, Tirio and Tim Lopez on guitar, drummer De’Mar Hamilton, and bassist Mike Retondo. The band next spent time on the 2005 Take Action tour alongside Sugarcult, Head Automatica, and more. They finished out the year touring with Spitalfield, joining up with Motion City Soundtrack in 2006. The enhanced EP Hey There Delilah was released that May; it contained various versions of the popular acoustic ballad “Hey There Delilah” (from All That We Needed), along with four new songs and music videos. Most of the following summer was then spent on Warped Tour before Every Second Counts, their hook-laden major-label debut for Hollywood, appeared in early September. The guys then hit the road on the popular Nintendo Fusion Tour alongside Hawthorne Heights, the Sleeping, and more.

Hey There Delilah

Hey there Delilah
What’s it like in New York City?
I’m a thousand miles away
But girl, tonight you look so pretty
Yes you do
Times Square can’t shine as bright as you
I swear it’s true

Hey there Delilah
Don’t you worry about the distance
I’m right there if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice, it’s my disguise
I’m by your side

Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me
What you do to me

Hey there Delilah
I know times are getting hard
But just believe me, girl
Someday I’ll pay the bills with this guitar
We’ll have it good
We’ll have the life we knew we would
My word is good

Hey there Delilah
I’ve got so much left to say
If every simple song I wrote to you
Would take your breath away
I’d write it all
Even more in love with me you’d fall
We’d have it all

Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far
But they’ve got planes and trains and cars
I’d walk to you if I had no other way
Our friends would all make fun of us
and we’ll just laugh along because we know
That none of them have felt this way
Delilah I can promise you
That by the time we get through
The world will never ever be the same
And you’re to blame

Hey there Delilah
You be good and don’t you miss me
Two more years and you’ll be done with school
And I’ll be making history like I do
You’ll know it’s all because of you
We can do whatever we want to
Hey there Delilah here’s to you
This one’s for you

Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me
Oh it’s what you do to me
What you do to me.

Everything Zen ~ Bush  

Bush was a Post-Grunge band from England, formed in 1992, and released their first album, Sixteen Stone in 1994.

They named the band after the place they used to live, Sheperd’s Bush, London.  In Canada, they were known as BushX because there was a 1970s band named Bush and they owned the Canadian rights to the name.  In 1997, Doomenic Trojano, the leader of the earlier band agreed to let them use the name in exchange for donating $20,000 to the Starlight Children’s Foundation and the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund.

Sixteen Stone had four hits, “Everything Zen”, “Little Things”, “Comedown”, and “Glycerine”.

Glycerine is probably the most well-known song Bush did — especially the following version taht Gavin Rossdale did during a heavy storm at the 1996 MTV Spring Break.

Everything Zen

There must be something we can eat
Maybe find another lover
Should I fly Los Angeles
Find my asshole brother

Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Dave’s on sale again
We kissy kiss in the rear view
We’re so bored you’re to blame

Try to see it once my way
Everything zen
Everything zen
I don’t think so
Everything zen
Everything zen
I don’t think so

Raindogs howl for the century
A million dollars a steak
As you search for your demi-god
And you fake with a saint
There’s no sex in your violence
There’s no sex in your violence

Try to see it once my way
Everything zen
Everything zen
I don’t think so
Everything zen
Everything zen
I don’t think so

I don’t believe that Elvis is dead, yes
I don’t believe that Elvis is dead
I don’t believe that Elvis is dead,no
I don’t believe that Elvis is, Elvis is

There’s no sex in your violence
There’s no sex in your violence
There’s no sex in your violence
There’s no sex in your v i o l e n c e!

Try to see it once my way
Everything zen
Everything zen
I don’t think so
Everything zen
Everything zen
I don’t think so
Zen,Zen,
I don’t think so, Idon’t think so

Down By The River ~ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young  

Initially formed by the trio of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, the genesis of the group lies in two 1960s rock bands, The Byrds and The Hollies, and the demise of a third, Buffalo Springfield. Friction existed between David Crosby and his bandmates in the Byrds, and he was dismissed from the Byrds in the fall of 1967.

By early 1968, Buffalo Springfield had also disintegrated over personal issues, and after aiding in putting together the band’s final album, Stephen Stills found himself unemployed by the summer. He and Crosby began meeting informally and jamming, the results of one encounter in Florida on Crosby’s schooner being the song “Wooden Ships,” composed in collaboration with another guest, Paul Kantner.

Graham Nash had been introduced to Crosby when the Byrds had toured the UK in 1966, and when the Hollies ventured to California in 1968, Nash resumed his acquaintance with Crosby. At a party, Nash asked Stills and Crosby to repeat their performance of a new song by Stills, “You Don’t Have To Cry,” with Nash improvising a second harmony part. The vocals gelled, and the three realized that they had a unique vocal chemistry.

Creatively frustrated with the Hollies, Nash decided to quit and throw his lot in with Crosby and Stills.

Down by the River

Be on my side,
I’ll be on your side,
baby
There is no reason
for you to hide
It’s so hard for me
staying here all alone
When you could be
taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me
over the rainbow,
send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

You take my hand,
I’ll take your hand
Together we may get away
This much madness
is too much sorrow
It’s impossible
to make it today.

Yeah, she could drag me
over the rainbow,
send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

Be on my side,
I’ll be on your side,
baby
There is no reason
for you to hide
It’s so hard for me
staying here all alone
When you could be
taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me
over the rainbow,
send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.