DJ Allyn – The Soundtrack for my Life

I Remember You ~ Skid Row  

Skid Row is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1986 in Toms River, New Jersey. They are named after Phil Lynott and Gary Moore’s first band. They were most successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s when their first two albums with lead singer Sebastian Bach and drummer Rob Affuso were multi-platinum successes. Their current line-up consists of Johnny Solinger (vocals), Dave “The Snake” Sabo (guitar), Scotti Hill (guitar), Rachel Bolan (bass) and Dave Gara (drums). As of the end of 1996 the band has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.

I Remember You

Woke up to the sound of pouring rain
The wind would whisper and I’d think of you
And all the tears you cried, that called my name
And when you needed me I came through

I paint a picture of the days gone by
When love went blind and you would make me see
I’d stare a lifetime into your eyes
So that I knew you were there for me
Time after time you were there for me

Remember yesterday – walking hand in hand
Love letters in the sand – I remember you
Through the sleepless nights and every endless day
I’d wanna hear you say – I remember you

We spend the summer with the top rolled down
Wished ever after would be like this
You said I love you babe, without a sound
I said I’d give my life for just one kiss
I’d live for your smile and die for your kiss

Remember yesterday – walking hand in hand
Love letters in the sand – I remember you
Through the sleepless nights and every endless day
I’d wanna hear you say – I remember you

We’ve had our share of hard times
But that’s the price we paid
And through it all we kept the promise that we made
I swear you’ll never be lonely

Woke up to the sound of pouring rain
Washed away a dream of you
But nothing else could ever take you away
‘Cause you’ll always be my dream come true
Oh my darling, I love you

Remember yesterday – walking hand in hand
Love letters in the sand – I remember you
Through the sleepless nights and every endless day
I’d wanna hear you say – I remember you

Remember yesterday – walking hand in hand
Love letters in the sand – I remember you
Through the sleepless nights and every endless day
I’d wanna hear you say – I remember you

• Audio from the 1989 album, Skid Row:

Truckin’ ~ Grateful Dead  

The Grateful Dead were an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, jazz, psychedelia, space rock and gospel—and for live performances of long musical improvisation. “Their music,” writes Lenny Kaye, “touches on ground that most other groups don’t even know exists.”

The Grateful Dead’s fans, some of whom followed the band from concert to concert for years, are known as Deadheads and have been renowned for their dedication to the band’s music. Many fans referred to the band simply as “the Dead”. As of 2003, the remaining band members who had been touring under the name “The Other Ones” changed their official group name to “The Dead”. Deadheads continue to use the nickname to refer to all versions of the band.

Their musical influences varied widely; in concert recordings or on record albums one can hear psychedelic rock (in the late sixties), the blues, rock nuggets, country-western, bluegrass, country-rock, and although they rarely played jazz music, the band certainly borrowed for their music the kind of long improvisatory sequences that jazz artists such as Charles Mingus and John Coltrane perfected in the 1950s and 1960s. These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead “the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world.”

Truckin’

Written by band members Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and lyricist Robert Hunter, “Truckin’” molds classic Grateful Dead rhythms and instrumentation with lyrics that use the band’s misfortunes on the road as a metaphor for getting through the constant changes in life. Its climactic refrain, “What a long, strange trip it’s been,” has achieved widespread cultural use in the years since the song’s release.

Truckin’ got my chips cashed in. Keep truckin’, like the do-dah man
Together, more or less in line, just keep truckin’ on.

Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street.
Chicago, New York, Detroit and it’s all on the same street.
Your typical city involved in a typical daydream
Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings.

Dallas, got a soft machine; Houston, too close to New Orleans;
New York, got the ways and means; but just won’t let you be,

Most of the cats that you meet on the street speak of true love,
Most of the time they’re sittin’ and cryin’ at home.
One of these days they know they gotta get goin’
Out of the door and down on the street all alone.

Truckin’, like the do-dah man. Once told me “You’ve got to play your hand”
Sometimes the cards ain’t worth a damn, if you don’t lay’em down,

Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me, What a long, strange trip it’s been.

What in the world ever became of sweet Jane?
She lost her sparkle, you know she isn’t the same
Livin’ on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine,
All a friend can say is “Ain’t it a shame?”

Truckin’, up to Buffalo. Been thinkin’, you got to mellow slow
Takes time, you pick a place to go, and just keep truckin’ on.

Sittin’ and starin’ out of the hotel window.
Got a tip they’re gonna kick the door in again
I’d like to get some sleep before I travel,
But if you got a warrant, I guess you’re gonna come in.

Busted, down on Bourbon Street, Set up, like a bowlin’ pin.
Knocked down, it get’s to wearin’ thin. They just won’t let you be

You’re sick of hangin’ around and you’d like to travel;
Get tired of travelin’ and you want to settle down.
I guess they can’t revoke your soul for tryin’,
Get out of the door and light out and look all around.

Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me, What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Truckin’, I’m a goin’ home. Whoa whoa baby, back where I belong,
Back home, sit down and patch my bones, and get back truckin’ on.

• Audio from the 1970 album, American Beauty:

Give Me Just a Little More Time ~ Chairmen of the Board  

Chairmen of the Board is a Detroit, Michigan based soul music group active mostly in the 1970s, and is still touring today.

General Norman Johnson (born 23 May 1943, Norfolk, Virginia) had a hit as the lead singer of The Showmen in the early 1960s, with the New Orleans rock and roll anthem “It Will Stand” and Carolina Beach classic “39-21-46″.

When Holland/Dozier/Holland left Motown in 1967 to establish their own Invictus/Hot Wax group of record labels, they teamed Johnson up with Eddie Custis, Danny Woods and Canadian born Harrison Kennedy as the new company’s flagship act, under the appropriate name “Chairmen of the Board”. Custis left the group after their second album.

Though they all had a turn at lead vocals, it was Johnson’s quirky hiccup-laden style and his songwriting which became increasingly showcased, with the group selling a million plus copies of their single, “Give Me Just a Little More Time”.

Give Me Just a Little More Time

Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow
Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow

Life’s too short to make a mistake
Let’s think of each other and hesitate
Young and impatient we may be
There’s no need to act foolishly
If we part our hearts won’t forget it
Years from now we’ll surely regret it

Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow
Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow

You’re young and you’re in a hurry
You’re eager for love but don’t you worry
We both want the sweetness in life
But these things don’t come overnight
Don’t give up cos love’s been slow
Boy, we’re gonna succeed with another blow

Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow
Baby please baby
Baby please baby

Love is that mountain we must climb
Let’s climb it together your hand in mine
We haven’t known each other too long
But the feeling I have is oh so strong
I know we can make it there’s no doubt
We owe it to ourselves to find it out

Just, Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow
Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow

Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow
Baby, please baby
Baby, please baby

Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow
Give me just a little more time
And our love will surely grow

• Audio from the 1970 album, Chairmen of the Board:

Democracy ~ Leonard Cohen  

Leonard Cohen is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet, novelist, and artist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often deals with the exploration of religion, isolation, sexuality and complex interpersonal relationships.

Musically, Cohen’s earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1967 album, Songs of Leonard Cohen) were rooted in European folk music. In the 1970s, his material encompassed pop, cabaret and world music. Since the 1980s his high baritone voice has evolved into lower registers (bass baritone and bass), with accompaniment from electronic synthesizers and female backing singers. Over two thousand renditions of Cohen’s songs have been recorded. He has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian honour. While giving the speech at his induction into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008, Lou Reed described Cohen as belonging to the “highest and most influential echelon of songwriters.”

Cohen was born in 1934 in Westmount, Montreal, Quebec, into a middle-class Jewish family. His father was of Polish ancestry. His mother, of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, emigrated from Lithuania. He grew up in Westmount on the Island of Montreal. His father, Nathan Cohen, owned a substantial Montreal clothing store, and died when Leonard was nine years old. Like many other Jewish families with names like Cohen, Kahn, and Kagan, Cohen’s family claimed descent from the Kohanim: “I had a very Messianic childhood,” he told Richard Goldstein in 1967. “I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest.” He attended Herzliah High School, where he studied with poet Irving Layton. As a teenager he learned to play the guitar, subsequently forming a country-folk group called the Buckskin Boys. His father’s will provided Leonard with a modest trust income, sufficient to allow him to pursue his literary ambitions.

Democracy

In 1992, Cohen released The Future, which urges (often in terms of biblical prophecy) perseverance, reformation, and hope in the face of grim prospects. Three tracks from the album – “Waiting for the Miracle”, “The Future” and “Anthem” – were featured in the movie Natural Born Killers.

In the title track, Cohen prophesies impending political and social collapse, reportedly as his response to the L.A. unrest of 1992: “I’ve seen the future, brother: It is murder.” In “Democracy,” Cohen criticizes America but says he loves it: “I love the country but I can’t stand the scene.” Further, he criticizes the American public’s lack of interest in politics and addiction to television: “I’m neither left or right/I’m just staying home tonight/getting lost in that hopeless little screen.”

http://djallyn.org/media/leonard-cohen_democracy.flv

It’s coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It’s coming from the feel
that this ain’t exactly real,
or it’s real, but it ain’t exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It’s coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don’t pretend to understand at all.
It’s coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It’s coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin’
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It’s coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It’s here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it’s here they got the spiritual thirst.
It’s here the family’s broken
and it’s here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It’s coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we’ll be making love again.
We’ll be going down so deep
the river’s going to weep,
and the mountain’s going to shout Amen!
It’s coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on …

I’m sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can’t stand the scene.
And I’m neither left or right
I’m just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I’m stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I’m junk but I’m still holding up this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

• Audio from the 1992 album, The Future: