Songs Sammy Would Love

fionmul: 😌

• judd.baker +1 — love some Glen Campbell. I had not heard this song before
• Edward James +1 — For those who know the Sammy deep lore, I feel like this would be his preferred state to have existed in in the summer of 2022. Wandering the countryside in the state of deep existential depression. Quintessential male experience. An old country song is a great submission, but I think this specific one is what elevates it from a genre pick to a more inspired Targeted pick.
• Joseph Harvey +1 — This was a stunner - I could picture this cutting to Sammy's heart. Lyrics are mysterious and open to interpretation which I like.
• Claire +1 — I’d never heard this song before and I loved it. Struck me as quite Sammy coded musically but especially lyrically. Really beautiful, this is one I think I’ll return to
• shea nowicki +1
• SamRobertsND +1 — Like a Komodo dragon stalking its prey, this one caught up to me. I'm more familiar with Glenn Campbell's 70s stuff, and on the first pass, I thought "nice try, Sammy stereotype!" In my pride, I wanted to prove resistant to its charms. And yet, as I listened to the playlist several times over, I found myself spending more and more time on this number. The lyrics are fantastic ("you're moving on the back roads by the rivers of my memory" - that is really great stuff). This country pop sound just seizes me on a pre-rational level, but the beat is also just so enchanting. Something you happened upon here, intentionally or unintentionally, is that I LOVE songs with a quick, driving beat (e.g. Mick Fleetwood pounding that bass drum is what makes so many Fleetwood Mac songs work for me). The bass guitar and accompanying picking here are too much too deny. It may be a stereotype, but dang if it didn't claw its way tooth and nail up the pack and onto the podium. Bronze!! 🥉
• fionmul 0 — Dr. Sammy, gentle forever on the St. Joseph River of our mind

Edward James: Sunday Morning 102.3 baby

• Sam Ary +3
• Regina Scime +1
• Joseph Harvey +1 — Regina coded submission. Wasn't sold at the beginning, but man does it get going. Could foresee some strong Sammy appreciation for this.
• Claire +1 — At first one might think Sammy would be super into this sort of song as a bit. In fact, we’ve probably all seen him do some sort of effusive gospel/preacher bit before. So that initial read is not entirely wrong. But like an ogre, Sammy has layers, and there’s a deeper layer that is really sensitive and receptive to spiritual realities and that I think is really moved by this sort of music and lyrics. Really great read of the theme by whoever submitted this
• SamRobertsND +1 — I think this is Eddie, so I'll address him. This artist was a smart pick (Patrick, you did NOT have to go so hard on that, holy crap .... sing it, Brother Star!!! [Eddie gets this and that's all that matters]). It works as Gospel but also stands on its own as solid R&B. I was researching early 1900s fair music one time (part of inquiry into carousel design, obv) and was surprised by how much was popular hymns; white people eventually lost a taste for religious themes in every day music, but black people haven't, and they're the realest for it. Most importantly, however, this song made me think of listening to 102.3FM and going to the Linden Grill with Eddie. Consequently, it made me think of how much I deeply resonate with him on so many personality quirks/interests, how sorry I am not to have known him earlier in my time here, and how much I love and will miss him. When things get difficult, we can trust that we "will triumph over the Enemy, because God said yes you can." Gold!! 🏅
• fionmul 0 — Perhaps a secret Sami genre I didn’t know about, can’t wait to see what he thinks.
• judd.baker -1 — To paraphrase Joseph Harvey during the Claire round: if this is a part of Sammy’s musical landscape, it’s a part I’m unfamiliar with

• Regina Scime +1
• Edward James +1 — I think this is the most inspired pick (other than my own of course 😎). I can hear Sammy giggling and saying “awesome” after nearly every single line of this song. Not only does it paint a vivid picture in specific language I know he would be tickled by, it also has just an absolutely incredible rhythm to it. In another world, I can imagine Sammy romancing his long lost South African love interest to this. Alas, a future, which like the train itself, has already departed the station.
• Joseph Harvey +1 — Absolutely banging submission. Captivating throughout its runtime, beautiful spoken word delivery and excellent musicianship. I was hoping for an African submission from someone, as that's an essential niche in the Sammy musical matrix, and this did not disappoint.
• Claire +1 — I feel like this is the sort of niche song that Sammy could really get into, bc it’s both musically interesting and also expresses a concrete, particular, cultural/historical moment
• SamRobertsND +1 — Pardon my french, but any lesser words would be unjust: this f**king blew me away. This is a perfect work of performance art. The growing percussion is brimming with dread, evoking the terror of the coal train. The lyrics drip out of the music. The extended/freeform brass section leads into palpably emotional singing, more crying out than anything else. The thundering finale is...how do you even describe it? Fury? Grief? Remembrance? Perhaps all three. As I said in another comment, I love songs that tell a story. Here, the song itself IS the story, or rather it's the whole performance rather than the lyrics alone. That might not make full sense, but it's hard to put into words what I think this accomplishes on emotional and sensual levels. I would've been entertained by a random African song but not mesmerized as I have been here. This pick was a masterstroke, edged out only by a deeper cut. Silver!! 🥈
• fionmul 0 — Any song that says “hinterland” I can appreciate. And that was some sexily elite trumpet playing dayum (in one of the 12 songs that happened in those 10 min) I just know Sami will eat this up.
• shea nowicki -1 — Listening to this while driving is tough.

shea nowicki: Sammy, I thought you might appreciate knowing that this is the only round so far where I had to create an actual playlist to weigh my options. A whole discernment experience...and Caamp, in the end, prevailed

• fionmul +2 — I think this is a great Caamp selection, a glimmering example of choosing from your own favorites. The lyrics are really great. You can so easily read it in a spiritual lens, perhaps it was intended. Reading the words and pondering Sts Peter and Paul and the homily the priest gave on Peter today, I could hear Peter (perhaps Sammy too) singing this as he staggers forward with fear and trembling. And lastly this is an example of Caamp singing more gently and in such a way that the uniqueness of his voice is very fitting and raw and lovely even. The ending provides a hopeful mood.
• ared56 +1
• judd.baker 0 — I am not aware of Sammy’s thoughts on Caamp, so I could be way off here, but it just doesn’t strike me as his style
• Edward James 0 — To be completely honest, I don’t peg Sammy as a big fan of this style. I’m sure the content itself will resonate though.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — If Caamp didn't give away this submitter, 'discernment' in the comment sure did. I think Sammy would like but not love. It's a little slow for me to my own enjoyment, withholding upvote
• SamRobertsND 0 — Aw, so sweet! Your discernment paid off, this is a great number. This is a perfect marriage of lyrics and sound imo. This is the sort of song I would listen to when I'm feeling really pensive and need to be by myself, walking up to Grotto at 11pm or something. It's also the sort of music my sister loves, so it is endearing to me on that level as well. Assuming the vocals don't annoy me (these don't haha), I will never not like this sort of acoustic music. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and this lovely addition to the repertoire. You nailed it!

Joseph Harvey: I’m hoping this constitutes a somewhat rare intersection on Sammy’s and my musical Venn diagram

• Edward James +1 — On my listen through, I had this firmly in the middle of the pack. But in writing my comments on each song, I’ve realized that there are certain elements of this which I think will move it up in estimation when compared against the other others. This is a field with a lot of deeper songs, and one like this that is fun, witty, and outlandish, while still being serious and incredibly catchy is worth a vote.
• ared56 +1
• fionmul 0 — Country-singing, bareback-riding Air Force brat? Be still my heart! I enjoyed reading his bio. The research I am doing on each of these songs feels fitting for Sammy’s category. BRB gonna set my pomodoro method timer.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Demon horses are just cool
• Claire 0 — Didn’t have a vote for this but I really liked it as a read of the theme bc it plays into the classic Sammy Wild West bit and yet it’s not just a generic cowboy song, it’s a mythical narrative
• SamRobertsND 0 — Montesquieu once said England is a republic hiding under a monarchy, and this is a Sting song hiding under a country western song, as you know full well, Joseph. Just for once, however, I won't tease you, as you did really well here. I love some of Chris LeDoux's other songs, so you picked the right artist out of the country haystack. I've said several times that for these "Songs X would love" rounds, you should really look for intersection of interests rather than a random pick, and the former clearly led you in the right direction here (I hate a ton of country music, so that's a dangerous guessing game). This is a deeply Sammy-coded song: ballad about deadly man and beast in the Western wilderness, Cormac McCarthy would be proud. I think we agree on more music than you'd think (I half expected some Aquariumcore), but this is definitely the closest point of intersection, only beat out by a few others that really did it for me. You can hang up your spurs and hat with pride. Runner Up!!

• judd.baker +1 — Excellent choice. I loved this and I feel that Sammy will too
• ared56 +1
• Edward James 0 — A deep cut city pop song was something I considered as well, but I think would be too cliché coming from me. I really liked this one in particular, and I think Sammy as well would appreciate the vocal performance. I think this one is also a winner, but just beaten out in a field of absolutely fantastic submission.
• fionmul 0 — The very beginning had me like “am I being rickrolled” I’d throw down at the club in Tokyo to this/do drunk Romaji karaoke of it
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Slightly more vintage J pop seems like the right vibe here vs. the more modern other submissioon
• Claire 0 — Important element of Sammycore: a funky beat. And for all his love of America we mustn’t neglect his deep appreciation for Japanese culture. Then again…are not the Japanese the cowboys of the east?
• SamRobertsND 0 — I really thought I was going to be the only Japanese submission this round, but Nature finds a way. I think this is Claire? Such acumen befits her, and indeed, I do like me some City Pop. Thanks to her, we got a family tree of Japanese pop in this playlist (both entries are downstream from the Kayōkyoku genre & Haruomi Hosono in particular, I think). As they did with baseball, the Japanese took readily to American jazz & funk, creating this cool sound that dominated their musicscape, especially in the early 80s. This is probably going to be one of the more unjust and hypocritical no votes, especially from others' perspective. I like this song and am impressed by how on the same wavelength you were as me, but in the big world of Jpop, I like the more Yellow Magic Orchestra evolutionary strand of my song much more (this is definitely Eddie’s strand tho), & other strong entries won out. Forgive the electoral slight here and know that you still nailed it in the main, senpai.

• shea nowicki +1
• judd.baker 0 — I really liked this song. I’m not 100% positive where it falls on the Sammy “like-to-love” spectrum and I’m curious to hear his thoughts. But for me personally I thought this was great
• Edward James 0 — This is so smooth and buttery. Sammy loves a genre song with a good groove. I feel like this one will just get beaten out by others, though, although I must note that I personally really really loved it and want to check out more by this band
• fionmul 0 — This seems to be a Corey and Sami type intersection which is fun. This reminds me of like slow driving in the city at night with the windows down.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Zero impression
• SamRobertsND 0 — When in doubt, go back to the well, Regina, and you drew up a bucket of groovy waters. I was talking with Claire about how I really love funk; idk how evident that is in most music I share or am known to like (I almost posted a song from Shinyribs, my current band obsession, which is country rock-funk fusion). This is a song I would listen to walking through Howard Park on a nice Sunday, or possibly while doing work at a coffee shop. I bet you could've gotten me with a niche classical piece as well. At this point in ML, i think it's safe to say we have pretty different tastes lol, but everyone has some overlap somewhere, and you eventually found it. A splendid submission.

• fionmul +1 — Seems well known enough to be a sus submission, esp in the lakes region. But as Judd would say, “good shout” nonetheless. And as a hoe for history who needed to know even more than I already do, this sent me to Google and Wikipedia and YouTube. Just as Dr. Roberts would have wanted. (no distress signal?? Legend indeed)
• shea nowicki +1
• judd.baker 0 — There’s zero chance Sammy hasn’t heard this song before, but it does seem like an excellent clocking of his tastes, so I will choose to remain neutral
• Edward James 0 — Since I have to assume this was submitted without knowing for sure if he knows the song, I have to note it’s a really really great choice. But I also know how deeply familiar he is with it already.
• SamRobertsND 0 — You played the game, Sam; I respect it. This forced me to listen to the song more closely than I normally do, and I found more to like about it than I had before (there's some very cool synth that I hadn't noticed before). You also did well in that I really do love Gordon Lightfoot, especially his later work from the 90s; there's some Prine-level songwriting in there I'd argue. As the Chris LeDoux entry gets right, I love a song that tells a story that is also an existential trip, and this one does it better than almost any ("Does anyone know where the love of God when the waves turn the minutes to hours"; like, who comes up with that???). A fantastic entry from a man with an even more fantastic first name.
• Regina Scime -1 — Downvoting only because I feel like Sammy knows this song
• Joseph Harvey -1 — The archetypal 'Songs Mike Whitman Would Love,' and pretty close to the mark for Sammy, but downvoting because everyone who has seen a Great Lake knows this song

ared56: Did he know there was a full version? We will find out.

• Regina Scime +1 — I have to give this an upvote cause it was so random and so funny
• judd.baker +1 — This was definitely chosen with love. Also the childish gambino feature lmao
• Edward James 0 — I do think this is a great submission because knowing there’s a full version of this is certainly not a guarantee. Sammy’s love of taking the bit too far is perfectly outlined here. However, in a very dense field, the fact this is a “known”, even if the shorter version, makes it move down a bit
• fionmul 0 — Uhhh definitely aware I’m missing the context of this, assuming Sammy knows and will probably appreciate but won’t be votin for it.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Ok I enjoyed this more than I ought to have. Right up Sammy's alley but mildly disqualified because he's for sure heard this
• Sam Ary -1
• Claire -1 — It’s a fun song but as a pick for this round it conflates Hangarcore more generally with Sammycore (there is a distinction)
• SamRobertsND -1 — I think I knew there was a longer version but hadn't sought it out before. This made me chuckle, but I must use this opportunity to make a very hard yet important point: I just don't like 30 Rock as much as some people in here do or would like me to! I've been peer pressured into loving it when I find it ok. Very clever show, just don't find myself returning to it (Tina Fey is a good writer but she is the most irritating actor ever and unfortunately is the main character). You might've gotten away with, and possibly even snagged an upvote for, the Law & Order theme or the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme, but a downvote had to go somewhere, and you'll be the Kenneth punching bag. And yes, Alex, any single one of those other songs would've been better. You played yourself, foo!

• judd.baker 0 — I liked this much less than the other Japanese track personally. But far be it for me to say Sammy wouldn’t like it
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Too modern. Vintage-flavored J pop was the move as mentioned elsewhere
• Claire 0 — Good shout to whoever else also went with Japanese music. A cool song but I am out of votes alas
• SamRobertsND 0 — I discovered this band via a collaboration w/ CHVRCHES, and they've become one of my favorites (they're not really known outside Japan). I thought of doing a Yellow Magic Orchestra song, as the electronica that they pioneered in late 70s Japan is and begat some of the best music ever made. This is the granddaughter of that sound, layering more recent JPop on a techno foundation. As much as I agree with Eddie about production/sound not being everything, sometimes production/sound is the whole point, as it is here (song is about a hardware store & its Aladdin-themed cleaning products lol). Claire got the Japan factor, but Nippon EDM is really my favorite in that musicscape. I used to listen to this type of stuff more in high school and college, and in digging into the depths of my interests for this round, I remembered how much I love this genre and am excited to return to it. If you liked this, I recommend their songs Onyankopon, Melos, and Zeami (most of you probably hate it tho lol).
• Edward James -1 — Sadly, I think this one misses the mark. Not sure if this is Japanese or Korean, but the thought was right in including something like it. However, the specific type of international fusion Sammy likes is not the kind of dance influenced type that this represents.
• fionmul -1 — Sounds like a song that plays in the club abroad as you realize you've been roofied. On the real tho it bored me but then got cooler. I think in the end it came as a jarring finish to the playlist and I had to downvote something sry.
• ared56 -1