MUSIC MONDAYS: BRAIN SONGS

COME ON PEOPLE, ENTER THE QUIZ!! IT'S ONLY SIX QUESTIONS. If you haven't seen the questions, just take a look at last Thursday's thought.

I wanted to introduce some sort of list component to Music Mondays, but I'm really terrible with lists. There are so many songs or albums that slip my mind until years later. By that point, no one will really care about Alex's Top 10 Songs About Trains or Alex's Top 10 Songs by Artists with Italian Accents.

Damn, that's lazy. I should at least try, right? How about I'll only deal with songs that come to mind now and I will promise not to feel bad for forgotten songs? Great.

Hmmm... I've tried a few categories in my head but I hit walls. Like Top 10 Songs About Disease (I can only think of Ween songs). Oooh, ooh, I got it...

Top Songs With Brain In the Title (in no particular order, except for number 1).

1. Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" - The greatest guitar playing ever recorded



2. The Flaming Lips' "Love Yer Brain"- Foreshadowing their more contemplative Soft Bulletin/Yoshimi sound by a good 10 years

HERE'S A LIVE VERSION OF THE SONG

3. The Flaming Lips' "Brainville" - Another classic brain Lips song from several years later. One of the standouts on their fanfuckingtastic Clouds Taste Metallic album... Here's some kid's class project music video of the song. I don't condone the video. Just want some good way for you to hear the song without having to actually store it anywhere.



4. Sly and the Family Stone's "Can't Strain My Brain" - Damn awesome horn line. A lost gem from the grossly underrated Small Talk LP.

GO TO TRACK 5

5. Jungle Bros' "Brain" - Wow, haven't thought about this song or this group in at least five years. This track was produced by ?uestlove/Roots and has a nice groove. I had this album on cassette.



6. Pink Floyd's "Brain Damage" - A Dark Side of the Moon classic. Many folks who hate Pink Floyd even like this one.



7. Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain" - Damn, this song isn't great per se, but I loved it so much as an 11 year-old that I have to include it.

All the YouTube links of the video are disabled for embedding. If you don't know this song, then you may not have ears, so playing it for you now wouldn't matter.

8. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention's "Who Are the Brain Police" - I used to love Zappa and now I can barely listen to him at all. Hell, Zappa still has some great tunes, even if I find the whole Zappa thing to be a bit irritating by now. "Freak Out" and "We're Only In It For the Money" are great albums. Don't try arguing. "Who Are the Brain Police" is a horrifying sludgy cut that sorta slides up and down your cerebral cortex.



9. Ween's "Help Me Scrape the Music Off My Brain" - A gorgeous country tune with Ween's typical grotesque lyrics. Winning combination!




10. Parliament's "Presence of a Brain" - P-Funk starts and ends the list. This closing track on Parliament's "Up For the Down Stroke" is sorta funky, sorta trippy, all perfect brain music.

CAN'T FIND THIS ONLINE... HERE'S A CLIP AT LEAST

Damn, 10 brain songs! Look at that. I'm sure there are more. Probably I'll think of at least three that should replace ones on this list. But this'll give you a good head start if you're craving a tune about a brain.