Monday has arrived – and you know what that means… music! For the month of June, our Spotlight Dancer is Michelle from Musings & Merriment with Michelle! She has chosen the theme for this week, which is “Songs that start with the letter ‘J’” – let’s get this party started!
Let’s start with an artist who is known for his love of partying and alcohol, but this piano ballad shows another side of him.
I’ve seen the light, I’ve seen the darkness / Only God knows where my heart is / I’ve got my strength and Lord knows I’ve got my weakness / Oh, I’m lost somewhere between Jack Daniels and Jesus
He was quoted as saying:
“It’s my life in a song. It’s a pretty down time in my life. My brother’s name is in the song. I didn’t hold back at all on that one. When it comes to music, I want to show them exactly who I am. It goes into depth about my family, my dad passing away, drinking too much sometimes.”
“For me, alcoholism has never been a problem but there are people out there who have related to ‘[this song]’ who have said its changed their lives. They said it made them throw the bottle down. If I held back on that song maybe it would have never happened and their lives would have never been changed. That’s why I never choose to hold back on any of my songs.”
Give a listen to Chase Rice with “Jack Daniels and Jesus”:
Next up is a song that this singer has said was inspired by his training to be a fighter for DirecTV’s Kingdom, which put him in an aggressive mood when other guys started looking at his then girlfriend. He was quoted as saying:
“I was out with my girlfriend the night before I wrote this song… and I got heated. I was doing all this fighting training for this show I just finished up, so I was ready to go. [But] I contained myself… and I came in the next day to the studio and wrote this song.”
“Basically the whole concept is about jealousy. It’s basically saying this girl is so f–king beautiful that you just get jealous and you can’t help it and I think it’s something a lot of guys can relate to but are afraid to say.”
The song’s colorful and trippy music video co-stars his then girlfriend, who is seen in various glamour shots and receiving attention from some other guys, driving the singer crazy with jealousy.
“I think the thing is we wanted to open up a conversation about jealousy and the human element of it and the fact that most of the time I feel like it’s in your head. I had a specific experience that sort of inspired me to write this song and got the ball rolling in that sense, and it’s not limited to that by any means.”
“And this video is about getting a little bit deeper, and opening the conversation up and just having fun while we do it.”
Here’s Nick Jonas with “Jealous”:
Next up is a song that was the first single from this artist’s new album a few years ago. When the song was sent to him, he loved it so much that right before he walked out on stage for a performance a while back, he thought he’d play the song solo acoustic to see what the audience thought.
Flash forward, and he said there’s no doubt that their response that day helped make it the first single from what will be his next album.
The song title resonated deeply with him, particularly since he considers it a poetic use of the three John’s and what each represent to him. The song also references many more well-known names, including John Wayne, Kris Kristofferson, Don McLean, and Marilyn Monroe.
The artist performed the full version of this song live on stage for the first time during the CMT Music Awards on June 10, 2015.
Without further ado, here’s the awesome Keith Urban with “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”:
Last, but certainly not least, is a song that just might get a plethora of play time today. It’s a song about a guy who gets a girl’s number off the bathroom wall. He can’t work up the courage to call her, but thinks he can have her if he ever does. The songwriter was quoted as saying:
“Despite all the mythology to the contrary, I actually just came up with the ‘Jenny,’ and the telephone number and the music and all that just sitting in my backyard. There was no Jenny. I don’t know where the number came from, I was just trying to write a 4-chord rock song and it just kind of came out. This was back in 1981 when I wrote it, and I had at the time a little squirrel-powered 4-track in this industrial yard in California, and I went up there and made a tape of it. I had the guitar lick, I had the name and number, but I didn’t know what the song was about. This buddy of mine, Jim Keller, who’s the co-writer, was the lead guitar player in Tommy Tutone.
He stopped by that afternoon and he said, ‘Al, it’s a girl’s number on a bathroom wall,’ and we had a good laugh. I said, ‘That’s exactly right, that’s exactly what it is.’ I had the thing recorded. I had the name and number, and they were in the same spots, ‘Jenny… 867-5309.’ I had all that going, but I had a blind spot in the creative process, I didn’t realize it would be a girl’s number on a bathroom wall. When Jim showed up, we wrote the verses in 15 or 20 minutes, they were just obvious. It was just a fun thing, we never thought it would get cut. In fact, even after Tommy Tutone made the record and ‘867-5309’ got on the air, it really didn’t have a lot of promotion to begin with, but it was one of those songs that got a lot of requests and stayed on the charts. It was on the charts for 40 weeks.”
Here’s Tommy Tutone with “Jenny (867-5309)”:
That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday and see you on the dance floor! Please stay safe and healthy!
Now on to the particulars of Monday’s Music Move’s Me:
I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, Callie of JAmerican Spice, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!
Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!
You have totally rocked the house girlfriend! I like Keith’s tune the best. He’s been one of my favorites lately I must say! He’s come a long way & he’s even starting to move kinda sexy don’t cha think? ~hehehe~ Nice tune. Now as far as Nick Jonas Okay tune, but he doesn’t nothin’ for me. More for the teenie boppers ya know? hehehe – Now never heard of this last tune that’s an oldie, but a goodie! Great job my friend. Hope all is well with you & yours. Stay healthy, stay safe and be happy! Hugs!
I can’t believe that someone else actually found “Jack Daniels & Jesus”. To my surprise there is actually a completely different song “Jesus & Jack Daniels” that almost made my playlist this week. You just can’t go wrong with a Keith Urban tune. Well played. Have a blessed week.
Fun songs!
Fun playlist
Stacy,
Nice set of songs for this week’s theme. Seeing your pick for Nick Jonas made me think of the movie we watched this weekend, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle! We recorded on SlingTV awhile back. I had no idea that Nick was in the film. It was a fun movie! Thanks for the dance, my friend. Have a boogietastic week.
Such a lovely and cool playlist. Thanks for sharing it.
That song by Chase Rice was hard to listen to, but I did. I can see where it could help someone addicted to alcohol. Good choices today!
Jenny (867-5309) is such a fun song. I wonder how many people had that number when that song came out. I should look that up one day! Chase Rice’s song was fantastic. A good friend of mine had an alcoholic father and I just liked the lyrics and the thoughts that song expressed.