The Official Playlist of Mr Wanninger’s Top Songs
- A Song That Defines Your High School Years
Song: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
“The Smiths really spoke to us…We all bonded over our love for alternative music, and The Smiths was one of the most important ones. One of my favorite lines in that song was where he says, ‘And if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.’ And so, we would blast that while we were driving around on the country roads.”
Runner-ups:
- You are the Everything – REM
- Enjoy the Silence – Depeche Mode
- Falling – Julee Cruise (the theme song to Twin Peaks)
- True Faith – New Order
- Two of Us – The Beatles
- A Song That Made You Fall In Love With Music
Song: Tragedy – The Bee Gees
“The first music that was my own music was the Bee Gees. It felt like my own music because it was something my parents weren’t listening to. And so I joined the Bee Gees fan club when I was six years old.”
- A Song That Changed The Way You Think About The World
Song: We are the World – USA for Africa
“I was already a big fan of a lot of the singers like Micheal Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Cindy Lauper and all the people that are featured in that song. But it made me understand, even though this is very cheesy, the idea of coming together for a greater cause.”
- A Song That Represents Where You Are In Life Right Now
Song: Walk Unafraid – REM
“My all-time favorite band, not including the Beatles, is REM. The idea of the song is to live your truth and be who you are without caring what others think, and it talks about being able to walk unafraid, and it says, ‘I’ll hold my love me or leave me high.’ I love that line, and so I try to be as authentic as I can as a person. I think that song’s a good one for it.
- A Song That Perfectly Captures Your Personality
Song: Temptation – New Order
“It’s one that has a lot of memories in various times of my life. My friends and I would dance to it at our parties in high school. And then, after college, when I went out with friends, this song would come on and the dance floor would just kind of go crazy. Even now, a whole bunch of my friends in the city love that song, and when it comes on anytime, we kind of go nuts. But I also love the song because it’s a great combination of guitar, drums, but it also has a lot of synthesizers. It’s very dancy, so I like that mix of more electronic music and more analog music.”
Runner-up: Birdhouse in Your Soul – They Might Be Giants “It’s silly and fun but actually has a great story and some depth!”
- A Song That You Were Wrong About
Song: Once In A Lifetime – Talking Heads
“When I was a kid, my brother and my cousin and I would watch MTV all the time, and we were mostly into just pop music. But they would play whatever videos they had, and there was this weird video, and the lead singer, David Byrne, is dancing in this crazy way. He’s wearing this giant suit. At the time, I just dismissed it as silly nonsense, like, why would anyone watch this? But as I’ve grown up and gotten more into music, now I just can’t believe that I ever dismissed it.”
- A Song That You Associate With A Major Life Event
Song: Sit Down – James
“It’s a very moving song, but I can never disassociate from the memories I have when I first heard it. I was studying abroad in Scotland my junior year of college, and the first week we were there, we went to this pub/club on campus. I knew the band James from a couple of other songs, but I had never heard this song before. We were all dancing on the dance floor surrounded by a bunch of Scottish strangers, and all of a sudden, I looked around and everyone in the entire place was sitting down on the dance floor. I didn’t realize this was a thing, and everyone just sat down at the same moment, and they had to sing along during this certain break in the music. And then everyone jumped back on their feet and danced again. It was amazing.”
- A Song That You Are Excited To Share With your students
Song: Dance Yrself Clean – LCD Soundsystem
“I like to share a lot of songs with my students. Usually, it’s videos, but the song that more kids react to is Dance Yrself Clean. I have more students writing down or asking me what the song is, more than any other song, and I just love it so much. It’s got such a good slow build, and it goes a little nuts. Everybody should love that song.”
Runner-up: The Salmon Dance – The Chemical Brothers, “mostly because of the video.”
