NYC

This past weekend, I went down to NYC to see my brother in concert, walked around, very fun weekend. I meant to post this last week, but just didn't have the time.

New York - U2
The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkle
59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) - Simon & Garfunkle
Marching Bands of Manhattan - Death Cab for Cutie

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Cover & Original - All Along The Watchtower

All Along The Watchtower is one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs, and it's one of those songs that's covered a lot. Off all the covers that I have, it's got the most versions, good and bad.
There's quite a bit of variety here. The definitive version, by Jimi Hendrix, seems to be the one that's the most copied, although there are some other groups, such as the Dave Matthews Band (who features it regularly in their concerts), who'll do their own take. My favorite version is probably Bear McCreary and BT4's version, which was featured in the show Battlestar Galactica, which was really cool.
Some of the versions that I'm not a huge fan of is the Alexi Murdoch and Blues Traveler set and the one by the Grateful Dead. Just didn't work for me really.

It's an interesting song, with a number of different meanings through the lyrics. Dylan started writing the song after a motorcycle accident and when he began reading the bible, and there's several biblical and end-of-the-world references in the lyrics.

All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - Bear McCreary
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - The Fratellis
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - Dave Matthew's Band
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - The Grateful Dead
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - Bryan Ferry
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - Alexi Murdoch and Blues Traveler
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - Eddie Vedder and the Million Dollar Bashers
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - Jimi Hendrix
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) / Best of You (Foo Fighters) - Prince
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - U2
All Along The Watchtower - Bob Dylan

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Duet - U2 and Greenday

This is a lineup that I never really would have put together - Irish rockers U2 and pseudo-punk rockers Greenday. The Saints Are Coming was a collaboration between the two bands shortly after Hurricane Katrina. The two played the song together for a charity concert, and the song was released on U2's singles album U218. The song has primarily been seen as a response to the government's reaction to the Hurricane. Given both band's histories with activism or protest, it's not a surprise that this is something that they would take on as a message.

The song was originally sung by a punk band called the Skids.

The result is a pretty good song. Both bands work pretty well together and it sounds pretty good.

The Saints Are Coming (The Skids) - U2 & Green Day

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2 Years

It was two years ago last week that Hurricane Katrina hit Lousiana, causing some of the worst damages that the US has ever seen from a hurricane, at least in recent memory. Almost 2,000 people died as a result of the storm, and thousands more had to relocate. And two years on, the area still hasn't recovered. New Orleans still has massive problems with healthcare, crime and housing.

The Saints Are Coming (Live at New Orleans) - U2 / Green Day

Hype - Buy