57 songs, 3 hours, 9 minutes, 2 seconds

Opener: "Yesterdays," Charles Mingus Three
Closer: "Zion," Mad Professor

Pleasant surprises:
"You're Still Standing There," Steve Earle
"You Are the Everything," R.E.M.
"You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes & You Get What You Deserve,"
Johnny Boy
"You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will," Bright Eyes
"Your Boobs," Steve Alexander

Unpleasant surprises:
"Yo Mama," The Pharcyde
"You Know You're Right," Nirvana

Best song that consists entirely of Elephant Man shouting over the song "Footloose": "Yuh Nuh Badmind," Elephant Man

Best title: "Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not," X

That's it! Grand totals:
2750 songs, 6 days, 20 hours, 29 minutes, 43 seconds total time, 9.20 GB of tunes.

As noted in the comments a few days back. I will gladly bring a mix CD to softball for anyone who posts in the comments a lit of between 10 and 20 songs from iPonderous that they are particularly interested in. (Please be specific, as otherwise I will not know what you already own.)

Thanks for reading.     

SO FUCKIN' CLOSE

30 songs, 1 hour, 48 minutes, 8 seconds

Opener: "Wild Sex (In the Working Class)," Oingo Boingo
Closer: "Yes-No," Bunky

Pleasant surprises:
"Wise Up," Aimee Mann
"Woke Up Tired," Black Taj
"Wolves, Lower," R.E.M.
"Wrecking Ball," Gillian Welch (played this twice!)

Unpleasant surprises:
"Withering," Vic Chesnutt
"Wrong 'Em Boyo," The Clash
"Yes-No," Bunky

Letter with which the fewest songs on my iPod start: X. "X-Ray Man," Liz Phair. That's it. My iTunes music library has an additional four songs that start with X that are not on my iPod. I hereby offer 10 Verbungle genius points for each one you guess correctly. I know I have no right to give away genius points; nevertheless, here I am offering them.* Answer in the comments section IMMEDIATELY!

I think I will finish tomorrow. I just have a long stretch of songs in the second person to get through.

* The Board of Geniuses officially sanctions Dan's reckless decision to pass out the genius points.     

Days Forty-Six and Forty-Seven

94 songs, 5 hours, 43 minutes, 7 seconds

Opener: "Watery Hands," Superchunk
Closer: "Wild Packs of Family Dogs," Modest Mouse

Pleasant surprises:
"Wayside/Back In Time," Gillian Welch
"Wheelz of Steel," Outkast
"Who Is It," Bjork
"Wild Horses," The Sundays

Unpleasant surprises:
"Where Is The Line," Bjork
"Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Beget," Magnetic Fields

Not cover versions:
"What's Going Ahn," Big Star/"What's Going On," Marvin Gaye/"What's Going On," Husker Du
"Who Is It," Bjork/Talking Heads

Home stretch. I feel tired.    

87 songs, 5 hours, 30 minutes, 32 seconds

Opener: "Two-Headed Boy," Neutral Milk Hotel
Closer: "Watermelon Man," Herbie Hancock

Pleasant surprises:
"Underdog," Sly & the Family Stone
"Unfair," Pavement
"Une Annee Sans Lumiere," The Arcade Fire
"Untitled," R.E.M.
"Vibracobra," Polvo
"Waiting For the Winter," The Popguns
"Water No Get Enemy," Fela Kuti

Unpleasant surprises:
"Un Ange En Danger," MC Solaar
"Wake Up," Missy Elliott
"Washington, DC," The Magnetic Fields

Not cover versions:
"Wake Up," The Arcade Fire/Missy Elliott

Alphabetical one-two punches:
"Two-Headed Boy" and "Two-Headed Boy Part 2," Neutral Milk Hotel
"Waltz #1" and "Waltz #2 (XO)," Elliott Smith

My iPond has an interesting extended family:
"Uncle Alvarez," Liz Phair
"Uncle Fucka," Terence & Philip
"Uncle John's Band," Indigo Girls
"Uncle Walter," Ben Folds Five

Song I sometimes don't like to listen to because I was listening to it when I totalled our old Nissan Altima on the approach to the GW Bridge: "Waterfalls," TLC     

Days Forty Through Forty-Three

66 songs, 4 hours, 7 minutes, 55 seconds

Opener: "Tin Pan Alley," The Apples In Stereo
Closer: "Twin Falls," Ben Folds Five

Pleasant surprises:
"To Cure a Weakling Child," Aphex Twin
"Tom Courtenay (Georgia version)," Yo La Tengo
"Torn & Frayed," Rolling Stones
"Train," Blake Babies

Unpleasant surprises:
"Top of the World," Shonen Knife
"Trust," Prince

Cover versions:
"Tiny Dancer," Elton John/Ben Folds
"Truckin'," Grateful Dead/Dwight Yoakam
"Twin Falls," Built to Spill/Ben Folds

Fun facts:
Yesterday was the third person in our three-person department's last day. I got nothin' other than complaints about how I'm now doing her job as well as my own.     

24 songs, 1 hour, 22 minutes, 44 seconds

Opener: "This Boy Is Exhausted," Wrens
Closer: "Time Trap," Built to Spill

Pleasant surprises:
All 24 songs were songs I was happy to hear! Particularly enjoyed...
"Three Babies," Sinead O'Connor
"Through the Wire," Kanye West
"Tilt Ya Head Back," Nelly feat. Christina Aguilera
"Time For Me To Come Down," Amy Rigby

Not cover versions:
"This Town," The Go-Go's/Elvis Costello
"Time," Sly & the Family Stone/Tom Waits     

Day Thirty-Eight

88 songs, 5 hours, 16 minutes, 36 seconds

Opener: "The Mustard," Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Closer: "This and That," Michael Penn

Pleasant surprises:
"The One I Love," R.E.M.
"The One Thing," INXS
"The Rubbers Song," The Pharcyde
"The Seventh Son," Mose Allison
"The Spark," The Flaming Lips
"Theme de Yo-Yo," Irving Klaw Trio

Unpleasant surprises:
"The Puppet," Echo & the Bunnymen
"The Strange Design of Conscience," The Flaming Lips

Cover versions:
"The Seed," Cody ChesnuTT/"The Seed 2.0," The Roots featuring Code ChesnuTT

Not cover versions:
"The Wind," PJ Harvey/Cat Stevens
"These Days," Nico/R.E.M.

Best song from a Christmas special about a jug band led by an otter: "The Nightmare," Riverbottom Nightmare Band

Best Eminem song by Eminem: "The Real Slim Shady," Eminem

Best Eminem song not by Eminem: "The Night I Fell In Love," Pet Shop Boys     

43 songs, 2 hours, 35 minutes, 4 seconds

Opener: "The Gate," Belle & Sebastian
Closer: "The Mountain," Palace Brothers

Pleasant surprises:
"The Girl On The Escalator," Florida
"The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory," Guided by Voices
"The Life," Styles P. & Pharaoh Monche

Unpleasant surprises:
"The Love You Save," Jackson 5
"The Mess We're In," PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke

Cover versions:
"The Golden Age," Beck/The Flaming Lips
"The Lucky One," Freedy Johnston/Mary Lou Lord


I'm stuck in the Thes. Very few songs start with the word "A"; it's been easy to pick them out and delete the opening article for better alphabetization. But 146 songs on my iPod start with "The," from "The Abandoned Hospital Ship" to "The Wrong Child." I can't face the idea of deleting all those Thes. I know that there's a shareware program that will do it for you if you're on a Mac, but I'm not on a Mac. So now I'm getting a 146-song microcosm of my entire iPod collection.    

77 songs, 4 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds

Opener: "Sweet-Lovin' Man," The Magnetic Fields
Closer: "The Garden," PJ Harvey

Pleasant surprises:
"Sympathy for the Cripple," Chris Knox
"Tanning Booth," I Hate You When You're Pregnant
"That Way," The Go-Betweens
"The Faster I Breathe The Further I Go," PJ Harvey
"The Fly," U2

Unpleasant surprises:
"Swimming," Martha and the Muffins
"Thank You Jack White," The Flaming Lips

Cover versions:
"Tainted Love," Gloria Jones/The Finger

More specific, please:
"The Fool," Neutral Milk Hotel
"The Fool On The Hill," The Beatles

Twenty-one days ago, I discussed the candy and sugar on my iPod. But there's a lot of things on my iPod that are just plain sweet. Adeline, Jane, and Virginia. A Black Angel, an Old World. Forgiveness. A Thang. And, of course, that Child O' Mine.
   

35 songs, 2 hours, 2 minutes, 19 seconds

Opener: "Subterranean Homesick Alien," Radiohead
Closer: "Sweeping the Nation," Spearmint

Pleasant surprises:
"Sugar Hiccup," Cocteau Twins
"Summer Fun In a Beat Up Datsun," Cornershop
"Summertime," Charles Mingus
"Sunflower," Low

Unpleasant surprises:
"Surrender," Elvis Presley
"Sweeping the Nation," Spearmint

Lyric of the Day:
"When they found your body
Giant Xes on your eyes..."
-"Sunflower," Low   

81 songs, 4 hours, 51 minutes, 51 seconds

Opener: "South Dakota," Liz Phair
Closer: "Substitute," The Who

Pleasant surprises:
"Spalding Gray Is Missing," Lemon Party
"Stay Chisel," Large Professor feat. Nas
"String Quartet #5, Movement III," Kronos Quartet/Philip Glass
"Stuck On an Island," Liz Phair

Unpleasant surprises:
"Stay Up Late," Talking Heads
"Stereotype," The Specials
"String Quartet #5, Movement IV," Kronos Quartet/Philip Glass
"Submarine," Bjork

Cover versions:
"Speeding Motorcycle," Daniel Johnston/Mary Lou Lord/Yo La Tengo
"Steppin' Out," Joe Jackson/Fantastic Plastic Machine

Not cover versions:
"Stay," Jackson Browne/Astrud Gilberto
"Strange," R.E.M./Built to Spill

Stumpah song: "Stockholm Syndrome," Yo La Tengo

Also Strange: Currencies, Fruit, Loop, Powers, Relationship

Lyric of the Day:
"On a Ferris wheel
Looking out on Coney Island,
Under more stars than
There are prostitutes in Thailand"
-"Strange Powers," The Magnetic Fields   

Day Twenty-Eight
20 songs, 1 hour, 50 seconds

Opener: "Solsbury Hill," Peter Gabriel
Closer: "Sometimes We Make You Move Your Feet," Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band

Pleasant surprises:
"Soma," The Strokes
"Some Jingle Jangle Morning," Mary Lou Lord
"Something To Talk About," Badly Drawn Boy

Unpleasant surprises:
"Something Against You," Pixies

Day Twenty-Nine
16 songs, 55 minutes, 28 seconds

Opener: "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What a Wonderful World," Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Closer: "Sour Times," Portishead

Pleasant surprises:
"Son of Sam," Elliott Smith
"Sort of Homecoming," U2

Unpleasant surprises:
"Sonnets/Unrealities XI," Bjork

Totals so far:
2079 songs, 5 days, 4 hours, 12 minutes, 28 seconds  

23 songs, 1 hour, 24 minutes, 3 seconds

Opener: "Smile," Elastica
Closer: "Soledad," Mano Negra

Pleasant surprises:
"Smile Around the Face," Four Tet
"So Far Away," Dire Straits
"Soaky In the Pooper," Lambchop
"So Sick," Unrest

Unpleasant surprises:
"Smoke and Mirrors," Magnetic Fields

Not cover versions:
"Smile," Elastica/The Jayhawks

Sent off my JBL On Stage today. Supposedly I get my replacement in 1-2 weeks. That's a lot of free music for you, the reader! 

26 songs, 1 hour, 33 minutes, 18 seconds

Opener: "Since I Met You Baby," Ivory Joe Hunter
Closer: "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Nirvana

Pleasant surprises:
"Sister Isabelle," Del Shannon
"Slag Off," Joby's Opinion
"Slow Jamz," Kanye West

Unpleasant surprises:
"Slave to Love," Brian Ferry

Best song ever about working at the Kinko's on the corner of Franklin Street and Airport Road with a total jerk who won't do his goddamn job: "Slack Motherfucker," Superchunk 

20 songs, 1 hour, 16 minutes, 34 seconds

Opener: "Shoot Out the Lights," Richard & Linda Thompson
Closer: "Sinaloan Milk Snake Song," The Mountain Goats

Pleasant surprises:
"Shuffering + Shmiling," Talib Kweli
"Si Senor," Control Machete

Unpleasant surprises:
"Sign O' the Times," Prince

Disaster! My On Stage iPod Speaker System has blown out! According to this page, the following two things caused a flawed chip inside my On Stage to, like, melt:

1. I plugged my iPod into the system while both were turned on, and

2. I shocked the crap out of myself with static electricity.

Thankfully, JBL will send me a new one free of charge. Unfortunately, it will take a few weeks, meaning that I can't easily listen to my iPod at work, meaning I will certainly take much longer to finish my iPonderous quest, meaning, I guess, more free mptreys for y'all.

44 songs, 2 hours, 38 minutes, 51 seconds

Opener: "Scene du Lever du Soleil," Antonio Carlos Jobim
Closer: "Shoop," Salt-N-Pepa

Pleasant surprises:
"See No Evil," Television
"Sell the Pussy," Mighty Sparrow
"Shaking Through," R.E.M.
"She Is Gone," Willie Nelson

Unpleasant surprises:
"Sex, God, Sex," Swans

Not cover versions:
"Shine a Light," Rolling Stones/Apples in Stereo

Song my wife hates to hear me sing along to: "Seymour Stein," Belle and Sebastian. Apparently my falsetto is not melodious. 

Day Twenty-Two

120 songs, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 21 seconds

Opener: "Put a Lid On It," Squirrel Nut Zippers
Closer: "Scenario," A Tribe Called Quest

Pleasant surprises: It was Busta Rhymes Day!
"Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See," Busta Rhymes
"Rumble in the Jungle," Fugees + Tribe + Busta Rhymes
"Scenario," A Tribe Called Quest

Unpleasant surprises:
"Racist Friend," The Specials

Cover versions:
"Raspberry Beret," Prince/Hindu Love Gods
"Rocks Off," Rolling Stones/Pussy Galore
"Satellite of Love," Lou Reed/U2

Not cover versions:
"Revolution," Beatles/Bob Marley

Shortest song on my iPod: "Sausage Gut," Jurassic 5. Not really a song at all -- just one guy calling another guy fat for nineteen seconds.

Day Twenty-One

106 songs, 7 hours, 7 minutes, 13 seconds

Opener: "Painbirds," Sparklehorse
Closer: "Pussycat," Missy (Misdemeanor) Elliott

Pleasant surprises:
"Pancakes," Lucinda Williams
"Parades Go By," Magnetic Fields
"Paradiso," Konono Nr. 1
"Preposterous Tales," I, Ludicrous

Unpleasant surprises:
"Part of the Process," Morcheeba
"Penelope Tree," Felt
"Piece of My Heart," Janis Joplin
"Poor Poor Pitiful Me," Warren Zevon

Cover versions:
"Paranoid Android," Radiohead/Brad Mehldau
"Pump It Up," Elvis Costello/Mudhoney

Not cover versions:
"Pump It Up," Elvis Costello/Missy (Misdemeanor) Elliott

Pleasant, but not at all a surprise:
"Purple Rain," Prince, coming immediately as it did after Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze." I thought I would be really good at predicting upcoming songs based on my encyclopedic knowledge of my own music collection, but it turns out I rarely am successful.

105 songs, 6 hours, 15 minutes, 35 seconds

Opener: "No Sense In Lovin'," Uncle Tupelo
Closer: "Pads, Paws & Claws," Elvis Costello

Pleasant surprises:
"Nuclear War," Yo La Tengo
"Nude As the News," Cat Power
"Oh Sailor," Fiona Apple
"Old Orchard Beach," Magnetic Fields

Unpleasant surprises:
"Obsolete," MC Solaar
"One Morning," Gillian Welch
"Over and Over," Nelly feat. Tim McGraw

Cover versions:
"Nothing Compares 2 U," Prince/Sinead O'Connor

Not cover versions:
"Oahu," Menomena/The Sixths
"One," U2/Aimee Mann
"One Thing," INXS/Luscious Jackson
"Out There," Blake Babies/Dinosaur Jr.

One-Two Punch That Caused Boss To Ask If I Was Holding the Dan Kois Dance Party In My Office: "Oops!...I Did It Again," Britney Spears; "Open Your Heart," Madonna 

Days Seventeen & Eighteen:

140 songs, 8 hours, 27 minutes, 45 seconds

Opener: "Mexican Radio," Polvo
Closer: "No Scrubs," TLC

Pleasant surprises:
"Mon Coeur Balance," Daouda
"Mr. Brownstone," Guns N' Roses
"My Boyfriend's Back," Alice Donut
"My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama," Frank Zappa
"Naked Eye," Luscious Jackson
"New, New Minglewood Blues," Grateful Dead

Unpleasant surprises:
"Mincer Ray," Guided by Voices
"Minneapolis," Lucinda Williams
"Miracle Drug," A.C. Newman
"Motorcycle Mama," Sugarcubes

Cover versions:
"More Than This," Roxy Music/Bill Murray
"Nature Boy," David Bowie/Big Star

Not cover versions:
"Nashville," Indigo Girls/Liz Phair

Songs somewhat making the exercise seeming pointless: "Neighborhood #1," "Neighborhood #2," "Neighborhood #3," "Neighborhood #4," The Arcade Fire

I explained the iPonderous project to my three future step-sisters, ages 7, 9, and 11, this weekend. They seemed to really dig the idea in a way few people ever do when I explain it, leading me to believe that iPonderous is, at heart, totally childish. When I told them I was in the middle of the "Mister" songs, they asked what songs there were; I told them about "Mr. President" and "Mr. Telephone Man" and "Mr. Blue Sky" but left out Mos Def's "Mr. Nigga."

When I have a kid -- due to happen in, like, a month -- how much of my music-listening time will be spent policing what my daughter manages to hear? As an infant, she won't make head or tails out of, say, "My Jimmy Weighs a Ton," but sooner or later she'll be able to pick out the swears, and not too long after that she'll be able to ask, "Daddy, what's it mean when Elliott Smith says he's 'strung out again'?" or "What does it mean to be 'waxing that ass like Raindance'?"

For further discussions of ass-waxin', please see Larissa MacFarquhar's article "Passion Plays" in this week's New Yorker, in which the term is explained to Edward Albee.    

201 songs (!), 12 hours, 26 minutes, 2 seconds

Opener: "L'Amour Au Premier Regard," Jean-Louis Murat
Closer: "Mexe, Remexe," Bonde de Vinho

Pleasant surprises:
"Llama," Phish
"Maybe I'm Amazed," Wings

Unpleasant surprises:
"Lightnin' Hopkins," R.E.M.
"Little Sister," Nico
"Lucas With the Lid Off," Lucas
"Lucy," zZz

Cover versions:
"Lake of Fire," Meat Puppets/Nirvana
"Maggie's Farm," Bob Dylan/The Specials
"Marquee Moon," Television/Kronos Quartet

Not cover versions:
"Last Night," Northern State/The Strokes
"Little One," Elliott Smith/Beck
"Love," Steve Alexander/Mos Def
"Lullabye," Robyn Holcomb/Ben Folds Five

When you're listening to your iPod in alphabetical order, it's easy to spend much of an afternoon stuck on one particular word. Friday afternoon was Little Afternoon for me, sitting in my office. In order, here's what my iPod calls Little: America, Babies, a Boy Sad, Criminals, a Deuce Coupe, Digger, Miss S., the two aforementioned Ones, Pieces, Red things (Corvette, Record Co., Shoes), a Room, and a Sister.   

140 songs, 8 hours, 13 minutes, 6 seconds

Opener: "Insomnio," Cafe Tacuba
Closer: "Kyle's Mom's a Big Fat Bitch," the South Park cast

Pleasant surprises: "Inspiration Information," Shuggie Otis; "It's Different For Girls," Joe Jackson

Unpleasant surprises: "Interlude," Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse; "Into the Groove," Madonna; "Itch U Can't Skratch," Junior Senior;

Three-way cover versions:
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," Bob Dylan/Them featuring Van Morrison/Damon & Naomi
"Jockey Full of Bourbon," Tom Waits/Los Lobos/John Hammond

Two-way cover versions:
"Killing Moon," Echo & the Bunnymen/Pavement
"Knives Out," Radiohead/Flaming Lips

Sampler/Samplee connection: "Jack-Ass," Beck, samples from "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," Them featuring Van Morrison.

Song from iPod ads: "Jerk It Out," the Caesars. This is the one in the current iPod shuffle campaign. It's a great song. I downloaded it because it was my favorite inter-game tune in EA Sports FIFA 2004.

You thought Kelis' "Milkshake" was the stupidest, greatest song ever recorded with "Milkshake" in its title. You were wrong.
"It Tastes Just Like a Milkshake," M.O.T.O.
Lyrics:
"Come take a sip of my love
I said come take a sip of my love
I said you know what you're gettin' in a nutshell baby
Come take a sip of my love
Well it tastes just like a milkshake, baby
It tastes just like a milkshake, baby
It tastes just like a milkshake, baby
It tastes just like a milkshake, baby!"

I downloaded it one time from a music blog. I can't believe this song even exists. It feels too perfect and beautiful for this sullied planet.  

136 songs, 7 hours, 35 minutes, 59 seconds

Opener: "I Am Your Tambourine," Tift Merritt
Closer: "Inside Straight," The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Pleasant surprises: "I Can't Make It Anymore," Dusty Springfield; "I Got ID," Pearl Jam; "Imaginary Love," Rufus Wainwright

Unpleasant surprises: "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone," Sleater-Kinney; "Icky-Poo Air Raid," bis; "If You Let Me Stay," Terence Trent D'Arby

Cover versions: "I Can't Get You Off of My Mind," Hank Williams/Bob Dylan; "I Don't Want To Get Over You," Magnetic Fields/Mary Lou Lord; "I Dreamed About Mama Last Night," Hank Williams/Johnny Cash; "In Between Days," The Cure/Ben Folds

Not cover versions: "In Your Mind," Johnny Cash/Built to Spill

Making my way steadily to the halfway point and I must say I've been quite happy with the experiment thus far. Very few real duds -- mostly things I've recently downloaded that don't quite live up to the hype, or old old songs I wish I hadn't uploaded off the ancient CDs I can't bring myself to chuck -- and quite a few great songs that give me great pleasure whenever I hear them.

Totals thus far: 2 days, 17 hours, 58 minutes, 12 seconds, 3.66 GB. 

49 songs, 2 hours, 24 minutes, 7 seconds

Opener: "Hound Dog," Jimi Hendrix
Closer: "I Am Going To Buy a Bungalow," The Lion

Pleasant surprises: "Houria," Souad Massi; "How to Rent a Room," Silver Jews; "I'm a Mindless Idiot," Meat Puppets; "I'm Diggin' You (Like an Old Soul Record)," Me'Shell NdegeOcello

Unpleasant surprises: "Huw and Me," Romvelope; "I'll Keep It With Mine," Nico; "I've Lost You," Beat Happening

Not cover versions: "I'll Be You," The Replacements/"I'll Be Your Mirror," The Velvet Underground

I've been downloading a lot of stuff from mp3 blogs, into which category I guess iPonderous also falls. I highly recommend Fluxblog, a particularly smart and fun example of the genre.

68 songs, 3 hours, 43 minutes, 51 seconds

Opener: "Hear the Distance," Sue Ann Harkey
Closer: "Hotter Than Mojave in My Heart," Iris Dement

Pleasant surprises: "Heart-Shaped Box," Nirvana; "Here," Pavement"; "Hole In My Heart," Cyndi Lauper

Unpleasant surprises: "Hold of Death," Lee "Scratch" Perry

Cover versions: "Here Comes My Baby," Cat Stevens/Yo La Tengo

Not cover versions: "Holland," Sufjan Stevens/"Holland, 1945," Neutral Milk Hotel; "Honey," Marine Girls/Moby

Best filthy bilingual song ever written about warning a woman that you are about to have an orgasm: "Here Comes The Mayo," Molotov vs. Dub Pistols

33 songs, 1 hour, 46 minutes, 52 seconds

Opener: "Hang Down Your Head," Tom Waits
Closer: "Headache," Liz Phair

Pleasant surprises: "He Didn't," The Sixths; "Hardcore UFO's," Guided by Voices; "He War," Cat Power

Unpleasant surprises: "Hate To Say I Told You So," The Hives

Cover versions: "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," The Beatles/The Breeders; "Hard to Handle," Toots Hibbert/Black Crowes

Not cover versions: "Head Over Heels," The Go-Go's/Tears for Fears

84 songs, 4 hours, 51 minutes, 24 seconds

Opener: "Ghost of Mae West," Trailer Bride
Closer: "Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi," Jim White

Pleasant surprises: "Gun," Uncle Tupelo; "Gulf Shores," Palace; "Guyaquil City," Mano Negra; "Haiti," The Arcade Fire; "Hana Kotoba No Uta," The Club Nisei Orchestra

Unpleasant surprises: "Ghost World," Aimee Mann; "Girigiri Surf Rider," Halcali; "H.W.C.," Liz Phair

Cover versions: "Gin and Juice," Snoop Doggy Dogg/Sissybar; "God Only Knows," The Beach Boys/The Langley Schools Music Project; "Good Vibrations," The Beach Boys/Brian Wilson

Not cover versions: "Good Thing," Fine Young Cannibals/"Good Things," Sleater-Kinney

Song title quirk: Everything is good! The aforementioned vibrations and thing(s), of course, but just about anything you can think of gets a thumbs up from the artists on my iPod! Advices, fortune, tonight's rockin', and shit: it's all good, bro. If it's good enough for granddad, we'll let the good times roll with a good hearted man. It's certainly good to be on the road back home again. And, at least according to INXS, the times are both good + bad.

80 songs, 4 hours, 49 minutes, 27 seconds

Opener: "Flaming Red," Patty Griffin
Closer: "Ghost," Neutral Milk Hotel

Pleasant surprises: "Flap Your Wings," Nelly; "Flavor Bud Living," Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band; "Fortress Around Your Heart," Sting; "Galang," M.I.A.

Unpleasant surprises:
"Floppy Boot Stomp," Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: this song is hard to listen to.
"Free Nelson Mandela," The Specials: this song is moot.

Cover versions: "Float On," Modest Mouse/The Kidz Bop Kids

Not cover versions: "From a Buick 6," Bob Dylan/"From a Motel 6," Yo La Tengo; "Get Up," R.E.M./Sleater-Kinney

Diametrically opposed songs: "Friend of the Devil," Lyle Lovett/"Friend to J.C.," Mary Timony

Totally inappropriate songs to play at work: Liz Phair's "Flower" and "Fuck and Run," Jack Logan's "Fuck Everything," the Sugarcubes' "Fucking in Rhythm and Sorrow," and the most inappropriate work song ever written, Peaches' "Fuck the Pain Away." 

Day Seven:

203 songs, 12 hours, 18 minutes, 1 second

Opener: "Decora," Yo La Tengo
Closer: "Flake," Jack Johnson

Pleasant surprises: "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," Jay-Z and DJ Danger Mouse; "Devil Doll," Roy Orbison; "Doll Parts," Hole; "Eisbar," Grauzone; "Expensive Shit," Fela Kuti;

Unpleasant surprises: "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby," Allison Krauss and Gillian Welch; "Factory," The Vines

Not cover versions: "Dinosaur Act," Low/Matthew Sweet; "Family Affair," Mary J. Blige/Sly & The Family Stone

Song title quirk: Don't, don't, don't. Lots of cautionary notes cast on my iPod. Don't change your plans, or indeed change at all. Don't think twice; it's all right. Don't get me wrong, or renege on our love, or dream it's over, or mug yourself, or forget about me. Don't go down. Don't let's start. Don't tell me -- in fact, don't talk; instead, put your head on my shoulder. Don't stop -- at least until you get enough. Don't worry, baby, especially about the government. And if you must Do, then the Specials ask that you Do Nothing.

Day Six:

88 songs, 5 hours, 24 minutes, 14 seconds

Opener: "Coda" from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" musical episode
Closer: "Deceptacon," Le Tigre

Pleasant surprises: "Cold As Ice," Sebadoh; "Cruella de Ville," The Replacements; "Cry Me A River," Justin Timberlake; "Da Butt," EU; "Daaam!," Tha Alkaholiks; "Death or Glory," The Clash

Unpleasant surprises: "Cold Beverage," G. Love and Special Sauce; "Complication," The Monks; "Dang," Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Cover versions: "Crazy," Pylon/R.E.M.; "Creep," Radiohead/The Pretenders;
Not cover versions: "Crazy," Pylon/"Crazy," Seal; "Crazy Love," Van Morrison/"Crazy Love, Vol. II," Paul Simon;

Song title quirk: What's dead on my iPod? Flowers. Leaves and the dirty ground. A man, or rather his party. Melodies. A shark. Deadbeats, or at least their club. On the other hand, what's living, or alive? Flavor Bud. The only living boy in New York. Hank Williams, though he'll never get out of this world that way. And, of course, Eddie Vedder.

Day Five:

147 songs, 9 hours, 16 minutes, 52 seconds

Opener: "Bo Mambo," Yma Sumac (later sampled by the damn Black Eyed Peas in "Hands Up," that song that plays during the party scene in episode two or maybe three of the first season of "The O.C.")
Closer: "Coast to Coast," Elliott Smith (will never be sampled anywhere)

Pleasant surprises: "Box of Rain," Grateful Dead; "Burn, Don't Freeze," Sleater-Kinney; "Cath Carroll," Unrest; "Cherry Bomb," John Cougar Mellencamp; "Chris Michaels," The Fiery Furnaces; "Cinnamon Girl," Neil Young

Unpleasant surprises: "Boylife in America," Cody ChesnuTT; "Bust," Outkast; "Carrie Brown," Steve Earle; "Charlotte Sometimes," The Cure

Cover versions: "Breaking Us in Two," Joe Jackson/Mandy Moore*; "Cactus," Pixies/David Bowie
Not cover versions: "Changes," David Bowie/Sugar/Tupac

Song title quirk: Only two songs start with the word "Candy" -- the Magnetic Fields' song "Candy" and New Edition's classic "Candy Girl." But the sentiment is shared all across my iPod, from the aforementioned "Cinnamon Girl" to the Marine Girls' "Honey" (and Moby's, too, if that song is about anything other than exploiting ancient blues singers); R.E.M.'s "Me In Honey"; the Jesus & Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey"; and Beat Happening's "Hot Chocolate Boy." Euphemisms for sweetness will give way to calling a sweetie a sweetie in the Esses, as we'll see in... a month or so.

*Yes, Mandy Moore. I was intrigued by this song when I downloaded it recently from a cover-song mp3 blog. It turns out to be roughly as terrible as I feared, though the very fact that she gave it a shot makes me like Mandy Moore a little but more than I used to.

Days Three and Four:

Day Three:
19 songs, 1 hour, 12 minutes, 55 seconds

Opener: "Beer & Kisses," Amy Rigby
Closer: "Big Fan of the Pigpen," Guided by Voices

Pleasant surprises: "Beginning of a Great Adventure," Lou Reed; "Belleville Rendez-Vous," The Triplets of Belleville
Unpleasant surprises: "Beginnings," Astrud Gilberto


Day Four:
31 songs, 1 hour, 41 minutes, 51 seconds

Opener: "Big Ol' Effin' Train," Dude Machine
Closer: "Blue, Red and Gray," The Who

Pleasant surprises: "Big Ten," Judge Dread; "Blame Canada," The South Park cast; "Blue Like Nevermind," Kimya Dawson
Unpleasant surprises: "Black Vamp #1," Sinistri

Cover versions: "Baba O'Riley," The Who/Waco Brothers
Not cover versions: "Angels," David Byrne/Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey

My iPod has begun malfunctioning, but in an extremely minor way. I charged it up the night of Day Two in preparation for the airplane ride awaiting me on Day Three; however, five songs into the trip, the battery indicator on the iPod read "empty." Just that sad little empty battery, suggesting within seconds the whole thing would shut down. I thought at first that my battery had died, as I had always heard iPod batteries do, but the music kept playing and playing. Now I just think my battery level indicator is confused. Has anyone else had this problem?

Day Two:

90 songs, 5 hours, 19 minutes, 38 seconds

Opener: "Angels," David Byrne
Closer: "Beep Me 911," Missy (Misdemeanor) Elliott

Pleasant surprises: "Armed Response," Trans Am; "Asshole," Tom Petty; "Autumn Sweater (Tortoise Remix)," Yo La Tengo; "BaBa," Bunky; "Been Caught Stealing," Jane's Addiction; "Beep," Pylon
Unpleasant surprises: "Aurora Borealis," Meat Puppets; "Beautiful," Ivy

Cover versions: "Baba O'Riley," The Who/Waco Brothers
Not cover versions: "Angels," David Byrne/Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey

Song title quirk: Songwriters really like to address songs to their babies. The titles of nine songs on my iPod begin "Baby." There's a baby doll, a baby Britain, a baby mine. Babies should play house, or please don't go, or workout. Singers want to make sure that babies know it's cold outside, and that I'm a star. And Os Mutantes goes with the simple "Baby (1971)."

Day One:

110 songs, 6 hours, 26 minutes, 45 seconds

Opener: "'S Wonderful," Ella Fitzgerald
Closer: "Angelene," PJ Harvey

Pleasant surprises: "Aging Astronauts II," Mary Timony; "Airplane," Indigo Girls; "Ambulance," TV on the Radio; "Amplifier," the dB's
Unpleasant surprises: "Ain't No Fun," Snoop Dogg

Cover versions: "100,000 Fireflies," Magnetic Fields/Superchunk; "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," Richard Thompson/Mary Lou Lord
Not cover versions: "1999," Shifty Rydoz/Prince; "All Fall Down," Primal Scream/Kanye West; "Alison," Elvis Costello/"Allison," Pixies

Song title quirk: I ran into a section of eight songs whose titles begin with parentheses. You know, like "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville," or "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding." Who came up with this trope? What was the first song to include parentheses in its title? And what is it meant to signify? I don't know anyone who disregards the parenthetical and therefore thinks of or calls those songs "Rockville," or "Peace, Love and Understanding." Have any of verbungle.com's readers been in a band? Have you ever give a song a name that includes parentheses?

Song that came up too late to help me on today's stumpah: "Ana Ng," They Might Be Giants