Ipod Statistics

You know that "Play Count" column for your iPod? Out of curiosity, I sorted for it today, and here's my top three:

Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" -- 22 times. Jeebus.
The Smiths' "Please Let Me Get What I Want" -- 21 times.
The Persuasions' "I'm So Glad" -- 13 times.

Those are all Harper's fault, either from car trips or from times when he's felt like sitting on the couch with headphones on. Rounding out the top five -- with ten plays each -- are two songs with no relationship to Harper:

"My Baby Crying," by Bill Fox and "Birds," by Neil Young.

I feel okay about that.

But twenty-one plays for The Smiths. Jeebus. I'm not sure whether to be ashamed, or just happy that the song less than two minutes long.

What's interesting -- at least to me -- is that, with the exception of Harper's requests (and other examples of those, like James Brown's "I Got the Feelin," are scattered through the top twenty), these numbers are essentially the result of only using the iPod as a shuffling device. I rarely take the time to scroll and select an individual song. I might create and move randomly through playlists, or occasionally select an entire album, but, by and large, I simply let the shuffle do its work. (And maybe that is its own source of shame; I'm not sure).

So, "Birds" has shuffled up ten times and been listened to ten times. Go figure.

Al Green's version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" has seven plays, tying it with "Bugs Are Really Swell" (Harper) and "Rudie Can't Fail" (not-Harper).

On the flip side of the coin, Tom Waits' "Singapore" still, unfortunately, has zero plays. We'll remedy that on the way home today.

Bill Fox

And, speaking of The Believer, and thanks to a former student and that magazine, I heard a great song, maybe the best song I've heard in a year that I hadn't heard before: "My Baby Crying," by Bill Fox.

The title sounds awful, but the song is unbelievable.

But his albums are out of print.

And, apparently, Mr. Fox now works as a telemarketer and won't discuss music anymore.

I'm not going to link to the song, but I'll email it to you, if you want.