Instead, I am going to write more about songs I like because that gives me an excuse to listen to music and write at the same time, which feels doubly productive and fun! Weeks and weeks ago I put together a playlist of songs that I love to sing, specifically with the intention to write a blog about it. So here this goes. Maybe one day some lucky few (or unlucky few?) people may even get to hear me sing a song of two!!
I thought about how am I going to organize this. Since I'm lazy and have stuff to do in a couple hours, I'm just going to do alphabetical order because that makes sense. And I am not including any Disney songs because that more than doubles the list and changes the vibe. Plus, lazy.
I love to sing Adele. I will sing practically all of her songs. And of many of the really great well-known singers, she's one that I have the easiest time singing. I don't know any of the technical terms, but her voice sounds smoother and rounder, which fits better with my voice. Singers that tend to sound sharper or brassier I have a harder time with because I can start to sound screechy if I don't figure out how I have to sing something.
Probably my favorite Adele songs to sing is Turning Tables. It's emotional and lots of opportunity to show off. Let's be real, this list is going to include a lot of slower, emotional songs. Most people have only heard me sing happy Disney songs, but I feel like I really hit my stride where I can dig into some emotion.
Another Adele songs I absolutely love to sing is One and Only. There are so many great vocal moments, even in the verses, which I really enjoy. (Side note, I am really glad I am NOT trying to sing these right now because this is one of those songs I have about a 50/50 chance of either singing along to or bursting into tears to. Ugg.)
I don't know if I've ever told anyone this, but I am a huge fan of Clay Aiken's first post-American Idol album. I haven't listened to anything of his since then, but I love this one. I really dropped the ball of Clay. His voice is amazing. I could sing my way through most of this album, but Perfect Day is my favorite. I love sinking into a nice and easy belt. It's just a bunch of clean and easy vocals. Plus the sun is so positive and uplifting. I also learned restraint with singing this song because a really good belt is so much more rewarding when you don't do it at every moment in every song. Gotta learn to cut off a note and not be greedy.
And now for a change of pace, I give you Delirium Trigger by Coheed and Cambria. This song really doesn't offer much challenge in the way of vocals. It is however just super fun to sing, in that "help I'm trapped on a spaceship with a monster" sort of way.
The lyrics to this song are so emo and I can't get enough! Admittedly, it can be hard to sing along to because Andy Leo is not that good of a singer. I really had to work to add more melody when I sing the chorus because it can drag. I do though love any chance I get to belt out a huge note over a guitar solo!! My note doesn't end where his does. ;^)
I am somewhat surprised that I enjoy singing Stolen by Dashboard Confessional so much. Most of the song isn't that exciting to sing. But that song is so charming. And I relate to the feelings in this song so much, I can't but sing. Then once I get to the end it's super fun to just let it all out! Side note, there are songs that remind me of people that have, ummm, stolen my heart, but I've always wanted someone to listen to this and think of me. I am the best one of the best ones, after all.
Believe it or not, I actually sing a country song or two! And I'm not counting early days Taylor Swift. While the real life thought of being taken away by a cowboy into some open space sounds horrible, I do love singing Cowboy Take Me Away. It's such a great song! I remember one time I was driving around Oak Park singing this with the windows rolled down and some lady on the street gave me a compliment. I felt very embarrassed and very pleased with myself. I also sing What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts, even though any other country like that is not my jam, because I heard someone once sing it on a singing competition show and just HAD to learn to sing it.
Ed Sheeran is one of my favorite artists. He is insanely talented. However, there really aren't that many of his songs that I really sing. Well, maybe not that many percentage wise because he as a lot of songs and I only sing a small handful. Dive is by far the one I love to sing the most. I sing this all the time on my own. I really like the structure of the lyrics plus that bluesy, emotional ache I can just sink my voice into. Plus I really relate to this song, so I can really connect with it emotionally.
I cannot express how much I adore singing My Immortal by Evanescence!! It's haunting and sad and so emotional. I tend to sing it with a little more angst - probably from all the punk songs I sing along to. I usually just sing this by myself with no music. But if I was going to sing along to the music, I like the radio version, because like I said earlier, I love to belt out a huge note over a guitar solo. I feel like this is the song that's technically hardest to sing that I can still really crush. But then I've never actually sung this for anyone, so I could suck really bad. I don't want to burst that bubble.
And now I bawling as this comes up on my playlist. Rest in peace Naya Rivera. This is already one of the songs I could just as easily break down crying to as singing along with. I love this arrangement so much and Naya's voice is so beautiful. I don't ever sing the original Taylor Swift version because I love how this version captures the emotions of the lyrics better. But damn Taylor Swift can write some lyrics. I want to feel love in a way this feels.
Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls is actually a song you can get me to sing at karaoke.
I feel compelled to offer a trigger warning before anyone tries to listen to this song. I debated about not even including on this list, but because I love singing it so much, it felt wrong not to include it. It's a modern interpretation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, especially the ending. So if you don't know how that ends maybe look that up first, or just don't and move on. And if you know what that's about, then you can understand why this song would be avoided. Ice Nine Kills usually doesn't do slower songs and I think it's beautiful in it's horrible sadness.
Why do I love to sing so many songs that also make me cry?! Seriously though, if I for any reason need to make myself cry, I will listen to or just think of Bruised by Jack's Mannequin because I find this song incredibly emotional. There's something about the lyric "now every word of every song/ I ever heard that made me want to stay/ is what's playing through/ the in flight radio" that is just so heart wrenching. Or maybe that combined with the emotion that Andrew McMahon sings it with.
I'm not going to link any video here because if you don't know these songs then I give up! If you've ever done karaoke with me you know that my go to is Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. I love that song because everyone knows it, so if I suck then the audience can take over. But when I'm on point, it's a fantastic surprise for everyone watching. But that's not the only Journey song I love to sing! I really enjoying singing Any Way You Want It. Rise Against does a cover, which is fine, but Tim McIlrath is not the same kind of vocalist that Steve Perry is and ruins the run of "hooooold, on, hooOooOoold on." I was listening to that version recently so I had to complain. You'd probably be surprised to hear that my favorite Journey song to sing is actually Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'. That song is so sexy. I like how the first 90 seconds gives some fun spaces for teasing some vocal skills, and I can be really sassy. And then the rest is just let the skills and stuff burst forth. I would try to turn this into something I do for karaoke, but too much of the end of the song is just "nananana nanananana" and the gets boring.
Kelly Clarkson is one of those great singers I struggle with because she is SO AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC. I have a heard time singing along with her, but can manage songs on my own by altering them to be less hard. I do need to work on this song in particular just because I know three different versions and I mix them up when I try to sing them that I just make a mess. A Day to Remember does a version but obviously Jeremy McKinnon cannot sing like Kelly. And then there's the Pitch Perfect version which is also great! MmmMMMmmmm Skylar Astin!! Wait, what was I doing?
Lewis Capaldi is amazing! And I eventually plan on learning to sing all of the songs on his one album because they are all so emotional and fantastic. But for now I can sing 3 all on my own. I basically already had Someone You Loved down before I got the whole album because of hearing it on the radio. I then focused on the two I was most excited to learn, Lost on You (linked below) and Don't Get Me Wrong. I find that the format of his songs are pretty formulaic and predictable (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus), but still they are so beautifully written. And he sings with so much emotion. It's funny because I saw a video of him on YouTube and he's this silly, self deprecating Scottish dude, which does not come across in his music.
Surprisingly, I could also sing my way through the entire A Lesson in Romantics album by Mayday Parade. There are so many great songs, and this was early days before Jason Lancaster left so there's song great singing parts. Of all the songs, this one is the one I love to sing the most! I am NOT typing out the title because I'm lazy.
I don't really sing that many New Found Glory songs. Even though it's my favorite band, I feel like it's less fun to sing along to for my voice because Jordan isn't a fancy vocalist. But I sing this one without listening to the track. I have to say of all the songs I like to sing, I've personalized this one the most. I slow it down and sing it a little more sad, more like a moody ballad.
And just in case you were wondering, "does Dayna sing any old timey songs?" why yes, I do a version of Serenade in Blue. Not Frank's, but a version.
I could also sing along to all of the Paramore songs that I know. (Disclaimer, I stopped listening to them after Brand New Eyes because the Farro brothers left, even though one came back, and I wasn't a fan of the newer stuff). My Heart is my favorite Paramore song to sing. I like how there's like the normal song part of the song. And then time to sing a lot of loud stuff and build and build and build. This one I have to sing relatively early in a session before my throat gets too sore and I can't do the end. I also love singing Let the Flames Begin and That's What You Get. I really want to add CrushCrushCrush to my karaoke rotation. I probably could if I just did it.
I very much love to sing Somebody to Love by Queen. I don't like to sing along because I'm not that good. I sound more like Anne Hathaway's version from Ella Enchanted. :^)
This is one of my favorites by far to sing!! The Save Ferris version of Come on Eileen is amazing and gives so much opportunity for showing off some amazing vocals. This is one I have to be warmed up to do and can't do when too fatigued. I have this song on Rock Band 4, so I've shown off playing that before. I love how the end part has the slower build part that lets me show off the stamina part and then it immediately speeds up to show off more of the power.
And now comes the part of the blog where I had ran out of time yesterday, so it's a new day! That's probably good because I was in a weird headspace yesterday. I really used this blog as a way to (mostly) distract myself from thinking about that stuff. A few of the above songs hit a little to close to what I was thinking about, but I didn't say it so you'll never know what. Hahahaha!!!
Admittedly, the verses in The Good Left Undone by Rise Against are a little faster than I feel comfortable singing. Sometimes when I sing this on my own I slow it down. But I love the emotion and imagery of this song.
Technically I've been singing along with this song, mostly in my car, since it came out. But it really wasn't until earlier this month that I took the time to learn the whole thing. I mostly just liked singing the Amy Lee verse. And then for the rest of the song I never seemed to get the flow of the chorus. But not anymore!! It was actually really easy, so clearly it rattled around in my head. I just needed to focus. Side note, why is it that I like so many rock songs with like violin and the like? I think it's a nice mix of hardness and class.
This is my favorite song to sing of all the songs I sing. I am not really sure how that happened, to be honest. Silverstein is one of my top favorite bands. Obviously it's slow and moody, so that's something I'm all about. I also really enjoy how I can sing the verses with ever increasing amounts of power. Then there's the middle part of the song that just keeps going, so there are multiple different parts of the song with their own enjoyment to sing. My favorite part to sing is the section of the little instrumental break because I really like the lyrics and how that part builds.
I almost didn't include this but I love it so much!! When I listen to this in the car, I have to repeat like 2-3 times.
I am so glad I got over being embarrassed about my talent show anxiety shit show disaster where I bombed this song so bad I stopped singing it for two years. And that is also why I am currently working on getting over my fear of singing in public. I learned now that it takes baby steps, not going from zero to talent show in one go. Ooops.
Meet Virginia by Train is so much fun to sing!! It's not challenging at all and has a nice mix of playfulness and serious emotion. I do my own thing with the end bit that I really like, giving it a little spice.
So I don't know it happened, but I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston became the song I sing in front of people when I get really drunk at some event. I got drunk and sang it at law school prom. I got drunk and sang it in the van back from my friend's bachelorette wine tasting day. It's probably because without some liquid courage, I don't have the confidence to sing this at all, let alone in front of other people. Although on the new TV show Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, they did a slow version of this song and I now love to sing this song like that. Slowed down it becomes so much more yearning and I really feel that.
I listen to a lot of pop punk bands, and they are not well known for having the best vocals. This is literally the only Yellowcard song on my sing along playlist. But I love singing this one a lot. It's super emotional (shocker) and gives me opportunity to improve on the original vocals since there are lots of powerful moments. I have this song on Rock Band 4 and enjoy playing it for some 5 stars. Side note, also on Rock Band 4 I really like singing The Arms of Sorrow by Killswitch Engage - I haven't gotten that song down yet for my own use, but I rock it in Rock Band.
I almost thought about not including this song because it's an odd place to end this playlist. And let's be real, I feel like I should be embarrassed that I love to sing this song. Like, a lot. But I'm not ever going to embarrassed by my musical tastes. Plus, I don't really think I sing many songs that are sexy, and I think this is sexy AF, so I need to bring a little of that to this, right?
So clearly this list is hardly inclusive of everything that I like to sing. And I'm adding new songs all the time. But I thought it was a great representation. Not sure anyone made it this for, but if you did, thanks!
