I'm Not Gonna Brag, But...

YES-S-S, It's Christmas! (SSS: December 11)

I thought it only appropriate that I make the last Sunday School Soundtrack of the year extra special. With that said, let me explain a little about what I've done. For the "Yuletide Edition" of SSS, I have collected not five, but 10 of my favorite holiday runes to warm the cockles of your inner ears. On top of that (well, more to the side of that), I've given you the gift of convenience by including a QR code with a link to here, my blog. To sweeten the deal even more, I will be providing you with a link at the end of all of this to my Grooveshark playlist, "That Gingerbread Feeling," which includes all of the songs in the YESSS! plus about 20 more musical snacks.

So without further delay, much like the Magi of old offered their best to the Christ child, I offer you my best this pre-Christmas night. Enjoy.

All I Want For Christmas Is You--Dave Barnes
Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella--Peter Breinholt
The First Noel--Aaron Neville
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas--Sister Hazel
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear--Aaron Neville
Jingle Bells--Smokey Robinson
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Mambo--Billy May and His Orchestra
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town--Bruce Springsteen
Sleigh Ride--The Ronettes
What Christmas Means To Me--Stevie Wonder

There it is my dear students. Thank you for a remarkable 12 months of SSSs, occasional visual aids (when I remembered to use them) and themed treats. I've enjoyed every lesson and every moment spent with you. It's been quite a year. Here's to an adventurous 2012!

Oh, I almost forgot, click HERE for the link to my grooveshark.

Sunday School Soundtrack: Nov. 13

Okay, let's talk music. I love the list today. I am hoping you love it as well.

Here is it, in the flesh:

Anyway--Entrain
Into the Mystic--Van Morrison
The LIttle Things--Carlos Bertonatti
I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)--John Rzeznik
Holding Out For A Hero--Ella Mae Bowen


I know the video is lousy, but the song is great. Normally I'm a big proponent for dancing while listening to music, but I kind of hate the crowd in this video--a little too hippy for me.


I'm not going to lie. I think Van Morrison is one of the best song writers ever. I love this song. "I want to rock your gypsy soul just like way back in the days of old."


I'm not exactly sure when or where I stumbled across this little gem, but needless to say, it happened and I'm glad it did. He's got a very Jack Johnson feel to him, but without all of the overwhelming popularity.


Loved this song the first time I saw the movie and I still love it. I recently downloaded it for the first time and I can't get enough.


Out of all the remakes from the new Footloose, this is my favorite. Truth be told: I would date Ella Mae Bowen.

Hope you enjoy the videos. I couldn't find any of these songs on playlist.com...so I hope it's not too annoying having to go through all of the youtubes. Let me know what you think of my choices this week.

The Respectable Undead

In honor of my favorite holiday: Halloween (I actually have three favorite holidays: Christmas, Halloween and the 24th of July...Some might argue I don't understand the meaning of the word "favorite", but I might argue that I probably understand it better than anyone that might argue that.), I am posting the following song.

I've always been a fan of the holiday with religious roots that allows us to be whatever we want for at least one day—or a whole weekend if we are lucky. On the other hand, I've never been a fan of anything macabre (why we still have words in our vocabulary that can be pronounced three different ways, is beyond me), but when I came across this song today, I had to share it. Sure, she talks about eating her boyfriend's brain and maybe she mentions that all of their friends will want to kill them, but it has a catchy beat and I thought it was kind of fun. Enjoy...and Happy Halloween to all of you...no matter what your current mortality status is.

Words to the Wind

I'm not sure what made me think of this song this morning, but it popped into my head and I had to listen to it. I kind of went through a Blessid Union of Souls phase in high school and then on into my first semester of college. I even went to one of their concerts held up at Juan Diego High School—I may or may not have been on the front row. When my buddy, Phil, and I went to BYU-Idaho for our innagural year of college, we went out first thing and bought a stereo so we could listen to our sweet jams. We split the cost of the CD player/boombox and then listened to BUS for the next four months.

Our favorite song, Rest of My Life, was put on repeat multiple times and some days, it was the only song we listened to...simple minds, I guess. Lucky for me, Phil is also a person who can listen to a song over and over without getting sick of it. It's my favorite Blessid song. I hope you enjoy it. If it helps, just think of Phil and I in our dreary college apartment playing that burned CD until it wore out.

Sunday School Soundtrack: Oct. 23

My babies!

I just wanted to let you know that I have a new Sunday School Soundtrack...okay, maybe you were there...but if you weren't, here it is:

Oh, but let me explain: This is a special edition. I watched So You Think You Can Dance for the first time last season and I loved it. Mostly I loved being exposed to new music every episode and loved seeing someone's visual interpretation of each song. The following five songs are my favorites from the season. I hope you like them. (side note to this side note: I've added four of the songs to my playlist. If you want to listen to Ven A Bailar you may have to look it up on Youtube. I am going to bed.)

Special edition: SYTYCD Season 8
Misty Blue---Dorothy Moore
Moth's WIngs---Passion Pit
I Got You---Leona Lewis
Ven A Bailar (On The Floor)---Jennifer Lopez (featuring Pitbull)
Poison & Wine---The Civil Wars

Sunday School Soundtrack Summary

Welcome to round two of the Sunday School Soundtrack. I will be posting five new songs every two weeks, so stay vigilant or you may miss out. Just to review, Round one included the following songs:

September 18
1. Hurricane Drunk--Florence + the Machine
2. Find My Way--The Gabe Dixon Band
3. When I Get My Wings--Will Hoge
4. I Won't Let You Go--James Morrison
5. Let's Start Over--Miles Jaye (This one was a stretch, but I think it's hilarious.)

Okay, now that that is over with, say hello to this week's edition:

October 9
1. Little Lies--Dave Barnes
2. Virginia--Ron Pope
3. I Would Do Anything For You--Foster the People
4. I Cannot Settle Down--Peter Bradley Adams
5. Miracles--Matt White

I love these songs. I've tried to find all of them on playlist.com, but unfortunately, playlist.com doesn't know all of the good music. To make up for their lacking, I have included a song from each artist in the sidebar playlist titled (can you believe it?) "Sunday School Soundtrack." Where I couldn't find the song on playlist.com, I have included it below as an embedded YouTube video. Enjoy, and don't forget to comment with any songs that you've been loving that I should check out.

I know, I know, it's a live version, but it's awesome and Dave Barnes is amazing. If you are feeling especially ambitious, check out his Christmas Extravaganza videos. He's funny and talented.

Okay, I hope you realize how hard it is to only be sharing one song of Ron's with you today. His voice is a little whiny, but it has a quality that I enjoy listening to and one that seems to speak the emotion he writes about. If you want more, click here.

Listened to this about a million times when I went to Bear Lake last month. It now causes me to think of waspberry shakes, paddle boats and IDPs (Impromptu Dance Parties). Can you think of a better combination? I certainly can't.

Holy Smokes! Where do I start? Peter Bradley Adams is wind blowing through the wheat field. Peter Bradley Adams is the rain drops that falls on your head in the summer. Peter Bradley Adams is...you know what?--just listen to the song.

This just might be the single worst video job I've ever seen, but it's the only version of this song I could find to share. Don't watch the movie, but listen to the music. If you like it, go to iTunes and listen to it there...or come to my house and I'll play it for you from my music collection.

Whew! That was a lot of linking and embedding. I'm hoping it is worth it to you. Let me know what you think?