We’re starting the show with Why Do You let me Stay Here? by She and Him (who also have a wonderful holiday CD that you should check out).

Zoey Deschanel, half of She and Him, was the star of (500) Days of Summer, which featured the song Vagabond by Wolfmother on its soundtrack. Wolfmother said that they’ve been inspired by Kings of Leon on their Myspace page. Kings of Leon are best known for their song Use Somebody, which got a lot of radio play when it came out. Since we’re on the topic of Royalty, why not listen to Queen’s song Crazy Little Thing Called Love? Queen and Adele both extol the pains that love puts them through, and Adele especially does that in her song Crazy for You. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues has a very similar tune to Adele’s song. The song by Chris Thomas King is a part of the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. Blues songs come in all different types, but tend to always be good. The F-Stop Blues by Jack Johnson is a song that is only accompanied by a guitar. Guitars are prominent in modern music, as they have been for years, and songs have even been written about them over the years. One example is The Beatles‘ While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Piano is also a very prominent instrument and their use can be seen in all types of music. In Meiko‘s Piano Song, the piano is peppy and joyous.

Regina Spektor talks about one of the unconventional uses for a Piano in her song Firewood, which comes from her most recent album What We Saw From the Cheap Seats. Lover is Childlike by The Low Anthem is a song that seems to relate back to Spektor’s references to childhood passing by too fast. The song was featured on the Hunger Games soundtrack along with Dark Days by the Punch Brothers. The Punch Brothers is a band that is fronted by Nickel Creek alumni Chris Thile. Thile plays instruments, as well as sings and his instrumental ability can be heard in many of Nickel Creek‘s songs. The House of Tom Bombadil is a reference to a secondary character in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books who also had his own verses published about him in Tolkien’s poetry book The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Nickel Creek isn’t the first or only band to reference literature and literary characters, though. The Police reference Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, in their song Don’t Stand So Close to Me, a song about a young teacher who is being pursued by a student. The idea of a student in love with a teacher is a major plot point in the book and TV show Pretty Little Liars, which uses the song Secret by The Pierces as a theme song.