5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #39

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1. Crossroads Blues, by Robert Johnson

The birth of blues and rock n' roll happened right here in this song and others written by king of blues Robert Johnson. Though it isn't as rip-roaring (or anything remotely close to) the version made famous by Cream, without it contemporary music as we know it today never would have happened. Kind of amazing how one man is almost entirely responsible for such a tremendous thing, don't you think?

2. Girl Directions, by Psychostick

WARNING: If you are offended by foul language and poking fun at stereotypes then this song is NOT for you. If you aren't a wus, then have I got something hilarious for you! Psychostick are a comedy metal band that poke fun at all kinds of absurdities in modern day life. The song Girl Directions for example satirizes how often times some (BUT NOT ALL) girls give absolutely terrible directions and will not just give you the address even though you're using a GPS. You have to listen for yourself.

3. Takin' Care of Business, by Bachman-Turner Overdrive

As if you don't hear this enough on classic rock radio these days, right? However, it's there for good reason. It's a damn good catchy song with a chorus that any working man or woman can shout along to. I've been listening to it (and my mother singing along to it) for probably two decades or more at this point. I have to admit that even though that happened I still can't help but get into the groove when the song comes on.

4. Linin' Track, by Bernie Marsden

Want a song that does an absolutely FANTASTIC job of blending delta blues with modern heavy blues rock? Linin' Track, by founding Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden is just that. It starts off mild enough with acoustic guitar and transceiver sounding vocals, but when the electric guitar and full band come crashing in you know that you're about to jam out to the absolute rockingest song you have heard in a long time.

5. Bouree, by Jethro Tull

Like classical music redone in an unusual way? In this re-envisioned version of Bach's guitar classic, the melody is played on flutes and the rest of the band is backing it up in a very swingy fashion. The 60's really were a time of great creativity among musicians and artists of all kinds. I guess you could say things are somewhat the same way today, but I don't think it's quite the same. By now we're kind of used to people doing strange for the sake of strange.