Stories of Division F: Man, that is a cool f***ing picture over there. Two of the members of rock and roll’s Council of Elders are represented in three of the four Round of 128 match-ups today. The question here is whether the proteges of the trailblazing these guys did in the late 50s will be able to impress us with the trails they’ve blazed themselves. Track 1 of Disc 1 of the Box Set, the infatigable trains and prison ballad “Folsom Prison Blues” is a 3 seed and lining up against the ultimate feel good teen romance song, 11 seed “Jack and Diane” (I have fond memories of driving in 1999 and thinking I should take my 17th birthday more seriously whenever this song hit the car speakers.) Cash’s second song, his 2 seed cover of Nine Inch Nail’s “Hurt”recorded a year before his death, faces off against one-time collaborating artist U2’s* 7 seed “Where The Streets Have No Name.” U2 has gone from 8 songs in the 512 to just 2 surviving tracks from the 1987 Joshua Tree album- its strongest and most important, in my opinion, so at least Bono, the Edge, and the rest have their best foot forward.
*This match-up is cool for anyone familiar with the U2/Johnny Cash collaboration “The Wanderer-” great song for solo road trips in Death Valley. Very great song.
Elvis’s surviving song and last #1 single of his career, 5 seed “Suspicious Minds” will be pairing off against Led Zeppelin’s last of 4 songs in the Round of 128, “Over The Hills And Far Away,” a staple of my fraternity’s basement playlist over the summer of 2003. And Robbie Robertson and the Band have still got their 1 seed contender “The Weight” holding court over the division, but 9 seed Dexy’s Midnight Runners have earned the right to compete here with Johnny Ray’s desperate plea to Eileen to just Come On.
Grooveshark link is here, vote by commenting on this post or by e-mailing LTDdotorg@gmail.com. Votes are due by Tuesday evening at 8 pm.
#1 The Weight (The Band) vs. #9 Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners)
#4 Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) vs. #5 Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley)
#2 Hurt (Johnny Cash) vs. #7 Where The Streets Have No Name (U2)
#3 Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) vs. #11 Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp)
Living the Dream 
#1 The Weight (The Band) 10 vs. #9 Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) 6
#4 Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) 6 vs. #5 Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) 7
#2 Hurt (Johnny Cash) 7 vs. #7 Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 5
#3 Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 9 vs. #11 Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 5
Danno’s Scores:
#1 The Weight (The Band) 7
#9 Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) 9
#4 Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) 6.5
#5 Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) 7
#2 Hurt (Johnny Cash) 10
#7 Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 8
#3 Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 6
#11 Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 8.5
The Weight (The Band) ~ 8
Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) ~ 4.9
Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) ~ 10
Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) ~ 7.5
Hurt (Johnny Cash) ~ 7.4
Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) ~ 5.2
Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) ~ 6.7
Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) ~ 6.5
Alot of good songs in here, would have rated many of them higher in previous rounds, but the ante has been upped!
#1 The Weight (The Band) 7.1
#9 Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) 7.5
Definitely didn’t see this one coming. Not a big loss, but given my expectations, HUGE swing. Weight was just too tame and calm given a damnable snowy day to begin spring. I hate weather.
#4 Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) 4.8
#5 Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) 7.8
The Zeppelin region of my brain appears to be broken right now. I can’t explain it. Maybe my head is angry that Black Dog isn’t around… who knows. Not too upset to be backing the King here… but I need to get my Zeppelin groove back.
#2 Hurt (Johnny Cash) 9.5
#7 Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 6.8
#3 Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 6.5
#11 Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 10
The Weight (Band) 8.5
Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) 5.5
Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zepplin) 8.5
Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) 5
Hurt (Johnny Cash) 7
Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 8
Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 9.2
Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 8
The Weight – 7
Come On Eileen – 8
Over The Hills And Far Away – 9.5
Suspicious Minds – 5
Hurt – 7
Where The Streets Have No Name – 10
Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 8.5
Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 8
The Weight – 7
Come On Eileen – 8
Over The Hills And Far Away – 9.5
Suspicious Minds – 5
Hurt – 7
Where The Streets Have No Name – 10
Folsom Prison Blues -8.5
Jack and Diane – 8
sorry….that was a double vote
#1 The Weight (The Band) 8
#9 Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) 6.7
#4 Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) 5.8
#5 Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) 9.2
#2 Hurt (Johnny Cash) 9.1
#7 Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 6.3
#3 Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 9.8
#11 Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 2.4
The Weight (Band) 6.9
Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) 7.5
Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zepplin) 7.5
Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) 8.8
Hurt (Johnny Cash) 6.5
Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 7
Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 7.2
Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 8
The Weight 6.75
Come On Eileen 6.75
Pre-7 am scoring has unknown effects…maybe The Band is stronger in the daytime?
Over the Hills 6.5
Suspicious Minds 7.5
Elvis and Bob Seger would be finalists in a Fake Song Ending tournament
Hurt 5
Where the Streets 9
U2 just killed it- that is a song to wake you up. I choose life.
Folsom Prison Blues 7
Jack and Diane 7.25
the weight – 10 (i listened to this match last night, and the band was perfect)
come on eileen – 5
over the hills & far away – 7
suspicious minds – 4.5
hurt – 9.5
where the streets have no name – 9
folsom prison blues – 6.5
jack & diane – 4
The Weight (The Band) ~ 8
Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) ~ 6.5
Proof that The Weight is a great song lies in the fact that Weezer’s cover of it couldn’t F it up. I actually really like it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsbTSUwgBfs (UK and Japanese bonus track from the Red Album)
Eileen is a boozy anthem but I’m not sure it’s a great ‘song’ in itself.
Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) ~ 7
Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) ~ 9.5
Suspicious Minds hands down. Oh so close to a 10. Shame to push the Zepp out though – good song too.
Hurt (Johnny Cash) ~ 9.5
Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) ~ 6
Weird McWeird: I don’t think I’ve ever knowingly heard Hurt before…kind of blew me away though – powerful and haunting. The crescendo towards the end is really incredible. Surprisingly, WTSHNN didn’t get me at all in comparison.
Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) ~ 3
Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) ~ 8
Not this time, JC. Jack and Diane felt great, especially in comparison.
The Weight (The Band) 9
Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) 8.5
Soft spot for Dexy, who was a bit character in my 2000 play, It’s Hard to Stop a Moving Kane.
Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) 7.5
Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) 9
Suspicious Minds takes me back to 2004-2005. Classic.
Hurt (Johnny Cash) 8.5
Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 6
Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 7
Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 7.6
#1 The Weight (The Band) [7]
#9 Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) [8]
#4 Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin) [6]
#5 Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) [7.75]
#2 Hurt (Johnny Cash) [9.25]
#7 Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) [8]
#3 Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) [6.5]
#11 Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) [8.5]
The Weight 6.2 Come on Eileen 7
Over the Hills and Far Away 7 Suspicious Minds 9.5
Hurt 8.2 Where the Streets Have no Name 4
Folsom Prison Blues 9.5 Jack and Diane 8.5
The Weight (Band) 10
Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) 5
Over The Hills And Far Away (Led Zepplin) 4.5
Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) 7.5
Hurt (Johnny Cash) 6.5
Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 6.5
Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) 7
Jack and Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp) 7