Hi voters! We thought we’d throw in a recap of what exactly is happening on this page. We’ve had a number of friends that want to vote abstain because they are confused as to how this works. Here is an overview on how to get involved: Continue reading
Welcome to a late night posting session. I got out of work about 30 minutes ago, and even though it’s Guillermo’s week at the helm, he graciously allowed me to post tonight’s results. The reason? The death of a song that launched 600 more. Continue reading
Votes are due by 8 PM EST on Thursday, April 7th: Both Division G and H feature songs with major fan favorite backing (Jimi- Dr. J, Bruce- Mark O, Tom- Colin, Marshall- Grant…having a spreadsheet that has everyone’s historical scores is fascinating) so we’ll see where the remaining voter populace goes from here, as well as how the songs will stack up with this rampant new hypercritical scoring system a lot of us are using. Notable surviving lower seeds include #7 Night Moves and #11 Lose Yourself, so we will also see how those stack up against a 3 seed and a 2 seed respectively. Continue reading
After so many months, we are finally ready to begin announcing the championship matches of our divisions. Remember, back when we began this in 2010, each Division had 32 songs, so its a commendable path for all finalists. None of the semi-finals was a runaway by any means, by the way; in fact, every single one of these songs had a lead at some point in the last few days. Now to the championship announcements… Continue reading
Votes are due by 8 pm EST on Wednesday, April 6th: The semi-finals for both Division E and Divison F feature 1 seed vs. 5 seed and 2 seed vs. 3 seed match-ups. And that’s about where the commonality ends. Division E is all over the psychadelic place, whereas Division F would feel right at home on dueling riverboats on the Cumberland in spitting distance of the Grand Ole’ Opry. I can’t make a single prediction on these, and my money’s only on one bet- after an incredible run, Johnny Cash will most definitely suffer his first loss of the Living The Dream Music Tournament today to his first formidable competitor to date. Himself. Continue reading
Moving forward in the Round of 64, our semi-finalists from Division C feature a battle of songs released when our parents were kids (for the most part. I’m turning 28 this month, so at least for me.) and a clash of dance your ass off versus stop and think about things. Division D’s semi-finals only include one surviving top 4 seed and a few upstarts with solid backing from a small contingent of voters. Which will save the day less and less as we continue in the tournament, so we’ll see if more listeners get on board.
Grooveshark link is here, votes are due by 8 pm EST on Tuesday April 5th. Vote by commenting on this post or by e-mailing LTDdotorg@gmail.com. Best of luck to all songs
Division C Semi-Finals
#1 Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan) vs. #4 Lookin’ Out My Back Door (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
#2 Hey Ya (OutKast) vs. #11 Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley)
Division D Semi-Finals
#5 Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel) vs. #8 Born To Run (Bruce Springsteen)
#2 Respect (Aretha Franklin) vs. #6 For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield)
And here we go again. Much like the current tourney on the channels but two weeks ago, we are starting our Round of 64 of the Living The Dream Music Tournament. I will try to hold off on my extended narratives of the Round of 128 and simply let the music speak for itself. As per the organization of our songs, this is also the semi-finals of Divisions A and B, so winners will advance to the championships of those divisions. As a reminder, the winners of every division will be re-seeded into our Absolute Sweetest Sixteen for the final road to the Living The Dream championship match.
Grooveshark link is here, except for Hey Jude. Vote by commenting on this post or by e-mailing LTDdotorg@gmail.com. Votes are due by 8 pm Eastern Standard Time on Monday, April 4th. May the best song win, and good luck to all.
Division A Semi-Finals
#1 You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones) vs. #4 Such Great Heights (The Postal Service)
#7 The Sound Of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel) vs. #14 Call Me (Blondie)
Division B Semi-Finals
#5 Hey Jude (Beatles) vs. #8 Superstition (Stevie Wonder)
#3 Creep (Radiohead) vs. #7 All Day And All Of The Night (Kinks)
64 is a big number. Not just because it’s bigger than all numbers between 1 and 63, but more so because it’s a number we can all finally wrap our heads around. Janos and I have run 64 song tournaments in the past, and some of our voter base may have as well. And I know that Nos has even run bigger tourneys than that. But the difference between those and what we have now is this: it’s one thing to pick 64 songs and go. It’s a completely different thing to pick 55o+ songs and see who survives into a round of 64. This is a special, special group.
That said, I’d like to first and foremost do a “flashback” to those songs that defeated songs in a play-in round. 57 songs have defeated 3 songs to survive, but 7 songs have defeated 4 songs to get to where they are today. Here they are, in no particular order- I can almost completely guarantee you will be surprised.
Play-In Recap
Call Me (Blondie) beat Man In The Mirror (Michael Jackson), 128-119
Son of a Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) beat Angie (Rolling Stones), 127-117
Lookin’ Out My Backdoor (Creedence Clearwater Revival) beat Wave of Mutilation (Pixies), 103-85
For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield) beat Let’s Get Together (Youngbloodz), 107-96
Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) beat Helpless (Neil Young), 118-104
Wavin’ Flag (K’Naan) beat New Day (Wyclef w/ Bono), 91-71
Train In Vain (Clash) beat Sleeping Aides and Razorblades (Exploding Hearts), 64-58
We have everything here from 1 seed “Son of a Preacherman (Apparently Tim was right when he told Nos last December he refused to vote on it because Dusty should have been in the tournament automatically) to up-start “Call Me”, who has been slashing powerhouses left and right for months now.
Second, would like to just send some additional encouragement to all regular voters to try and get your friends involved. We are in the final stretch of getting to the heart of the best song that has survived this winter and spring of voting, and we will be done by May 1st. Now more than ever is the time to increase the pool and get more opinions into the mix!
Pumped for the Round of 64. T-minus 80 minutes.
The Round of 128 concluded nicely with four hard-fought show-downs. I wonder how much of the Round of 64 will be a formality as we await a Piano Man v. Wavin’ Flag battle to crown a Division P champion.
#1 Piano Man (Billy Joel) def. #8 Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones) 106.2-102.7. Another bruiser for Gimme Shelter, which outlasted Cream last round. Piano Man was just too good today. Piano Man is the heavy favorite next week against Holiday.
Not that #12 Holiday (Green Day) shouldn’t revel in its somewhat surprising victory over #4 Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Nirvana), 94.75-82.7. I thought Green Day was toast without its Dookie songs. Meanwhile, Nirvana is down to one song- Smells Like Teen Spirit.
#2 Wavin’ Flag (K’Naan) def. #7 Sultans of Swing (Dire Straits), 111.1-93.45. K’Naan lost a little momentum from previous rounds, but still cruised past Dire Straits, who are eliminated (artist #232), and earned a third consecutive spot on the Wall of 10’s (Adrock, Danno, Margot, Catholic.)
[This last match-up authored by Guillermo, as I had to go in and change all the words to Nos’s draft.] #3 I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor) defeats #6 No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley), 105.95-100.8. Marley was looking like it was gonna pull it out until approximately t-minus 38 minutes to ballot closing when Ogden dropped a +5 for Survive, almost immediately followed by a +4.65 from Astrid. In the battle of disco vs. reggae, it ends up being disco who comes up with the 15th Round uppercut KO. Bob Marley will stunningly not make it to the Round of 64, and is artist #233 to be eliminated. If this isn’t momentum and a reason for K’Naan to look warily Gaynor’s way, I don’t know what is.
The 64 starts tomorrow night.
He did it again! The Beatles may have six songs in the Round of 64, but Johnny Cash has been damn impressive, running his tournament record to 12-0, as #8 Ring of Fire toppled a flat #1 Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Show), 138-123. Both make the Wall of 10s, Ring of Fire thanks to Astrid and Viril, and Wagon Wheel courtesy of Aiko, Astrid and Natalie.
I’m with G, the Against Me! version does sound pretty good, though maybe that’s because we’re getting tired of OCMS. Wagon Wheel was the third #1 seed to lose, after Under the Bridge and When the Levee Breaks. OCMS is artist #228 to exit.
Meanwhile, Joplin v. Weezer is the matchup that had everyone fired up. In the end, #5 Say It Ain’t So toughed out #4 Piece of My Heart, 138-134. Joplin is the 229th artist eliminated.
#6 Fortunate Son (CCR) def. #6 Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong), 130-119. Yes, Wonderful World is a gorgeous song, used to great effect in countless movies, montages and TV commercials. However, despite the broad pantheon included in the tournament, rock and roll wins the day. Fortunate Son joins Lookin Out My Back Door in the Round of 64. Armstrong can rest in peace as artist #230 eliminated.
Finally, in a matchup that see-sawed all day, #15 Sabotage (which Colin helpfully pointed out is hip-hop [though also white hip-hop]) slipped past #7 Magic Carpet Ride, 115-112. Though Sabotage got love from son, it also had enough haterade to make it the underdog against Fortunate Son next round.
Steppenwolf is artist #231 eliminated since the Round of 512 began. This is the second straight day we’ve eliminated four artists. I dare you to scour the internet for a post anywhere that is also tagged, “Janis Joplin, Louis Armstrong, Steppenwolf, Old Crow Medicine Show.”
Living the Dream 