5. Journey – Don’t Stop Believing

This song defines the word “epic.” It is an anthem unto itself — a song that, when heard, inspires awe and a sense of connection to all those listening. Don’t Stop Believing was covered by the Glee cast, and still sounded good. This is a song to listen to at the end of a great night, at the beginning of a night that will probably be great, or really anytime you want to listen to a song that can get EVERYONE singing along to it.

4. Infected Mushroom – Dancing With Kadafi

A new listen for me, Infected Mushroom falls into too many genres to classify. I’ll call them, for the purpose of this list, “Israeli psy-trance.” This song exemplifies a lot of what they do very very well — put intricate middle eastern sounding guitar riffs into a electronic, quasi-house beat. The song changes often throughout its 10 minutes and 22 seconds, and takes the listener on a journey. Epic, indeed.

3. Phish – Divided Sky

This song is 12 minutes long at a minimum — the recording here is from Bonnaroo in 2009 (make sure you listen to part II, as well). Phish has always been a band that can put a smile on a person’s face, and this song in particular does it every time. You can hear the pure joy coming out of Trey’s guitar towards the end; as the song crescendos, the technical showcase fades out and the energy and emotion behind the song truly show in the 30 second note that launches the listener into the conclusion of the song.

2. Deadmau5 – Strobe

I was never big into house music until I heard this song. Deadmau5 is a young producer from Canada who has quickly become a well known name in the electro scene. Strobe really showcases his talents over about 11 minutes, and the changing time signature and dynamics create an epic that can have even the most sluggish listener dancing by the time the beat drops (3:50).

1. John Butler – Ocean

This is the best song in the world. I have yet to hear a song that comes close to expressing the amount of emotion that this piece does. I heard him play a show once, and his lead in to this song was something along the lines of “I like to play this song to inspire peace and understanding in the world.” It does, John. I can’t even fill up a paragraph about how great this song is. It’s just awesome. Listen to it. Now.

Good for you… and this is what I was talking about the other day. A change in perspective (i.e. excitement over a change in scenery) can change your entire outlook. Sometimes they come easy (e.g. simply applying for an internal job), and sometimes you have to really put forth effort to get those changes (e.g. get a new degree), but either way, it’s all part of the journey and you might find you enjoy the experience of earning a degree, especially since there is an end date (graduation) in sight. Other times, the end is softer (don’t know when you’ll get that promotion). Either way, (changing or stagnant) it is your life (and your journey). You have the choice to stay on the easy and straight path – or you can make a left turn down the road – or you can make a right turn to climb a mountain to get to (maybe a beautiful view – or maybe see an ugly smoky city) you take risks and sometimes the risks pay off. Sometimes there is excitement in just taking risks even if they do not pay off. And sometimes you take risks and they don’t pay off but you learn something and then your next risk-taking adventure is more calculated. Point is, at 21 years of age, continuing straight on your road is boring, uneventful and unproductive. Change jobs, take classes, travel…. make a turn and see what happens. But a calculated turn – not one where you know there is a cliff there you will fall over!

We’ll see how it goes.