Department of Pointless Playlist

Screwing around with my iTunes looking to call up some Stars songs, I noticed that an awful lot of songs have the word "stars" in the title. To wit:

1. "Stars," Hum.
2. "Stars," The Cranberries
3. "Stars," The Dandy Warhols
4. "Stars," Hum
5. "The Stars," Better Than Ezra
6. "The Stars of Track and Field," Belle & Sebastian
7. "The Stars are Projectors," Modest Mouse
8. "7 Stars," Apples in Stereo
9. "Stars and Sons," Broken Social Scene
10. "Stars and Stripes," Anti-Flag
11. "Stars and Stripes of Corruption," Dead Kennedys

It seems to me that Anti-Flag got the better of the Dead Kennedys here in pure titling terms. As usual, the DKs let their heavy-handed didacticism get in the way. I'm not really sure how I feel about the songs as such. Hum's "Stars" is an unfairly neglected nineties alt-rock masterpiece.

UPDATE: Yes, some of these songs are very bad. Disk space, however, is cheap so I don't erase something just because it sucks.

Comments

Neglected? It's in a goddamn car commercial. You can't escape it.

Posted by Thomas | December 14, 2007 6:31 PM

Man, you've got some bad music on your computer Matt!

Posted by Matt | December 14, 2007 6:31 PM

The stars of track and field are beautiful people.

Posted by Petey | December 14, 2007 6:33 PM

Neglected? It's in a goddamn car commercial. You can't escape it.

Really? Which one. I've gotten super-good at ignoring ads, but it's leaving me out of touch with the latest in commercial appropriation.

Posted by Matthew Yglesias | December 14, 2007 6:38 PM

A few more from my iTunes:

• Sparklehorse, Box of Stars
  
• Trespassers William, Different Stars
  
• Air, Kelly Watch the Stars
  
• Echo & the Bunnymen, Stars are Stars
  
• Stereolab, The Stars Our Destination
  
• Flaming Lips, Vein of Stars
  

Posted by Christopher M | December 14, 2007 6:41 PM

The Cranberries? You listen to The Cranberries?

Posted by lemuel pitkin | December 14, 2007 6:42 PM

Speaking of music-related "Stars", there is a band called "Stars". Their album "Set yourself on fire" is definitely worth checking out.

Posted by AI | December 14, 2007 6:42 PM

No 'Star Star' by the Rolling Stones?

You kids today, you just don't appreciate a good little Chuck Berry riff-powered ditty about Steve McQueen recieving fellatio.

Posted by Woody Bombay | December 14, 2007 6:44 PM

You're missing the best "stars" song ever recorded:
Wilco & Billy Bragg - California Stars (Woody Guthrie original).

Posted by Andrew | December 14, 2007 6:45 PM

"UPDATE: Yes, some of these songs are very bad. Disk space, however, is cheap so I don't erase something just because it sucks."

Say wha?

You've got, what, a 120gb HD in your laptop? You can devote, what, 70gb to your music library?

If you don't have at least 70gb of worthwhile music in your library, you need to get collecting.

Posted by Petey | December 14, 2007 6:45 PM

mine suck more (winamp doesn't distinguish between title and artist)

north mississippi all-stars - eyes
moby - stars
ozma - shooting stars
starsailor - good souls
and yes, better than ezra - at the stars.

i do like billy bragg - california stars, however.

Posted by yep | December 14, 2007 6:46 PM

I like this game. Sadly searching for the word "stars" on my itunes made me terribly, terribly depressed.

The only thing that comes up is the entire album of the cranberiies. I am ashamed. horribly, horribly ashamed

Posted by bend | December 14, 2007 6:48 PM

"Speaking of music-related "Stars", there is a band called "Stars". Their album "Set yourself on fire" is definitely worth checking out."

no way!!!

Posted by yep | December 14, 2007 6:53 PM

Hear, hear to Hum. I recognize that they had a noisy style that doesn't jibe with a lot of people, but they've always been one of my favorites. Their sophomore album 'Downward is Heavenward' is mostly awesome with only a few duds.

Otherwise, from what can be gleamed from your occasional posts on the subject, you have pretty good taste in music (i.e. similar to mine).

From my mp3s:

"Stars and Stripes Forever," John Philip Sousa
"Kelly Watch the Stars," Air
"Stars," Appleseed Cast
"California Stars," Billy Brag & Wilco
"Vein of Stars," Flaming Lips
"Conversational Stars," Ghosts & Vodka
"Let Men Burn Stars," M83
"Stars Around Her," Mountain Goats
"Stairway to the Stars," John Coltrane
"Shine Like Stars," Primal Scream
"Release the Stars," Rufus Wainwright
"Riddle of Stars," Unwed Sailor

Posted by Everett Craven | December 14, 2007 6:53 PM

BTW. The commercial with 'Stars' by Hum is the one by Cadillac with the chick from 'Private Practice.'

It comes in for about 6-7 seconds at the end.

Posted by Everett Craven | December 14, 2007 6:58 PM

You were looking up that song from the Old Navy commercial, weren't you Matt? "Stars" by the Weepies. Awful singing.

"California Stars" from the Mermaid Avenue album is indeed fantastic. I prefer "Walt Whitman's Niece" though.

Posted by blah2 | December 14, 2007 7:08 PM

You've got, what, a 120gb HD in your laptop? You can devote, what, 70gb to your music library?

I have a 500 gig Lacie drive sitting on my desk. It holds a lot of music.

Posted by Matthew Yglesias | December 14, 2007 7:09 PM

"I have a 500 gig Lacie drive sitting on my desk. It holds a lot of music."

Point taken.

Posted by Petey | December 14, 2007 7:10 PM

I will never, ever understand the urge to brag about the number of gigs of music you own. No one in the blogosphere seems immune.

Posted by Freddie | December 14, 2007 7:21 PM

David Bowie "Star"
Artie Shaw "Stardust"
R.E.M. "Star Me Kitten"
Prince "Starfish and Coffee"
David Bowie "Starman"
Allison Krauss and Union Station "Stars"

Posted by Matt Schiavenza | December 14, 2007 7:55 PM

"Fire" is a common keyword I noticed in my own library. A quick iTunes search reveals 3 hours of such hits as "If You Love Someone, Set Them On Fire."

Posted by Brian | December 14, 2007 7:59 PM

I listen to the Cranberries occasionally. The first couple albums are good to work to.

Posted by Neil the Ethical Werewolf | December 14, 2007 8:07 PM

Stars is one the best bands making music today. Their latest album isn't my favorite but Heart and Set Yourself on Fire contain some of the best songwriting I've encountered, especially lyrically.

I have 331 songs come up under a Stars general search, and 93 in a song title search in iTunes.

Highlights that haven't been mentioned:

Ryan Adams - When the Stars Go Blue
Asche & Spencer - Under the Stars (Monster's Ball Score)
Bowlly & Ray Noble Orchestra - Midnight, the Stars, and You (Ghost scene in The Shining)
Broken Social Scene - Stars and Sons
C-3PO w/ R2D2 - Christmas in the Stars (hilarious)
The Channels - Stars in the Sky (old Doo-Wop)
The Cinematic Orchestra - As the Stars Fall
Jason Collett - Pavement Puddle Stars
Digby - Falling Up To The Stars
EastMountainSouth - All the Stars
Brian Eno - three songs on Apollo - Atmospheres and Soundtracks
Bill Evans - Turn Out the Stars
Ella Fitzgerald - It Was Written in the Stars
Isaac Freeman - Beautiful Stars
Billie Holiday - Stars Fell on Alabama
Billy Idol - Shooting Stars
Matt Pond PA - Brooklyn Stars
Tom McRae - Draw Down the Stars
Natural Calamity - Dark Water & Stars
Beth Orton - Stars All Seem to Weep
Liz Phair - Stars and Planets
Ulrich Schnauss - Stars
Smashing Pumpkins - Soot & Stars
Souls of Mischief - Shooting Stars
St. Vincent - All My Stars Alligned
Stars - Theme From Stars
The Stills - Lola Stars and Stripes
The Thyrday - Superstars (best track on album)

Back up that external Matthew!

And I have 10.21 gigawatts of music. so there

Posted by Chas Danner | December 14, 2007 8:32 PM

Fun Game. Can I play? Here's what I get from my collection:

"Soft Black Stars" Antony and the Johnsons
"Soot and Stars" Smashing Pumpkins
"Corcovado (Quiet Night of Quiet Stars)" Getz/Gilberto
"Quiet Night of Quiet Stars" Frank Sinatra & Antonio Jobim
"Starstruck" The Kinks
"My Stars" Alice Cooper
"Stairway to the Stars" Blue Oyster Cult
"Judgment of the Moon and the Stars (Ludwig's Tune)" Joni Mitchell
"N. Y. Stars" Lou Reed
"Twin Stars of Thence" Sun Ra
"Stars are Stars" Echo and the Bunnymen
"Stars on 45 (Medley)" Stars on 45
"Teenage Superstars" The Vaselines
"The Stars of Track and Field" Belle & Sebastian
"Stairway to the Stars" Milt Jackson & John Coltrane
"Dead Pop Stars" Altered Images
"The Stars are Projectors" Modest Mouse

Posted by PJ M. | December 14, 2007 8:33 PM

Suede: Starcrazy
Suede: My Dark Star
Suede: Filmstar
(Suede had a, um, limited lyrical palette)

The Auteurs: Starstruck
Future Bible Heroes: From Some Dying Star
Enya: Paint the Sky with Stars
Roger Miller: Kansas City Star

Posted by Boring Commenter | December 14, 2007 8:37 PM

Star - Belly
Star 69 - REM
Star Bodies - New Pornographers
Star Guitar - Chemical Brothers
Star Sail - The Verve
Star Sign - Teenage Fanclub
Starcleaner - Brian Jonestown Massacre
Stars - Brian Jonestown Massacre
Stars n Stripes - Grant Lee Buffalo
Stars are our Destination - Stereolab
Sudden Stars - Stereolab
Starship - Spacemen 3
Starside - Spacehog

I addition to the aforementioned: Stars of Track and Field, Stars and Sons, Stars are Stars, and 7 Stars. There may be more than that if I have songs that don't start with Star.

Also, I have every Dandys CD and I can't find a song by them called Stars. Must be a b-side or something.

Posted by Seitz | December 14, 2007 8:40 PM

Moby - We are All Made of Stars
Gorillaz - Starshine
Les Miserables - Stars
Evita - On this Night of a Thousand Stars

Posted by right | December 14, 2007 10:01 PM

Those first two Cranberries records are good 90's college rock stuff, and Dolores O'Riordan's solo debut is surprisingly solid.

Also, I think "7 Stars" is the best song on an excellent Apples in Stereo record. Certainly the best of the Robert Schneider vocal tracks; I like "Sunndal Song" a lot, too.

Posted by Aaron S. Veenstra | December 14, 2007 10:23 PM

I'll chip in with AU Revoir Simone's "Stars." It's the best song on their most recent album.

As for the Warhols' version, it is a b-side - I have it on Come on Feel the Dandy Warhols, but I don't know where it's from originally. It's a cover of the BJM song.

Posted by Craig | December 14, 2007 10:26 PM

Also, I think "7 Stars" is the best song on an excellent Apples in Stereo record.

I'd go with Skyway. It's the one I keep flipping to when that album pops up. I think it's the most fun to listen to. They put on a great show, too. And I don't mean to plug my crappy blog, but they'll be coming up in my top 10 albums of 2006 countdown (I'm only down to #7 so far).

Posted by Seitz | December 14, 2007 10:38 PM

"Stars" by Lisa Germano, from her 1994 album Geek the Girl, is one of my favorite songs ever. I scrolled through expecting somebody to mention it, but nobody did, so you force me to delurk.

Posted by mzepezauer | December 14, 2007 11:32 PM

fun!

Star Primal Scream
Star Bellied Boy Bikini Kill
Star Guitar Chemical Brothers
Star of David The Field Mice
Star Power Sonic Youth
Star Sign Teenage Fanclub
The Star You Left Behind Quasi
Stars Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois/Roger Eno
Stars Cut Copy
stars Walter Meego
Stars Nagisa Ni Te
Stars and Dinosaurs Place Called Space
Stars Fell on Alabama Cannonball Adderley/John Coltrane
The Stars of Track and Field Belle & Sebastian
The Stars Our Destination Stereolab

Posted by Jon E. | December 15, 2007 12:03 AM

'Star' is just a good word for English lyricists: short, lots of rhymes, lots of figurative heft. I wouldn't be surprised if the corpus of French music has fewer songs with 'l'étoile' in the title.

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | December 15, 2007 1:59 AM

Star Sign was the best Teenage Fanclub song until they did "I Need Direction".

Also, I don't much care for Our Lady Peace, but Starseed is a really good song.

Posted by Seitz | December 15, 2007 2:17 AM

Matt Schiavenza's got it right. MattY needs to get him some david bowie. Starman! Seu Jorge's cover from the Life Aquatic soundtrack is keen as well.

Posted by Tyler | December 15, 2007 3:07 AM

The only real quibble I've got with MY's list is Better than Ezra - those guys just suck.

I've got, just on my iPod, playing strictly by the rules (only "stars", not "star"

"California Stars," Billy Brag & Wilco
"Stars of Warburton" - Midnight Oil
"The Stars of Track and Field" - Belle & Sebastian
"Rock stars on the Marie Celeste" - Mekons.

If you want to cheat and throw in "star":
"Star Shaped" - Blur
"Strange News from Another Star" - Blur
"So you want to be a rock & roll star" - the Byrds
"Star Eyes" - Charlie Parker
"Death is a Star" - Clash
"Dark Star" - Crosby, Stills & Nash (there's a cringe song).
"Starman" - David Bowie
"Highway Star" - Deep Purple
"Lucky Star" - Madonna
"Star Witness" - Neko Case
"Star Bodies" - the New Pornographers
"Baby I'm a Star" - Prince
"Stardom in Acton" - Pete Townshend
"Star Fucker" - the Rolling stones
"Guiding Star" - Teenage Fanclub
"Star Sign" - Teenage Fanclub
"Stella by Starlight" - Miles Davis
"Star Power" - Sonic Youth

Posted by vanya | December 15, 2007 5:52 AM

hah m yglesias and all his fans: powder white itunes.

Posted by j1mmy | December 15, 2007 10:00 AM

Janis Ian had a fabulous album called Stars and the title tune is one of my favorite pieces of hers.

Posted by DCBob | December 15, 2007 11:55 AM

hah m yglesias and all his fans: powder white itunes.

Old ones, too. Judging from the posted playlists, commenters here don't have much interest in music released after 1999.

Posted by James Gary | December 15, 2007 11:56 AM

Hum was not merely one of the most underrated bands of the 1990s, but easily the finest rock group to ever emerge from Champaign-Urbana. Okay, okay, damnation with faint praise, sorry.

I guess you could make a case for REO Speedwagon, but I'd be forced to beat you down.

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | December 15, 2007 12:51 PM

Under Sad Stars - Crooked Fingers

people should download this song

Posted by R. Totale | December 15, 2007 1:31 PM

I was sure I'd have nothing, but:

Star The Elysian Fields
Star A.D. Faith No More
Star Me Kitten R.E.M.
Star-Crossed Sirenia
StarFuckers Inc. Nine Inch Nails
Stargazers Nightwish
Starless King Crimson
Starlit Theatre Of Tragedy
Starman David Bowie
Starship Trooper Yes

Posted by Mark | December 15, 2007 1:50 PM

With all the suggestions here, there are still a few indie gems not yet mentioned:

Dubstar - Stars
Ultra Vivid Scene - Three Stars
Wedding Present - Swimming Pools, Movie Stars

Very early 90s, I know.

Posted by Chris C | December 15, 2007 2:19 PM

The non-pareil jazz pianist Dave McKenna would often play sets like that: days of the week, flowers, a woman's name, a certain color.

His taste in music is better than MY's.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | December 15, 2007 5:13 PM

"The Stars Our Destination," by Stereolab, and "California Stars" are both pretty amazing. So is "Stars Fell on Alabama."

Also on my list, not yet mentioned, are "Stars in All My Dreams," by Some Girls (a Juliana Hatfield side project) and "Collapsing Stars," a sublimely depressing Mountain Goats song.

An album that came up: "Under the Bushes Under the Stars," the best Guided by Voices album.

Posted by SDM | December 15, 2007 6:01 PM

The only real quibble I've got with MY's list is Better than Ezra - those guys just suck.

You're missing the veiled hip-hop-style boast here...

I wouldn't be surprised if the corpus of French music has fewer songs with 'l'étoile' in the title.

Stereolab - Des Etoiles Electroniques.

Okay, that's one...

Posted by Amit | December 15, 2007 7:53 PM

"Wind is Blowing Stars" by Laura Veirs.
"Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" (Corcovado) performed by Oscar Peterson.

Everything else has already been mentioned.

Posted by mk | December 15, 2007 7:53 PM

February Stars! Foo Fighters! Come on!

Posted by Mike | December 15, 2007 11:16 PM

Stars, by Puerto Muerto:

http://www.spiralfrog.com/download/album/673056/Stars

Posted by Phoebe | December 15, 2007 11:24 PM

Ultra Vivid Scene - Three Stars

I'm embarrassed to have missed that. I love UVS. Always have since Special One hit the airwaves.

Posted by Seitz | December 16, 2007 2:53 AM

to add some international flair, one more:

Die Sterne

oh, and I also found this little gem by:

Fuenf Sterne Deluxe

Posted by novakant | December 16, 2007 10:09 AM

What, nobody likes "Lost in the Stars"?

Posted by SqueakyRat | December 16, 2007 1:15 PM

Hum is positively terrific. You owe it to yourself to get Downward Is Heavenward. Desert Island status for me.

Posted by Matt B | December 16, 2007 1:48 PM

"If you don't have at least 70gb of worthwhile music in your library, you need to get collecting."

70 gb would be about 1,200 hours of music. Or about half-an-year of 8-hour days just listening to music. When am I going to have that much time?

Posted by Sock Puppet of the Great Satan | December 17, 2007 12:58 PM