Top Ten Songs by Edwin McCain
And I’m talking beyond the “I’ll Be” and “I Could Not Ask For More.” Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re both great songs. In fact, “I’ll Be” was the wedding song of the year in 2005. But I don’t want to hear them or about them anymore. Okay, so maybe I do, but it’s time to invest in some originality here.
I’ve seen the guy in concert, he’s very good, but he’s got more songs that I imagined and he can’t play most of them. In fact, he only played one of the songs I was dying to here.
He loves, he’s lost, and he’s still living to write it all down and break us and put us back together.
My top ten counted DOWN.
10. Coming Down: This is an upbeat song. I’m not gonna lie, the chorus sounds very Duncan Sheik to me, but that’s not a bad thing. He’s happy and grateful, something that doesn’t just appear during Thanksgiving dinners.
9. Go Be Young: The Aesop fable of McCain’s songs. The more here is live life and follow your heart. A little trite? Most definitely, but at least you don’t need to spell it out.
8 . Turning Around: Do you know Michael Tolcher? Well the chorus is completely Tolcher here. I swear he ripped off McCain, and why wouldn’t he? This is a great anti-love song. Come on, he broke all the chains she used to tie him down.
7. Good Enough: No, no. He doesn’t only sing about love. He sings about tolerance and acceptance. Check this one: “Well I’ve never seen a color except the ones up in the sky, When I see this kind of hatred I die a little inside.”
6. Romeo and Juliet: I know this is a Dire Straits cover. But McCain slows this one down quite a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I love the original and it’s tempo, but this cover is painful. Now, I love covers, but this one is 10 times better than his take on Maggie May.
5. Farewell to Tinkerbell: Yep, Peter Pan. You got it, and he’s got it with this song. It’s a little quick, and a lot of fun. It’s about growing up, just like the film. The only thing that’s missing? Thinking happy thoughts and flying…dammit!
4. Shooting Stars: Any song that starts “We keep our love in a plain brown box..” needs to be ilstened to through and through. This is one of my favorites. Plus Edwin McCain says “bling bling.” It’s never sounded more earnest. This is a love song for the materialistic. Don’t worry, you’ll be fixed soon.
3. Say Anything: It’s a Maia Sharp/Edwin McCain duet. She kind of sounds like him and vice versa, but the words are great. Sometimes you just can’t find the words, so you don’t say anything. You feel it, but the other person doesn’t know that. All they know is that you don’t say anything, and therefore mean nothing. It’s about labels and love. This song has cliches, but they’re so right. You’ve got lines like “You want water in my hands and we stand waist deep in the ocean…” but you can’t help but love it…even if it does sound like two men singing to each other.
2. Couldn’t Love You More: Have you ever dated a bad boy or girl? The noncommittal kind… Well, imagine they didn’t crush you and they let go of their ways for you. Trust me, I couldn’t pick the right words for this song. And THAT, my friends, is why I didn’t write it. “And they said I couldn’t love you, that it would never last. He’s just a crazy boy, just look at his past. And they said I couldn’t love you, but that was just a lie. I couldn’t love you more if I tried.” It may sound cheesy, and it is. But it’s the expensive kind.
1. I Want It All: Don’t we all? Probably. And if you don’t, you will after this song. “The good, the bad, the happy, and the sad,” he sings. This is what love is all about. I think this is the ultimate love/wedding song, and you’re going to have to listen to it. That’s it. Just go…NOW!
