Lucid & Weary

250 Years

"Man is condemned to be free. Condemned, because he did not create himself, yet, in other respects, is free; because, once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does." -Jean-Paul Sartre

The principles America was built upon have always been at odds with the execution of them, and despite a 250-year history to learn from, we still seem far from what was originally dreamt of at this country's founding. We've watched as much of the world has adopted our exact principles and used them to thrive and surpass what we understand as the American dream.

People are quick to say opinions like this are somehow anti-American or unpatriotic, when it's quite the opposite. Living year after year in a country not living up to its potential, while unwittingly becoming the blueprint for foreign success, is frustrating. Every American should be looking at the state of things and genuinely wondering if we'll make it another 250 years.

I completely forgot that 17 years ago, I was on a weird single-player crusade. I'm sure 2009-Sergio would be disgusted with where the video game industry is today. Honestly though, it's quaint to see such innocent complaints about gaming.

Here's an old post from Techpedition, and I'm sure I thought it was a hot take back then. As I read over this, I'm sure I will have commentary. It will be found in Bold. Enjoy!

Originally published on October 27, 2009, via techpedition.com.

Online Multiplayer…Its own worst enemy?

This year sees the release of many online multiplayer titles that have and will garner rabid sales: these include Halo 3 ODST, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Left 4 Dead 2. While all of these can be played single player, the publishers are really hoping that the multiplayer mode keeps players coming back.  Why, you ask? Well, it has everything to do with brand loyalty, download content revenue, and sustaining the sales numbers. Ok, technically, he's not wrong here, but this already seems angrier than expected.

This is the main reason Naughty Dog went so far out of their way to make sure the multiplayer was good before the Uncharted 2 release (by having a multiplayer beta). Multiplayer is great for players who thrive on the social aspect of gaming and have the competitive spirit to shoot, stab, or bludgeon their friends to death, but it also creates a highly intimidating barrier of entry. Explaining why multiplayer is popular doesn't seem like a valuable use of article words. Or maybe online gaming was still so novel that explaining it in such plain text was necessary, I honestly can't remember.

After loading up Halo 3’s multiplayer, Call of Duty 3’s multiplayer, and Uncharted 2’s multiplayer, I have found that online FPSing is simply not the game for me. I feel like that should be the log line for this piece. It's simple and to the point. Consequently, it might also be why the whole article shouldn't exist. In fact, I hate it. What makes a single-player campaign so fun is the attention that is paid to balancing the experience. A game may be hard, but there is always a way to win. Putting the player against other players creates an unpredictable group of actions that will probably end up with me getting “fragged” (that’s what it's called, right?) Oh, cringe...

Now, I know I’m not alone here, and there is a very large population of gamers that will not play multiplayer modes in shooters (I am singling shooters out because I have found that they are the most unbalanced of the competitive games, not by design, but by player base).  Most gamers (I really hate the word gamer) don’t have the time or patience to play COD4 or Halo 3 to the point where they could do well on the online servers. Them's some big words from someone not willing to put the work in. When they decide to jump into it, they are immediately killed (over and over), and they give up. Projecting much?

In a way, unmanaged switches are a bit like this aspect of gaming – they lack some of the complexity and control found in managed switches. However, here’s the positive side of unmanaged switches: they are incredibly easy to set up and use. Just like some gamers prefer casual gaming experiences, unmanaged switches are perfect for simpler networks where you don’t need all the advanced features. They’re like the ‘pick up and play’ option in the world of network equipment, making them a quick and hassle-free choice for basic networking needs. What? I can say confidently that I never understood networking and definitely never understood managed and unmanaged switches. What was 2009-Sergio on?

Just like any other humans, gamers have a hard time remembering good things about a game when one aspect of it causes such a bad experience. Take Carl and his distaste for the graphics in Metal Gear Solid 4.  No matter how many levels of the game Knots sat and played at Carl’s house, to this day, he still dwells on the load times and the underwhelming visuals. Look at me, name dropping 2 dudes I'm sure no one knows. It's the same principle behind first impressions. If someone or something makes a bad first impression on you, that impression sticks, and you often find it hard to move away from that. That principle is true, but I'm making very broad-stroke statements about the first impressions of multiplayer shooters based solely on my anecdotal experience.

My question is, at what point do the impressions of multiplayer start to hurt the game’s sales and success? Never, the answer is never. If Joe Blow spends $60 on Halo 3 and is burned by the online, how likely is he to buy the follow-up Halo 3: ODST? How does Modern Warfare 2 expect to pull in new players if the online play is filled with experts who played hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of Call of Duty 4? Why are games that shouldn’t be focused on Multiplayer starting to move in that direction, and will their single-player experiences suffer because of it? So many questions and so many unimportant answers.

I’m sure I sound like a wuss that just sucks at FPSs (Oh so you ARE fully self aware...what the fuck are we even doing here then?), but what I CAN tell you is that I have deliberately dodged multiplayer games because I assume that the single player modes are lacking quality. This probably keeps me from experiencing some great games (many of which I am playing catch-up on), but even though these games’ multiplayer modes technically are fantastic, they still leave a bad taste in my mouth. Get over it, you just admitted to playing them anyway. I also firmly believe they are the reason we haven’t gotten follow-ups to some of the coolest single-player games ever, like Jet Set Radio Future, Psychonauts, Beyond Good and Evil (the sequel was put on indefinite hiatus), Star Fox Adventures, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Ok, Conker got a follow-up on the Xbox, WITH multiplayer. Psychonauts also got a sequel, and those other games weren't successful enough to justify more games.

I feel like this version of me is just whining that these companies aren't making games specifically for my taste, even though I have documented evidence that I have never had trouble finding video games to play.

I go to a lot of concerts. Just this year alone, I've been to 5 already, and I've got hard plans to go to at least 8 more. For me, this is an exciting post. I've compiled a list of the best venues I've ever experienced.

Sure, me being from Central Mississippi is going to limit the number of venues I can talk about here, but I'd argue that's where the value of this post lives. Anyone can blog about Madison Square Garden, Red Rocks, or the Hollywood Bowl, but only a Mississippi concert-goer can give you a breakdown of the best venues in the Southeast.

What follows is my opinion: It's venues I love, fueled by 25+ years of concert experiences. If you don't find value in that...go ahead and click elsewhere. Otherwise, let's get started with some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention

Joy Theater - New Orleans, LA

A charming little theater in NOLA that comfortably houses medium-sized acts several times a year. Its slanted floor helps everyone feel included, and its small size and ornate decor add to the ambiance of every show.

Soul Kitchen - Mobile, AL

It's not much of a venue, really. It's more just a warehouse in downtown Mobile. Where it thrives is in its welcoming vibes and prime on-the-strip location.

Brewsky's - Hattiesburg, MS

Another largely unspecial building that houses a perfectly cromulent stage and space. Brewsky's has been operating long enough to really embrace its late '00s spirit, and that's its strength.

#10 - Superdome - New Orleans, LA

The Superdome is enormous. At approx. 83,000 seats, concerts can feel alienating. The Superdome combats this with a no bad seats approach. Concerts feel like a spectacle in the Superdome, like a celebration of humanity, like the only place on the planet you want to be. The only negative checkboxes come from it not being able to deliver an intimate experience.

#09 - Duling Hall - Jackson, MS

Built into an old Jackson, MS, Elementary School Auditorium, Duling Hall is a small-capacity, intimate concert venue for up-and-coming or niche legacy acts. Regardless of who is playing Duling, it's the picture-perfect modern cozy venue. Those artists are there for YOU, or at least that's how it feels.

#08 - Saturn - Birmingham, AL

Saturn is another small venue, but unlike Duling, it has much bigger aspirations. It feels ultra-modern and has found a great way to integrate VIP seating without sacrificing the GA experience. They host medium-sized acts, but the right cock-tail of legacy star-power and quaint surroundings can make the building feel bigger than the sum of its parts.

#07 - Tipitina's - New Orleans, LA

Tipitinia's may just be a concert hall, but when you're in it, it feels like an antique you don't have permission to destroy. Located well off the main thoroughfares of New Orleans, no one accidentally ends up at Tipitina's. If there were an "if these walls could talk" award for NOLA venues, it would be named after Tipitina's.

#06 - Avondale Brewing Co. - Birmingham, AL

As a modern, open-air, in-town venue, Avondale Brewing Co, has a lot going for it, including big shows and VERY large crowds. I'm sure my opinion of ABC has a lot to do with me never attending a show there in the rain, but once the sun goes down and the headliner comes out, ABC feels as big as a festival, while still maintaining the scale of a snug small venue.

#05 - Piedmont Park - Atlanta, GA

Less a concert venue and more a large-scale festival ground, Piedmont Park is a must-visit for concert goers. Drenched in the shadows of Atlanta's tallest buildings, Piedmont Park offers a picturesque place to experience your favorite artists, while offering an uncut feeling of fellowship with thousands of like-minded peers.

#04 - House of Blues - New Orleans, LA

HOB NOLA is the absolute best of the corporate-sponsored, artist-friendly venues. It effortlessly handles its VIP sections, and offers an unbelievable number of intimate views of the artist. Oh yeah, and it sounds amazing. If I lived in New Orleans, I'd likely find myself at the House of Blues a dozen times a year.

#03 - Hal & Mal's - Jackson, MS

Hal & Mals is a deeply flawed venue. It doesn't sound great, regardless of season its somehow 90 degrees inside at all times, and 9 of the 10 loudest shows I've ever been to were in that building. What it lacks in refinement, Hal & Mal's makes up in character and ambiance. Watching a band in 100-degree heat and seeing them rock out makes you feel like you are in the shit with them. The stage is tiny, and the band feels like it's sitting in your lap. The lighting is always bad, but you know deep down, a well-lit show at Hal & Mal's just wouldn't hit as hard as the ramschakle experience you've come to know.

#02 - Brandon Amphitheater - Brandon, MS

In what should count as the most Homer pic of all of these, the Brandon Amphitheater is a modern venue with all the modern amenities you'd expect from a LiveNation-supported experience. What pops out of what should probably be a venue used for local graduations, clog competitions, and state-fair-style shows is a quaint venue that's very much punching well above its weight class. By bringing in everyone from modern acts like Jelly Roll to legacy Rock acts like Goo Goo Dolls, The Doobie Brothers, and Bush, to R&B/Hip-Hop experiences like TLC/En Vogue/Salt N Peppa and Lil Wayne. This little Amphitheater, positioned basically in my backyard, has become the premier central Mississippi venue.

#01 - The Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA

Located in the heart of Atlanta, The Tabernacle is the region's premier "small" venue. Built into an old church, its equal parts classic architecture vibes and southern gothic sensibilities. Long before you even make it to the concert hall itself, The Tabby swallows you whole. You feel like you've stepped into an alternate dimension where the religion is music and booze. From a concert standpoint, the building has codified the right way to treat fans. You feel like you're on top of the stage and on top of one another, and, in a way, they are both true. The looming pipe organ behind the stage, the triple-decker audience, and the slanted (shorty-friendly) floor make the experience epic from back to front and from top to bottom. The Tabby is my favorite venue, and it's not even close. If you ever have a chance to see a show there, please treat yourself.

Defunct Venues

Here are a few venues I'd like to mention that don't exist anymore. The buildings are all still there, but they aren't concert halls, and that makes me sad.

The Bottling Company - Hattiesburg, MS

For a short time in '00s, the old Coca-Cola bottling building in Downtown Hattiesburg housed a small venue that rivaled big-name places like the House of Blues. It had such great ambiance and design.

Club Fire - Jackson, MS

Located 50 yards from the aforementioned Hal & Mal's, Club Fire was basically a warehouse with a stage. Nothing really made it stand out as a concert venue, but it was scrappy and put on some great shows.

Mud Island Amphitheater - Memphis, TN

Mostly just a standard Amphitheater, this was the first of its kind I ever visited. It was in a weird location that was hard to get to and didn't offer anything too special, but my memories there make it sad that it's not active anymore.

That does it. I hope you enjoyed the rundown. I'm sure I'll go to 2-4 new venues in the next few years and this list might change. Or not, either way, go see a live show. Your soul deserves it.

I recently found an old voice recorder I purchased years ago for podcasting purposes. COVID hit shortly after I bought it, and Zoom-like conference calls got so good the need to meet in person for podcasts nearly dried up.

I have a lot of rants in the tank I would love to share via an audio medium, and I know a handheld voice recorder is not the best way to do that. Still, its rudimentary presentation and raw recording functionality make me want to produce content with it.

This first post is about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. It was recorded in real time, with no edits (outside of automatically trimming dead air). It's a pure stream-of-consciousness dump. I'm not looking to open a wider conversation about the topic, because I know how fractured political discussions quickly become.

This post (and I imagine future audio posts) is simply me expressing my thoughts in an easy-to-produce medium. A real brain-to-internet idea. I'm literally not an expert on anything but Ninja Turtles, but I feel like my opinion is informed enough to analytically speak on this and other topics.

Enjoy, or don't, either way, just leave me alone. This is coping.

“Blue dot fever” is a slang term describing a high volume of unsold seats for concerts or live events. It's led to undersold concerts and even full-on cancellations of tours. It gets its name from the blue dot icons that ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster use to indicate available seats on their interactive seating maps.

This is an unnamed concert at the Brandon Amphitheater in 2026.

I'd say a lot of factors are at fault here. Tickets aren't cheap, and putting on giant arena shows is expensive. People have less money for disposable entertainment, and the entertainment industry is seeing the ramifications of this firsthand. As easy as it is to blame boring economic factors, it's much more nuanced than that.

Oftentimes, the demographics that would possibly buy tickets simply aren't seeing the announcements/advertisments for the shows. Their 2026 algorithm doesn't feed them stuff they were interested in 15 years ago. I live near an amphitheater, and I can't tell you how many times people have said to me, "Oh man, I didn't even know that band was in town." Livenation is VERY bad at getting the word out, and if you aren't on social media or your algorithm isn't tuned for live music, you may never even see a show you'd attend advertised.

Also, so many artists are scared to scale down their production because doing so signals that their prime days are behind them. If you could fill arenas for 15 years, being asked to downscale to a theater or amphitheater is a huge ego hit and a concession record labels don't like to make. Labels would rather announce the giant arena tour, and then be ok throwing the artist under the bus when it has to be cancelled. The difficult "should we scale this down?" conversations don't seem to be happening.

What doesn't help is social media, slyly telling artists to shoot for the big venues. A big part of predictive ticket sales is the artist's "followers" or "likes". 20 million followers on YouTube, or Facebook doesn't guarantee a successful tour. Most people who attract a following do so because the platform presents the content unprompted. "I didn't ask for this, but I like it, so I pressed follow." The "audience" is often just one-button-pressers, and asking anyone to commit to a "second space" for you, whether it's a podcast, a live show, or a YouTube short, is asking a lot of someone who was force-fed your content and whose only commitment is a lowly follow button.

Previously, I created lists of my "GOTY" choices for the years 2004-2015. For details on that, check out this post. As I wait for 2026 to end, I think it's a cool idea to work my way backwards. I've been "gaming" for about 35 years, so I should be able to competently build GOTY posts for years as far back as the NES. Let's see what we can do.

To keep in line with the other posts I've put together, all these will be written as if I am writing a Game of the Year post at the conclusion of 2003. No future references will be made, and I will do my best to capture what I think is a 2003-appropriate reaction.

#10 - I-Ninja

Starting off with a banger. I-Ninja was pitched to me as the platforming of Mario, coupled with the rail grinding and speed of Sonic. That doesn't even mention the cool sword-based combat. I-Ninja is a fast-paced, familiar, yet solid platformer whose only real "problem" is checkpointing. Anyone who picks up this Namco-published gem will not be disappointed.

#9 - Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike

Every Rogue Squadron Game is better than the previous one. Part III has the benefit of being released during the hype cycle of the Star Wars prequels. There's even a mission where Wedge fights droid-army bots straight out of last year's Attack of the Clones. Does that make sense? I don't know, but everything from the soundtrack to the fast-paced action of Rebel Strike is the best Rogue Squadron has to offer.

#8 - Jak II

Grand Theft Auto 3's influence on the industry is all over the place, but it's super obvious when standard 3D platforming games like Jak & Daxter abandon their format to adopt the newly crowned open-world format. Because of this, Jak 2 loses a significant chunk of its charm and identity. It's still a great game in its own right, but completely altering the genre and mechanics hold it back from being a uniquely top-tier experience.

#7 - Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc

Rayman doesn't get enough credit for how solid a series it has become. Rayman 2 is one of the best platform games of the past decade, and Hoodlum Havoc has a vibe that's impossible to replicate while perfecting the gameplay of its predecessor. This game may not have received as much attention this year, but it is solid in every department.

#6 - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Oh, look, it's a new Mario RPG game. First there was Mario RPG then there was Paper Mario, and now Mario & Luigi has presumably created a new franchise on the GBA. It thrives as a GBA game, and its story is charming, funny, and memorable, everything you want out of a turn-based RPG. Considering its execution, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is almost too good of an idea.

#5 - WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!

Wario has a new job, and it revolves around mini-games. I never knew I needed such a weird, one-of-one, minigame experience. In Mega-Microgames, you are essentially competing with yourself in the most ridiculous minigames you've ever played. Basically, the same experience, but multiplayer was released on the GameCube this year. I think the solo, hyper-focused, cocaine-influenced GBA game is the purest form of Warioware, and it shouldn't be played with friends.

#4 - Beyond Good & Evil

Let's be honest, Ubisoft made a sci-fi Zelda game with a cool photography mechanic, and most of us ate it up. I don't mean to be dismissive because Beyond Good & Evil is an exclamation point on a genre we are just now fully exploring, despite it being around since the N64. The star of this game is the world-building, and Beyond Good & Evil has the best new world of the year and maybe this decade.

#3 - Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Going Commando is much more than an improvement on the first game, is a further realization of just what this series can be. Instead of completely reworking the world structure like Jak II did, Commando fleshed out every area of the game and started telling a story that's easy to care about. My only complaint is the silly innuendo in the title. Going Commando works for a Leisure Suit Larry game. For an action platformer mainly targeting kids, that title is way out of place.

#2 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

The Sands of Time has genuinely groundbreaking mechanics. Its time manipulation feature and Tomb Raider-inspired platforming are a perfect combination of cool and challenging. As with any new franchise, the whole experience is a bit rough around the edges, but what it does well is addictive and fascinating, so any flaws can be overlooked.

#1 - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Legend of Cell-da, as the haters call it, Wind Waker is such a fully fleshed out experience, it's hard to see the other games on this list as being in the same ballpark. Wind-waker takes the well-proven post-Ocarina Zelda formula, cleans it up for a new generation, and coats it in a stunning and novel art style. The sailing mechanic makes the open world feel endless and free, and the charm of the characters brings you back over and over. If you're still mad about an art change, you might have other problems you need to address because, outside of some late-game backtracking, Wind Waker is damn near perfect.

Notable Omissions

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

I tried to play KotOR, and was very turned off by the pseudo-action on display. Too many obviously hidden dice rolls and an obtuse objective structure.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

This one I legit missed. In hindsight, I probably should have played it or tried to find a modern way to play it.

SSX 3

I had my snowboarding fix back with 1080. I'm glad SSX 3 exists, but I'm not lining up to dive further into the genre.

SoulCalibur II

I'm not a fighting game guy, it's that simple. I encourage you to put it on your list, but it will not be on mine.

So I don't know if you've heard, but the video game industry is kind of on fire right now. It's partially because of economic factors causing hardware prices to skyrocket, but I'd argue it's more so post-COVID financial hardships that are really rewriting what the industry is as a whole. To give a little context, you've got to understand what happened to the video game industry in 2020.

 With everyone staying home, gamers not being forced to work, and Americans getting periodic checks for free, the video game industry thrived. The PS5 flew off shelves, Animal Crossing was everyone's favorite game, and the industry saw unparalleled success. Business loans were easy to get with low interest rates, and big-time publishers were cashing in. Every company with spare change was acquiring every company that was for sale. This includes Microsoft, Sony, Embracer, you name it, if they had money, they were buying studios and publishers. This culminated with the unparalleled purchase of Activision by the soon-to-be financially troubled Microsoft.

Flash Forward 5 years later, and gaming is still a huge industry, but spending in the sector has shrunk significantly, not because bad products are coming out or a waning of interest, but because people have had to get back to work, and the economics of 2026 are much more dire than they were at the height of the pandemic. Nearly every publisher has gone on a firing spree. This includes firing staff, shutting down studios, drastically reducing budgets for games, and there's been an unprecedented amount of major projects getting the full axe.

It's easy to point at capitalism's need for infinite growth and blame it for the industry's modern-day problems, but holistically, it's much bigger and possibly existential. Where once visual fidelity and nearly bottomless production costs were what got you the biggest return on your investment, the gaming habits of the audience have shifted and diversified so much that simply funneling money into your "mega game" is no longer a guaranteed metric for success.

In the past five years, we've seen tremendous success from relatively small teams. Bilatro, Vampire Survivors, Claire Obscure, Hollow Knight, Silk Song, Mewgenics, Blue Prince, Peak, Arc Raiders, the list goes on and on. All of these games are significantly smaller-scale but have taken over the zeitgeist of current-day video gaming. Sure, you still have Nintendo out here making big-budget Nintendo games, but even Sony's biggest hit of the past 3 years, Helldivers 2, came from a studio a fraction of the size of Naughty Dog or Insomniac.

Combine all of this with the persistence of the forever game, and things look dire. Roblox, Grand Theft Auto Online, Minecraft, Fortnite, League of Legends, to name a few, are games that are soaking up more market share for longer than any game in the history of the industry. New and exciting video games are released every single week, but it's hard to argue that there is room in the market for any of them when players' time is so dominated by mobile games, forever games, and whatever the hottest indie game is at any given time.

I say all of that to suggest that we're seeing the first and probably only time in gaming history where Triple A games are becoming vestigial. Players don't need bleeding-edge graphics; they don't need 12 different gaming mechanics woven together to last through 70 hours of narrative story. They don't want to spend $70 on a video game when they can spend $20 on a game or even zero and buy whatever $5 DLC they want to interact with. It's a precarious position we've evolved into, and with the current economic climate, I don't see it changing anytime soon. Two of the three console manufacturers have announced major price increases, and they are bracing for the ongoing hardware shortages and expect them to greatly affect their ability to produce next-gen systems when they're scheduled to be out in 2 years or so.

Don't take this to sound like I'm not a fan of smaller-scope indie games; it's very much the opposite of that. The only truly exciting new ideas are coming from these small teams, but for the past 20 years, big-budget AAA games and Indie Games have lived together in harmony. In 2026, companies like EA, Ubisoft, or Embracer are finding it harder and harder to justify spending the money to take a risk, and that's where capitalism comes in. When every game you're developing is inherently risky for your investors, why would anyone invest in you? With big-budget titles becoming more and more unnecessary, someone will step in and fill the gaming void, and I feel like that's already happening in the indie space.

Before we get started here, let's address the elephant in the room. Yes, Artemis II just did a trip around the moon, and it's a landmark achievement for mankind. You bet your ass I'm gonna talk about it and the Apollo missions at some point, but most of this post was written before Artemis II even happened, and I don't want to stop a story midstream. On with the show...

Last time I talked about the Moon, I referred to it as Mother Moon.

Mother Moon? Do I like that? I don't know, but I don't think so. The Moon isn't a person, and it's important that we not personify it. I DO like grafting caring and "motherly" characteristics to the Moon, but portraying a godlike figure as a person (like humans typically do) leads to ascribing other humanlike characteristics and a general missing of the point. Religion is used to provide answers to unanswerable questions, to guide us during our journey through the only life we're given. Expressing the pinnacle of a religion as just a dude or a lady greatly limits the spiritual journey a religion can take you on.

One of religion's worst applications is control. It's used to create shame and harvest resentment, thus limiting the potential of man. Whatever I end up calling this 'religion', it's not about control, or even guidance. It's about support, comfort, and lucidity. You don't look to the Moon for answers; you look to the Moon for the inspiration to find your own answers. The Moon won't tell you how to live your life, but regardless of who you end up being, the Moon will watch over you. Where astrology conveniently drops you into boxes and pretends to know who you are, the Moon silently encourages you to exist within the spectrum of humanity wherever you see fit, without judgment or justification.

Most people don't realize this, but because the moon orbits the Earth as the Earth orbits the Sun, there isn't a permanent 'dark side of the moon'. Consequently, the phenomenon of synchronous rotation ensures we always see the same 'front' side of the Moon. While narratively, the absence of a 'dark side' is disappointing, it's poetic knowing that while the Earth and the Moon are constantly spinning, the Moon never turns its back on us. How is that for the perfect religious metaphor?

The Moon's support and comfort don't end there. Modern humans have a number of ways to measure the passage of time, but during our more primitive existence, the easiest and most obvious was the eight phases the Moon goes through as it orbits Earth. Every 29.5 days, the view of the moon is refreshed and transitions from invisible to fully illuminated and back. It's not a secret code or even a complex math problem, but the moon is on a journey, just like we are, and seeing it take this journey both inherently and mathematically guides us through days, weeks, and months.

I don't want this 'religion' to fit into the faith-based molds already in place. It's not about faith; believers mustn't suspend their belief in science to feel the metaphorical hug of the Moon. It's a religion built on figurative ideas. Self-awareness would be built in; hence, Lucidity.

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom" - Aristotle "Know thyself" - Socrates  "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom" -Lao Tzu

Throughout human history, having a lucid understanding of who you are has always been the goal. Metaphorically, the moon provides a light in the darkness. It also demands nothing from you to understand it. Unlike other religions that demand you learn the scripture and the rules, they encourage you to attend masses or davening. This new 'religion' is as much about the Moon as it is about you. Like a good counsellor, the moon won't tell you what to do, but given the right approach, both can inspire you to know yourself.

I know this all sounds vague...and that's kinda the point. For most of human existance the Moon was a vague constant in the sky. From down here, it's just an ornament decorating the blackness of night, but practically speaking, it has as much tangible power as any modern religion, or possibly even more. It's there, we see it, we use it, and we trust it.

From that, we can easily divine a Support, Comfort, and Lucidity that traditional religions can only deliver with blind faith. I want to get away from comparing this new Moon religion to the religions we already have because this isn't about trashing current faiths. It's about building an alternative without the baggage of thousands of years of crimes against humanity.

I have so much more to say about this. Part 3 can't come quick enough. There is still a lot to sort through here, but I feel like support, comfort, and lucidity are a fantastic place to start.

Cheers

The Tester is something I routinely forget ever existed. It was a dumb idea back then, but looking at the landscape of 2026, and the reality slop that gets dumped on viewers, The Tester might have been ahead of its time. Here's an old write-up I did on it for Techpedition. My 2026 commentary will be in Bold.

Originally published on March 13, 2010, via techpedition.com.

The Tester…the Rant

So, Sony has officially gotten into the Reality Show business, and yes its as hanus (that's not even close to how you spell that) as it sounds.  What may seem like an innocent way to get more people to explore PSN, is really a short-sighted pollutant that, until it’s canceled/ends, will leave an unwanted stain on all PSN users’ storefronts. Geez, someone chose violence today.

Most of the press around the tester is aimed at the ludacricity (you misspelled it, but nice job, that's a word I definitely haven't used since) of the prize at the end of the tunnel, a job as a PlayStation game tester. Let’s step back for a moment and pretend that the reward for winning is something of substantial value, and instead look at the show itself. It’s the scummiest type of television that is found all over basic cable, a red-blooded American Reality Show. Red-Blooded? Wow, just wow. By taking cues from Flavor of Love, The Bachelor, The Real World, Keeping up with the Kardashians, and Big Brother, The Tester has the gamer appeal of an Oprah special about tooth decay.

The contestants look like the stereotypical “gamer” and act like your typical reality show dimwits, while the challenges have little, if anything, to do with gaming. The pilot had the contestants playing a game of “what’s different”.  They were given two similar pictures and had to tell what was different in each of them. That’s right, they were playing the equivalent of a Highlights for Children magazine game. I'm not wrong, here. The producers tried to tie this to how it would help them in their possible future career by saying that game testers must pay attention to detail. Garbage! Haha! So angry, and so loud. Is this my catch phrase? Garbage!

At the end, the three judges (one of which was Hal Sparks, further proving that he doesn’t know how to turn down a role) (Why is Hal Sparks catching strays here? I like that guy.) used their magical judging powers to eliminate a player. The production was set up with the usual dramatic music, comedic seriousness, and a typical arbitrary token that signifies a player remaining on the show. The Bachelor has roses, Flavor of Love has golden clocks, and The Tester has laminated PSN badges…wtf. Solid burn, well done. It's classy to do homages to interesting and cool media, but to do the exact same pointless thing as your predecessors and to try to be taken seriously is just tacky. Some would say it's a hallmark of the reality genre and just move on...

If the Tester had a tongue and cheek (sigh, it's tongue-in-cheek) feel to it, it could almost get away with existing as is, but The Tester is not produced to mock reality shows, its produced AS a reality show. I don't know why I was looking for metacomentary from a third-rate reality show. That seems like a big ask for a dumb, cheaply made reality show. I can promise you that Sony just gave some money to a production company that specializes in this trash and said, “Do what you do…just put Playstations everywhere”. That 100% totally happened. Hell, even the runtime is identical to that of a cable reality show, 22 minutes. Hello, this is a PlayStation Network release. It can be as long as you want it to be. Why do I want this to be longer? Also, why doesn't baby-Sergio understand that if this is a big hit and they want to sell it to a cable channel, the fact that it is already 22 minutes is a selling point? Oh, what a naive idiot.

My hope is that no one watches this crap and Sony ends it after one season. The Tester ran for 3 seasons. If I wanted to watch mind-numbing reality poop, my television gets E!, VH1, and MTV. I don’t need/want that type of programming in MY (the capital MY is very funny) world, and that world is one on game consoles.

Here is the 4th and possibly final GSE list pulled from friends' suggestions. I might end up doing something like this again, but I didn't anticipate the amount of work it was going to take. Visit this post to learn exactly what's going on here.

Before we get started, let me do some housekeeping. Five of the songs pitched for this project were already included in previous GSE volumes. I don't want anyone to feel left out whose song couldn't be chosen due to a technicality. So, here are those 5 songs and when they were added to GSE.

1998 "Iris" - Good Goo Dolls added 12/23/2006

1978 "September" - Earth, Wind & Fire added 8/13/2016

1970 "Your Song" - Elton John added 8/13/2016

1976 "Hotel California" - Eagles added 2/1/2024

1965 "In My Life" - The Beatles added 11/24/2024

It felt really good to see songs I already love get submitted. It's also good to know I was right the first time. :)

1960 "Walk, Don't Run" - The Ventures

Like the Jean Ritchie song on the previous list, my first thought was, "listen at this retro-wannabe hipster slop", but it hit me after a couple of listens that this is a legit classic track from the golden age of surf-rock. It's not a genre I'm too familiar with, but this sounds like what you'd hear in the background while walking down a beach in mid-century California. The feeling you get from this song is the feeling Sonic Drive-thrus wish you felt every time you order a Picklerita Slush.

2006 "Chin Up" - Copeland

It took a minute for this one to grow on me. The obvious line that stoodout from the beginning was "Everybody knows that you'd break your neck to keep your chin up," but it was the greater story of the song that really got me. Anyone who's been through heartbreak knows the haunting feeling of having to start over and the burning need to keep a straight face, to stand on your pride and self-worth, when you're secretly falling apart. Over the course of 5 or so listens, it went from a non-starter to an emotionally knife-like tear-inducer.

1950 "La Vie En Rose" - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

While not originally a Louis Armstrong song, his version is one of the more notable English recordings. In 1950, seven different English recordings of "La Vie En Rose" charted on Billboard. Along with the established beauty of the song, this version is Armstrong's opportunity to weave his unmistakable voice and trumpet into the fabric of the sound. His contributions to the song cannot be ignored here, as he adds a tenderness to it that the original version only hinted at.

2019 "Peer Pressure" (feat. Julia Michaels) - James Bay

James Bay and Julia Michaels are both artists I've heard of, but am not super familiar with. "Peer Pressure" stood out immediately for it's emotional yet catchy chorus. What pushes the track over the edge is the line "...but I'll give in to yours" and how it's deliberately delivered differently, each time. At just under 3:00, "Peer Pressure" gets out of its own way and leaves you wanting more. Michaels' fans might consider her inclusion here a waste as she never takes the spotlight, but her harmonies help feed the narrative of the song, and that might be the whole point.

2025 "Sleep Tonight" - The Birthday Massacre

Such a wild choice! Not that the song itself is wild, it's a solid genre track that is easy to listen to, it more than qualifies for this list. What's wild is its suggested inclusion already. The track was the first single from The Birthday Massacre's 2025 album, Pathways. The single was released on February 28th, and the album followed on April 11th. Whoever suggested this song did so on April 22nd (according to the Google form records), not even a full 2 months following its single release and only 11 days after the album. The confidence and audacity of choosing something so quickly is enviable. This was clearly a full-throated suggestion, and I respect the sharp decision-making that led to its inclusion.

1970 "If You Could Read My Mind" - Gordon Lightfoot

I would have never assumed two different Gordon Lightfoot songs would be suggested for this project. A folk song in style from a generational singer-songwriter, "If You Could Read My Mind" isn't a showstopper; it doesn't have a big finish or even a memorable refrain. It just kind of comes and goes without sharp impact or trauma. It's a pallet cleanser that steps in to bring you back to center. The seeds of 90s alternative soft rock are all over this track, but the low-key delivery would have never worked in the over-the-top 90s. A lot of that might have sounded negative, but all in all, this song makes me feel good.

1992 "Stay" - Shakespears Sister

"Stay" is such a cool-ass song. I somehow both knew this song and had never heard this song. What starts as an earnest ballad sung in the tone of a soft Celine Dion mutates into a gothy mood-board of a song, only to weave both tones into an indulgent pop anthem. I don't often call songs underrated, but I was there in 1992, and this song was not as big as it could or should have been.

2022 "complex (demo)" - Katie Gregson-MacLeod

This diary entry track has a nuance to it that is uniquely modern. Part self-awareness, part self-destruction, "complex" explores the dynamics of a relationship that should definitely end, but the protagonist of the song is torn between the potential and the reality. A savior complex is on full display, with hints of embattled self-worth and crippling dependence. Saying "it's complex, it's a complex" perfectly nutshells what is likely an all too familiar feeling. It's sad how much this probably resonates with people, not because the song is bad, but because the song is right.

1967 "The Wind Cries Mary" - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

I thought I knew this one, until I listened to it. I had definitely heard of it, but there was zero familiarity, weird. A lowkey jam, "The Wind Cries Mary" soars thanks to the restraint Hendrix and crew display. Even the guitar solo is comfortably subdued. Hendrix rightfully gets credit for pioneering in the guitar space, but this track highlights his raw songwriting talent.

A few notes: This song was submitted as "The wind cries mary cover by Santana" yet there's no record of Santana ever covering the song. He DID cover "Spanish Castle Magic" with Living Colour's Corey Glover, but since these submissions were annonymous there's no way to really get clarification. I chose to go with the original "The Wind Cries Mary" after falling in love with the track. Also, the song is better in mono. It's tough to track down, but it's got such a fuller sound to it.

2018 "Street Fighter Mas" - Kamasi Washington

What a fantastic instrumental to go out on. I don't have much to say about this one; the vibes of the song stand out enough already. Washington's sax speaks to you, and the funky jazz layering the background has a calming, almost spiritual feel to it.

During the process of building this set of 10, I've decided this will be my last volume of suggested songs, for now. Honestly its only because it's exhausting. Putting together the playlist, listening through, choosing, and becoming familiar with new "old" music is hard. So many of the songs suggested are so far outside of my normal wheelhouse that determining if I like them was surprisingly difficult and took a lot of listens. Mostly, though, I want to get back to listening to new stuff. New Found Glory, Emarosa, Bruno Mars, and Harry Styles all have new music out, and the time I've put into this is getting in the way of hearing it.

I want to thank everyone who helped put this together, and I hope no one is butt-hurt that I didn't choose their songs. The full playlist of suggestions is still coming, so I guess stay tuned for that.

Cheers.

I have never published so many of these lists in such a rapid succession. Maybe subconsciously, I think I owe it to the song contributors to get these out quickly. Especially considering it's been a whopping 10 months since I started taking suggestions. Read the prologue to this post if you want a quick and dirty explanation as to what is going on here.

This is the 3rd overall post with other people's choices for the greatest songs ever, but the 1st filled with songs I didn't already know. That's a strong distinction. I did not anticipate wading through so many foreign tracks to be so intimidating. I've cherry-picked my favorite of them, and after hearing so many new and exciting songs, I'm moved by how much this project has affected me.

That's enough chatting; let's get started.

2022 "Killing Time" - Loveless

Sometimes a band or song just slips through the cracks. Before now, I had never heard of the pop-punk band Loveless, but "Killing Time" is the most Sergio-coded song I've heard in years. Part State Champs, part All Time Low, and part The Cab, Loveless aims for the already well-defined pop-punk sound and pierces the target with laser precision. Despite "Killing Time" fitting a well-tread mold, the hook is so sharp, and the energy is so vibrant, it stands out in one of the most crowded fields in music. EDIT: I chose this song and typed this summary before stumbling upon Julian Comeau's past. Let's hope that dude has gotten some help while I sit here and choose to separate the art from the artist.

1990 "Haven't We Lost Enough" - Crosby, Stills & Nash

CSN and CSNY have always been a constant in certain circles of my mother's family, but none of their songs ever really stuck with me. This one, by all measurements, seems to be a deep album track from a late-career album. A striking acoustic track with haunting harmonies, "Haven't We Lost Enough" weaves a simple tale of love lost. The song's focus on the pain of longing for someone, rather than the trigger that caused it, leaves the song more emotionally raw than you'd expect.

1988 "Waiting Room" - Fugazi

I'd always heard of Fugazi and was aware of their importance to punk music as a whole, but outside of maybe hearing "Waiting Room" a few times in passing, I have never spent time with the band. Now being familiar with this track, I hear the influence on other bands. From The Offspring to Jimmie's Chicken Shack to RHCP and even more modern bands like Turstile or White Reaper, "Waiting Room" is all over that genre.

2007 "A Drop in the Ocean" - Ron Pope

As a dude who's been chronically online for the better part of 25 years, when it comes to "viral" stuff, I don't miss much. This Ron Pope song went completely under my radar. Maybe that's more an indicator that internet trends aren't where I get my music, but who knows? The song itself is a by-the-numbers Gavin DeGraw-like adult contemporary blue-eyed soul track. Where the song stands out is the purity of its lyricism. With most songs, there's a lyric combination or melody speedbump you must get past to truly love the song. "Drop in the Ocean" is smooth, every line complements the adjacent lyrics, and it's a song that feels like it wrote itself.

1970 "Into the Mystic" - Van Morrison

Having only heard "Brown Eyed Girl" I never knew Van Morrison had a sprinkle of hippie in his bluesy sound. From the first line "We were born before the wind" to the chorus' "I want to rock your gypsy soul," it's obvious why his music was so big with acoustic guitar weilding college kids trying to get laid at a bonfire. "Into the Mystic" walked so "Wonderwall" could run, haha. Even the songs campy foghorn sounds and symbolism is a tad eyeroll enducing. All jokes aside, the song has a groove that's hard to escape. With well-placed subtle horns, reliable guitars, and piano with a passion filled cresheno to polish it off. "Into the Mystic" is a gem.

2010 "Clementine" - Sarah Jaffe

I'm not usually one for female-fronted indie-folk songs. Many of them have forced affectations that annoy me, but Jaffe's "Clementine" is free of all those and comes off as a wistfully earnest look at nostalgia. There's a subtle ocean of potential energy in the soft and constant strings beneath the acoustic guitar. Almost like the song is preparing for a big climactic finale, but Jaffe stays true to the vibe of the song by subduing that energy and letting the listener marinate in the implied regret. Bravo!

2017 "Drew Barrymore" - SZA

Speaking of affectations, SZA is playing in her own personal stadium when it comes to line delivery. "Drew Barrymore" could have been a straight-up R&B song, but instead it's delivered as a part-Beyonce, part-Incubus, part-Erykah Badu genre-bending jam. How she sings "Am I warm enough for you" as "Am I woman-ough for you" cannot be an accident, and this peculiar pronunciation adds both a layer of mystery and depth to what is already a deeply personal track.

1978 "Reminiscing" - Little River Band

This song sounds like the way cigarettes in a wood-paneled room smell. At the time, it probably felt modern and cool, but as a man with a handful of faint memories of the early eighties, the vibes of "Reminiscing" are that of wasting a day by the radio or TV as you find yourself truly bored. Bored in a way that is nearly impossible in 2026. Not that "Reminising" is a boring song, it's just a song that fills a life-gap that no longer exists. Equal parts game show theme song, variety show harmonies, and 70's cop drama strings, this song paints a vivid picture before it even tries to tell you its story.

2006 "A Small Spark, Vs. A Great Forest" - Norma Jean

I've heard of Norma Jean, but never actually heard a Norma Jean song. This one is quite the screamer. It's hard to verbalize how, but this song reminds me of Deftones. It doesn't sound like Deftones, but its intensity and commitment to a sound is in the same ballpark as Chino and Co.'s dedication. I've always said I respect Deftones more than I like them, and I think that tracks with this Norma Jean song as well. The ferocity of everything from the line delivery to the purposely distorted/peaking vocals to the album art, this track demands attention.

1952 "Jubilee" - Jean Ritchie

To choose these songs, I put all of them into a playlist and hit random. When this one popped up, it struck a nerve. Yes, the negative "struck a nerve." I thought it was by one of those alt-pop bands obsessed with writing and recording songs that sound like they're from 1895. I thought, "oh barf, what's this obnoxious hipster nonsense?" Then, after doing 45 secs of research, I found that this track is actually a traditional folk song by an artist looking to preserve otherwise lost folk music from an almost forgotten era. Once I stumbled upon this realization, "Jubilee" had my full attention. The majority of humanity's musical history is lost to time. A nearly infinite number of lost cultures made music we will never hear. Jean Ritchie consciously chose to record an album of traditional mountain folk tracks, helped preserve a slice of human history otherwise likely lost. There's nothing remotely modern about the song. It references everything from farming to trains to sewing. Did Ritchie know she was painting a vivid picture of the decades before her success? I don't know, but "Jubilee" isn't just a greatest song ever; it's likely one of the more important songs ever. I don't know who suggested it, but to whoever it was, bravo.

This batch of songs ended up being WAY better than I thought they would, which has me super excited for the next 10. I think I might have another 20 tracks before I revert back to Sergio-only choices. This exercise has been eye-opening in a way that will affect me for years. Until next time...

Cheers

Here we go, another 10 songs for "the list". Just like the last entry, this batch was suggested by friends and acquaintances, whose music tastes I respect. More details on that can be found here.

Of all the songs suggested, I was only familiar with about 45% of them, and this second batch falls into that category. It's all stuff that I already knew, but had not considered crowning as a "Greatest Song Ever" before now. I know it's not exactly what "confirmation bias" means, but I need names for these things, and that one sounds close enough.

This batch is a bit more esoteric, yet still has some really big hits in it. Did I choose your song? What do you think of these? Let's go ahead and get started.

2006 "Anna Molly" - Incubus

Incubus is one of my favorite bands ever, literally like top three or four, so to see someone else submitting a lesser-known single from one of their best albums made this one an easy choice. There's a raw energy to Anna Molly that I really appreciate; it's undeniably rockin', while still being unapologetically weird. A balance the band had trouble reaching on the album previous to this. If you're listening to these 10 songs as a playlist, it's a great primer for what's to come.

1968 "Blackbird" - The Beatles

The only Beatles song to be submitted thus far is this album track from the White Album. Despite having heard a lot of Beatles songs growing up, I had never crossed Blackbird's path until at least the 2010s, and at that point, covers of the track were as popular and common as the original. Paul McCartney's simple solo composition stands out much like "Yesterday" did years earlier. The hope woven into the guitar riff has been copied tons of times since '68, but what I wish more people would copy is using raw bird noises.

1997 "Given To Fly" - Pearl Jam

I like Pearl Jam a lot, but I'm not a huge fan, and left to my own devices, "Given to Fly" would not have made this list as it's always been a second-tier Pearl Jam song to me. However, this project has offered me the opportunity to reevaluate these suggestions. There's an undeniable spirituality to the story being told in this song, and the adversity in the lyrics is a feeling anyone can relate to. The energy release during the hero's "flight" is a release everyone needs from time to time.

1993 "Song For You" - Ray Charles

Look at me learning all kinds of new stuff about music. I did not know this was a cover. I've heard Ray Charles's version for the longest time and just thought it was his. It was written and recorded by Leon Russell, a full 23 years before this. With that said, there's a passion and constitution to Charles' version that feels both enormous and intimate. Sometimes a performance veteran can isolate the strongest emotional thrust of an already popular song and really change its trajectory in pop culture.

2012 "Shadow Days" - John Mayer

Throughout his career, John Mayer has struggled with the balance between guitar virtuoso and corner-bar troubadour. Oddly enough, what falls through the cracks is just how great a songwriter he is. "Shadow Days'" guitars (electric, acoustic, and steel) are understated and stay out of the way of the melody, which is the driving force of the track. It's obviously a very personal song for him, but the broad appeal here is the hope for a better day that's woven into the fabric of the song.

1986 "Master of Puppets" - Metallica

"What's the best Metallica song?" It's a question I've been trying to answer for decades, and with a little help, I think I've finally figured it out. Lars and Co. are at their best when spinning a tale just arm's length outside of reality. The world "Master of Puppets" creates isn't exclusively fictitious, and it paints a picture familiar enough to instill power in the lyrics. It may not seem real, but it seems possible, and to live in that space is to tug at unique human emotions.

1962 "These Arms of Mine" - Otis Redding

From the opening words, Redding delivers lyrics more passionate than 90% of the music industry. It's a tight two and a half minutes of subtle background music that only exists to complement and spotlight the performance of a legend. I really don't have much else to say except that if you're in the market for a simp-y thirst anthem, "These Arms of Mine" is top shelf.

2021 "Easy On Me" - Adele

Divorce is a sad topic; what gets lost in a lot of the legalities and compromises is the feeling of failure and doubt. The fear of the unknown and the crushing concern of not knowing if you made the right choice. Was your choice selfish? The life of a child and how it affects that child hangs in the balance. "Easy on Me" is written as a letter to her son, and so many of the lyrics are naked and emotionally crushing, yet still resonate with so many. Rarely does a song so close to an artist's heart become such a big hit, but typically when it happens, it's not an accident.

2012 "Vultures" - Sun Ballet

In the 25 years I've been choosing songs for this list, never has a local artist impressed me as much as Empty Atlas. Full disclosure, I am friends with the singer Micah, so consider my opinion here a bit colored. Since this was suggested by someone else, I feel comfortable dropping "Vultures" here for everyone to see. "Honey, leave some for the vultures," is a profound way to communicate heartbreak. A breakup can feel violent even when no punches are thrown. Having given yourself to someone so completely that when they leave, all that's left of you is a carcass is hard to "eternalize in song," but Micah and team found a way. To accompany these lyrics is a churning, layered wall of harrowing sound, reminiscent of Coldplay or The Killers. Bravo.

1924 "Rhapsody in Blue" - George Gershwin

For those of you who are new here. The 10 spot is sometimes home to odd, left-field choices. In this case, it's home to an Orchestral Jazz peice composed over 100 years ago. For my money, I'd bet most people can't pinpoint where they first heard this piece. It might have been a movie or a commercial or even in the background of a department store, but "Rhapsody in Blue" has permeated pop culture in a way very few 100-year-old songs have. At its original NYC performance, "Rhapsody in Blue" was considered both risky and innovative. One reviewer even called it "a new chapter to our musical history."

It doesn't matter which recording you hear, the many big full orchestra versions, the one in Disney's Fantasia 2000, or even the early 1920's tinny recordings; every instrument sounds like it's talking to you. As music has evolved, we've lost a lot of this. Every once in a while, a guitar solo will weep, or a bassline will walk, but an appreciation for pure instrumentation is riding in the caboose of pop culture. The recording industry has homogenized and siloed so much of what we listen to that even if genres sound different, they're still built with the same formulas. Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge- Chorus is becoming a tired format, regardless of genre.

I'm not suggesting pop radio play 13-minute-long Jazz pieces, but with the newfound freedom of streaming and self-discovery, maybe a revival of big band jazz and classical-style performances can happen. Right now, most of us are only exposed to this type of music as background tracks with all character stripped out.

There you have it, list #33! I'm grateful for everyone who has submitted songs for me to peruse. If I haven't chosen yours yet, stay tuned; it could happen next time. :)

Cheers

Welcome to part 32 of my Greatest Songs Ever list. If you're new here (which, considering the theme, you might actually be) here is a history of how this whole thing came about. If you don't care about that, here's list #32. What makes this list unique is that it's the first of these completely chosen by my friends and family. Well, when I say "completely," I mean they gave me songs to choose from, and I cherry-picked 10 for this volume.

I set up an anonymous Google Form and asked a bunch of my favorite people to suggest the greatest songs ever. Being dumped dozens of songs at once is tough to wade through, so for the first 10, I chose songs I was already familiar with, but had previously not considered for the list. I plan on selecting much more from these suggestions, but I've got to get some listens in for the more obscure stuff.

Ok, I think I've talked enough. If you're one of the anonymous contributors and don't see one of your songs here, they might show up on later lists. If they don't ever show up, it doesn't mean they're bad; it just means they didn't resonate with me. At the conclusion of this exercise, I plan on releasing a playlist of every suggested song. Until that day, enjoy my first 10 selections.

1983 "Overkill" - Men at Work

Being reminded of this song was a great feeling. Its charming, playful demeanor makes it instantly likable, and that sax riff sticks with you. "Overkill" could get away with its churning guitars and low-key vibe, and it still be a good song, but the song truly shines when the "key change" hits. (Look, you music nerds, I know it's not technically a key change, but it has the same impact as one). Colin Hay performed an acoustic version of the song was used to great effect in a Scrubs episode, and that has always stuck with me.

2000 "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)" - Outkast

Four and a half years ago I put Outkast's "Ain't No Thing" on this list. Before I did, though, I had 2 other Outkast songs in the running. "B.O.B." was one of them. Andre and Big Boi are two of the most important figures in hip hop, and they might be the MOST important in southern hip-hop. The year 2000 was around the time Hip-hop culture became pop culture, and "B.O.B." helped show the art form was more than a niche genre. The song itself is the "Billie Jean" 2000s culture and hip-hop.

1977 "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" - Billy Joel

Billy Joel is an artist who's hard for me to parse. He has so many influential songs from different eras of his career and in some ways was a sizeable chunk of my childhood's background music. Like Zepplin, Elton John, or Garth Brooks, picking the perfect song to crown on this list is VERY hard. Having a friend make the choice was actually refreshing. "Movin' Out" is Joel at his most NYC "man of the people." The working man's storyteller, surgically dissecting the class stratification of 1970s New York, is right up my alley. Note: those "ack-ack-ack-ack-ack" and "mi-mi-mi-mi-mi" parts are otherworldly.

2017 "Hymn" - Kesha

Here's one I would have never thought to include, but hearing it mixed into a playlist helps it shine as a standout Kesha track. From the first album post her early career, "Party Girl" persona, "Hymn" perfectly captures her new inspirational attitude towards the world. It's an anthem for those who feel left behind by traditional religious, cultural, or social structures. It gives mid-career Madonna, in that it deliberately evokes themes of religion and its hypocrisy to communicate a grander story. "Hymn" is an important song to a lot of people, and I'm happy I was reminded of its greatness.

1986 "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel

This song was suggested with the note "the whole song is about his d*** and how much he wants to use it on his ex-wife". I haven't googled the validity of that, but given the overt use of sex metaphors, this is now my new "Sledgehammer" head-cannon. I've always loved this track, but being a child in the late 80's it didn't register how weird and awesome it was. In 1986, for child Sergio, it was just that song with the cool video that got played over and over again on MTV. Actually sitting down with it and hearing the layers, horns, and synths inside its genre-bending breeds a newfound respect for Peter Gabriel's brand of "weird". Did you know the flute sound is a synthesized shakuhachi (a Japanese bamboo flute) sample?

1968 "The Weight" - The Band

Folk music has always been an enigma to me. I've heard some recognizable tunes, but they've always hit me as boring white people music. It's like country without the showmanship, or blues without the teeth. Looking into the history of Folk, I think I understand that it's exactly what it's supposed to be. Simple story-telly music to pass the time as you travel across the vast nothingness of nature (or at least that's how I make it make sense). "The Weight" is a plodding anthem with everything from plinking keys and a walking bassline to scarce percussion and organized yet still makeshift-sounding harmonies. I know none of that makes the song sound good, but I promise you, it works.

2008 "In One Ear" - Cage the Elephant

Here's one that's a bit insulting. Not at its suggestion, more at the fact I hadn't already included it. Like the person who suggested it knew my omission would haunt me. Well played, whoever you are. Cage the Elephant has changed a lot in the nearly 20 years since that first album. "In One Ear" is raw and brash and full of refreshing youth energy. The energy you don't even realize is a thing until it's fading. Like early Nirvana or Refused, it's unrefined but potent and loud. Rock music NEEDS bands and songs like this periodically to remind everyone what being 4 creatively driven idiots in a garage is all about.

1976 "Carry On Wayward Son" - Kansas

In the late 60's-early 70's, bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath burst forth from England to help redefine what Rock Music can be. Naturally, that creative nudge sparked dozens of guitar-centric imitators. A handful of those bands pierced the collective consciousness and became rock gods. Pair that with a new flood of capital to en-biggen the sound and scope of this now arena-friendly anthem machine, and out pops Boston, Styx, Journey, Foreigner, and, for our purposes here, Kansas. "Carry On Wayward Son" isn't quite a song about Tolkien's hobbits, but it's audacious and indulgent like the best Fast and Furious movies. Five and a half minutes doesn't seem like a tight timeline, but considering it squeezes 4 guitar solos and a distinct keyboard/organ segment, Kansas constructed a puzzle-box of iconic rock sounds.

1996 "No Diggity" (feat. Dr. Dre & Queen Pen) - Blackstreet

In 2026, it's impossible for me to know if "No Diggity" is lame. It's littered with cheesy 90's R&B quirks, yet it has a tight Teddy Riley beat and a white-hot Bill Withers sample. Funny story, as many times as I heard this song as a kid, I 100% didn't realize it had 2 features and definitely didn't know one of those was Dr. Dre. If you listen closely, you can hear the seeds of Backstreet Boys and Nsync's sound. It's straightforward 90's R&B like "Take On Me" is straightforward 80s new-wave, and that's more than enough to get it on this list. Once a song is the soundtrack to an era of American life, it really doesn't matter how lame it might be.

2012 "All Too Well" - Taylor Swift

Let's do some housekeeping first. Both the original and the 10-minute version of "All To Well" were submitted for the list (and I'm sure my wife was the submitter of the 10-minute version). I'm specifically choosing the original 5:27 track because 1. I've always loved it, and 2. in my opinion, that longer version is a bit of a mess. Yes, it has some fantastic additions lyrically, but as a unified piece of music, it could have been trimmed by at least 90 seconds and been much more concise and effective. What I'm saying is, the 10-minute version's indulgence isn't as welcome as the original's sharp and devastating delivery. Now onto the song itself.

Hear me out, "All Too Well" is an emo song. Lyrics like "I know it's long gone and that magic's not here no more, and I might be okay, but I'm not fine at all," "There we are again in the middle of the night, we're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light," "You call me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest," and "You keep my old scarf from that very first week 'cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me" are all heavily late-00's coded emo lyrics. Imagine Patrick from Fall Out Boy, or Derek from Mayday Parade, or especially Chris from Dashboard Confessional singing those exact lines. "All Too Well" is a biting takedown of every man who's ever led a younger woman on, and its lyrics are both tears and knives blasting from the unraveling emotions of youth. This was already going to be the 4th Taylor song on my list, and it's great to hear it's already a consensus leader.

Getting these songs took much longer than expected. For some of you, I know it's been months since I picked your brain, but I do truly appreciate it. This one was an easy one, I think I already have another easy one lined up and ready to go, but I hope to listen to a lot of unknown music this year and really stretch my musical boundaries. Thanks for reading!

Cheers!

I've been posting "Best Games" lists all year and having a great time doing it. This, though, is the first of my new series of annual retro games lists. For more details, see the opening paragraphs of this post.

My original idea was to delay my GOTY choices for 5 years but with less games coming out and me having less time to play them, I think a 10-year delay is more than enough to capture the best of my opinions. As with all of the previous posts, this will be written as if it's 2015, and this is my game of the year list.

Enjoy.

#10 - Rare Replay

I know putting a collection of games on an end-of-the-year list is cheating, but Rare Replay is such an amazing snapshot of the history of Rare, I'm willing to sacrifice my #10 spot. I don't know how well this collection holds up for the younger generations that have never played them, but to have classics like Banjo Kazooie, Conker, Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Jetpac, Battletoads, and R.C. Pro-Am all in one place is a win for video game preservationists and historians.

#9 - Halo 5: Guardians

Master Chief has seen better days. It's been a long time since his Halo 3 heyday, but the "5th" entry in his story is worth your attention. The Cortana fronted tail and how Chief's relationship with her is an aspect of the lore are things I didn't anticipate caring about, but for a game that's had a tough launch year, Halo 5 at the very least reminds players why Master Chief's floaty physics are still top-notch.

#8 - Grow Home

The smallest game on this list (no pun intended) is Grow Home. You play as Bud, a clumsy little robot, as he grows and climbs taller and taller vines on his way home. The graphics are simple, the gameplay is a bit absurd, but what it lacks in visual fidelity it makes up for in charm. Bud's rudimentary sounds as he clings to vines feel almost like R2D2. It's not a big time-sync and plays well if you are listening to a podcast in the background. Grow Home will leave you smiling.

#7 - Batman: Arkham Knight

With Arkham City, the previous game, Rocksteady fell a little short of making a full-fledged open-world classic. With Arkham Knight, the effective addition of the Bat-Mobile, and the power of the new generation of consoles, they've made a fantastic open-world Batman game. Rarely can a licensed property stand up to industry greats like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, or GTA, but Arkham Knight is right up there with them. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of the Metroidvania-style Arkham Asylum, but Knight is well worth your time as a gamer.

#6 - Disney Infinity 3.0

When it launched 2 years ago, I did not think I would still be talking about Disney Infinity in 2015. Then again, here we are. A game like Infinity almost makes Disney's gobbling up of property after property make sense. This year's Star Wars addition was substantial, and impressively added new mechanics and 3 distinct Star Wars eras. On top of that, a Marvel-themed fighting arena was added, along with Inside Out and Finding Dory content. If that wasn't enough to justify the new 3.0 tag, two unique, standalone "play with any character" playsets are available. While the biggest hurdle with Infinity is still the cost of the plastic figures, if you can track down a deal, 3.0 is a blast.

#5 - Rise of the Tomb Raider

Building on the success of 2013's reboot, Rise of the Tomb Raider, irons out many of the problems in the original, but more importantly, makes you care about Lara Croft in ways never explored. Like Arkham Knight, it benefits greatly from this generation of hardware and expertly balances main quests with side quests. The comparisons to Uncharted are still very much on the table, but with "Rise," the Tomb Raider series might actually be as good as Sony's much-lauded Dude-Raider.

#4 - Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+

PMCEDX+ is a game I didn't know I needed. I've always loved Pac-Man, but all the later interpretations of the character never really captured the essence of the Namco classic. This fever dream of a game reinvents what the classic Pac-Man formula can and should be. No longer is it a lonely maze-based number cruncher; this is an action game on steroids, largely built with the same structure as the old games. It's a hard experience to explain. Just look up some footage, and you'll get it immediately. It's both a celebration of Pac-Man and an improvement to its core gameplay loop.

#3 - Ori and the Blind Forest

"Metroid-vania" has always been one of my favorite game genres. It encourages exploration and trades in mystery. Ori and the Blind Forest is a masterclass in slowly teaching you about the world you inhabit and rewarding you with dynamic, flashy powers that essentially break the map. The same map you painstakingly worked your way through to progress the early parts of the story. In the grand scheme of things, I'd easily put Ori in the top 5 Metroidvanias of all time, and it would be higher on this list had numbers 1 and 2 not monopolized so much of my time.

#2 - Rocket League

Car Soccer. The idea is so dumb that it just might work. Remove all the complexity of the actual game of soccer and replace it with the dumbed-down simplicity of driving a vehicle around an open area. Not since Twisted Metal has a vehicular competition been so novel that it must be experienced. So simple that it's easy to pick up and play, yet deep enough that experts can rocket around the area in spectacular, unbelievable ways. I don't do online games, but Rocket League had me jumping into random matches with strangers just to see what I could do. This game stole so much of my time this year that it deserves all the praise it's getting.

#1 - Rock Band 4

Rock Bands 2 and 3 were both #1 on my annual lists, and with the 4th edition of the game at #1 I think I might be reaching "homer" territory. Hear me out. Even though the release of Rock Band 3 DLC ended in 2013 on an entirely different generation of consoles, the lawyers over at Harmonix have been busy ensuring the majority of your previously purchased DLC, track pack exports, and disc exports will work in the brand new game. That means 8 years of DLC, all of Green Day Rock Band, RBs 1, 2, and 3, the track packs (including ACDC,) and most DLC are already there for you to slay. On top of that, there's a new career mode and all-new ways to experience the music you've come to love playing. The absence of keyboard support is not missed, and many features like online play will be patched in later. For RB fans, this is the ultimate way to play your library of music and shows that the best name in rhythm games still has some legs.

Notable Omissions

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I hate to sound like a broken record in these posts, but big RPGs are simply not my thing. I'm sure this game is good, I just have no interest in playing it.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

I have a little regret never getting into the MGS series, but it seems up its ass in a uniquely Japanese way, and I just can't stomach that shit.

Bloodborne

Bloodborne might be the only hardcore Souls-like I could get into, but with such a breadth of other games to play, I don't know why I would ever subject myself to such a punishment.

Super Mario Maker

I love Mario games, and I've loved Nintendo for a long time, but I think the Wii U is a failure, and while Super Mario Maker cashes in on the popular online trend of creating nightmare retro game levels and even makes that creation wildly accessible, I played Mario Maker and got nothing out of it. It feels bootleg, and many of the levels are petty and edgelord-ish. Level design is art, and giving the task of level design to the masses turns it into a min-max nightmare.

See you next year!

How it's already December is beyond me. It never fails, every year I fear I won't have 25 songs to put on this list. Then, inevitably, in December, I'm staring at a 50-song playlist, scratching my head, wondering how I can whittle it down. But here we are.

Enjoy!!!

"I'M IN LOVE!!" - Sub-Radio

"SUCKERPUNCH" - All Time Low

"Damocles" - Sleep Token

"YOU MADE ME THIS WAY" - grandson

"Towards You" - Mayday Parade

"Takes One To Know One" - The Beaches

"NOT OK" - 5 Seconds Of Summer

"You Happened" - Knox

"True Believer" - Hayley Williams

"Manchild" - Sabrina Carpenter

"Mr Electric Blue" - Benson Boone

"Drum Show" - Twenty One Pilots

"BETTER" - People R Ugly

"Hard To Be Happy" - Rob Thomas

"Coma" - White Reaper

"YIPPEE-KI-YAY." - Kesha

"Flowers" - The Summer Set

"Try Not To Look" - Ripe

"Better Days" - Yellowcard

"Snuff" - Badflower

"Opalite" - Taylor Swift

"I Want It All" - Rise Against

"Poster Child" - Taylor Acorn

"Good Parts" - LANY

"Wolves (Love & Light)" - Chevelle

As always, I'm fully aware some of these might have been released as singles in 2024. But I'm too much of an album guy to care about that detail.

I want to start a pseudoscience religion based on moon metaphors. Most religions have their tales and anecdotes designed to guide individuals through life, but where many of them fail is in the interpretation of ancient scriptures and the obsession with human figures that may or may not have even existed. What we need is a religion heavy on metaphor and support but light on tangible direction. Just a vaguely science-based religion that takes zero scholarly knowledge to interpret.

May I introduce you to the Moon? It's Earth's only moon and trusted sidekick as it hurdles through open space, tethered only by the gravitational pull of the Sun. I'm sure you're thinking, "Wait, the sun provides us with much more than the moon. Why don't we worship it?" That's a great question, and honestly, I wouldn't fault anyone for choosing the sun as their celestial body of choice, but let's discuss it.

Sure, the sun gives us life, and everything that's ever happened on earth is likely due to the energy we get from it. Despite all it gives, the sun is oppressive, brutal, and unforgiving. It treats us as if it's furious with us for using its rays. Many people through the years have worshipped the sun, but in a modern sense, it's not much of a spiritual figure. Personally, it's hard for me to wrap my mind around worshipping something I can't look directly at without blinding myself. The sun is an intimidating godlike presence that's uninterested in the damage it does. It's not very welcoming and seems indifferent to the happenings of human life.

Alternatively, the Moon offers comfort in less obvious ways. In a world where we are surrounded by things and ideas desperate for your time and attention, the Moon asks nothing of you. It's a wellspring of metaphors of support, and it's there for you, literally, in the darkest of times. It has guided humans through the night for our entire existence, and with its many phases, sizes, and shades, even the most cynical can admit there's an emotion to its ever-changing faces. The Earth could probably exist without it, but the absence of a giant celestial body during our most vulnerable hour would leave us astray.

Even as a man who's yet to hammer out the finer details of his lunar-based religion, if I look in the night sky and the moon isn't visible, I can't help but feel incomplete. Night is for the Moon, and the Moon is for the night. As far back as the existence of life, the moon has assisted in the growth and evolution of all animals. The daily tidal shifts provide a training ground for the first land-based beings to take their initial steps. Is that true? I don't know, but it sounds real, and it feeds the mythology of our Mother Moon.

This isn't a conversation about logic and reason; it's about religion and faith. Anything can be true if you aren't bound by facts or rationality. I think that's how we start this, by planting a seed of lunar-based hope. Is the moon watching over you? Probably not, but does it feel good to think that it is? That's a feeling you can foster. After a long day of being your best human self, the moon is that omnipresent celestial body waiting to embrace you with the calm of the night.

This is clearly still a nugget of an idea, but everything starts somewhere, and this wouldn't be the first faith based on the moon. I'll likely revisit this a bunch in the new year. If this leads me to a version of spirituality, I think it might be a net good. A spiritual mind is a calm mind, but spirituality on someone else's likely-compromised terms isn't something I'm willing to stomach.

Thanks for reading. There's definitely more to come. Stay tuned!

... and neither are all those other companies you love to fawn over.

In America, consumers have a curious relationship with corporations and even businesses in general. I don't know if it started with the rise of Madison Avenue advertising influence, or maybe we’ve just built a culture so ingrained with capitalism we can’t tell the difference between kindness and exploitation. 

Nintendo’s reputation in the games space is unrivaled. From Donkey Kong in the 1980s arcades to modern Mario and Zelda games, the quality of their work has driven industry trends like no other company. More importantly to this post, they have a long history of carefully curating their image. The combination of these two things has led to gamers feeling comfort and trust with whatever Nintendo wishes to do within the gaming space.  

It’s important that consumers, especially consumers of art, or really anything you can develop an emotional attachment to, remember that Nintendo is a company whose sole goal is to make money. It’s to make the numbers go up, and as a publicly traded company, it’s their fiduciary responsibility to do so. So while gamers are falling over themselves to praise recent releases like Donkey Kong Bonanza, Mario Kart World, or the upcoming Metroid Prime 4, it’s important to remember Nintendo isn’t your friend.  

Throughout history, Nintendo has tried to strong-arm its way to maximize its profits and squash any consumers they deem to be out of line, even if those consumers are evangelizing the company’s creative output.  

In the 90s, they went to the mat in court with both Tengen and Galoob over copyright law, and during the cartridge era, they were intent on crushing any competition that tried to effect their astronomical manufacturing costs. In a modern context, they routinely sue average Joes into oblivion who hack Nintendo hardware, and despite there not being a credible financial reason to do so, they cease and desist any and everyone they deem as having crossed them or their properties.  

You can certainly argue that Nintendo is simply protecting what is theirs, and they have the right to do so, but no other company in the video game space is as unrelenting in their pursuit of perceived wrongdoing. Again and again in the gaming industry, the market has taught us that companies that play well with their fans, and allow certain "legally grey" things to prosper it only makes the parent company look better to the average user.

I'm not saying Nintendo should turn a blind eye to websites or individuals making it possible to bootleg or experience legacy Nintendo content, but they could definitely do a better job of understanding the purchase habits of their biggest fans. A gamer willing to set up a raspberry pie with thousands of games on it or a nerd looking to set up the perfect Mister-cores to play ROMs on were never going to pay for NSO (Nintendo Switch Online). Suing them won't change that.

Besides, NSO could disappear tomorrow, and if Nintendo's history is any indicator, they cannot be trusted to support legacy digital platforms. The Wii, DS, 3DS, and Wii U all had stores that are no longer accessible to PAYING customers. Why trust Nintendo to do the right thing for their users when their users clearly care more about the legacy of esoteric Nintendo releases than Nintendo does?

Stop fawning over companies that are trying to exploit you for your dollar. If a game is good, pay for it, play it, and enjoy it, but most importantly, let it end there. Rinse and repeat this process for every good game and give the company it's props for giving you quality releases, just stop romanticizing a relationship with companies that are just money-siphoning machines. Make them earn it, that's the least they can do.