Post Y2K music suggestions?

July 5, 2009 6:22 AM

Music suggestions, please? I'm putting together the slideshow for my family's biennial reunion. For the last 20 years the music has been very Big Chill, since it's put together by the generation preceding mine. People are usually weeping by the end.

Enough! My generation (Gen X and onward) has decided it's time to take back the soundtrack of our lives.

Since I only have a week to do this, I'm looking for music suggestions that bring us past the year 2000. No Pointer Sisters We Are Family. No Cat Stevens Father and Son. And for God's sake, no Clapton Tears in Heaven! I want fun (or funny), upbeat songs that reference family and make you want to dance. I'll entertain all genres. I don't mind a bittersweet tune for the start, but please, sung within the last decade. Discernable (and family-friendly) lyrics a plus.

posted by cocoagirl to media & arts (14 comments total)

Never Had Nobody Like You by M. Ward
posted by Fairchild at 6:34 AM on July 5

Hmmm.

If this is for a slideshow, maybe you can sidestep the "family" subject a bit? You know, find goofy songs that go with the slides -- if you have a whole bunch of slides with people swimming or on the beach, say, maybe you have the Beach Boys or Cheryl Crow's "Soak Up The Sun". If you've got a bunch of shots of people dancing -- set them all to the B-52's "Dance This Mess Around" or Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" (note: I'm not a fan of Whitney, but it seems a more inter-generational choice than the B-52s, which others may find weird). If you've got a whole series of shots of female family members having fun, presto, Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".

I'm finding very few songs about family that don't get sappy, so you may want to try using an alternate theme, and seeing if groupings of slides suggest any.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:32 AM on July 5

I realize that just about all the songs I've suggested were writen pre-y2k. But I think altering the theme a bit will shake things up some, and will let you make more connections.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:33 AM on July 5

Hmm, I don't know if 1987 Rush is recent and/or Gen-Xy enough, but I have seen Time Stand Still used with good effect for slideshows. The lyrics are bittersweet, but it's an upbeat tune.

Picture in a Frame by Tom Waits might be good for photos of couples who have been together for years.
posted by usonian at 7:59 AM on July 5

Gogol Bordello, My Strange Uncles From Abroad
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:56 AM on July 5

White Stripes - probably several songs
Modest Mouse - a couple of songs maybe
Bishop Allen - Ghosts Are Good Company

As a fellow Gen Xer I would say expand your boundaries to include the 90's at least.
posted by Sailormom at 9:13 AM on July 5

Wilco - My Darling
posted by willpie at 9:36 AM on July 5

The Roots - Lovely, Love My Family
posted by corey flood at 9:54 AM on July 5 [1 favorite]

"It's Cool to Love Your Family" by Feist (even though it came out in 1999)
posted by 23skidoo at 11:15 AM on July 5

Was just coming in here to suggest the Roots - here's a video for it. It's awesome.

Also:

"Daughter" by Loudon Wainwright III
Virtually anything from the Jack Johnson "Curious George" soundtrack
"I don't know" by Lisa Hannigan
"Fly one time" by Ben Harper
"Fee da da dee" by Guggenheim Grotto
"Light" by Matisyahu
"Life is grand" by Camper van Beethoven
... and close it out with something/anything by Andrew W.K.
posted by jbickers at 12:42 PM on July 5

Uncle Walter by Ben Folds, Red Headed Stepchild by Golden Smog, and The Family Gardener by The Minus Five.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 1:57 PM on July 5

israel kamakawiwo'ole's version of Somehwhere over the rainbow/wonderful world.... I saw it at a medical school graduation slide show recently. By the time they got halfway through, Parents were all choked up in tears. I mean TEARS.

(*and not just because they were think of the cost of medical school*)

:)
posted by anitanita at 10:46 PM on July 5

...Tears in a feel good-happy way, I should have mentioned.
posted by anitanita at 10:47 PM on July 5

Good Mother – Jann Arden
A Song for Mama – Boyz II Men
My Little Girl – Tim McGraw
In My Daughter’s Eyes – Martina McBride
Just the Two of Us – Will Smith

Also, you might consider Streetcorner Symphony by Rob Thomas. It’s not specifically about family, but it’s a very upbeat song with a positive message, and the chorus includes the lines:

Come on over
Down to the corner
My sisters and my brothers there for one another
Come on over
posted by yawper at 1:48 PM on July 6