Need individualstic, no-lovesick music
September 13, 2009 8:08 AM   Subscribe

In search of individualistic, no-romance-involved, me-and-my dreams music.

Some of Bob Dylan's songs fit along these lines, but I'm sick of hearing heartsick-longing music, and I'm going through a good "I need to work through my own goals/dreams and take care of myself" phase, so I was looking in particular for artists who tend to write along these lines.

Male artists preferred, bonus points for a genre of rock. Also, it can't really reference the opposite sex at all--I don't want the "I'm being myself in the face of you being a complete idiot" (ala, while great songs, "Can't Hold Us Down", "It Ain't Me Babe", "Love Song"). I was thinking something along the lines of Jackson Browne's "Farther On". I love JB's music, but most of it is lovesick-yearning and I'm tired of hearing that.

It doesn't need to be peppy or upbeat--just needs to focus on the individual, search for meaning, dreams, goals, without any romantic overtures whatsoever.
posted by Dukat to Media & Arts (25 answers total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Rush - Anthem
Diana Ross - It's My Turn
posted by jbickers at 8:23 AM on September 13, 2009


Joni Mitchell -- most of the songs on her album, Hejira.
posted by rhartong at 8:26 AM on September 13, 2009 [3 favorites]


Josh Rose - Directions
Cat Stevens - The Wind
Social Distortion - Reach for the Sky
Talib Kweli - Get By
posted by raztaj at 8:27 AM on September 13, 2009 [1 favorite]


Tom Petty - Won't Back Down
posted by christinetheslp at 8:36 AM on September 13, 2009


The Who - I've Had Enough
posted by runtina at 9:23 AM on September 13, 2009


Whatever It Is - Ben Lee
posted by backwards guitar at 9:52 AM on September 13, 2009 [1 favorite]


Reach - Orleans.
posted by Wordwoman at 10:04 AM on September 13, 2009


Running Down A Dream - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
posted by torquemaniac at 10:23 AM on September 13, 2009


The Harder they Come - Jimmy Cliff
posted by hazyjane at 10:29 AM on September 13, 2009


Akron/Family's self-titled album.
posted by oinopaponton at 10:52 AM on September 13, 2009


Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror.
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:57 AM on September 13, 2009


maynard james keenan - forty six & two, lateralus
posted by (lambda (x) x) at 11:16 AM on September 13, 2009


Aerosmith - Dream On
Tom Petty - Runnin down a dream
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 1:10 PM on September 13, 2009


Maybe a little obvious, but... Dreams by Van Halen.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:13 PM on September 13, 2009


The Impossible Dream is a classic and fits your description perfectly. Lyrics here.
posted by amyms at 1:54 PM on September 13, 2009


Sailing by Christopher Cross.
posted by chihiro at 2:47 PM on September 13, 2009


Bill Callahan - Faith / Void
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 3:23 PM on September 13, 2009


Mercy Mercy Mercy by Cannonball Adderly
posted by rileyray3000 at 6:18 PM on September 13, 2009


I'm also partial to Hungry Heart by Springsteen. That opening line is a man who's decided to do something despite the cost.

I got a wife and kids in Baltimore jack, I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don't know where it's flowing, I took a wrong turn and just kept goin

That line has defined why I've done more of my life the way I've done it than...well, than most schools of philosophy.
posted by rileyray3000 at 6:21 PM on September 13, 2009


My Way
posted by Jaltcoh at 6:43 PM on September 13, 2009


Neither of them are rock artists, but I think a lot of Kanye and Jay-Z's work falls into this category. I specifically recommend:

Jay-Z - American Dreamin'
Kanye West - We Don't Care
Kanye West - Touch the Sky

The song that Touch the Sky samples, Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" would also fit the bill.
posted by C^3 at 7:17 PM on September 13, 2009


Todd Rundgren!

Drive! (lyrics)
Just One Victory! (lyrics)
Blue Orpheus! (lyrics)
Mountaintop! (lyrics)
Healer! (lyrics)
Can't Stop Running! (lyrics)
Love Science! (lyrics)

...and a bonus track, in the form of a Utopia bonus track:
Man Of Action! (lyrics)

From the sublime to the ridiculous, Our Hero has got you covered. Draw a bead on that sucker, Dukat.
posted by mintcake! at 10:08 PM on September 13, 2009


Old favorite--"I Am What I Am," Adrian Belew with the Prophet Omega, from Young Lions.
posted by dlugoczaj at 6:21 AM on September 14, 2009




As the resident Styx fan, I must mention "Fooling Yourself." You are, after all, the one they can't beat - and you know it.

And mintcake! - you give a great list of Todd songs, and you leave off "Change Myself"? Sheesh. I am hereby recommending "Change Myself." AND "Second Wind," for that matter.
posted by kristi at 9:45 PM on September 14, 2009


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