A (2:35)

Oh, nice one.

B (2:44)

Now, the reason I chose this one is because I felt like if I'm on this island, I'm going to need at some point to shake it loose. I'm gonna need to get that rock and roll feeling. And this song pretty much encapsulates it for me, and it's Also kind of a sweet love song, if you will. So if I'm lonely on this island there's no one around. There are lyrics in this song that will kind of, you know, take me to a place of memory, probably that will serve that part of, you know, my emotional need from these songs. On this island, when Mick sings. I'm the man who walks the hillsides in the sweet summer sun I'm the man that brings you roses when you ain't got none. You know, I mean, that's just. It's a very rock and roll way to say I love you. And I just love this song. I love the entire Exile on Main Street. It's probably my favorite. You asked me that today. Rolling Stone's album. I love Nikki Hopkins on piano on this song. You got Bobby Keys on sax. You got Jim Price on the trumpet, and trombone is as rock and roll as you can possibly get, I think.

A (4:01)

And I have to think, if you're alone on a desert island, just to be able to conjure up the vision of the Rolling Stones on stage.

B (4:10)

Right.

A (4:11)

Whatever funk you're in on any given day on the island, that pulls you out and makes you dance.

B (4:17)

Exactly. You see the tongue and the lips. You see the logo. You picture Mickey, the world's greatest peacock, out there doing his thing, you know, the whole nine yards. Yeah. It's just something that's gonna lift me up and it's gonna make me dance around on the sand, even if later I have to eat bugs because I don't know how to fish. So there you go. That's my first.

A (4:42)

Well, as Tom Hanks told us in Castaway, coconut milk is a natural accident. Things they never told us.

B (4:52)

Digging a hole. Digging a.

A (4:55)

Okay, so my desert isle, because I'm a program director and I overthink things like that. I've got three songs, one from the 70s, one from the 80s, one from the 90s.

B (5:08)

Okay. I like it.

A (5:09)

But it's not just doing the math. It's also applying this arc of my life. So we'll start with the 70s. We'll start with a song that really is about the creation of life.

B (5:23)

Okay.

A (5:24)

And I also want to point out that these are two of these, anyway, are incredibly long songs because you get a lot of time on a desert island.

B (5:33)

That's smart to kill. Right.

A (5:35)

So we're going to start with Pink Floyd. Echoes live from Pompeii.

B (5:41)

Oh, wow.

A (5:42)

Which is when. When it's all together is like 20, 22 minutes. But that. That when you're sitting there You've got lots of time on the island to just think and contemplate. And the way that. That live mix from Pompeii starts out with the. The drip, drip, drip, and just builds and builds and builds until it has you right there where you think you're gonna die. And then it pulls back and life crawls out of the pool. The echo of a distant time comes willowing across the sand. Everything is green and submarine, see. And something stirs and something tries and starts to climb towards the light.

C (6:28)

Wow.

A (6:34)

So it just. That. That is. It is like a television screen in my mind on the desert island. And admittedly, I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan. I love them, and they can do no wrong in any incarnation of the band or whether they're working together or hating each other or what. But it's just. It's an amazing piece of music. It's very science fictiony, you know, 2001, and. And. And you just. You picture that primordial creature crawling out of the ooze as they're playing in the background. And then the lyrics kills me. Cloudless every day you fall upon my waking eyes inviting and inciting me to rise.

B (7:23)

I have chills right now, to be honest with you.

A (7:26)

It just. It kills me every time. And admittedly, I'm a Pink Floyd nut. I was so glad to see the movie come out with Pompeii, because for years and years I would watch this on the Internet in varying degrees of quality and the mix and everything, and it was great to see it, yet it's just due as a release in the past year.

B (7:47)

I figured you may pick Pink Floyd because I know you're a Pink Floyd fan, but that song is a very interesting choice. But I understand why you did it. The length alone would take you out of a place of whatever hopelessness you were kind of feeling on that beach, which is where I keep going back to this thought of being on this beach by yourself. And you have Pink Floyd there for a long amount of time, taking your brain on different avenues to keep you company and to get you out of your head. So that was. Of course, that's kind of what Pink Floyd does so well.

A (8:22)

And then just from a sheer production standpoint, because to me, everything is left brain, right brain. So go to the left brain for a minute. The production on the original studio version misses something a little bit to me because it's Gilmore harmonizing with himself. But when you bring in Rick Rice, who admittedly is not the greatest singer, but he nails those harmonies like Nobody's business.

B (8:48)

Absolutely.

A (8:49)

And that, to me, puts the song over the edge and makes it perfect.

B (8:54)

Yeah, it's certainly perfect for this desert island. One of three. Absolutely.

A (9:00)

Yeah. I mean, if I'm gonna listen to that every day the rest of my life on this island, it better be perfect. It better be damn good.

B (9:07)

Exactly. Well, that kind of leads me to my second choice then. If going to be on an island and I only got three songs, then, you know, one of them is gonna be by my rock overlord, Mr. David Bowie, of course.

A (9:22)

And I've been trying to guess which one, and I can't.

C (9:25)

So, I mean, hey, everybody, it's Nicole Byer here with some hot takes from Wayfair. A cozy corduroy sectional from Wayfair. Um, yeah, that's a hot take. Go on and add it to your cart and take it. A pink glam nightstand from Wayfair. Scalding hot take. Take it before I do. A mid century cabinet from Wayfair that doubles as a wine bar. Do I have to say it? It's a hot take. Get it@wayfair.com and enjoy that free shipping, too.

B (9:55)

Wayfair. Every style, every home. This. This is really where it comes to. Comes to be so difficult when you know you're gonna pick a favorite, but then you gotta pick one song out.

A (10:07)

Of a huge body of work.

B (10:08)

Out of a huge body of work. But I thought and thought and thought about this. Obviously, I'll just tell you. I went with Starman from the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The reason that Starman won out, out of all the songs I could have gladly chosen from David Bowie's entire catalog, even songs about stars. I mean, there's Prettiest Star, there's Star on the same album. There's Lady Stardust on the same album, Black Star. I mean, you know, the man had a thing with stars. But the reason that this one won out is because it checks the box of I need that spiritual emotional uplift. So when he sings There's a starman waiting in the sky, he's told us not to blow it because he knows it's all worthwhile. That checks the box for me for my criteria. If I'm gonna only have three songs plus that boogie oogie in this song, when he starts talking about, you know, that weren't no dj, that was hazy cosmic jive. Da da da da da. I love it, and it will make me feel happy anytime I hear that song. And not to mention Speaking of boogie, let the children boogie. Yeah, I mean, at this point, I figure at some point on this desert island by probably repeat of this song 15 times in. I'm probably stark raving mad out there on the beach, just boogieing down in the sunset by myself. Perfect soundtrack.

A (11:55)

What jumps into my head here is I'm the sci fi nut. The movie the Martian, and that song is prominently featured in there. And the comparison between him being stranded as the only man on the planet Mars and. And you being stranded on a desert island.

B (12:13)

So similar.

A (12:14)

It's right there, right? It's right there.

B (12:16)

And I need that. I need to hear David Bowie's voice. If I'm gonna be out there on my own for the rest of my livelong days, he's gotta be in there. And it's gonna be the song that makes me dance, makes me feel happy, and makes me feel like maybe the starman will come down and save me, you know, at some point. Or at least someone in a helicopter. That's why I went with that one from Bowie. I mean, that was probably the hardest choice I've had to make in the year 2025. Picking one David Bowie song to put on this list that we're talking about here today.

A (12:53)

It's like me trying to pick one out of a body of work from Pink Floyd. So my second one here. We're ready, right, for my second one.

B (13:02)

Let's go.

A (13:03)

Okay, so we're gonna go into the freewheeling 80s now. And so I've crawled out of the primordial ooze of Pink Floyd in the 70s. I've been given life. I've grown up and now I'm in the 80s and I'm enjoying life. And I am about 2am driving down a highway and I am thinking about life. And I've left a club gig because it's the radio thing, right?

B (13:31)

Right.

A (13:31)

So I've not been drinking or imbibing. I'm just driving home, a little tired, but I'm just thinking. And on the radio comes a 14 minute song plus.

B (13:44)

Okay.

A (13:45)

And it's just an epic song by Dire Straits.

B (13:49)

Oh, Dire Straits. The great Mark Knopfler.

A (13:53)

Yes. From the album Love Over Gold. And so for the first time, I am hearing the song Telegraph Road.

B (14:01)

Oh my God, what a great song. Amazing.

A (14:03)

And that is an epic body of work. Starts out very softly and weasels in and winds in and builds this incredible storyline. A long time ago came a man on a track walking 30 miles. And I grew up in the Midwest. I've lived in Ohio, I've lived in Michigan, and I've lived in Wisconsin, and now I live in Illinois. So I can just see this old farm looking dude going up the shore of Lake Michigan with a sack on his back, putting it down and starting to build a cabin and starting a farm 200 years ago, right? And then the way the story progresses, the way the music progresses and builds.

B (14:49)

Behind it so beautifully too.

A (14:51)

Music incredible. I mean, it really is like a movie in your head.

B (14:56)

Very cinematic.

A (14:57)

Very much so. And so the decades go on. Then come the churches, then come the schools, then come the lawyers, then come the rules. And then you get into the industrial area. And then things kind of fall apart and get weird. Not dissimilar to our real lives in this day and age. Things get weird. And then the lyric. And my radio says, tonight it's going to freeze. People driving home from the factories. Six lanes of traffic, three lanes, moving slow. Yeah, it speaks to me. And then the. The keyboard dalliances and the drum fills and then it slowly starts to build. And then Knopfler is singing to his girlfriend, who's no longer his girlfriend, and he's just sad and. And to me that's like, okay, I'm on this desert island. I'm not ever going to see anybody again. And that sucks. And then you get to the lyric. From these rivers of headlights, these rivers of rain from the anger that lives on the streets with these names Because I've run every red light on memory lane. I've seen desperation explode into flames and I don't want to see it again. From all these signs saying, sorry, but we're closed. From all of these signs saying, sorry, but we're closed. Oh, man.

B (16:27)

Yeah. The storytelling there is amazing. It does seem a little bit, you know, ahead of its time when you think about, you know, the chaos that stumbled into currently.

A (16:40)

But that. That is literally, and I mean this in every good way, that is the type of song that you can listen to. You can hear different things going on it every time you listen. Now, I'm assuming I had noise canceling headphones on this desert island with an endless supply of batteries, of course. Because that's how you and the song is so good and so perfect. When you're done, you gotta go shower and get something to eat and refuel.

B (17:09)

Right?

A (17:09)

It's just that good.

B (17:11)

You know what else is great about this song here, Telegraph Road, is that if you're stranded on a desert island by yourself, it'll put you back in a place of population. You know, you're back in the world again. You know, sometimes that's good or bad in the song itself, but you're not. You're surrounded by, you know, civilization again, which is a cool thing for a desert island pick.

A (17:34)

Yeah. And you've killed a good 15 minutes.

B (17:40)

Before it's time to go looking for bananas or whatever you're gonna do.

A (17:44)

Or coconut milk for that natural accident. Okay, so you're up to number three.

B (17:48)

Yes. So for number three, for my third pick, Keith again, I am picking songs that are spiritually uplifting. Gonna make me dance, gonna make me sing. Gonna make me feel protected. Gonna make me feel loved. Gonna make me have memories that are good. All good vibes in these songs. And so for my last pick, I went with a spiritual uplift of the kind that basically no other song in my history of listening to music has ever given me. Exactly what this song that I'm about to lay down for you has done. It's been such an important tune for me at certain points in my life. It was huge for me. When my mother passed away, I listened to this song on repeat. In fact, it was an ex boyfriend who put this song on a mixtape for me for that purpose. And then whenever I've had trying times when I needed some bolstering musically, I will put this song on. And it's not a rock band, but they are from Chicago. I am talking about Earth, wind and fire and the great keep your head to the sky. Now, this song was released before they hit it big in, like, the mid-70s. This is, like, from 73. Head to the sky is the album. Of course, we know that Maurice White is a great arranger and band leader and musician, and he wrote this song. But when it came time to sing it, he handed those reins over to Philip Bailey, who could rock those falsettos, those really, really high notes that Earth, wind, and so masterfully do. So the song is basically, keep your head to the sky. Surely the clouds are gonna tell you why. You know what I mean? Like, what else are you doing on a freaking desert island but looking up at the sky and checking out the clouds and seeing if maybe one looks like a bear or one looks like somebody you used to know, or one. You know what I mean?

A (20:05)

Or one looks like a helicopter, or.

B (20:07)

One looks like a helicopter, or maybe one looks like a spaceship. You know, what else are you doing on this desert island but looking up at the clouds and hopefully listening to.

A (20:17)

This song and letting the music lift you up and keep you going.

B (20:23)

Yes, the lyrics to this thing are. It's almost like a gospel spiritual. Master told me one day I'd find peace in every way but in search for the clue Wrong things I was bound to do Keep my head to the sky for the clouds to tell me why but when they get to the end of this song, that is the home run moment of the entire thing, and it will shock you so much. When you listen to this song in headphones and you hear what they do at the very end, it repeats, keep your head to the sky. And then at the end of the song, the very last repeat of the title of the song, Philip Bailey is joined by Jessica Cleaves, who also was known for her high notes when she was in Earth, Wind and Fire. And then when she was, she went on to join Parliament Funkadelic, too, in kind of the same backup singer role. Those two, Philip Bailey and Jessica Cleaves, joined their voices together and just tried to sing as high as they possibly could sing at each of the top of their beautiful ranges, and they came up with such a celestial tone and note together, wound together like that. It just fills my entire being with love and peace and goodwill when I. When I hear that final line of this song sung by those two, it's absolutely amazing.

A (22:01)

And to hear you describe makes me think, you may look at me and go, huh, What? But it makes me think of what vintage Crosby, Stills, and Nash are capable of.

B (22:14)

Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's that kind of thing. It's people doing stuff with their voices that most people can't do to reach something inside people who are listening to it in a way that they haven't been reached before.

A (22:31)

And that, dear podcast listener, is nothing but pure magic.

B (22:37)

That is what the magic of music is. That's what it's all about.

A (22:40)

Music, music, music.

B (22:42)

All right, you're up for number three.

A (22:43)

Okay, so now we roll into the 90s.

B (22:46)

Okay.

A (22:46)

And I'm on the desert island still, and my hair has turned gray, and I'm looking like Tom hanks. I've lost £50 because of the coconuts, and I had to knock out a couple of teeth with an ice skate. And I'm in bad shape.

B (23:01)

Right, right.

A (23:02)

So it's the 90s, and in at number three is my by far favorite act from the 90s. Alice in Chains.

B (23:12)

Oh, yeah.

A (23:13)

And how ironic. And I don't mean this in a disrespectful way, but how ironic that Lane, at the end of his life, was in such bad shape.

B (23:25)

Absolutely pitiful. One of the biggest talents out of The Pacific Northwest, and such a tragic end.

A (23:31)

So I'm on this island. It's been years. And I'm gonna allow myself some days to be depressed and pissed off about this.

B (23:39)

Okay. It's your island. You can do that over there on your island if you want to.

A (23:43)

And knowing that it's song number three, and then I get to go back to songs number one and number two. They will lift me up in spirit.

B (23:50)

It's probably very healthy to go the way that you're talking.

A (23:53)

So I'm a whiner by trade, so I just have to do like this. And so I went with down in a Hole by Alice in Chains. And there is just the lushness of the arrangement, the thoughtfulness of the music. Just. I've never done heroin, but it must feel like that. It's just that rush through the veins. And it's a whole lot healthier and better for you to listen to it rather than put it in a hole in your arm.

B (24:35)

Absolutely. It would have been so much better for Lane Staley if the music could have done that for him.

A (24:41)

Yeah. So I come into the lyric down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved See my heart I decorate it like a grave Isn't that amazing? You don't understand who they thought I was supposed to be. Look at me now A man who won't let himself be.

B (24:57)

I can hear him singing that as you're saying those lines. It's heartbreaking, you know?

A (25:04)

Yeah. And, you know, obviously. And I've been listening to some John Prine lately. And there's a hole in daddy's arm where the money goes and so when you. When you look at a lyric down in a hole in the situation, you know exactly what he's writing about, for sure. It's just horrible.

B (25:21)

Yeah.

A (25:21)

And he's feeling so small, but. And that. That music, if you're not listening closely, it's so beautiful and so lush that it can fool you. Down in a hole They've put all the stones in their place I've eaten the sun so the tongue has been burned of the taste Guilty of kicking myself in the teeth I will speak no more of my feelings beneath.

B (25:44)

Yeah. He had such a low view of himself, really, you know.

A (25:49)

Yeah. And you can't live life and you can't reach emotional highs without knowing what emotional lows are like.

B (25:57)

Yeah.

A (25:58)

And so to be able to sit there in the sun and have all but given up that I'm ever going to be rescued, and hearing that lyric I will cry, and it will drain out of me. I'll fall asleep and I'll wake up tomorrow, and the sun will rise and the water will start dripping with Pink Floyd echoes, and it'll all start over again, and I'll be okay.

B (26:22)

Right? You've got the range there for your emotions. Well, I'll tell you what. Since my island is about the spiritual uplift, okay, my tunes are just that. I'm gonna say that the starman's gonna come down from the sky, and then he's gonna pick me up, and then I'll be like, okay, we need to get Keith over there, because if he listens to down in a Hole by Alice in Chains one more time, you know, I don't know if he's gonna make it. So we'll come pick you up because.

A (26:49)

Again, our friend Tom Hanks in Castaway at one point crawled up to the top of the mountain with a rope and intended to end it all because he couldn't handle it anymore. And that failed. And that made him realize he's got to hang in there because there's a way out. He just doesn't know what it is yet, right? When you and I go down the rabbit hole, when there's not microphones in the room, we just talk about how much music means. You know, I've been asked before, if I had to make a choice, do I lose my sight or my hearing? As tough as it would be, take my eyes, because if I don't have ears, I can't hear the music, and I don't have a reason to live anymore.

B (27:29)

It's always been my chief interest. I love books. I love movies. You know, I love art. But music has always been my chief interest because I think Tom Petty said it, you know, most famously, and I think he was right that, you know, basically he said that music is the. The only magic we really have in this world. So thank you for joining me, Keith. I really appreciated you coming on and putting some thought into the songs that you chose for this impossible task.

A (28:00)

Thank you for having me today. This was a blast.

B (28:02)

And with that, I will say thank you for listening to this bonus episode of the behind the Song podcast. If you like it, hit subscribe and give us a follow. And on the way, much more classic rock and roll.