Celebrate Life
celebrate the joys and pains of existence with tommi tikka
featuring artists like
Elvis Presley, The Impersonators, Robb Murphy, HOAX, Elton John, Neil Diamond, DD Allen, The Modern World
The great Oscar Wilde once remarked:
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that’s all.
This famous quote pretty much sums up what Music To Celebrate Life is about: living. More precisely, it celebrates the life lived, all of it – not just the good bits. Hence, the music featured here is about the joys and pains of existence. The songs selected for this playlist will have strong vocals and compelling melodic structures. However, given the nature and the theme of this playlist, special emphasis is placed on the lyrical content.
Waiting On The World To Change – John Mayer
30 January 2018
John Mayer’s “Continuum” album was incredibly popular, won a Grammy and got named the 11th best album of 2006 by the Rolling Stone magazine – and for a good reason. It’s a fantastic album that mixes all its main ingredients well and uses exactly the right measurements:…
Mysteries Of The Heart (Single Mix) – Robb Murphy
23 January 2018
My eldest son sent me a meme the other day. He found it hilarious. It read:
The good news about middle age is that the glass is still half-full… of course, the bad news is that it won’t be long before your teeth are floating in it.
For some strange reason…I didn’t find it equally funny. And to get back to the world in general, I forwarded the meme over to my dad, who sent me a meme back that said, “My kids are annoying, so I drink.”
Shooting Questions At The Messenger – An Interview With Apostle
16 January 2018
Apostle is a new rising talent from London, England, whose debut single “Dakota Thunder Rising” came out right before Christmas. It’s a brilliant pop song with a very thought-provoking and poetic lyric – one of those songs that stay with you even after you’ve taken your headphones off and gone to bed.
Impressed by the songwriting talent of this young man, I asked for an interview and was granted one. I was excited. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more about Apostle and more importantly, spread the word about him and his music. And no, the irony of becoming a messenger of the messenger (the definition of the word “apostle”) did not escape me.
Dakota Thunder Rising – Apostle
16 January 2018
Sometimes a truly great song can save your Saturday. The following is based on a true story.
Imagine this. It’s been snowing for days on end. Every morning before work you shovel snow for an hour and every day after work, you do the same. But it snows all the time, so this becomes labor that has very little effect on how your yard looks or how easy it is to back out of your driveway. This is Finland for you this time of the year – pretty harsh, right?…
Strangers When We Meet – The Smithereens
9 January 2018
A few weeks ago, right before Christmas, I received a text from my uncle telling me that the lead singer and songwriter of the Smithereens, Pat DiNizio, had died. He was only 62. I felt empty. I had just come to accept that Tom Petty was no longer with us. Now, all of a sudden, another hero of mine was gone. Such is life. Nobody lives forever. It’s just that the Smithereens have always been one of my favorite bands. And as you probably already guessed, they are also one of my uncle’s favorite bands. As a matter of fact, it was he who turned me onto them years ago in the late eighties – a day I remember very well….
Where the Dandelions Roar – The People The Poet
2 January 2018
I have six kids (all boys) and even on a good day, going to bed is slightly chaotic. You see here’s the thing, before the kids, I never really understood military. To be more specific, I never understood why drill sergeants yell and threaten the new recruits at boot camp. Why can’t they just speak normally and act normally? Well, the thing is (and if you have more than three kids, you already know this), you will not get anything done like that. I swear this is the God’s honest truth!..
Rain – Uriah Heep
18 December 2017
Those of you who have lived in different parts of the world know that rain is different wherever you are. I remember what it was like in the Ohio Valley: when it rained, it really poured. In Finland, you don’t get rain like that, not even close. Over here, it’s mostly drizzle – at least in comparison. However, the thing that doesn’t change, as per your location, is what happens in our minds when we look out the window on a rainy day…
Waiting For The Sun – The Doors
14 December 2017
The opening lines of this classic Doors track deal with what is perhaps the greatest weakness of man. We are constantly looking for optimal life, something better – our Garden of Eden.
At first flash of Eden
We race down to the sea
Ooh La La – Rod Stewart
14 December 2017
This is an old Faces track, but as good as the original is with Ronnie Lane on vocals, the definitive version of “Ooh La La” is by far the one by Rod Stewart. This revamped version of “Ooh La La” can be found on Rod’s strong “When We Were The New Boys” album from the late 1990s, an album that finds Rod in great shape and form and is consequently filled with excellent songs and vocals.
Walls – Circus – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
14 December 2017
I remember the first time I heard “Walls.” It was Christmas Eve 1996 and I was on my way to spend Christmas with family when somebody rear ended me at a stoplight that must have been no more than a block away from my aunt’s house. As other drivers were calling their insurance companies and yelling at each other, I crawled back into my car that now looked like somebody had used it to teach parallel parking in a war zone somewhere.
This Is Your Time – Michael W. Smith
14 December 2017
I must admit, I do not like the concept of Christian rock. In my mind, it’s an oxymoron – there is usually something very unchristian about a rock band hitting the road and going about their business! Given this attitude, perhaps it is only fitting that there is really only one artist from this genre that I listen to and truly admire: Michael W. Smith.
Was There Anything I Could Do? – The Go-Betweens
14 December 2017
Even if they never really got the recognition they deserved, the Australian Go-Betweens are simply one of the best rock groups of all time. As their fans know, they recorded many great songs during their career but the reason why I keep returning to “Was There Anything I Could Do?” so very often is because it’s not just one their best songs; it’s one of the best pop/rock tracks out there – and what’s more, it’s timeless.