Today continues the classical mood I’ve been in lately, except I only know the stuff that pretty much everybody knows. The most memorable use of this piece was, I believe, in Gus Van Sant’s powerful “Elephant.” In fact, the entire soundtrack is filled with classic pieces. By Ludwig van Beethoven, it’s the first movement of Moonlight Sonata, or Au Clair De Lune.

And here is a piano genius playing it like he’s bored.

Today’s song of the day is my favorite track from Faye Wong’s 2003 album “To Love.” The deep rhythmic beats and the lyrics (”I gave you the movie ticket/I gave him the seat/I gave you the candles/I gave him the dinner”) make this a great side track from her last great album. It’s “Not Remaining.” Of course, another way to literally translate it is “Not Stay,” but the song is about leaving nothing behind, hence my literal translation.

Today’s song is again featured very often in films, and remains one of my favorite love songs. My favorite use was in the ending montage for Boogie Nights, although the use of it in the ending of Love Actually is quite popular as well. From the 1966 album Pet Sounds, it’s The Beach Boy’s “God Only Knows.”

Today’s song of the day isn’t the typical pop crap that I named Songs of the Day (Don’t worry, there’s still pop crap in this entry). Today we’re going classical with Chopin, which means you can find today’s track on any compilation of Chopin’s works. It’s short, and it’s mighty depressing. It’s Chopin’s Prelude op. 28 No.20.

There’s obviously no regular music video for it on Youtube, so here’s a really talented kid playing it instead:

I was going to post Barry Manilow’s Could It Be Magic, but I can’t find a video of it anywhere. So I’ll just show you one way you can ruin a masterpiece. I can’t believe Robbie Williams took part in this. It’s Take That’s cover of Could It Be Magic:

I was originally going to continue the My Blueberry Nights streak with something that has something to do with the movie, but i heard a cover of this song by Chet Lam while writing the previous entry, and just can’t help but choose to post this today. Originally on the Vision Quest soundtrack, then on The Immaculate Collection, it’s Madonna’s “Crazy For You.” I honestly have no idea why, this is one of those classic pop songs that is hard not to like.

Today’s song of the day is the second song from Khalil Fong’s album This Love. The title and its lyrics are based on Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood For Love (see a recurring theme going on here?), though that doesn’t make the song better or worse. The star of the song is really Khalil Fong anyway. It’s “Su Li Zhen.”

Today’s choice for Song of the Day just seems natural, considering what I spent most of the previous post on. It’s the song in the teaser for Wong Kar Wai’s My Blueberry Nights. It needs very little introduction, and from the album “The Greatest,” it’s Cat Power’s “The Greatest.”

Here is the My Blueberry Nights teaser in Youtube format

Kind of in a loud mood lately, so today’s song of the day is no surprise. I remember living in the dorms when I heard this album, and pumping this song loud for the first time alone in the room on a Saturday afternoon. That was fun. Hearing it again on the radio again the other day reminded me how good this song is.

Anyway, from the album Elephant, it’s The White Stripes’ “Seven Nations Army.”

As mentioned in the entry today, I’ve now become a fan of the Japanese band The Blue Hearts, even though they have broken up for about 12 years now. So today’s song of the day would be pretty obvious. It’s The Blue Hearts’ Linda Linda.

You must be wondering why I don’t post the cover featured in the film Linda Linda Linda, whose soundtrack offers two Blue Hearts cover tracks, while the spinoff EP offers 3? That’s because the trailers actually refrained from showing it, giving me the impression that the band’s final performance should be something that’s earned throughout the film. So why would I ruin your potential enjoyment (especially now that the film is available on an English-subtitled region 1 DVD) of that by posting the clip here?

Of course, if you don’t really care, here it is anyway.

Today’s song of the day needs little introduction because it’s already fairly well-known to anyone that listens to Japanese music. It was, after all, only one of the biggest hit singles of 2004 to the biggest movie in Japan in 2004. It’s also just simply a really good song. Originally from the album SENTIMENTALovers and now the compilation album Utabaka, it’s Ken Hirai’s “Hitomi wo Tojite” (Eyes Closed).