My Ultimate Personal Jovi Playlist



It's Friday.  Friday is about favorites (in bloggerland).  My favorite band of all time is Bon Jovi.  I haven't done a Friday Favorites in a very long time.  So, here you have it.

 

It is entirely possible that the only person who will truly enjoy this post is Ericka, (although Jenn encouraged me to write it).  It's taken months to write.  My love for Bon Jovi started in 1984.  That's 32 years of love.  32 years of music and songs.  32 years of stories to share.  I still didn't share them all.  I culled songs and stories.  I swear I did.  But, this post is still a lengthy one.  No apologies.  (except, I apologize to the songs and stories that I cut but still mean a lot to me...sorry Bad Name, I still love you.)

I fully expect most of you to skip and/or skim over this post.  It breaks my heart a little to know that, but I'll be a realist.

These are the Bon Jovi songs that have shaped me.  My personal playlist.  I don't always pick the obvious choices because my personal faves are not always the obvious songs.  But, these are mine.  Condensed.

3 songs to have the biggest impact:

• Livin' on a Prayer - It is tattooed on my foot; It can be heard in bars, sports stadiums, movies, television shows, classic rock radio stations, and more.  It is the one song that anyone who knows that Bon Jovi as a band exists, knows this song.
• Wanted Dead or Alive - If you've ever been to a karaoke bar, you've heard this song.  I've told this story here before, but I'll tell it again.  Milton Keynes, England 2006; I cried real tears watching 60,000+ Bon Jovi fans sing this aloud at the top of their lungs during an encore.
• It's My Life - My personal anthem that I'm happy to share as an anthem with others; the song that showed Bon Jovi's career was not going to be only that 80s hair band; they were going to continue to put out hits, albums, and have hugely successful tours.
  
  
  

3 favourite ballads (I have a whole playlist of ballads, so picking three was just laughable, but here they are):

• Always - The epitome of a Bon Jovi ballad; I have sang this song in stadiums, in my car, in my shower; I have sang this song through tears and through smiles.  Jovi fan or not, if you don't think this is a good song, well, I'm not sure we can be friends.
• I Want You - A much lesser known ballad than I'll Be There For You or Bed of Roses, but it's a personal fave that remains so this day, 24 years after I first heard it.
• All About Lovin' You - Not all Jovi fans like this song, but I do, and this is my playlist.
  

3 favourite songs that break my heart:

• Lie to Me - With lyrics like "if you don't love me, lie to me"...this one hurts.  I've gone back to this one numerous times during numerous heartaches.
• Only Lonely - Another one that I'm going to guess is relatively unknown for most reading this, but again, these lyrics have been felt by me in my life, and I've sung them, crying real, painful tears: "Only lonely -- I can't stop hurting you -- Only lonely -- but I can't stop loving you -- Only lonely -- so tell me babe, how much pain can you take before your heart breaks?"
• This Ain't a Love Song - A break-up song that is really a love song with lyrics that are trying to tell you/convince himself that it isn't.
  

3 songs that tell the best stories:

• Blood on Blood
• These Days
• Just Older (even though someone had spotify erred in typing the title Just Order)
  
  
  

3 hidden gems:

• Hearts Breaking Even
• Edge of a Broken Heart
• I Am 
  
  
  

3 songs from the 2000s (and later ), were released as singles and should have been bigger hits:

• Hook Me Up
• Superman Tonight
• Have a Nice Day
  

3 songs that always make me dance:

• I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
• Bad Medicine
• Blame It on the Love of Rock 'n' Roll
  

3 songs that are fun live:

• Raise Your Hands - My mother took 4 junior high girls (including me) to see a Bon Jovi concert; my mother made up her own choreography to this song; I still do that same little dance during the chorus whenever I see this song played live.
• Who Says You Can't Go Home - If you've ever been lucky enough to experience a Bon Jovi concert, you know Jon loves to lead the crowd in synchronized jazz hand movements; this song has the perfect "it's alright, it's alright" lyrics in the song for just such a moment.
• Keep The Faith - When Jon picks up the maracas, you know the bass is kicking in and there will be booty shaking.
  

3 moments personally significant for me:

• She Don't Know Me - I know exactly where I was (my friend's house) when I saw this video on MTV; I fell in love and never fell out of love.
• Lay Your Hands on Me - Jon sang to me; I was on the second row during the Crush tour, he looked directly at me, shook a jazz hand my direction, raised his eyebrows and winked as he sang "I'll lay my hands on youuuuu"; I cried.
• Hallelujah - Without a doubt, the most spine-tingling, goosebump-producing moment in all of my concert going experiences; Sydney, the Circle tour, I was in The Circle; I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life, and I was at this concert solo; Bon Jovi cover's Leonard Cohen's song; the sky opened up and poured down rain; it was beautiful, amazing moment.  This shot is from that show:
  

 

3 songs to enjoy on a Saturday night:

• Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
• Saturday Nights Gave Me Sunday Mornings
• Never Say Goodbye - No, "Saturday" isn't in the title, but I spent many, many a Saturday nights in high school cruising around listening to this song and making memories like the song details.

  

  photo by David Bergman

3 personal faves that didn't hit any categories but can't be left off my playlist:

• Born to Be My Baby
• Wild in the Streets
• In These Arms - I can never pick one favourite Bon Jovi song.  Never.  But.  If I was forced at gunpoint to choose, this would probably be the one.
  

 

Okay...if you stayed with me this long...tell me your 3 favourite Bon Jovi songs (Ericka...you can tell me more).  Or tell me if I convinced you to listen to any of these songs. Or just tell me anything.  I'll just be impressed that you stuck with me.

Most pictures were pulled from notoldjustolder.tumblr.com

Linking with Amanda for Friday Favorites: