Favorite Soothing Rock Songs
One playlist that I've created for myself over the years is a group of what I consider to be "soothing" songs, but ones by (generally) otherwise strong rock'n'rollers. Some of these are instrumentals, but many have lyrics -- they just don't get really loud, so they are good as background music while working, or for late at night, or for an afternoon nap even. For anyone else what follows might seem like a strange grouping of songs, but here it is. Excluded from this list are the many fine, soothing songs from Pink Floyd -- they'll be listed separately someday.
- Black Sabbath - Laguna Sunrise (2:47)
A nice instrumental, with acoustic guitars complemented by other strings.
- Black Sabbath - Planet Caravan (4:28)
A mildly cosmic/psychedelic sounding song, with haunting vocals and hand drums. Half-way through some nice guitar begins as well -- at this point it sounds like some of the lengthy guitar pieces that classic Grateful Dead concerts would feature... the ones that seemed to go on forever. Alas, this one lasts only a minute or two. (See the brief Wikipedia entry for this song, which mentions that a Leslie speaker is used to get the vocal effect for Ozzy.)
- Crosby, Stills, and Nash - Guinnevere (4:42)
Masters of vocal harmony. Wonderful backing instruments.
- The Doors - The Crystal Ship (2:34)
Not as soft as others on this list, but not particularly loud either. (See the brief Wikipedia entry for this song.)
- The Doors - Riders on the Storm (7:11)
A long song, but well worth it. Begins with sounds from a rain storm, then a ride cymbal with some keyboarding. Vocals are soft, but the lyrics are interesting. Very nice keyboarding is featured, with electric guitar in the background and drums -- particularly that ride cymbal as a constant throughout. I especially like when the song "restarts" itself at around 4:40. (See the Wikipedia entry for this song.
- Jethro Tull - Nursie (1:36)
A short piece, but with nice guitar and vocals.
- Jethro Tull - Grace (0:37)
A painfully short piece.
- Jethro Tull - Bourée (3:47)
Begins quite calmly, with some very nice flute and bass strings. It builds up later to be a bit faster and louder, before returning to the opening theme. According to this Wikipedia entry, this song was inspired by Bach's Bourrée in E Minor.
- Jethro Tull - Elegy (3:34)
This instrumental has Ian Anderson playing some wonderful flute, with a fine supporting cast.
- Jethro Tull - Serenade to a Cuckoo (6:11)
Not an original Tull piece, this is a cover version of the jazz tune of the same name by Roland Kirk (according to Wikipedia). I very much like Tull's version of this tune: a very jazzy piece, with some great flute sections of course, and some fine guitar later on.
- Jethro Tull - Round (0:49)
A short jazzy tune.
- Led Zeppelin - Bron-Yr-Aur (2:06)
I don't know the right musical terms to describe the acoustical guitar effects I am hearing, but I like it! (See the Wikipedia entry for this song.)
- Neil Young - Expecting to Fly (3:46)
A sad song, with very nice orchestral instruments used to back the vocals. Actually, this was a song of Young's from his Buffalo Springfield days.
- Neil Young - Sugar Mountain (5:41)
Not as sad and emotion-evoking as Expecting to Fly, but to me this evokes feelings of living in someone else's past. Also includes what I consider to be some nice folk guitar work. According to Wikipedia this song is a "Home recording made shortly after Young left Buffalo Springfield."
- Queensryche - Silent Lucidity (5:48)
One of my all-time favorite songs. I still remember the first few times I heard this song -- I was stunned. I don't really like anything else from this group, but I will always thank them for this one. I don't know what the lyrics are about really, but no matter -- they are interesting, but what I really like is the instrumentation in this song. The quiet guitar early on, and then the richer orchestral instruments at 1:09 at the line "Or has it just begun?"... with the same guitar theme continuing on and integrated. Then again at 2:18, the snare drum roll leads to another transition in the music -- where it gets a bit louder on the whole, but is still fluid and beautiful. Then a more traditional rock guitar solo starts around 2:55, but one that fits with this song quite nicely I think. There is some odd electronic/recorded voices around 3:25-3:50, but then these give way to the final segment that returns to the original guitar work with backing orchestration. (See the brief Wikipedia entry for this song. Interestingly, this entry notes: "The song has been both criticized and praised for sounding much like Pink Floyd's music, in particular their song Comfortably Numb." A-ha! My musical tastes are very consistent... as Pink Floyd is my #1 all-time favorite group! And it makes sense that this song should sound a bit like some Floyd tunes... the orchestral conductor for it was Michael Kamen, who did work with Pink Floyd as well. See the Wikipedia entry on Michael Kamen for more information.)
- Robert Plant - Ship of Fools (5:02)
A great song from Plant after his Led Zep career ended. Nice sound effects complement the traditional instruments.
- Simon and Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair/Canticle (3:09)
Out of all the great songs from the movie The Graduate, and all the great songs from this duo more generally, this is my favorite. This one was of course originally on the their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. But as the Wikipedia entry explains, the arrangement was actually from the late 19th century, and the English ballad itself is much, much older. The voice harmony of S&G is nearly unmatched, and this one has some nice, almost round-like effects. And the strings are superb.
- Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (2:52)
This one begins with some nice piano, and then strings enter a bit later. (See the brief Wikipedia entry for the song.)
- Smashing Pumpkins - In the Arms of Sleep (4:12)
As the title indicates, this is one of the softer Smashing Pumpkins songs. Very nice constant guitar strumming, with good vocals from Billy Corgan (which gets wailing at times).
- Smashing Pumpkins - Soothe (2:36)
Just as the title says, a very soothing song.
- Smashing Pumpkins - Luna (3:21)
Final track from their breakthrough album, Siamese Dream. Includes some nice sitar and acoustic guitar. (See the brief Wikipedia entry for this song.)
- Steve Miller Band - Winter Time (3:15)
Not their biggest hit, but my favorite song from SMB. Simple lyrics that repeat several times: "In the winter time; When all the leaves are brown; And the wind blows so
chill; And the birds have all flown for the summer; I'm callin', hear me
callin', hear me callin'"
- Steve Miller Band - Wild Mountain Honey (4:52)
Nice non-standard percussion. And has some cosmic effects towards the end, as often found in SMB tunes.
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