It could be that you’re not at all like me, that you listen to albums all the way through without incessantly replaying just one song over and over and over again.

     But I bet not.

     Many of us, I think, tend to pick a song that fits our mood and keep playing it incessantly. We back it up again and again on the CD player or the iPod until we simply can’t stand it anymore, then toss it to the back of our music closet to be found anew one distant day. Or maybe it’s gone for good.

     Growing up, I played Beatles albums all the way through. Unlike Stones’ LPs, they didn’t seem to have dead spots. (Granted, I skipped over “Flying” … and some of George’s things.) Same with “Tommy” and “Who’s Next” by the Who, a couple early.

     Elton John albums and, later, a couple Springsteens. I’m sure there were others.

     But a couple years ago, I noticed I had been playing Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” on the car CD for an eternity. Just that one song. Over and over. I’m hesitant to call any rock song brilliant – we’re not talking Mozart here – but “Bat Out of Hell” comes pretty close. I didn’t tire of it, anyway.

     But just the one song.

     I did gradually move on to, as I recall, Traffic’s “Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys.” Don’t know why. Simply liked it and played it for weeks.

     Springsteen’s “Rosalita” followed – though occasionally I would mix that up with his “Born to Run” or “Thunder Road.” Then it was on to Dire Strait’s “Brothers In Arms,” Sting’s “Fields of Gold,” then Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” and so forth. I can’t remember them all. Most recently it’s been Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer.”

     So why do we “one-plays” do what we do?

     Maybe we are setting our own mood, either enhancing a good one or changing a bad one.  But I’m not sure. While some are among my favorite songs, not all are. (And some of my favorites I never play, like the Animals’ “House of the Rising Son,” Clapton's "Layla", the Doors’ “Light My Fire” or U2’s “One”.) The ones I do pick – or maybe it’s that they pick me – tend to have strong melodies. They tend to be rock but often have a jazz or folk flavor. They often have strong guitar riffs.

     But I have no idea what the next favorite tune will by yet – or why.

     Anybody else?

Have favorite tunes you keep playing? Let us know what and why.

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Tom Carl Adams   |2011-01-10 07:35:12 Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" is one track that I will pick out of a lineup. "Tell me, are you a Christian boy?", and I said, "Ma'am, I am tonight". Sting has two that have burnt my inner soul: "Roxanne" from decades back, and more recently "Ghost Story". And, while this could go on forever, I will stop here, with my Dead-head watch cap on. there is always "Ripple".

Martha Steger   |2010-08-07 08:59:20 We're three months away from Thanksgiving, but we're headed to the mountains of Massachusetts (where the 11-year-old granddaughter violinist will be performing) -- and "Alice's Restaurant" will be on the tips of all the tongues in our family. It's always a contest to see who can remember as many of Arlo Guthrie's lyrics as possible -- and Tom normally wins, but then he's a lawyer, noted for an exceptionally good memory and imaginative ad-libbing. Off we go "a half-mile from the railroad track at Alice's restaurant..." We'll do our best to pick up our own garbage en route.

Andee   |2010-03-15 08:05:17 Well, I have two that I have to hear all of the time...one is 'Hello It's Me,' by Todd Rundgren...and the other imperative is 'September,' By Earth, Wind and Fire...and when I am feeling particularly righteous I play 'Powerful People,' by Gino Vanelli over and over and...

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