Happy Birthday Dave - Part Three

Here we are, ready for part three of the POV breakdown of the top 50 DMB songs of all time. Again, this list was spurred by the realization that Dave Matthews turned 50 this year. The band, taking their first full year hiatus since they formed, has had a number of album hits. But they are best known for their touring prowess. As a reminder:

• No covers - no matter how much I love the various cover songs that DMB plays at shows, for this list to be authentic in my opinion the songs have to belong to the band.
• Unreleased tracks count - so Blue Water can make it in. 
• Studio versions are important, but the live version is more important. This is a band that has flourished because of their 25 plus years of playing live. What matters is how the song plays live. 
• The rareness of a song, and my search to hear it live, factors in. I'm just not really sure how. 
• This list is how the songs hit me now, in January/February of 2017. I've made lists before, and this will vary from those. 

Without further delay, here are songs 40-31 (going for ten today!) with brief comments:

#40 - #41 - Of course, I suppose I could have made #41, from the "Crash" album, as the number forty one song on this list, but that's just not how this list shook out. #41 is one of the songs I have heard the most over all my DMB shows, coming in with 17 showings. The song is a crowd favorite, although I have to admit that I will routinely use the long jam at the end as a restroom break because it is so consistent in terms of length. The first time I heard #41 live was at Assembly Hall in Bloomington at a Dave and Tim show. I have heard the song at least once per year since, including during shows that became live releases at Wrigley Field and at John Paul Jones in Charlottesville. Overall, 15 full band plays and 2 Dave and Tim plays, and I'm pretty confident I'll hear it again this year at a Dave and Tim show this summer. Lyric to consider: "Why won't you run in the rain and play? Let the tears splash all over you."

#39 - The Space Between - From the much maligned "Everyday" album, I wasn't a huge fan of this song overall, and it certainly wouldn't have cracked a historical top fifty list. Then I heard it live, for the first time, at Alpine Valley in 2012. It was in position 22, with was the encore one spot. Dave and his guitar. A solo rendition. And I've been in love with the song ever since. So much so that I'm going to offer it up here for you to listen to if you should so choose:


Long story short, that night won me over on this song and it is steadily climbing up the ranks. I've seen it performed three additional times since, including last year at the 25th anniversary show in Charlottesville. Lyric to consider: "Look at us spinning out in the madness of a roller-coaster. You know you went off like the devil in the church in the middle of a crowded room. All I can do my love is hope we don't take this ship down."

#38 - Steady As We Go - from an even more maligned album (at least in my opinion), Steady As We Go is one of the few highlights from the "Stand Up" album. Steady As We Go has a unique place on this list as the first song that I have not yet heard live. Hard to believe, after 42 shows, that there is any song I haven't heard, right? That's a part of what makes this band so special, and what keeps me going back for more. This song wasn't played from 2006 on, with the lone exception of the band busting it out at The Gorge in 2014. In DMB terms, that removed the song from exile. Beyond chasing after the song, it has some personal meaning to me. Lyric to consider: "Troubles, they may come and go, but good times be the gold. So if the road gets rocky, girl, just steady as we go."

#37 - So Right - Another song from a not so popular album ("Everyday" again), So Right has a driving energy and is great live. It also happens to be the song that my wife and I exited down the aisle to at our wedding. I've heard this song five times live, including a first appearance in 2012 in Noblesville. The best time was in 2013, on our honeymoon, at The Gorge, when the band played not only this song, but also every other song from the band that we had in our wedding in any way, shape or form, including some pretty rare ones. Lyric to consider: "Stay up and make some memories here with us now. To roll red carpet out out with friends, to love and roll on."

#36 - The Idea of You - Unreleased, this song is a beast live, and is one that I hope will get the album treatment at some point in the future. I heard this song for the first time in 2006 at Tinley Park, and then not again until 2011 at the Chicago Caravan. There have been two additional shows that I've heard this at: 2013 at Noblesville and 2016 at Alpine Valley. Here it is, from that last show:


Overall, just a great song with a ton of energy. Interestingly enough, with this song not being an official release it doesn't have settled on "main lyrics" according to DMB Almanac. Lyric to consider: "I stumble, fall in front of you and all your cool friends. Oh you pick me up you brush me off. I grin, but all I wanna do is disappear."

#35 - Everyday - from the album of the same name, this song appeared in our wedding as a surprise when our pastor started singing it in the middle of his sermon. "That's love, right?" he asked after breaking into the song. I've heard Everyday live ten times, including seven times prior to our wedding. Needless to say, it took on a different meaning after that day. Lyric to consider: "All you need is, all you want is, all you need is love."

#34 - Corn Bread - my wife's favorite song, this unreleased track is high energy and a lot of fun live. I've heard Corn Bread a total of 14 times, the most of any unreleased song. The first time I heard it live was in 2007 at Noblesville, with the most recent being 2014 in Noblesville again. The first show my wife and I went to, in 2011, was a Dave and Tim show. Naturally, they played Corn Bread. They've played it another seven times since, and that hasn't stopped her from clamoring for it every time. Lyric to consider: "The joy is steeped with sin."

#33 - Snow Outside - from the most recent studio album, "Away From The World," this track makes me go to a peaceful place to reflect on life and the future. I've heard it three times, including this show in Charlottesville, VA, in 2012:


That show was the only show that we have had tickets to the pit for (the area right in front of the stage that is standing room only. We ended up on the second "row," right off the rail, halfway between Dave and Boyd. A good song, an amazing show. Lyric to consider: "Come winter I will build you a fire from the bones of who I used to be, before you came and washed the weary away, before you came here for me."

#32 - Broken Things - a second straight song off of "Away From The World," I've only heard this song twice live. The first time, in 2012 was in Charlottesville. The second time came the next year at Noblesville. Overall that is a disappointment, because I thought that this was one of the better songs of the album. It is the first track on the album, and sets the tone for all the songs that are to come in terms of the outlook and perspective the band is sharing. Lyric to consider: "Well, how could we know our lives would be so full of these beautifully broken things?"

#31 - Alligator Pie - This song used to rank quite a bit higher on my list, but has dropped down the list a bit. My emotional ties to the song are strong, related to how much time I spent on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, which this song is about. This song has a rare distinction as a rare song that I heard back to back nights at the same location (2009 in Noblesville). Typically the band does not play the same song on concurrent nights of multi-night stays but they did that night. I've heard the song twice since then (2011 during the caravans for both). I'd be happy to hear it again. Lyric to consider: "the devil broke the levee and left us here to die."