Theme playlist #2: Living Well Is the Best Revenge...

Been jilted by your lover? Get dumped by that special someone who you thought was "the one?" Well, get a hold of yourself, you crybaby. Why be sad about a breakup when you can blast these songs and give a big "FUCK YOU!" to your ex? Here are some of my favorite bitter post-breakup songs:

1. Johnny Cash- "Cry, Cry, Cry"
2. Say Anything- "Every Man Has a Molly"
3. Against Me!- "Cavalier Eternal"
4. Brand New- "Seventy Times Seven"
5. Excuse 17- "This Is Not Your Wedding Song"
6. Green Day- "Stuart and the Ave."
7. Sleater-Kinney- "One Song For You"
8. Jawbreaker- "Sluttering (May 4th)"
9. The Dresden Dolls- "Dirty Business"
10. Guns N' Roses- "You're Crazy"
11. Quasi- "I Never Want to See You Again"
12. Alkaline Trio- "Radio"

"One Song For You" was the inspiration for this playlist; Corin Tucker screaming "Drop little boy crumbs you can follow back when you get lost becoming a man!!!" is enough to make any guy feel a little emasculated. "Radio" is another classic because there's nothing like imploring the other person to kill themselves. Green Day's entry has the classic line "Standing on the corner of Stuart and Ave./Ripping up my transfer and a photograph of you." Finally, Jawbreaker's "Sluttering (May 4th)" finds the narrator looking on in disgust as the object of his affection finds someone new, and when Blake sings "Congratulations to you both, I hope somewhere you're happy," the sentiment is dripping with more than a little bit of sarcasm and disdain.

Theme playlist #1: Protest Songs

This is the first installment of something I hope to do every week: I'll come up with a playlist where all the songs follow some kind of theme. This week's theme: protest songs. Sorry, you won't find any Bob Dylan or Woodstock types here. That stuff is great, but there's plenty of anti-war and anti-Bush music out there right now, and it's no wonder. There's a lot to be pissed off and outraged about these days, and this is only a small sampling of what I feel is the best current protest music around. Yes, some nitpickers will point out that "Heaven Is Falling" was written about the first Gulf War, but I'll change it just as soon as you show me that's not still 100% true.

1. Rise Against- "State of the Union"
2. Sleater-Kinney- "Combat Rock"
3. Dillinger Four- "Like Sprewells On a Wheelchair"
4. Bad Religion- "Heaven Is Falling"
5. Chuck Ragan- "It's What You Will"
6. Against Me!- "White People For Peace"
7. Iron Maiden- "The Legacy"
8. None More Black- "M.A.T.T.H."
9. Tool- "Vicarious"
10. Jello Biafra featuring The Melvins- "Dawn of the Locusts"
11. Thought Riot- "You're Gonna Die"
12. Propagandhi- "Iteration"

I varied this list quite a bit, both in terms of style and subject matter. Some of them ("Combat Rock," "Heaven Is Falling") are very specific in their topics, and others ("Vicarious," "The Legacy," "It's What You Will") take aim at general societal ills. My favorites are the tracks by Sleater-Kinney and Dillinger Four; they both sum up the post-9/11 attitude of this country flawlessly. The most interesting and unique song, though, is Propagandhi's "Iteration," which presents an alternate reality in which Donald Rumsfeld is tried and convicted of war crimes, and is sentenced to...well...just listen to the song to find out. I don't want to ruin it for you.