In the spirit of Summerfest, and the show that I so luckily get to see this evening, I figured today was as good as any (better even!) to compile a new Download This. Dave and I will be taking Greggy Bear with us, and a few weeks ago, he asked Dave to supply him with some Counting Crows music. Greg bought his ticket based on the Keith Urban performance part of tonight's concert, and would probably be hard-pressed to identify Mr. Jones. Anyway, Dave never gave him any CDs (nor did I, so blame can only be spread so much) and Greg will likely spend the Counting Crows set bored and exclaiming "Hey! I've heard this! I think... It sounds different... Hey, where's Vanessa Carlton?" during Big Yellow Taxi.

Anyone that has ever known me knows that Counting Crows is my favorite band, although they may not know that they've teetered dangerously close to the edge of second favorite on occasion. I often threaten that one more Accidentally In Love and I'm telling David Gray to bump them off the fence. The truth is, no matter how many times they act as Shrek's pimp, they will never not be my favorite. I just forget it sometimes, and I need only listen to August and Everything After to be reminded how their music is as much a part of me as my blood, my bones, and baseball. Adam Duritz is sometimes criticized for his cryptic lyrics, which is exactly what garnered my attention in 1993. And to this day, that remains the one album that I can return to time and again to find its lyrics have grown with me and my experiences. From the summer so much of my attention was focused on Texas, to now, when I'm missing a little girl in Baltimore, Adam has managed to create phrases that are artistically subjective enough to just always fit inside of me.

Sometimes the parallels between the lyrics and my life aren't so cryptic. Adam was born in Baltimore, and his connection with the mid-Atlantic region occasionally pops up in his music. In 2003, I gave up August and Everything After for Lent. It was one of my more well-thought out Lenten sacrifices, and I was pretty pleased with myself for not assigning chocolate or cake for yet another year (or forgetting to sacrifice something altogether, which I'm typically guilty of doing). Perhaps that year was worse though. I intentionally broke my Lenten promise on two separate occasions; once in Chicago while not visiting Wrigley Field, and a second time one week later, driving around the backroads of five Maryland counties at 2 am. Let's just say listening to that album wasn't the worst sin I was committing during those weeks. (And I'd do it all again... but that's a story for a different day!)

Anyway, it isn't just August and Everything After that has kept me a fan of the band over the years, so I've put together the list of songs I should have burned onto a CD for Greg about three weeks ago. I would also suggest downloading these songs if your familiarity with the band stretches no further than Mr. Jones. Although, one of the acoustic versions of Mr. Jones would be good. As a matter of fact, let's start there:

Mr. Jones, accoustic version. These are all live, and most are bootlegged. The band encourages people to bootleg their concerts and it has resulted in a huge collection of varying performances of their songs. Some people I have known have complained about the way they change their songs when performing live. Those people sort of suck. I will admit that there are times I prefer the studio version, but you know what? It's not my song. Adam can do whatever he wants with his music and if I don't like it, I'll pass the ten minutes he's exercising his artistic license staring at his rhythm guitarist.

We'll stick with August and Everything After for the moment, and choose another single from the album. 'Round Here is usually their live performance masterpiece. I would encourage you to download the album version of the song, as well as several of the bootlegged performances.

My favorite song of all time is Anna Begins. It's the reason I enjoy sneezing so much, do download it and enjoy.

It's Raining in Baltimore is a favorite for obvious reasons. It also slammed into my life at the most opportune time, as I was putting lipgloss on in front of a full-length mirror, still walking with a limp, and not yet fully aware of how much of my existence had been formed in the months leading up to that particular August.

Moving on to their next album, I have to admit I was not fond of it at first. It rocked, and I was not into rocking at the time. The Wallflowers and Jewel were so soothing at the time, and I wasn't sure what had happened to the band that I loved. Well, what had happened was the addition of guitarist Dan Vickerey, and it wasn't until I saw the live performance of the album that I learned to really appreciate it. Having said that, the three songs I would recommend most are some of the less rocking songs on the album. Monkey should be downloaded because, as a rule, every song about monkies should be downloaded. Daylight Fading and Have You Seen Me Lately? are good choices both from Recovering the Satellites, and from the follow-up two disc collection of their VH-1 Storytellers performance. And anyone reading this that is a fan of the band already,and is shouting "What about Goodnight Elisabeth!?"  fine, download that too. The live version of Goodnight Elisabeth often kicks ass.

Their next studio album, This Desert Life, could arguably be their best. As a matter of fact, the argument rages in my head on the fairly regular basis. I have a problem when I'm listening to certain songs, and I proclaim them my favorite, until I hear the next song, and that becomes my favorite. Really, this just sums up my committment issues. Anyway, Mrs. Potters Lullabye is about the actress Monica Potter, and for me, the song has often been appropriate. Also appropriate is St. Robinson and His Cadillac Dream, which can be summed up for me with the following first verse lyrics: "I was born on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, but Maryland and Virginia have faded away." My heart breaks a little each time I hear it.

Finally from this album, the song High Life has, in my opinion, possibly the best lyrics of anything in their collection of music. Every one of their songs has at least one line that stands out for me, but this one is (dare I say it? I dare.) a poetic masterpiece.

In 2002, once again coinciding with my own personal life transitions, they came out with another album. Hard Candy didn't tear me up emotionally as some of This Desert Life and August had, but pretty much nothing tore me up during this time. It was a fun time, although by definition I guess it shouldn't have been, and dying my hair red, I enjoyed the crap out of this album. It mentions Texas! (Which for me now had duel meaning...) It mentions drawers of other summers! It mentions bananas! Really, you can't go wrong.

After Hard Candy, there was a greatest hits album, Films About Ghosts. I was surprised that it included Einstein on the Beach (for an Eggman) because I once read an interview where Adam called the song crap. It was unique because he had written the music and not the lyrics, which were written by super-hottie and band co-founder, David Bryson. This was the opposite of most of their early stuff, and it seemed a little insenstive for Adam to call it crap. Maybe his penance was including it on the greatest hits. In order to facilitate his seeking of forgiveness, download Einstein on the Beach. It's a song that is gobs of fun.

Another live album followed the greatest hits. There isn't really any particular song I'd recommend on New Amsterdam, but they did manage to put together a good show the night they recorded it. They left out 'Round Here and Raining in Baltimore, two of my favorite live songs of theirs. They seem to rarely perform RIB live anymore, which is fairly dissappointing. If you feel a need to download a song from each of their albums so as to bring your collection full circle, I'd recommend Miami. The end includes an audience sing-along and the feeling of superiority I feel in knowing every word when the album mostly just supplies silence is worth my 99 cents any day.

The thing I'm struggling with most is their newest album, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. I'm finding it very hard to like. I'm hoping it's a little like Recovering the Satellites, and in time it'll just stick. Although, I have seen it performed live and it didn't change my opinion much. As a matter of fact, if something would have changed my opinion, it would have been that concert. We were only about three rows back from the stage. Halfway through a guy had some sort of attack, and the band stopped playing and called for the EMTs to come get the guy. While we were all waiting for the medical emergency to be remedied, the band stood around chatting with the nearby fans, and I stood around kicking myself for not having situated myself in the front row prior to the show. So, in commemoration of my regrets, download the songs that I believe are standouts on this album: Come Around, You Can't Count on Me, and 1492. These are surprisingly singles from the album, something I sometimes have a tendency to shun. Hopefully I won't be overcome by a desire to leave tonight's concert after they've performed Mr. Jones.

That's it folks. Go forth and download. And I promise to enjoy my beer at the concert tonight.