Be Careful to Beat

a generous grace gathers dust ...

(The idea here, generally, is an alphabetical list of songs from my iTunes collection. Feel free to compare and contrast with your own list from the same alphabetical range and to let me know, in comments, what's missing. The list below, for example, does not include Van Morrison's recording of "Be Thou My Vision," because that's on his double-album Hymns to the Silence, which I only have on cassette, not bothering to upgrade to an iTunes-friendlier CD because it's got a bit too much indulgent filler to justify the double-album pricetag. You might point out this omission, arguing that even bad Van Morrison is still pretty good, thus potentially prompting an interesting discussion in which others might suggest examples and counter-examples -- Steve will probably chime in with "Ring Worm" -- and then maybe someone who actually has the CD of Hymns to the Silence might weigh in to tell us if it has any worthwhile bonus tracks. That sort of thing.)

"Be Careful," Patty Griffin
"Be My Baby," The Ronettes
"Be Still My Beating Heart," Sting
"Be Thou My Vision," Fernando Ortega
"Be Thou My Vision," Pedro the Lion
"Beach Samba," Astrud Gilberto
"Beacon," Lone Justice
"Beanbag Chair," Yo La Tengo
"Beat of Your Blood," Splendid
"Beaten into Submission," Green

P.S. You can download "Beanbag Chair" free from Yo La Tengo's site. It's from the album I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, which I mention because it's just fun to say.

Comments

[mcc]

Be Quiet Mt. Heart Attack!

[Andrew Hickey]

Be Mine - Lance Fortune
Be Mine - REM
Be My Baby - Ronettes
Be Ready When He Comes - Skip James
Be True To Your School - Beach Boys
Beach Girl - Nodaens
The Bears - Lifter Puller
The Beast In Me - Johnny Cash
Beat A Drum (demo) - REM
Beat Head - Candypants
Beating Of Hearts - XTC
The Beatles & The Stones - House Of Love

[wanderingoutlaw]

Beaten to the Punch - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

[cjmr's husband]

Be My Yoko Ono - Barenaked Ladies
Be With You - Bangles
Beatnik Beach - The Gogos

Odd: Nothing by Weird Al. So I'll just note that "Bedrock Anthem" is only slightly off topic.

[cjmr]

"Be Prepared" -- Tom Lehrer
"Be Still My Beating Heart" -- Sting
"Be Still My Soul" (instrumental) -- recorded by Chris Rice
"Be Thou My Vision" -- Fernando Ortega (yeah, I know that one's already on Fred's list)

I have several "Beautiful" songs, but they don't fit the window.

[Chris]

I love it when you do this! I've done something similar, but more inconsistently.

Here's my supplement to your list.

"Be Alright" The Foreign Exchange
"Be and Be Not Afraid" Tracy Chapman
"Be Good To Yourself" Journey
"Be Here Now" Silver Lakes
"Be Here to Love Me" Norah Jones
"Be Kind" Devendra Banhart
"Be Mine" David Gray
"Be Nice to Me" Jackopierce
"Be Still My Soul" Mary Barrett
"Beach Drifter" Plazza
"Beach Side Property" Modest Mouse
"Bear Song, The" Green Jelly
"Beast, The" The Fugees
"Beast and Dragon, Adored, The" Spoon
"Beast for Thee" Matt Sweeny & Bonnie Prince Billy
"Beat Box" Matisyahu

[hilker]

"Be Thankful for What You've Got," Massive Attack
"Be Thankful for What You've Got," William DeVaughn
"The Beach at Redpoint," Boards of Canada
"Beat Biter," Danny Breaks
"Beat Box (Diversion 1)," Art of Noise
"Beating Skins," Stasis
"Beats & Pieces," Coldcut

[cminus]

"Be Free," Pat McCurdy
"Be Good To Yourself," Journey
"Be My Yoko Ono," Barenaked Ladies
"Be Nice To Me," The Nields
"Be Prepared," Tom Lehrer
"Be That Way," Pat McCurdy
"Be Together Soon," Pat McCurdy
"Bear Up Bison," Shonen Knife
"The Beast," Concrete Blonde
"The Beast In Me," Johnny Cash
"Beast Of Burden," The Rolling Stones
"Beat 'Em Up," Blue Oyster Cult
"Beat On The Brat," The Ramones
"Beat The Clock," Sparks
"Beatbox Rapper," Westbam

An odd mix. Nothing I'd consider essential by any means, but nothing particularly weak either. I guess "Beat On The Brat" would be my first recommendation, followed by "Be Nice To Me," "Be Together Soon" or "The Beast."

[Theo]

"Be My Baby", the Ramones
"Beat on the Brat", the Ramones
"Beat the Bastards", the Exploited

[Theo]

Sorry. That should be "Be My Baby" by Motörhead, not the Ramones.

[Jeff]

Can't you listen to samples of Hymns to the Silence and decide:
if you like it enough to buy the physical CD?
if you like it enough to buy from iTunes?
if you like any song enough to buy from iTunes?
if you don't care for any of it?

[cjmr's husband]

Option 5: digitize the cassette. (quite a bit of work, but sometimes worth it)

[Todd Larason]

Just songs which haven't already been mentioned:

"Be Good Johnny", Men at Work -- doesn't everyone have this album, if only for nostalgia's sake?
"Be Like That", 3 Doors Down
"Be My Druidess", Type O Negative
"Be My Lover", La Bouche
"Be My Side", 3 Doors Down
"Be Straight", Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
"Be Your Husband", Jeff Buckley
"Be for Real", Leonard Cohen
"Bea", Throwing Muses
"Beach Party Vietnam", Dead Milkmen
"Beach Party Vietnam", Groundhog Day
"Beach Song", Dead Milkmen
"Bear Whiz Beer", Firesign Theatre
"Beards", Various Artists
"Beat City", The Raveonettes
"Beat It", Richard Cheese -- a Loungy version
"Beat St. Jack's "Baghdad Bush Suit"", Firesign Theatre
"Beat St. Jack's "Famous Accountants School"", Firesign Theatre
"Beat the Reaper!", Firesign Theatre
"Beat the Time", Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

"Beautiful Girl" by Poe is just barely out of range, but I can't let a chance to recommend her or that song go by.

[borealys]

I've only got a few to add:

Be Strong and Walk On - MIR
Beat the Drum - Great Big Sea
Beatboxer (Who Broke My Heart) - Hey Ocean!

I fell in love with Hey Ocean! the first time I heard that last tune on my CBC Radio 3 podcast.

[Bruce Garrett]

"Bedlam", Haak
"Bedouin Dance", Elmer Bernstein - The Ten Commandments
"Bedtime" Bernard Herrmann - The Ghost and Mrs Muir
"Beef The Diver", Grits
"Before The Kiss, a Redcap", Blue Oyster Cult
"Before You Hit The Ground", Jonny Lang
"Begin The Bequine", Esquivel
"Belle of the Ball", Leroy Anderson
"Belong", Spooky
"Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack", John Williams - Star Wars

(Just your usual mix of garage rock, film music, metal, blues and easy listening...)

[Kitty]

Okay, to make up for last week where I posted 12 songs, none of which fit in the window, and learned that out of more than 2,000 songs on the iPod NONE were in the required window, I post the following "Be" songs.

"Be Careful, It's My Heart" Frank Sinatra
"Be My Life's Companion" The Mills Brothers
"Be Prepared" Tom Lehrer
"Be Thou My Vision" The Cambridge Singers
"Be Thou My Vision" The Irish Tenors
"Be True to Your School" The Beach Boys
"Beauty School Dropout" Frankie Avalon (Okay, it's hopeless, but it was, honestly, for my job.)

[Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little]

"Be Kind To My Mistakes" - Kate Bush, apparently a single associated with Hounds of Love

"Be That Way" - Cowboy Mouth, Uh-Oh (2003)

If I could be your turnaround, I'd give you cause to stay

[Jen R]

I have the CD of Hymns to the Silence, but I don't know if it has any bonus tracks because I don't know what's on the cassette. There are 10 tracks on the first disc and 11 on the second.

I can't really disagree about the self-indulgent filler, but I like the album anyway.

[Ian Mathers]

I'm glad Fred already had "Be My Baby," because that's one of the best songs ever.

Be Dark Night - Phospherescent
Be Gentle With Me - The Boy Least Likely To
Be Good - Jens Lekman*
Be Here Now - Loop
Be Mine - R.E.M.
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) - Deftones
Be That Way - Ghostface Killah
Beam of Clear Light - headphoneovertone
The Beat Goes On - Firewater
The Beat Is Satan - I Am Bones

I'm more than a little glad that iTunes overlooks the "The" when alphabetizing songs.

*("Remember / This song can be about Jesus / But it can also be a song about you")

[clay]

Be Careful - Mutual Admiration Society
Be Happy - Mary J. Blige
Be Here To Love Me - Norah Jones
Be Here To Love Me - Townes Van Zandt
Be Mine - R.E.M.
Be My Somebody - Norah Jones
Be Not Afraid - The Visitations
Be True Bruce - Springsteen
Be True (Live) - Bruce Springsteen
Be With You - Mary J. Blige
Beach Party Tonight - Yo La Tengo
Beach Side Property - Modest Mouse
Beachball - R.E.M.
Beacon Soul - Son Volt
Beanbag Chair - Yo La Tengo
The Bear (Demo) - My Morning Jacket
A Bear That Chokes - Portastatic
The Beast - Concrete Blonde
The Beast - Fugees
The Beast In Me - Johnny Cash
The Beast In Me - Nick Lowe
The Beat - Elvis Costello
Beat A Drum - R.E.M.
Beat A Drum (Demo) - R.E.M.
Beat City - The Raveonettes
Beat My Guest - Superchunk
Beaten To The Punch - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Notes: As much as I like Townes Van Zandt, the Norah Jones version of "Be Here to Love Me" is beautiful. Likewise, Johnny Cash trumps Nick Cave on "The Beast in Me." My favorite song on this list is probably R.E.M.'s "Be Mine," although as Fred says, "Beanbag Chair" by Yo La Tengo is very good.

[the opoponax]

Beat on the Brat - The Ramones

which doesn't count, because "Beat..." follows just straight-up "Beat".

The title before is Basically by Gnarls Barkley, and the title after is "Beautiful" by Goldfrapp.

Bah.

[Chris Koeberle]

62 eligible songs on this one. Already mentioned and awesome are "The Beast" by Concrete Blonde, "Beat Head" by Candypants and "Beast of Burden" (although, and it surprises me to say this, I prefer the Bette Midler version.) Not much else I want to add. "Bean" by Blonde Redhead is a solid Blonde Redhead track, I guess, and I have an irrational fondness for everything off Jethro Tull's The Broadsword and the Beast album, including "Beastie."

[Linkmeister]

Bah, indeed. The only one I've got that's even close to the range is "Beautiful," but it's Carole King's, not Goldfrapp (which I've never heard of until now).

[Andrew Farrell]

Be Good - Hothouse Flowers
Be Mine - Robyn (Dear god, this is a terrible video)
Be My Enemy - The Waterboys
Be Sure To Loop - OOIOO
Beat Surrender - The Jam
Beat(en) Generation - The The

[Otter]

Be Thankful for What You've Got - Yo La Tengo
Beach Party Tonight - YLT
Beanbag Chair - YLT

Strangely, on either side are Batucada by Bebel Gilberto and Berimbau by Astrud Gilberto.