GregHowley.com

Jonathan Coulton first came to my attention probably at roughly the same time as everyone else on The Internet took note of him: many years ago during his Thing-A-Week series of podcasts. After hearing an interview with him on "Michael and Evo's Slice of SciFi", I immediately fell in love with Skullcrusher Mountain. But more recently, in attending PAX East, I've come to the realization that my favorite songs of his aren't necessarily the crowd favorites. I'll grant you that I loved Code Monkey when it first came out, being a code monkey myself, but I think it's more than hipsterism that's sapped its staying power in my own playlists. Likewise, I accept that RE: Your Brains is a great song, but despite its popularity, there are dozens of other Jonathan Coulton songs that I prefer.

I'd like to share with you five of my personal favorite JoCo tunes, in no particular order. Let me admit in advance that I'm totally geeking out here, feeling a bit of an inward "squee" as I describe each tune because they're all so good.

• Future Soon - This song is a long-time favorite of mine, but I only recently listened to John Scalzi interviewing Jonathan Coulton about the song's inception and its associations with Omni magazine and a real-life grade school classroom incident that made its way into the lyrics. I love the notion of an ostracized nerd kid daydreaming about a future in which the wonders of technology would allow him to escape to outer space and spend his time building an army of robots.
• Space Doggity - A beautifully crafted take on David Bowie's Space Oddity that captures the essence of that song while remaining wholly original. Doggity is about Laika the Soviet space dog, and I'll guarantee you that the song's tragic tale has brought tears to the eyes of more than one geek listener.
• Seahorse - I've got a bit of a weakness for Coluton's acoustic guitar pieces, and Seahorse isn't his first song about marine life being sad. It's the vocal harmony, the layered guitar, and the song's excellent bridge that really make me love it so much.
• I'm Your Moon - I'm not sure whether that's a twelve-string guitar I'm hearing or just a clever echo effect. I was never good at identifying such things. But a consolation tune from Charon directed at Pluto upon the event of the erstwhile planet's demotion is wonderfully mirthful, and the music is so damn catchy.
• You Ruined Everything - My favorite songs fluctuate all the time, and I think that at present this song is my favorite of Johnathan Coulton's. It's a thinly veiled love song from a father to his child, and it's really difficult for me to listen to this one without getting all sentimental and sappy, especially at the line "I can't think of who I was Before".

And in making my list, I've found that just five isn't enough. I absolutely love the rockin' My Beige Bear, in which JoCo sings about what sounds like his daughter's stuffed animal collection, and Dance, Soterios Johnson, Dance, about the NPR radio DJ who leads a double life, spending his nights at ecstasy and red bull infused raves. I absolutely love the music in Summer's Over and Big Bad World One, although I've never cared overmuch for the lyrics of either. Gambler's Prayer is a hilariously callous perspective on casual-but-not-really poker games with friends, and I Feel Fantastic is a hyperbolic song about the wonders of modern pharmaceuticals from the perspective of someone who chronically overmedicates. I love Screwed, especially the verse about Indiana Jones and Boba Fett. Octopus is violent and a bit frightening, but great music. Over There is a hilarious look at Europe's idiosyncrasies, capped with a childhood rhyme that may or may not be localized to Connecticut. ((JoCo and I grew up in the same state - nyah nyah)) And StrollerTown is the Beach Boys tune that never was: an infant singing about his tricked-out stroller.

Jonathan Coulton has a new song out entitled "Red Shirt", and I haven't yet listened to it. I think I'll go do that now.