Spyros Papaspyropoulos/Flickr Creative Commons
Old friends make the best friends. Last week marked one of those human milestones that children love to celebrate while people my age; well, not so much. Not that birthdays aren’t fun for old farts–they’re better than the alternative according to the cliche–but they’re a heck of a lot more fun when trampolines, go-karts and animatronic mice are involved.
What really made the day nice was hearing from a few old friends with whom I’ve sort of lost touch but not really. Some of these guys I’ve known since childhood, and if not for geography I’d like to think we’d still be hanging out–going to shows, taking long runs on Sundays, and telling each other lies. We may go years without talking, but when they prairie dog their heads up I always feel like we’re just picking up where we left off.
There’s something really nice about knowing that there are people out there to whom I’m not related that know as much about me as my family does. That thought might be frightening if I was foolish enough to run for office or some such, but since public office isn’t for me having a couple of guys around who know where the proverbial bodies are buried is pretty cool.
Anyway, songs about friends:
“Old Friend,” Rancid.
“Friends,” The Police.
“Friendship,” Tenacious D.
“Are Friends Electric?” Gary Numan/Tubeway Army.
“Best Friend,” The Beat/The English Beat.
“Dead End Friends,” Them Crooked Vultures.
“Everybody’s Friend,” Jane’s Addiction.
“Fine Art Of Friendship,” King’s X.
There you have it: Eight songs about friends for to enjoy whenever this world can get to me. Is that all I need? I’m listening.
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Categories: Deep Cuts
Why It Matters 
Well, this one is subtle, it is about two friends, and within the happiness of a lot of friends at a party, these two friends might want to quietly slip out and maybe take their friendship a bit further. It is in Spanish, so…..the only way it really comes across is watching the body language between the two main singers, (Ricky and Maluma). The English translation leaves it ambiguous.
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Old Friends – Simon & Garfunkel, Waiting on a Friend – Stones, Friend of the Devil – Dead, For absent friends – Genesis,
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Another Spanish one – not deep cuts in the Latin America community, but they are pretty fresh for a lot of people in the US This one is about two really old friends (Shakira and Carlos Vive) who made it big in music, and are reunited in their home town in Barranquilla, Colombia. She has since moved to Spain, while he has stayed in Barranquilla….they have fun riding bicycles as he tries to convince her and her husband to come back home.
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“You’re My Best Friend” – Queen
“Lean On Me” – Bill Withers
“Old Friends” – Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson
“Stand By Me” – Ben E. King
“Unfair Weather Friend” – Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard
“Thank You For Being a Friend” – Andrew Gold
“Waiting on a Friend” – The Rolling Stones
“African Friend” – Jimmy Buffett
“You’ve Got a Friend” – James Taylor
“With a Little Help From My Friends” – The Beatles
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