It's time for another reveal. Time for another element.

This one is air! It's what we breathe!!!





I wanted to be more avant garde with my air selection, but I kept coming back to this song. It's a classic, it gets my blood moving, and it makes me want to drive fast. Bonus points to me for it not being a classic rock song from the 70s or 80s.



On with the show...

*breathes deeply*

In 9th place:

When I first saw this one on my playlist I thought to myself that it doesn't look like it represents any of the 4 elements. I figured I'd wait & see, but if it missed the category, then the song would really have to, um, "blow" my socks off for a chance at avoiding the nodium.

Wind and wind are two different words. They're spelled the same but they're pronounced differently and the meanings have nothing to do with each other. Wind is an obvious reference to air. Wind has nothing to do with air. Unfortunately this song isn't about wind. It's about wind.

And the band is a one-hit wonder that isn't all that wonderful. I don't miss hearing these guys on the radio.

In 8th place:

This is another song that swung for the fences and missed for me. It's supposed to be a big sweeping epic of a song but it's a hodge podge of musical styles that don't fit together in any kind of a pleasing way. And the singer's voice is downright irritating. I guess this is from one of the LOTR movies or it's a tribute, but that doesn't make listening to this song in my car any easier. On the plus side, the song title nailed the category theme, so there's that.

not remembering what I submitted for categories actually makes this much more interesting

In 7th place:

This is a nice enough song, but nothing that inspires me to feel much melancholy or happiness or excitement or emotion of any kind. It's the kind of song I would expect to hear as a soundtrack on a WB show. If I ever watched any WB shows.

In 6th place:

I'll give it up to the submitter on this one. This song is way, way, way out of the box. It's definitely a song that would never find its way onto one of my playlists. It is a song that I would listen to in the background while eating beef with broccoli. I didn't judge this song the first few times it came on and looked for the enjoyment it could bring me.

However, I am tasked with judging it, and it's dated and it doesn't really go anywhere or take me anywhere.

In 5th place:

I haven't gone back and reviewed the standings from the Earth category, but I will so that we can have updated scores.

I only mention this because this submitter came up with the same artist for both Earth and Air.

I've thought of submitting the same artist for multiple categories as a strategy, and I can now see that it would be a failing strategy. I think I gave a good score for Earth, but now I'm tired of this artist and her voice. Although the musicality is still there and it has some spots in the song that I really like, I'm reminded of all of the little reasons why she's not in my regular rotation of artists I listen to.

Reveal! Not nodium!

Edit: top four!

This is a perfect time for an intermission.

In 4th place:

I actually kind of like this song. It's definitely corny and hipster but it's got a cool beat and the sound is different, but in a good way. I guess this just means that we've reached the section of the reveals where the rest of the songs are pretty decent. It's funny how that happens when you do the reveals in order from bottom to top, isn't it?

My dog is insisting that it's time for her walk, so the podium reveal will have to wait.

The remaining contestants for the Air glory are:

Eric
Viggorous
Xander (actual)

I'll be back in an hour or so to finish this off.

IIRC I went with the 2 artist submission approach. We shall see how the other artist does.

In 3rd place:

This song makes it into the podium of "air" songs. And the band makes it into the podium of all-time great band names. As far as I know this is another one-hit wonder and here's their one hit. I'm obviously familiar with this song, but it's enough off the grid to keep it fresh each time I hear it.

Also, I don't know if this is the extended version or if the radio only plays the first half of the song, but I'd never heard the 2nd half of the song until this Walrus. It's almost like two different songs.

In 2nd place:

This is a band I've heard of but never really knew any of their songs. Considering the type of music I like, I should probably know these guys a lot better than I do. This is pure, driving, 4 piece rock music. (I don't actually know this but I can't imagine the band being anything other than a drummer, a bass player, a rhythm guitarist, and a lead guitarist. And the bass player sings. At least that's how I picture it.)

The song is catchy, the beat makes me want to tap my feet, and it makes me want to check out more of what this band has to offer. Which is what Walrus is all about at the end of the day.

Good job by...

Which leaves only our winner.

In 1st place:

This is the second category of the Walrus which was a runaway from the first listen. I've never heard the song and never heard of the artist. The voice is compelling and the drum beat is just right, but it's the guitar riff that pulls this song across the finish line. It's the kind of riff that makes me wish the song was another 10 minutes longer.

Just like I'm doing a basic reveal (not saving the podium/nodium for last) the scoring is basic as well. First place is worth 1 point, second place is worth 2... 9th place is worth 9.

Low score wins.

POGger	Earth	Air	Total
dizzyqtp	2	4	6
xander biscuits	5	3	8
bwslim69	3	5	8
Eric	7	2	9
Viggorous	9	1	10
FerencL	4	6	10
outdrawed84	1	9	10
KarmaDope	6	8	14
JMurder3	8	7	15

can't have a late round collapse without an early round lead

Was new to "walrus" when I entered so didn't know what I should submit.
It's a miracle I survived Bai Kwong.
Now that I know what's goin' on, I think I can avoid drowning by water but I may get scorched by the fire.
Interesting comments on Sweet and Tragically Hip from our American friend!

You said heteronyms were fine!

I don't care that you don't like the song. (Well maybe a little bit, but I don't expect everyone to like them.) But calling BNL a one hit wonder is both factually incorrect and frankly offensive.

I'm not a big Hip guy, but they are legends in Canada. When Gord Downie, the lead singer, died a couple of years ago, it was damn near a state funeral.

I didn't really think the significance of your question through, but in my defense I also said that it should be clear that you were honoring the element. Which "wind" did not accomplish.

Also, I'm grateful to know only one song by that band (2 songs now).

Well if that was the case it wouldn't be a heteronym, now would it?

Alright, sorry everyone for the whine. It's just a game. Pretty sure I was getting last on this regardless due to bolt's irrational hatred of the greatest band of all time.

(In all seriousness, I like "One Week" because it's fun but it's clearly a song devoid of anything meaningful. When people tell me it's a really trash song I usually just shrug because I get it. But if you're completely dismissing BNL because of that one song, you are missing out on some legitimately good music. When you have some free time, if you ever feel a desire to hear a third or fourth song by them, "War On Drugs" is my second favorite song of all time, and "Break Your Heart" is fantastic as well. Neither sounds anything like "One Week" or "Wind it Up"

"Lovers in a Dangerous Time". I was blown away by how good their cover was.