The Elements

If I ran a game store I would play the song The Elements by Tom Lehrer.

"Sing the phonebook" is a phrase at the root of many compliments paid to singers. It's used to claim they could sing any old words and make it sound good, for example, "she could sing the phonebook and I'd pay to listen." While I've never heard that claim made about Tom Lehrer, he did sing the names of all the elements on the periodic table to paying audiences. The song, The Elements, is him singing those names to the tune of Major-General's Song from The Pirates of Penzance. He names every element on the table at the time the song was written in 1959, although he doesn't sing them in the order they appear on the periodic table. Instead, he puts them into a sequence to match the original tune's meter and to introduce alliteration. The song is equal parts hectic and humorous.

The Elements has been released on three of Tom Lehrer's albums. First, on 1959's More of Tom Lehrer and 1959's An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer (it's a live album and the track has spoken comedy in addition to the song) and 1994's compilation album Tom Lehrer in Concert (it's the same track from An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer). The song has also appeared on compilation kids' and comedy albums.

The Elements (More of Tom Lehrer version) on Google Play

The Loneliest Ghost in Town

If I ran a game store I would play the song The Loneliest Ghost in Town by Southern Culture on the Skids.

We don't all get to choose where we'll be when our life ends. The thing is if you move on to the spirit realm then it's not so much of a matter for you, but if your soul is trapped wandering across the mortal realm, well, then you hope to be someplace nice. There are tales of some pretty boring haunted places, like canyon passes and ghost ships. If you're the living and you get spooked by an out of the way ghost you scream and run away, but if you're the ghost in this scenario then you're in for an afterlife of boredom. The Loneliest Ghost in Town is a foot-stomping, rockabilly song with a title that sums up its subject matter quite well.

The Loneliest Ghost in Town was released on the 2013 album, Mondo Zombie Boogaloo. MZB is a Halloween-themed album, with songs by Southern Culture on the Skids, The Fleshtones, and Los Straitjackets. It released in in October 2013 to accompany the three bands on a joint tour. In my opinion, there are two other standout tracks on the album: It's Monster Surfing Time and Que Monstruos Son, both by Los Straitjackets. It's Monster Surfing Time is a surf music song with a playful, ominous vibe to it. Que Monstruos Son is a Spanish-language version of The Monster Mash and it features members from The Fleshtones and Southern Culture on the Skids. If I ran a game store I would also play the song It's Monster Surfing Time. for the general vibe it brings.

The Loneliest Ghost in Town on Google Play