Dixie Chicks "Travelin' Soldier"

"Travelin' Soldier" is a country song written and originally recorded by Bruce Robison in 1996 and then, in rewritten form, in 1999. It was later recorded by Ty England on his 1999 album Highways & Dance Halls; however, the most well-known rendition was released by the Dixie Chicks in 2002, on their album Home, and became their sixth and final Number One single on Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart for the group.

The song is a tale about a shy, lonesome American soldier who strikes up a conversation and later a correspondence with a high school girl during the Vietnam War era. Americana details pervade the lyric, including piers, school bands, public prayer, and Friday night football games. In the ending, the soldier ultimately dies unnoticed by all but the high school girl with whom he was maintaining correspondence.

The song has the distinction of being the one that the Dixie Chicks were promoting when lead singer Natalie Maines said that the band is ashamed that the (then) United States President George W. Bush is from Texas. "Travelin' Soldier" was at #1 on the Country singles chart the week that Maines' comments hit the press. The following week, as many stations started a still-standing boycott of the Chicks' music, the song collapsed in the chart; after falling to No. 3 the week after topping the chart, the song plummeted in popularity and disappeared from the charts.

"Travelin' Soldier" also has the distinction of being the last single released by the Dixie Chicks to reach the top 20 spot on the Country singles chart, despite Top 20 success on the Billboard Hot 100. This itself is evident 2007, with the group's popular single "Not Ready to Make Nice" peaking at the #4 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 while only peaking at #36 on the Country singles chart. [Wikipedia]

Chris Isaak "Wicked Game"

"Wicked Game" is a 1989 song by Chris Isaak from his third studio album Heart Shaped World. Despite being released as a single in 1989, it didn't become a hit until it was later featured in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart. Lee Chesnut, an Atlanta radio station music director who was obsessed with David Lynch films, began playing the song and it quickly became a nationwide top ten hit in January 1991, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the only hit song of his career in the U.S.

The music video of the song was directed by Herb Ritts and featured top model Helena Christensen rolling on the beach with Isaak. Viewers still reacted to Christensen's sexually suggestive performance, and the video was later featured on MTV's Sexiest Video of All-Time countdown. The video won the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Cinematography and Best Video from a Film. The video was ranked #13 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos and was also ranked #4 on VH1's 50 Sexiest Video Moments. The video was ranked #73 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 100 Top Music Videos". [Wikipedia]

Hanoi Rocks "Don't You Ever Leave Me"

Don't You Ever Leave Me is a song by a Finnish glam punk band Hanoi Rocks taken from their 1984 album Two Steps From The Move. [Wikipedia]

Joe Cocker "A Little Help From My Friends"

With a Little Help from My Friends" (originally titled A Little Help from My Friends) is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, released on The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. The song was written for and sung by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr as the character "Billy Shears"; it is ranked #304 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Joe Cocker's version was a radical re-arrangement of the original, in a slower, 6/8 meter, in a different key, using different chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy instrumental introduction (featuring memorable guitar lines from Jimmy Page). It was used as the opening theme song of the American television series The Wonder Years and is one of Joe Cocker's most famous songs. Cocker can be seen performing the song at Woodstock in 1969 and can be seen in the related documentary film, "3 Days of Peace and Music". [Wikipedia]