We're a bit late in celebrating Chinese New Year, which fell on 10 February this year. But fret not - in addition to this year being the Year of the Dragon, day 15 of the Chinese year is the Lantern Festival (today!).
This period has always been a time to honour their deities and ancestors - and that gives us an excuse to create a playlist that is all about Dragons and Lanterns!
1. Queen: Dragon Attack
This is a pretty funky, high energy Brian May song that featured on 1980 album The Game - and was the B-Side of the UK version of Another One Bites The Dust. While ostensibly about a dragon attack on a village, several comments I have read suggest that it may actually be about drugs.
Queen: Dragon Attack - here
(Live in Montreal, 1981)
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Dragon Queen
This song from 2009's It's Blitz! is about the Dragon Queen, who is aggressive, yet lonely and misunderstood. NME described the album - "It's Blitz!'s heartfelt love letter to the transcendent possibilities of the dancefloor is an unexpectedly emphatic reassertion of why Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the most exciting bands of this decade."
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Dragon Queen - here
(Audio only)
3. Tori Amos: Dragon
In Dragon, an enchanting ballad, Amos is comparing a relationship to a dragon - the partner is something of a beast and she is offering comfort from this tortuous relationship. The parent album, American Doll Posse, has its roots in Greek mythology and saw Amos develop five female characters, each based on traits of her own character. I have to admit, this is a bit too Kate Bush for my liking.
Tori Amos: Dragon - here
(Audio only)
4. Josh Ritter: Peter Killed The Dragon
This was a B-Side recorded at the same time as the rest of the sessions for 2006s The Animal Years, and was later included on the deluxe version of the record. The songs for the album were rooted in the influence of Mark Twain's works - and interestingly, legendary author Stephen King had it as his album of the year for 2006.
Josh Ritter: Peter Killed The Dragon - here
(Live at Easy Street Records, Seattle - June 2006)
5. Birds Of Tokyo: Lanterns
This is a new one on me - Birds Of Tokyo are an Australian alt-rock band that I was previously unaware of. Lanterns comes from their fourth album, March Fires, with the band's Ian Berney explaining that the song, "was always about our own sense of community and reaching far and wide in the most positive way we could, with the most positive message we had at the time."
Birds Of Tokyo: Lanterns - here
(Live with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 2021)
6. Imagine Dragons: Believer
The first of two songs where we stretch the theme and utilise the band name rather than the song title. Believer was a US number 4 hit for the Las Vegas band, from their 2017 album, Evolve and was used in multiple film and tv trailers, as well as for a Nintendo Switch advert at the Superbowl. It relates, in part, to lead singer Dan Reynolds struggles with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis that causes long-term inflammation of the spine. He says that it was about, "specific things in my life that were painful, whether it was anxiety and dealing with crowds, feeling overwhelmed that or the success of the band, disease, going through depression with anything that was a source of pain in my life."
Imagine Dragons: Believer - here
(Official music video)
7. Lantern On The Lakes: Baddies
This Newcastle band, consisting of Hazel Wilde, Paul Gregory, Bob Allan and Angela Chan, have been around since 2007. Following a bit of a hiatus over the prior four years, 2020s Spook The Herd continued their critically acclaimed run of form.
Lanterns On The Lake: Baddies - here
(Official music video)
8. The Rolling Stones: The Lantern
The Lantern is a psychedelic blues-folk song that features some nice Brian Jones organ sections, appeared on 1967s Their Satanic Majesties Request. In the US, it appeared as the B-Side to In Another Land. The lantern here is a metaphor for uniting lovers (one of whom has died) between life and death.
The Rolling Stones: The Lantern - here
(Official [slightly psychedelic] lyric video)
9. Guided By Voces: Dragon's Awake
GBV's 1999 record, Do The Collapse, was their first album that moved away from their traditional lo-fi production values, under the direction of Ric Ocasek (The Cars). It was going to be the one that broke them out of cult hero status, but met with a mixed reception, some liking the slicker sound, and some not. Either way, it didn't particularly threaten any of the charts - and GBV were back to being the the most celebrated indie band most people don't know about.
Guided By Voices: Dragons Awake - here
(Awesome Peel Session audio version)
10. My Chemical Romance: Black Dragon Fighting Society
Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys was MCRs third rock opera, full of typical intense, fast paced songs. The album follows the Killjoys, a bunch of rebellious rogues in a post-apocalyptic California. This track actually ended up on the side EP, The Mad Gear And The Muscle Kid, which contained three songs that were seen as the ones the Killjoys play on their car radio.
My Chemical Romance: Black Dragon - here
(Audio only)