Playlist: Our Favorite Songs About The (Sometimes) Exquisite Pain of …. Waiting

I had the distinct displeasure this week of having to deal with an issue with the county I live in. As fate would have it, I couldn’t resolve the issue on-line like civilized societies do. I had to drive over to an old, historic courthouse on the east side of town where I spent more than my share of time… waiting in line… in the cold. As I stood there my mind began to roam, searching for anything to distract myself from where I was. Naturally my mind drifted to rock n roll. I am who I am. Before I knew what was happening, Tom Petty’s voice was running through my skull…”the waiting is the hardest part.” After being told I was in the wrong line, the mental jukebox in my mind, ever on “shuffle,” quickly jumped to the Who and “This is no social crisis, just another tricky day for you.” I began to realize there are a bunch of great songs about “waiting.” And, it has been a while since we’ve done a playlist… so here we are.

When you say the word “waiting” or “wait” to someone it likely conjures a bad feeling. We all want that instant gratification these days. But waiting is not always as bad as say, being at the DMV. Now that we’ve blown through Thanksgiving and are into the thick of the holidays, I suppose a lot of people are anxiously, joyfully waiting for Christmas. I don’t necessarily get that, as I’m on record as being a bit of a Scrooge. If you think about it, waiting is a integral part of life. When we’re little kids, we can’t wait to be older and more autonomous. When puberty hits, we can’t wait to… kiss a girl or boy, go on a date and likely we’re impatient for more temporal experiences. When we’re a young adult we can’t wait for our careers to take off or to find a spouse or soulmate. When you’re married some folks can’t wait to have kids, although for the life of me I never got that one?

Waiting, when I think about it, is just the time between realizing you want something and actually getting it. There can be something exquisitely painful about that time. The anticipation between the time you meet someone you consider special and that first kiss can actually be quite exhilarating. What’s that old saying my father was fond of, “Good things come to those who wait.” My dearly departed friend Tom always used to say, “Pappy, let the game come to you,” which is just a sporty way of saying, “just wait on it.” For every miserable waiting room at the doctor’s office or airline gate you’re stuck in while your flight is delayed yet again – I am an absolute horror in an airport when I’m delayed – there are more positive waiting experiences in life. Patience, as they say, is a virtue… and admittedly a virtue I’m sorely lacking in.

Most of us when forced to wait on something, allow our mind to do anything it can to distract us from the pain of waiting. For some of us, standing in the cold outside the Truman Courthouse, waiting causes us to start thinking of rock songs to put on a playlist… I know, I should seek help. But what if, in those moments of having to wait for something, we just allowed ourselves to be in that moment. Finding contentment in stillness. To soak in all the wisdom that the universe is sending our way while it makes us wait. We’re all waiting for a door to open, we might as well focus on those moments we actually have rather than always put our minds forward into some imagined future or into some other cloud to take us away from the now, from the “wait.” In a dark sense, we’re all sort of waiting to die… might as well enjoy the ride before we punch out. As they say, life won’t wait for anybody, so might as well stop waiting to live… put on some music, pour something strong and enjoy the wait.

As usual with our B&V playlists, I’m all over the place stylistically. We go from AC/DC to well, Carly Simon (which is a first). You can play this thing straight through or you can use the “shuffle” button, which I advise on this one. While we go from screaming rock n roll to mellow acoustic stuff, if you can’t take that roller coaster ride… you can either wait for the next song or hit fast forward. It’s up to you. I feel like there’s a lot of wisdom here… well, that and horny musicians who can’t wait for a little “love.” If there’s a song about waiting you love, and I missed it, put it in the “comments” and I’ll add it. Remember these playlists are ours, not mine. My comments on the songs, below.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3QfTaXakRyA5A2jKQXj02c?si=4b8a468f4afc4880

1. The Who, “Another Tricky Day” – I love this song. It’s from one of those LPs probably only l love. How many of us have thought, “You irritate me, my friend… this is you having fun, getting burned by the sun…this is no social crisis this is you having fun.”
2. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “The Waiting” – They play this song during challenges at NFL games now. It’s the inspiration of today’s playlist.
3. Van Halen, “I’ll Wait” – This is one of my favorite VH keyboard tunes. It’s always felt like it was written from the view of a stalker or maybe took inspiration from Dorothy Stratten’s story.
4. The Doors, “Waiting For The Sun” – This reminds me of college, sitting on the curb outside this little bar that opened at 6am… Me and Stewie sitting there waiting for the bar to open…having been up all night.
5. Led Zeppelin, “Fool In The Rain” – Proof that Led Zeppelin had a sense of humor. From their final studio album, In Through The Out Door.
6. The Beatles, “Wait” – Do the Beatles have a bad song?
7. The White Stripes, “I Can’t Wait” – Great blues rocker from the Stripes. Superb drumming from Meg White, drummer extraordinaire.
8. Ozzy Osbourne, “Life Won’t Wait” – So many of us are on the sidelines, waiting for something. Jump in, baby, life isn’t gonna wait.
9. George Harrison, “Awaiting On You All” – Preachy George, but still a great song from All Things Must Pass.
10. B.B. King, “Waiting On Your Call” – Back when people still used phones to call people… how many of us can remember sitting by the phone, waiting to hear from that certain someone? From the sensational One Kind Favor.
11. The Beach Boys, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – I despise the Beach Boys, but it would have been criminal to omit this story of a young high school couple wishing they were…”older.”
12. Guns N Roses, “Patience” – I always chuckle when I think of Axl Rose preaching patience. Zen Axl? I just saw GnR in concert and it was fabulous.
13. The Supremes, “You Can’t Hurry Love” – A first for us here at B&V with a Supreme’s tune. I’ll never forgive Phil Collins for his awful cover.
14. Chris Isaak, “Waiting For My Lucky Day” – Luck favors the prepared but I can completely relate to this track.
15. Buffalo Springfield, “It’s So Hard To Wait” – Dreamy country rock from one of my favs, the Springfield.
16. Norah Jones, “Waiting” – The voice of an angel.
17. Fugazi, “Waiting Room” – A Rock Chick tune that I just fell in love with when she turned me onto it.
18. The Runaways, “Waitin’ For The Night” – I used to consider the Runaways a guilty pleasure. Now I just think they kick ass.
19. Bonham, “Wait For You” – From John Bonham’s son Jason’s first band.
20. George Harrison, “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long” – Wonder folky rock song where our hero is beseeching his woman to move things along…
21. Peter Wolf, “Waiting On The Moon” – Every day I feel like I’m waiting for the moon to rear it’s beautiful face. I’m like the Stones, “the sunshine bores the daylights out of me…” I included it on our playlist of tracks about the Moon.
22. Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul, “I’ve Been Waiting” – From Little Steven’s fabulous solo debut album.
23. Bob Marley & the Wailers, “Waiting In Vain” – I used to play Bob Marley and this song to soothe the savage beasts in my house…
24. Roger Waters, “Wait For Her” – Perhaps Waters’ most lush, gorgeous ballad.
25. Stevie Nicks, “I Can’t Wait” – This track is a near miss for me. It’s when cocaine started to send Stevie off the rails. Stevie put out a great box set this year of her collected works.
26. The Velvet Underground, “Waiting For The Man” – Lou Reed singing about waiting for his drug dealer. It’s on our playlist, Songs About Heroin as well.
27. The J. Geils Band, “Wait” – The J. Geils Band’s early bluesy stuff is such a treat.
28. The Beatles, “Please Mr. Postman” – “You gotta wait a minute, wait a minute…” Does anybody write letters anymore? I haven’t written a letter in 30 years.
29. Green Day, “Waiting” – From Green Day’s last masterpiece…
30. No Doubt (featuring Prince), “Waiting Room” – I didn’t like No Doubt until I saw them live. Gwen Stefani has sort of tarnished this band for me… but I had to include this weird song as Prince is on it.
31. The Rolling Stones, “Waiting On A Friend” – One of my all time favorites from Tattoo You. “Making love and breaking hearts, it is a game for youth…”
32. Buddy Holly, “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” – I’ve always been more of a Chuck Berry guy, but I do dig Buddy Holly. He was a huge influence on almost every 60s rocker.
33. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “Waiting For Tonight” – There’s nothing quite like night time…
34. Bob Dylan, “Can’t Wait” – Dylan, sounding like a disembodied spirit who is tired of waiting around.
35. Eric Clapton, “She’s Waiting” – “She’s waiting for another love…” I went through this once.
36. Talking Heads, “Memories Can Wait” – A great, menacing deep track from the Talking Heads.
37. Pretenders, “The Wait” – One of my favorite tunes from the Pretenders. Their latest LP, Relentless, is certainly worth checking out.
38. David Bowie, “I’ve Been Waiting For You” – From one of my favorite late period Bowie LPs, Heathen.
39. LIndsey Buckingham, “Wait For You” – Lindsey’s solo career is hit and miss but this one is a winner.
40. The Black Crowes, “Waitin’ Guilty” – Bonus track from the great box set for Shake Your Money Maker.
41. Foreigner, “Can’t Wait” – I bought Inside Information, which was way past Foreigner’s prime, at a truck stop in southern Arkansas and used to crank this particular tune up loud as I toured “the Southlands.” Some tracks are only for me…
42. The Kinks, “Tired Of Waiting For You” – One of those early, primal Kinks tunes.
43. The Jayhawks, “Waiting For The Sun” – A great song from a band the Rock Chick turned me on to…
44. Beck, “Die Waiting” – I wasn’t crazy about Hyperspace, but I really like this song. And let’s face it, who amongst us hasn’t felt that we could “die waiting.”
45. AC/DC, “Ain’t No Fun (Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire)” – Bon Scott at his most hilarious. And yes, it’s no fun waitin’ round to be a millionaire, so can somebody help me with this one please?
46. Ozzy Osbourne, “Waiting For Darkness” – Sadly, in my late 20s, early 30s, I didn’t have to wait for darkness, I was already in the heart of it.
47. Elvis Costello, “Waiting For The End Of The World” – From his great debut album but then we’re fond of debut albums here at B&V.
48. Lenny Kravitz, “I’ll Be Waiting” – Nice piano ballad that seems a lifetime away from his latest track, “TK421.”
49. The Rolling Stones, “Tell Me” – Boy meets girl, girl leaves, boy hopes she’ll return. Rinse, repeat.
50. Bruce Springsteen, “Waiting On A Sunny Day” – As I sit here in the grip of grim winter, yes, I am waiting on a sunny day.
51. ZZ Top, “Waitin’ For The Bus” – Great, early ZZ Top.
52. George Michael, “Waiting For That Day” – I’m not a huge George Michael fan, and he’s never been on a playlist before, but this one, I’ll make an exception for. It’s an amazing tune that sums up emotions I felt very keenly in my 20s… “My memory, serves me far too well.”
53. The Byrds, “Wait And See” – The Byrds were a band I didn’t discover until recently, but I love most of their early stuff.
54. Eagles, “Waiting In The Weeds” – Don Henley sounding hurt and creepy at the same time.
55. The Cars, “It’s All I Can Do” – “to keep waiting for you…” It turns out, sometimes you should just move on.
56. Kings Of Leon, “Wait For Me” – I don’t know much about Kings of Leon, but I love this song.
57. Wilson Pickett, “In The Midnight Hour” – “I’m gonna wait till the midnight hour…”
58. The Rolling Stones, “I Am Waiting” – So many great Stones tune. I should have included this one on my list of favorite deep Stones tracks.
59. The Smashing Pumpkins, “Waiting” – Great outtake that should have made an album somewhere.
60. The Black Crowes, “Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)” – Latter day Crowes telling the timeless tale of a man’s relentless search for love.
61. Jack Johnson, “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” – Mellow strummer but catchy as heck.
62. Garbage, “Temptation Waits” – Temptation certainly waits around every corner…
63. Tom Waits, “Hold On” – From the brilliant Mule Variations.
64. Sterephonics, “Hurry Up And Wait” – This seems to be my mantra at work these days.
65. Jimi Hendrix, “Hear My Train A Comin'” – Lately it’s more like, “hear my plane a comin’.” But I like the idea of a man waiting for a train.
66. The Donnas, “Don’t Wait Up For Me” – What a great little band the Donnas were…
67. The Replacements” – “Can’t Hardly Wait” – Another band I need to explore more deeply. There’s always more music out there to discover.
68. Bob Dylan, “Groom’s Still Waiting At the Altar” – One of Dylan’s best, late career, blues-rock songs.
69. Johnny Cash, “Waiting On A Train” – What else would Johnny be waiting for? He’s the “songs about trains” King.
70. Meatloaf, “Heaven Can Wait” – Spectacular ballad. Just piano and Meat.
71. U2, “Are You Gonna Wait Forever” – Deep track from the Vertigo sessions.
72. Lou Reed, “Wait” – I’m on a Lou Reed deep dive of late.
73. The Rolling Stones, “Time Waits For No One” – If there was one song that conveyed the message of this playlist, it’s this one. Time, truly, waits for no one.
74. Warren Zevon, “Trouble Waiting To Happen” – Me, from 13 to 35…
75. Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Wait Until Tomorrow” – Another great tune from Hendrix. Does he get enough credit as a songwriter?
76. Greta Van Fleet, “Waited All Your Life” – From this year’s great LP, Starcatcher.
77. Carly Simon, “Anticipation” – Another first time appearance on our list for Carly. I’ve always liked this tune… too bad she sold it to a ketchup company for a commercial. I’d have guessed she had enough of that Simon & Schuster publishing money to do that?
78. Foreigner, “Waiting On A Girl Like You” – A cheesy ballad that no one admits to loving but everyone does… It did perhaps signal the end of Foreigner’s arena rock days.
79. Bruce Springsteen, “If I Should Fall Behind” – I thought I’d end on this very positive note… “If I should fall behind, I’ll wait for you.” I’m surprised this song isn’t played at more weddings.

There ya go! I appreciated everyone who waited long enough to get through this playlist of songs about Waiting. Again, if I missed an essential waiting song, please put it in the comments section and I’ll add it if it fits.

Whatever you’re waiting for out there, I hope it comes to you, especially in this holiday season. It can be a long dark ride… take of yourselves out there.

Cheers!