6. Baby Blue

This is one of the newest songs to make it onto my list of favorites. "Baby Blue" is almost always played as part of an encore featuring Dave solo on a beautifully crafted Veillette Gryhon painted red. This song is as emotional live as it is on the album Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. The sweet, sad lyrics are beautifully sung, the guitar simply strummed, and when played live, the crowd goes silent to hear the gorgeous song.

Title: Baby Blue
Album: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Show Stats: Fully played 44 times, 1 tease
Why I Love It: When Dave is featured solo at a DMB concert, nothing really makes me happier. He sings this song with so much emotion, you can practically hear the hurt and sadness in his voice. I can't help but shed a tear each time I hear it. The way he plays this song reminds me a bit of the simplicity of other solo songs he's written like "Some Devil" and even "Little Thing."
Memories: Two big moments stick out in my mind about this song. The first time I heard this song was after buying the album Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King in the summer of 2009. I had the CD in my car for at least 3 months and that was a song that played at least twice every time I'd get into the car. The first time I heard it, I literally started weeping and the beauty and emotion of the song. At the Gorge in 2010 Dave played "Baby Blue" as part of the encore. I wasn't expecting to hear it and was more than overjoyed when I heard it. I remember thinking, "I wish Joey was here to hear this!" Joey is a former roommate of mine and we both have a particular love for this song. After Dave finished his particularly emotional rendition, he said "That was for my love, Ashley." I loved it more than words can describe.
Favorite Lyric: Confess your kiss/ Still knocks me off my legs/ First time I saw you/ Was like a punch right through my chest/ I will forever/ Because you'll forever be/ My one true broken heart/ Pieces inside of me/ And you forever my baby

7. Dodo

This song is a rarity to hear live. Almost exclusively played in the winter (almost), Dave has only played "Dodo" a handful of times, a majority after the release of his solo album, Some Devil. In fact, Dave hadn't played "Dodo" live for two years until the December 6, 2010 performance at McCaw Hall in Seattle. This song is almost always played mid set, with the two exceptions where the song was played as a set opener. This song is the lead track on Some Devil and has been a favorite of mine for many, many years.

Title: Dodo
Album: Some Devil
Show Stats: Fully played 25 times
Why I Love It: I have always viewed this song as an important piece of music with a real message. The lyrics speak of man's ignorance in the face of reality and science and how stubborn we are as a humanity. At the same time, the song could be about perception and how sometimes how we perceive things is does not always reflect reality. Beside the lyrics that I fell in love with immediately, the studio track has so many musical elements I love and are seldom heard in songs with Dave on vocals. I have a weak spot in my heart for tambourine which is used in excess, much to my delight. The vocals take on a sort of lazy, delicateness that seems perfectly fitting for the content of the song.
Memories: By far, the most exciting time I heard this song was after it's two year hiatus from touring when it was played at McCaw Hall in Seattle this past December. After the show, the four of us who had gone to the show were dumbfounded and shocked that we got to hear Dave and Tim (not Time, thanks Zach) play "Dodo" live! It was a song that I only dreamed of hearing, but had always written off as an improbability. I was excited to get to check this song off my list of stuff I've heard live.
Favorite Lyric: So I wonder this as life billows smoke inside my head/ This little game where nothing is sure, oh/ Why would you play by the rules?

8. Christmas Song

Lately, Dave has been preempting this song as having no religious connotation, just that it's a story. This song has been around since the beginning and was a solo feature early on after the release of Remember Two Things. This song usually makes appearances at shows just before the holiday season. Some years after the turn of the millennium have been without a single performance of the song, though it's seen a bit of a resurgence of play in the latter half of 2010. Liver performances usually have the accompaniment of Carter on the drums. The track recorded in the Everyday sessions for the Platinum Christmas album features Carter on vocals as well. The first known performance of this song was debuted as "Blood Of Our Children." Dave likes to play this song as either a set closer or more commonly as a part of the encore.

Title: Christmas Song
Album: Remember Two Things
Show Stats: Fully played 171 times, 1 partial, 1 tease
Why I Love It: Even though I'm not a Christian, there's plenty to love about this song. The song itself is about Jesus Christ. They lyrics probably don't resonate with me as much as others, but it's the intoxicating way Dave sings the lyrics that make me love it so much. The lick on the guitar is quite simple and gives the quiet song a syncopated, bouncy feel without a rushed feel. I also really love how Dave has been introducing this song as of late as not a religious song, but as just a story. Growing up (and sometimes still), I was turned off by anything with religious connotation. This song challenges how I can listen to material clearly about religion and still enjoy and respect it for what it is. And even if I don't personally resonate with the lyrics, there is still a beauty to the lyrics I can't deny.
Memories: Even though this song has been around forever, I never paid attention to it until my roommate started obsessing over it. She likes to play songs she loves over and over and over again (usually until I can't stand it anymore), but this song started to stick in my head. Then when we traveled to Charlottesville in 2010, Dave played the song and I got to hear it live. It gave me goosebumps hearing everyone in the crowd singing along with such passion and gusto. I heard the song again at a Dave and Tim show in Seattle December 2010.
Favorite Lyric: So the story goes, so I'm told/ The people he knew were less than golden hearted/ Gamblers and robbers/ Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers/ Like you and me

10. Little Thing

This song is quite an interesting piece. There is a lovely story Dave likes to tell as the introduction into his solo. It's all about his encounter with a women in New York he found particularly attractive. The song that follows are his thoughts about that woman and what he wished he said to her. Interestingly, this song evolved into the Some Devil release named "An' Another Thing," though I prefer the live releases titled "Little Thing."

Title: Little Thing
Album: None (live release)
Show Stats: Fully played 65 times, 2 partials, 1 reprise, 27 teases
Why I Love It: The song is so honest. Few people in the world would bear their soul to millions of people a fantasy about someone they had but a passing encounter. The spoken story as an introduction lets us know that Dave is telling us something about himself that is important to him. The guitar is simple, with complicated strum patterns, letting Dave add beautiful flourishes and falsetto to his vocal performance.
Memories: I've never heard this song live, seeing as it wasn't played at all in 2010 and only 16 times since 1997. However, I did stumble across this song after listening to Live Trax Volume 4 and I recall immediately being drawn into the story Dave tells in this song. I couldn't quite put my finger on why it sounded so familiar until my roommate pointed out it eventually evolved into "An' Another Thing." To date, my favorite version is on LT Vol. 4, a performance recorded on April 30, 1996, near the first time the song was ever played.
Favorite Lyric: Her voice oh it echoes, echoes/ Echoes through my head/ And I hope she returns while I wait hour after hour/ For her to come along and see me again

Note: the version of this song in the video is not the version I selected my favorite lyrics from