Unlike the past two days withe the numbers 6 and 7, when it comes 8 I came to this post with a couple of songs already in my head. However the test will be whether I can uncover more music using 8 as it’s theme. At first glance you would have thought that it might be possible but who knows. To the research!
“Eight Days a Week” is a song by the Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon based on McCartney’s original idea. The song was released in the United Kingdom in December 1964 on the album Beatles For Sale. In the United States, it was first issued as a single in February 1965 before appearing on the North American release Beatles VI. The song was the band’s seventh number 1 single on the Billboard, a run of US chart success achieved in just over a year. The single was also number 1 in Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands.
“Eight Miles High” is a song by the Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, and David Crosby. It was first released as a single in March 1966. Musically influenced by sitar player Ravi Shankar and jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, the song was influential in developing the musical styles of psychedelia and raga rock. Accordingly, critics often cite “Eight Miles High” as being the first bona fide psychedelic rock song, as well as a classic of the counterculture.
“Eighth Day” is a song by British singer-songwriter Hazel O’Connor, released in August 1980 as the second single from her debut and soundtrack album, Breaking Glass. It reached no. 5 in the UK, making it her first top-ten hit and her highest chart placing to date. The song was also certified silver in the UK by the BPI. O’Connor wrote the song twelve hours before it was recorded as a parallel story of the Book of Genesis where Man made the Earth in his own image, and “having unleashed elements he cannot control, the Man-made Machine Monster takes over”.
“Driver 8” is the second single from R.E.M.’s third album, Fables of Reconstruction. Released in September 1985, the song peaked at number 22 on the U.S. Billboard. It was not released in Europe. The song refers to the Southern Crescent, a passenger train operated by the Southern Railroad until 1979, and continues today (with fewer stops) as the Amtrack Crescent. In the music video, it shows Chessie System trains running around Clifton Forge, Virginia.
“Figure 8” is a song by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding from her second studio album, Halcyon (2012). It was released in December 2012 as the album’s second single. The song was written by Goulding and Jonny Lattimer and produced by Monsta, with additional production by Mike Spencer. The accompanying music video was directed by W. I. Z. and released in November 2012.
“8” is a track from When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? the debut studio album by American singer Billie Eilish. It was released in March 2019, Polydor in the UK. Eilish largely co-wrote the album with her brother Finneas O’Connell, who produced its music at his small bedroom studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles. Musically, it is a art pop record, though it also features influences from hip hop industrial music. Its songs explore themes such as modern youth, drug addiction, heartbreak, suicide, and mental health, with lyrical sensibilities of humor and horror. Eilish said the album was inspired in part by lucid dreaming and night terrors, which are reflected on the cover photo.
