General Gregory N. Pigott: Late Night Music All Star Game Edition Part 105........."Breathe In, Breathe Out"

No matter who you are, you breathe more than you do any other act. It really makes you feel stupid when you think about it, but it's definitely the truth. Think about it and try to prove it otherwise- it can't be done. Anyway, it's funny how much we equate breathing to different things in life that aren't anywhere near as common as something we are constantly doing. This is pretty common in music. Tonight's list shows some of the songs that talk about the things or people we can't "breathe" without.

In order to be included in this category, the song title had to include something about breathing. Things that involve acts of breathing or not breathing were counted. Also receiving votes in this category was "Harder to Breathe" by Maroon5, "Breathe" by Kylie Minogue, "Breathe" by Fabolous, "Breathe and Stop" by Q-Tip, and "Breathe Into Me" by Red. "Breathe Easy" by Blue was disqualified just because I used it so recently, and I can't take that much corniness again. Also, "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin was disqualified just because it's SO stupid to have a song like that in a movie like "Top Gun".

"Breathe"- Taylor Swift feat. Colbie Caillat. I have to admit that I've always been kinda embarassed that I loved this song so much, and I realize that I may lose some "man points" for loving this song so much. I also realized that I've featured this song/video before, but I love it just as much as I did the first time I heard it. I am still amazed beyond belief that this song only peaked at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 despite the appearance of Colbie Caillat on the track. I'm gonna go ahead and name this my third favorite break up song ever after "Slow Dancing In a Burning Room" by John Mayer and "Hesitate" by Mason Douglas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnXrfksTjZ8

"Oxygen"- Colbie Caillat. Speaking of Colbie Caillat. While most of America was waiting for the top 40 radio stations to bring them their music, I was discovering Colbie Caillat on Myspace and heard this song long before she became a household name. This lead track off of her debut album "Coco". I personally would have liked to have seen this song released as a single rather than "Midnight Bottle"- I'll never understand that one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-wyZpAByIE

"Breathe Again"- Toni Braxton. Toni Braxton proves in this video that you age with unbelievable elegance. Toni was a young 24 when this video was shot and this song from her debut self-titled album was released, but has turned into a "super cougar" at a mature 43 now and remains one of the sexiest women in music. I always liked this video because of the retro look (even though that was pretty common for R&B videos of the early 90's, but Toni's hair in this video is pretty freaking hot. Too bad she's being chased in the video by a complete idiot. Not only can he "not find" her, he just looks like he should be riding the short bus. It was pretty clear Toni Braxton was destined for super stardom when this song peaked at #3 on the charts in late 1993, with the album peaking at #1 shortly after.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRFEz2MjZgg

"Breathe"- Faith Hill. Every time I see this woman I am proud to be a Mississippian, and looking at her now, I have to wonder what in the world Tim McGraw must be thinking right now. By the way, this might be the first time I've ever led off a "Late Night Music" with four females on an entry that wasn't entirely female oriented. It's those small victories in life. In 1999, Faith Hill released this single, her most popular to date from the album of the same name, which peaked at #2 on the charts. This video was originally censored by CMT, and was later only shown in late timeslots due to the controversial nature of the video, which was stupid because there were several other country videos (see anything by Tanya Tucker in the early 90's) that were just as seductive, albeit not as successful. I think it was just a huge change from anything Faith Hill had ever done. For some reason I can watch this video and think Faith Hill is actually talking to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCmsZUN4r_s

"Drowning"- Hootie and The Blowfish. I'll never forget how big this album was. I have a hard time explaining to younger kids just how huge "Cracked Rear View" was in 1994. I played this CD to death while on vacation in the United Kingdom in March 1995. Also, at the time, (and it still may be) this was the best selling debut album from any artist in the history of music, eventually topping out at 16 million copies. This song was unfortunately "lost" in the hit songs from the album and was never released as a single (probably due to Darius Rucker dropping an "s bomb"- the only cuss word on the entire album).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg9N1x_C8vo

"Drowning"- Backstreet Boys. Man, I tell you, in 2001, it didn't get much better than the Backstreet Boys. I remember when this song first came out as a single to accompany their newly released greatest hits album I was so excited (because at 19 years old, I was a Backstreet Boys fan- it really hurts when I say it like that). Anyway, like I said, I was super excited.......until I saw Howie's hair in this video and my entire man crush ended right then and there. I have never seen someone who is supposed to be cool look so ridiculous. I think BSB's stylist should have been fired immediately for that look because I can't imagine it getting any worse. You also have to think about how rare they actually let Howie sing anyway and you just wonder what was going through their heads when they let that happen. I still to this day, have no idea. This song was originally intended for their "Black and Blue" album the previous year, but was pushed back to go along with the compilation album. For some reason, this song never caught on, and only maxed out at #28 on the charts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZXHBgjQjNM

"Lose My Breath"- Destiny's Child. I saw Beyonce walk in this video and immediately lost my breath.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqeIiF0DlTg

"Barely Breathing"- Duncan Sheik. You know they say if you're only gonna show up for a second, make sure it counts. Duncan Sheik made a huge splash with the debut single from this debut self titled album with this song that peaked at #16 on the charts but stayed on the charts for a mind boggling 55 weeks, which is still a record to this day. I've always liked this song, but this video makes me laugh. To me, Duncan Sheik looks like the guy who's just so excited to be in a video he doesn't even know he's supposed to be serious. It's like he's the kid in college who's getting put on by his buddies to do something stupid. When this song was being played on the radio, many music writers pushed Duncan Sheik as the next big star of charts, but he was relatively unheard from again until his 2007 Tony Award winning "Spring Awakening" which he composed all the music to and also won him a 2008 Grammy Award.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-oh-tP6RvA

"Breath"- Breaking Benjamin. Man, the more I listen to this band, the more I love them. However, the more I look at them, the less serious I take them. This awesome single from their 2007 album "Phobia" was a huge hit on the rock chart, and brought the band some mainstream success peaking at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100. I hate when people say that grunge bands don't have great lyrics, because this song is a great example of Benjamin Burnley's songwriting skills. Now if we just do something about his look. However goofy he looks, I would love to see BB live some time. Still in my opinion, one of the more underrated bands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ3qJmgktS0

"How Do I Breathe?"- Mario. Ok, I have to admit I almost didn't include this video just because I've always though Mario was so lame. I feel like I'm right because this lead single from his 2007 album "Go" made almost no noise on the charts despite the huge video premiere surrounding this video. Now to this video. Everything in this video is SOOOOOOOO early 2000's. I honestly think the guy went home and watched every episode of "TRL", "106 and Park" and "Access Granted" and just copied the scenes and then just put it upside down (which I thought was actually kind of cool) and put it in a video. For that reason, I can't take Mario seriously. That being said, this is a decent song, but the guy really needs to find his own style. The first time I heard this song I thought it was Ne-Yo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcie4MOU-wQ

"Breathe"- Michelle Branch. I CANNOT BELIEVE I have never had this song on here. I'm glad Michelle Branch is also finally making her debut. Despite this song from her 2003 album "Hotel Paper" didn't have the success of some of her previous songs, it's always been my favorite. Bonus points for the bird singing. I'm glad she just released some new material (her new single "Loud Music" is being pushed super hard on youtube right now), because Michelle Branch has ALWAYS had it going on. I have to confess though- I used to think she was Asian, and yes she is 1/4th Asian, but I thought she was 100%.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQQZSL_tVsE

"Breathe Today"- Flyleaf. This debut single from Flyleaf should have told everyone how awesome they would be as a band. Interesting note. While this was their first music video, it was made in 2007, 3 years after "Breathe Today" was first released. I love Lacey Sturm as a lead singer, and I think she's almost as good as Hayley Williams, and that's a lot for me to say that. People may disagree, but I think Paramore and Flyleaf are STUNNINGLY similar. Flyleaf is also another great example of a Christian band that can keep up musically with mainstream bands. That's an unfair stigma forced on Christian bands all too often. I love videos like this one, because I like to think how mad someone would be if they were next door or below them while they were playing this music. Hopefully they are on the bottom floor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYLIJrKzeJU

"Breathe (2AM)"- Anna Nalick. I'll never forget this song being featured on "Grey's Anatomy" (the famous Dr. Bailey "stop looking at my va-jay-jay" episode). This exposure in such a famous scene led to the single being 3x platinum despite just peaking at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 from her debut album "Wreck Of The Day". I love this video just because Anna Nalick just has a such an innocent look about her.........innocent but naughty. That's now 8 videos with a female group/singer/lead singer- that has got to be a record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPz3YaIJkjQ

"Breathe"- Newsboys. The Newsboys are another Christian band out of Australia that really flies under the radar just due to being so genre-specific. In 1996, they were one of the top Christians band in the world, and this song was included on their super hit album "Take Me To Your Leader" and was also featured in their DVD "Down Under The Big Top".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VNirUn8_Cc

BONUS VIDEOS- "Underneath"- Hanson. I love this song by these now grown up guys. The song talks about breathing the entire time, so I think I could almost include it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og8How4IYZ8

"Hands to Heaven"- Breathe. Take a good look, I am pretty sure we'll never see this one again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5InWPjtL8

"Goodbye To You"- Michelle Branch- just another great Michelle Branch song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NERmgwWfnoI

Michelle Branch