Hey everyone, putting out this one today because I was busy driving across Florida yesterday.

Today's medley is produced on a shoestring budget of time (visiting family, bringing my girlfriend for the first time, so lots of family activities and such) but that doesn't mean the songs are anything less than kickass.

Up first is a classic from thrash metal pioneers Megadeth. This song has a special place in my heart for two reasons: (1) it was one of the most fun songs to play in Guitar Hero 2 and (2) the song was ripped off for the soundtrack of Doom II (the first video game I remember playing), and appears in the first level.

Next is an old mid-century song by TV personality and musician Tennessee Ernie Ford. This song concerns the struggles of coal miners trapped in the heinous truck-system whereby miners were paid not in dollars but in company scrip only useful in the company store, (so, essentially, a form of wage enslavement). This is "Sixteen Tons."

Next is a song by The National from their standout album High Violet. This song, "Lemonworld," concerns a few subjects, but the most poignant is Matt Berninger's critique on the disconnected nature of modern war and how society moves on rather ambivalent to warfare in the developed world. "It'll take a better war to kill a college man like me," Berninger sings, capturing the disconnect between those involved in war and the society from which they come. Here's a live performance:

And last up, we have a song that always makes me think of my parents, and is currently on my mind because my parents are playing it. This is "You Got It" by Roy Orbison, a musician who was apparently so talented that The Beatles were said to have avoided ever touring with him, fearing he might upstage them.