Hello From A New Member

[bush411]

Until now, I have only been a member of one site, which is dedicated to Tori Amos. However, inasmuch as I also love Hayley's music - fell in love with her music when I first seen her on a PBS Program entitled "Great Performances - I decided to give this site a try. Since then, I have managed to get almost everything she has done, including her CD's: Pure; Odyssey; Celtic Treasure - (Downloaded from I-Tunes); Treasure - (Purchased as Import from Overseas-similar to Celtic Treasure, with a few different songs on each); My gift to You; and her Live From New Zealand DVD. (I absolutely love that DVD.)

My Favorite Songs of Hayley's are listed in order, as follows:

1. Listen To The Wind - A song written by James Horner for "The New World" and Beautifully sung By Hayley Westenra.

2. Across The Universe Of Time

3. Prayer

4. Mary Did You Know

5. May It Be

6. Bridal Ballad (A Poem Written By Edgar Allen Poe)

7. Never Say Goodbye

8. Wuthering Heights

9. Beat Of Your Heart

10. Amazing Grace

11. You Are Water

12. My Heart Belongs To You

13. The Water Is Wide

14. Bright Eyes

15. Danny Boy

16. Dark Waltz

17 Shenandoah

While I also love a lot of others by her, these songs, as sung by Hayley, are the ones I Love most.

Although I do consider Tori Amos to be the Greatest Singer of all time, I love Hayley Westenra, and also believe she (Hayley) has the most Perfect Pitch and Pure (No Pun Intended) Voice of any Female Singer to have ever lived.

At any rate, as this is my first time ever on this site, and my first time to join any site other than Tori's; I wanted to say Hello to everyone.

I will close by saying that I did have the privilege of seeing Hayley in Concert. This is when she traveled with "Celtic Woman" during a part of their tour in the US. She came to Nashville, TN (Jackson Hall) in July of 2007. I flew out there for the sole purpose of seeing her - Although I did enjoy the Celtic Woman performances as well.



Steve B.

[Tin]

Hi Steve,

Thank you for joining us; I'm sure you'll find HWI a very harmonious place for you keep yourself updated with the hottest news about Hayley.

I also notice that one of your most loved songs is My Heart Belongs to You. It's probably one of the top three in my list of preference, yet for some unknown reasons this song isn't that well known...

Anyway, we're having more and more Steves now! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best wishes,
Tin from Hong Kong

[roger]

Hello Steve and welcome to the forum. I congratulate you for listing your favourite songs in order - something that most of us have never managed to do!

I hope you enjoy being a part of this forum and I look forward to your future posts.

Best wishes from southern England,
Roger

[dutchjoyce]

Hi Steve,
Welcome here, where you can find so much about Hayley.
Nice to read, you've already seen Hayley live with CW, and i like your favourite song list..................for me all Hayley songs are
awesome!!!Did you hear her new Japanese CD,Hayley sings japanese songs???FANTASTIC.......so far my favourite album!!

Best wishes and greetings from the Netherlands.JOYCE

[Joe]

Hello Steve B

Welcome! Wow...you really know your Hayley songs! Enjoy your time here!

Best wishes,
Joe

[Richard]

Hello Steve, and welcome to our growing family of Hayley fans!

I've never tried to list my favourite songs in order, but I certainly agree with most of your choices. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I hope you will enjoy your visits here and I'm looking forward to your future posts.

Best wishes from London,

Richard

[bush411]

Wow! I am amzed at the number of warm welcomes received in so short a time. It seems Hayley's Fans are an amazingly wonderful group of people to know. I can already tell, I am really going to enjoy this site.

Thanks again to everyone for so generously and graciously welcoming me to this site!



Steve B.

[grant]

Hello Steve and welcome to the forum from Central England.

You are quite correct in noticing that it doesn't take long to find out what a friendly group we are!

It has been said that this forum generally attracts people who are like Hayley in some way, and there is no one more friendly than Hayley when it comes to her fans.

There is a mountain of information about Hayley; her concerts and appearances. This is where Hayley comes to find out what she is doing next! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif Well, she tells us that we always seem to know what she is doing before she does.

Enjoy your time here and I look forward to your future posts.

Best wishes
Grant

[pjrcorreia]

Hi Steve B,

Welcome to HWI!
Many of my favorites songs are in your list too, well to say the truth I love them all. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
The DVD "Live From New Zealand" is indeed AMAZING!
I've ripped the audio from the DVD, and very often I hear the whole concert in my computer (in fact I am currently listen to it while writing these lines).

Greetings from Portugal,
Paulo Correia

[bush411]

I agree with Tin from Hong Kong that the song, "My Heart Belongs To You,' while truly amazing; doesn't seem to be well known. I also find that puzzling.

I also want to thank Roger and Tom from the HWI Management Team for their kind remarks about having listed My Favorite Hayley Songs In order. I would also thank Joyce from the Netherlands as well.

I would add that I actually have a 29-Typewritten Page Listing; whereby it actually list what I personally consider to be the absolute 1224-Greatest Songs ever done in the Entire History of Music - Ranked in exact order from Number-1, all the way to Number-1224. Believe it or not, I actually have a memory of 95-100% of the lyrics to over 10,000 songs. I also know from 80-85% of the Lyrics to an additional 20,000 Songs - or in the alternative - can at least tell you what I think the song is about.

Contrary to what you might think, doing this has not involved a great deal of time trying to memorize songs, or interpret their meanigs. Every since I was 10-Years old, I would usually hear a song for the first time, and by the time it was over, know all of it's lyrics. Even today, if I hear a new song on the radio while driving to work, for the first time, I will usually know all the lyrics, and have an idea of what I believe it is about, by the time it is done playing. There are a few, that are either very long, or complicated, that might require a second, or very rarely, a 3rd listen.

I actually love all types of music. Rock, Alternative, Country, Easy Listening, Pop, Soul, Heavy Metal, Rap, Folk, and definitely Calssical - including Bach, Beethoven,etc.., from all periods of time.

For me, there is really no such thing as Rock, Country, Old Fashioned, Modern Music, etc... I have found both great and terrible songs spanning all decades and so-called Genre's. Thus for me, there are only 2-types of music. Good Music and Bad Music.

The way I rank them is to apply a 51% Criteria to the quality and depth of the lyrics - either it is amazingly cryptic and brilliant, or it tells a powerful story, or both.

I then give a 49% criteria to how well it sounds. Thus, for a song to make my list, it must appeal to both the ear and mind, simultaneously. For example, the Beach Boys, have a great beat, harmony, and sound. I love hearing their music, and have most of their songs in my collection. However, inasmuch as their Lyrics fail to meet the criteria outlined above (i.e., "Fun Fun Fun" "Dance Dance Dance" "I Get Around" "Surfer Girl", etc.., you will not find these songs identified on my All-time Greatest List. The same would be true for a song having amazing lyrics, but not having a sound which I find appealing.

I would add that I also consider a song - even if ranked last (Currently-1224) on that list , to be an amazingly high ranking - as I am saying it is the 1224th greatest song ever done in history. There are easily an additional 30,000 songs that I absolutely Love, which are not even on that list.

While I have certainly not heard ALL of the Billions of Songs in existence, just like a Poll which does not question everyone, this is felt to be a fairly good representative sampling of the type of songs in existence. Also, any time I do come across an old or new song, that I was unaware of, I immediately start assessing it to determine whether or not it merits inclusion on that list, and if so, where.

Joyce, this is the first time I ever heard of Hayley doing an Album devoted to Japanese Songs. I will definitely have to check that out - thank you for making me aware of it. And I agree that it was nice to have actually seen Hayley perform Live. I only wish she would give a tour, with her doing just her songs, here in the states. That would be awesome indeed!!!!

Finally, I also want to thank Richard, Grant, and Paulo Correia for their very kind remarks and warm welcome.

I should have signed up for this site a long time ago!!!!



Steve B.

[grant]

Jul 20, 2008 23:10:00 GMT bush411 said:

this is the first time I ever heard of Hayley doing an Album devoted to Japanese Songs. I will definitely have to check that out - thank you for making me aware of it.

Hi Steve

If that is the case, you may find this link useful!

HERE

CDJapan is the best source for this album.

You WILL enjoy it!

Best wishes
Grant

[roger]

Jul 20, 2008 23:10:00 GMT bush411 said:

I agree with Tin from Hong Kong that the song, "My Heart Belongs To You,' while truly amazing; doesn't seem to be well known. I also find that puzzling.

Hi Steve,

I think that could be partly due to the fact that 'My Heart Belongs To You' didn't appear on either of the UK versions of Odyssey. So, unless they bought overseas versions, most of Hayley's UK fans would not realise she ever recorded it.

Compiling a list of my all-time favourite songs is something that has always appealed to me. Unfortunately, the idea never got off the drawing board because I cannot begin to quantify my appreciation of any of them. Maybe I will try to compile a top 5. That is nothing compared to your impressive list but it will be a start!

Roger

[comet]

Greetings from Ireland Steve B,

You will find that there are a few Tori Amos fans here too

Even though Tori is seldom mentioned......

Tori also sings a good few songs by another favourite of mine Leonard Cohen

I often wondered if at some time Hayley might sing "China"

Welcome and best wishes from Dublin

[comet]

Hi Again Steve B

Is Dan Hill... Sometimes when we touch on that list ?

Or Longer by Dan Fogelberg

Angel of the Morning....... Mary Mason.. ?

Judie Tzuke ?

I have been listening to Tori for years and I still don't understand what she is on about some of the time.
But this is what makes them worth listening to over and over again....Eh ?
I am not even sure if she understands some of her songs

[bush411]

Thanks Maestro, for those warm greeting from Ireland!

First to answer your questions regarding a few songs:

Yes, the song "Sometimes When We Touch" By Dan Brown, is on my top-1224 List. i currently have it ranked at Number-739 of all time.

I have ranked the song "Angel of the Morning" -citing the version by Merrilee Rush, However, at Number-1120 on my all time List.

I have not yewt gotten to"Longer" by dan Fogelberg or anything by Judie Tzuke.

However, I am constantly, usually once ever Month, updating and expanding my list, by adding any New songs that just come out, or simply reaching a song that I may not have ranked in the top-1224; but will end up including as I proceed further.

I will also provide what constitutes my Absolute Top-30 of that current Listing of 1224. those are, ranked in order as follows:

1. I Can't See New York - Tori Amos
2. Beneath A Phrygian Sky - Loreena McKennitt
3. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
4. LISTEN TO THE WIND - HAYLEY WESTENRA
5. Dark Side Of The Sun - Tori Amos
6. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE OF TIME - HAYLEY WESTENRA
7. Rockin' Horse - Sara Evans
7. Changing Of The Guards - Bob Dylan
9. The Night They Drove Old dixie Down - Joan Baez
10. Bell For Her - Tori Amos
11. Looking For A Leader - Neal Young
12. Ballad Of A thin Man (Mr. Jo9nes) - Bob Dylan
13. PRAYER - HAYLEY WESTENRA
14. Conquistador - Procol Harum
15. Ball of confusion - The Temptations
16. Winter - Tori Amos
17. Not Ready to Make Nice - The Dixie Chicks
18. The Bee keeper (Title song from CD-Same name) - Tori Amos
19. Desolation Row - Bob Dylan
20. Bury My heart At Wounded Knee - The Indigo Girls
21. Dust In the Wind - Kansas
22. Father's Son - Tori Amos
23. Shine Over Babylon - Cheryl Crow
24. Jacob's Dream - Allison Krauss & union Station
25. The Rape Of the world - Tracy chapman
26. Ballad For A soldier - Leon russell
27. Silen House - The Dixie chicks
28. If Everyone Cared - Nickelback
29. Tonight And The Rest Of My Life - Nina Gordon
30. Open your Mind - Melissa Etheridge


Just so you don't think that this list is simply full of Tori Amos songs (I know there a lot in my Top-30) - TORI HAS A TOTAL OF 26-SONGS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE 1224 LISTING. (She is tied with the most; as Bob Dylan also has a total of 26-songs on that list.

The 26-Songs By tori that are on the 1224 Song List are ranked as follows:

Numbers: 1, 5, 10, 16, 18, 22, 101, 113, 126, 160, 212, 338, 447, 513, 630, 715, 767, 813, 899, 945, 1021, 1168, 1205, 1207, 1218, and 1222.

HAYLEY WESTENRA IS ACTUALLY 3RD, BY HAVING A TOTAL OF 17-SONGS ON THAT LIST. Those are the same ones I listed above. The Beatles come in 4TH with a Total of 15-songs on the list.

I have sooooooooo.... many different Artists on that list, that it would actually take me a while to count them all. I have songs such as: "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" by Mitch Miller - Number-235 - to such songs as "Welcome to The Jungle" by Guns and Roses - Number-449, to songs by Metallica, Iron Maiden, Kelly Calrkson, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Cat Stevens, Mary Hopkins, Celtic Woman, along with songs from Celtic Woman's Individual Members (Example: "One world" By Chloe -From Celtic Women - Number-1145), to songs by Eminem, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and even one by Patty Duke, entitled "Please Don't Just Stand There" - Number - 725.

Others would include Enya, Edwin Starr, The Seekers, The Buoys, Paul Revers & the Raiders, richard harris, Black Stone Cherry, The Guess Who, the Searchers, The Backstreet Boys, Argent, Zager And Evens, otis Reading, O.C.Smith, Michael jackson, The O'jays, 4 jacks And A Jill (Only one song by7 them - "Master Jack" Number-435, Brooks And Dunn, Trisha Yearwood, Avril lavigne, The undisputed Truth, The 5th Dimension, Gerry Rafferty, Mike And The Mechanics, Joe South, The Monkees, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson- (Only One by him - Garden Party - Number-111), johnny nash, johnn mathis, Judy Garland, The amboy dukes, Jimmy Ruffin. Al Steward, The righteous Brouthers, The royal guardsman, Roxette, Ace of Base, Scott mckensie, Helen Reddy, Allanah Miles, Bruce Springstein, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Mams And Papas, Elisa Fiorella, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Midnight Oil, Deep purple, Smokey robinson & the Miracles, Maureen McGovern, The Four Seasons, the Bee Gees, The Association, blue Oyster cult, don McClean, The Doobie Brothers, Barbara Streisand,Janis Ian (Only One - Society's child-Number-186), Rascal Flatts, Bobby Darin, Sade Peter, Paul & Mary, Cindy Lauper, Kate Bush, Melanie, Neil Diamond, Paul Mauriat, Jefferson Airplane/Starship, The Who, The Eagles, TOTO, Johnny Rivers, Seether, Evanescence, Pink, Green Day, Abdel Wright, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lindsey Haun, Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Steely Dan, Jethro Tull, Eric Clapton, The Yarbirds, Crosby-Stills-Nash-and Young, Christina Aguilera, Survivor, Boston, Kathleen Edwards, Queen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sinead O'connor, The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, The Animals, Murray Head, The Moody Blues, Anael, The Wreckers, Joni Mitchell, Clannad, The Cowboy Junkies, Elton John, Gavin Degraw, Josh Groban, Simon And Garfunkel, Pink Floyd, John Mayer, Jennifer Warnes, Leonard Cohen, Cheech & Chong, Little Big Town, Dido, The Wall flowers, The Kingston Trio, Fleetwood Mac, Ashley Monroe, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Roy Orbison, Catie Curtis, The chamber Brothers, Bob Seger, Genesis, The Staple Singers, Don henley, The Fixx, Sly And The Family Stone, Buffalo Springfield, Glen YarbroughThe Everly Brothers, Daniel Peck, Shooter Gennings, Sheena Easton, james Taylor, Janice joplin, Big And Rich, David Bowie, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Incubus, Nine Inch nails, The Goo Goo Dolls, Little Peggy Marsh, Prince, chris Daughtry, Mary J.blige, Brandi Carlile, Trace Adkins, Megadeath, zzs top, nellie Fertado, Sugarland, emerson Drive, Nicholette larson, toby keith, Kieth urban, Nilsson, Gary Wright, Bertie Higgins, Jack ingram, Jake Owens, Craig Morgan, gordon Lightfoot, The Bravery, Foo Fighters, Blcak Sabbath, Phil Vasser, Staind, matchbox Twenty (Rob thomas-Lead singer), robthomas, One Republic, concrete Blonde, constance Denby, fly leaf, cold Play, James blunbt, Dolly parton, Kenny rogers, Dio (ronnie james-lead singer), Alanis Morrissette, Delta Goodrim, Leona Lewis, Dianna Ross And The Supremes, Petula Clark, Leslie Gore - (One song only by her entitled, "You don't Own Me" - Number- 143) Akiko Suwani , and literally HUNDREDS of additional Artists, identified on that list,as well.

At any rate, that should provide an idea of the scope of my list.



Steve B.