Happy Birthday Dear Jon..Happy Birthday To You!

For those of you non-Jon Bon Jovi fans...allow me to inform you that it is his 47th birthday. Isn't that amazing? The man doesn't look a day over 30. There are some who might say that the man must have sold his soul to be so talented, so successful and so sexy after all of these years. As I sit here on my couch...watching the second wave of snow start to fall...I say to you that I don't care as I am grateful for Jon and all of his greatness regardless of the source. So in honor of his birthday, we are going to postpone the Monday iPod Shuffle and focus on Bon Jovi and his musical greatness.

What better way to do this than to pick and discuss my favorite songs off of each of his albums?

Album: Runaway released in 1982...Best Song "Runaway" - This is a no brainer since this is the song that started it all. There isn't a Bon Jovi fan alive whose heart doesn't start beating faster as soon as you hear the opening chords. There is little wonder as to why Bon Jovi is so successful whenever I listen to this song. It set the standard for all future Bon Jovi songs by being totally rocking as well as providing realistic lyrics. What teenage girl didn't have her own Runaway moment? Best Line: "She don't really mind...it's only love she hoped to find."

Album: 7800 Fahrenheit released in 1985...Best Song "In and Out of Love" - This is the opening track on Bon Jovi's sophomoric album. In all honesty, the album is pretty weak...the worst that the band ever put out. That being said...it's still better than a lot of the shit that was put out during the same time frame. In and Out of Love is your typical rocking Bon Jovi tune. What I like about this song is its honest lyrics. The song is about a powerful and dangerous roller coaster kind of love. Up and down, good and bad, and completely irresistible...both the song and the love it sings about. Best Line: " When we're together, in and out of love, its too much forever."

Album: Slippery When Wet released in 1986...Best Song "Livin' On A Prayer" - First let me say that picking this song is a no brainer and yet I feel guilty for neglecting some of the other awesome tunes on this album. Even if I wasn't such a major Bon Jovi fan I would say that this is one of the greatest albums of all time. Is it any wonder that it produced the greatest song EVER? So I apologize to You Give Love A Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive, Never Say Goodbye, and I'd Die For You (which is my second choice for best song off of this album) but without a doubt Livin' On A Prayer is the winner. It is a song that rocks, a song the inspires, a song that makes everyone want to sing along. It is a song that cannot be described in words as its greatest can only truly appreciated when you listening to it. Best Line: "We've got hold on to what we've got, it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not, we've got each other and that's a lot for love." This might be the greatest line in music history.

Album: New Jersey released in 1988...Best Song "Born To Be My Baby" - This is another album that provides so many great songs that it is hard to pick one. I had to give it some thought and I know that I made the right decision. I based this on the fact that as soon as I hear Jon shout "2,3,4" my heart starts beating faster. It is the type of song that makes you reach to turn up the volume every time you hear it. It is a song that has such amazing lyrics that you cannot help but sing along. It is also the song that I learned the hard way not to use as a ring tone on my cell phone. It is also one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs to sing at the karaoke bar. Hell, it is one my favorite songs period. Best Line: "We've got something to believe in even if we don't know where we stand."

Album: Keep The Faith released in 1992...Best Song "In These Arms" - So this song is one of my all time favorite rock power ballads. It is one of those amazing songs that makes a girls heart melt as her head rocks. Out of all of the Bon Jovi songs, this song is probably my favorite vocally. Jon really out does himself in this one. I will never forget the time I first heard this song in concert...it gave me chills. The song oozes with emotion and overall just completely kicks ass. Even the incredibly cheesy lines kick ass because Jon sings them so well. It is no wonder that Bon Jovi fans welcomed the band back with such open arms after their hiatus with a song like this. Best Line: "I would do anything, I'd beg...I'd steal...I'd die...to have you in these arms tonight."

Album: Crossroads released in 1994...Best Song "Always" - While this is a greatest hits album, there is one new song that is worth being named the best song of the album in its own right. Always came out and it cemented the fact that Bon Jovi had evolved and yet still embraced its roots. This power ballad won the hearts of veteran fans and helped the band gain a ton of new one. It is one of the greatest songs that begs for forgiveness and it would be hard to say no to. I would forgive Jon for any offense if he sang this song to me. Best Line: "It's been raining since you left me now I'm drowning in the flood, you see I've always been a fighter but without you I give up."

Album: These Days released in 1995...Best Song "This Ain't A Love Song" - This song is the only reason that this album is any good. While the previous section was about a great rock power ballad...this is about one of the greatest ballad EVER. Jon described this song as the ultimate love song and I couldn't agree more. If you really listen to the song you know that more romantic and passionate words have never been sung so well before. Best Line: "If the love that I got for you is gone, if the river I cried ain't that long, then I'm wrong, yeah I'm wrong, this ain't a love song."

Album: Crush released in 2000...Best Song "Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars" - Most people are going to disagree with me on my pick since this is the album that has Its My Life which is one of most rocking Bon Jovi songs and it also has Thank You For Loving Me which is the best love song by Bon Jovi but that's okay. The reason that I love Captain Crash so much because it "feels like home to me". I mean that in the sense because the people that the song is about seem wonderfully wacky and I'd like to think of myself as the same. There is something to be said about finding someone who loves your wacky ways and and allows you to completely be yourself around them. No pretenses, no worries, just two people who love it each other for who the other is and how the other makes them feel. This song is a celebration of this and that is why it is my pick for the best song on the album. Best Line: "They're drunk on love as you can get, getting high on lust and cigarettes, living life with no regrets...at least they're gonna try to fly."

Album: Bounce released in 2002...Best Song "Misunderstood" - I think that I like this song simply because we've all there. We've sat back after the fact and realized that if only we had said things differently, there would be a different outcome. When you realize that you have been misunderstood and we not given the chance to explain. It sucks especially when you play back the conversation and think of all of the different ways that you could have responded or importantly when you realize that you can't take back something that you said. This song is all out those moments and it is a comfort to know that Jon has been there and so I am in good company. Best Line: "I should have shut my mouth, things headed south as the words slipped off my tongue, they sounded dumb, if this old heart could talk, it'd say you're the one...I'm wasting time when I think about it."

Album: 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong released in 2004...Best Song "The Radio Saved My Life Tonight" - I think that you have to be a music obsessed freak like me to really appreciate this song. It is the perfect song to describe the effect that music can have on me. The song talks about being in a low mood and how the right song can totally change your mood. The right song at the right can make the world feel right again. I have often said that Jon's belief if the magic of music is one of the things that makes him so special to me because I too have that belief. Some people laugh at me for it but the truth is that I feel bad for those people who don't. This song is all about the magic of music and that is why it is one of the best songs by the band. Best Line: "Radio saved my life tonight, an old song that that DJ played made me feel alright".

Album: Have A Nice released in 2005...Best Song "Dirty Little Secret" - Most American fans don't know this song since it was only released overseas. WTF Bon Jovi? Regardless, it is my favorite track off of this album because it is a very sexy song. It is a simple as that. Best Line "We made a promise and we'll keep it our dirty little secret."

Album: Lost Highway released in 2007...Best Song "(You Want To) Make A Memory" - OK so I have written about this song several times before and I am sure that I will probably write about it again. I am also sure that I write differently each time that I write about it...but one thing remains the same...and that is that it is the sexiest song ever sung by Bon Jovi. Truthfully I am in love with this song. It is one of those songs that makes me stop whatever I am doing in order to truly listen to the lyrics. The lyrics hit home with me because it makes me feel better about my belief that love doesn't have to last forever if it is wonderful while it lasts. It reminds me to be grateful for moments in time that make up the memories. This song is almost too good to listen to...almost. Best Line: "Baby just, breathe there’s no where else tonight we should be...you wanna make a memory?"

Well folks...we have just traveled through the entire run of the Bon Jovi and covered some amazing tunes. Now after all of this can you honestly say that you are not grateful for the birth of this musical genius?

Happy Birthday Jon!