Blog tag: 20 Tracks

No one tagged me with this series of questions. I stole it. From here. I have a very good reason for doing this. But you have to read all 20 items to get to the valid reason at the end. On your mark..., get set..., go!

20 Tracks

1. A track from your early childhood
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel. It was the first non-church song I ever learned. Mom was driving me to school, I was probably about 8 or 9. It was raining, and we were late. We were never allowed to miss school for anything, and being late was a heinous sin, so I was stunned when mom pulled up in front of the school and told me to sit in the car and listen to this song that had just come on the radio. I watched the raindrops hit the windshield and listend to the feather-light voice of Art Garfunkel tell me that I would never be alone. Life for me changed forever that morning.

2. A track that you associate with your first love
"All I Have To Do Is Dream" by the Everly Brothers. I was 12, it was high summer, and he was away for 2 months visiting his mom in another state. I think I listened to that song every single night for those 2 months. Only summer in my entire life when I wished school would hurry up and start again.

The other song that always takes me back is "This Magic Moment," by The Drifters. That was the song that was playing the first time we/I ever slow-danced. We were holding each other as far apart as our arms could reach, and suddenly he pulled me in next to his body, violating the "there must be light visible between you" rule of catholic school dances. To this day I have never felt such exhileration as I did then, and I have never forgotten the way he smelled. (Are you reading this, my dearest? Do you remember that dance? You were so fucking cute that night, with your slicked back hair and leather jacket and rolled up jeans!)

3. A track that reminds you of a holiday trip
"500 Miles" by Peter, Paul, & Mary. We were driving to Alabama to visit my paternal grandfather, whom I hadn't seen in about 10 years. It was our first ever family road trip. It was springtime and we were heading south (on I-75?) through Kentucky. Mom commented how funny it was that that song should come on just then, as we were almost exactly 500 miles from home. I looked out the window at the bright green grass, blooming redbud trees, and horses playing in the pastures.

4. A track that you like but wouldn't want to be associated with in public
"Mmm-bop" by Hansen. The less said the better.

5. A track that accompanied you when you were lovesick
"Ghost," by the Indigo Girls. Best song about unrequited lover EVER. That song got me through a lot of heartache.

6. The track you have listened to most often
According to iTunes it's "Keep the Customer Satisfied" by Simon and Garfunkel. Sounds about right. God, what brass. More rock music should have brass in it.

7. A track that is your favourite instrumental
Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." I could write an entire novel based soley on memories I have that are associated with that piece, from Thanksgiving when I was a kid to my best friend's violin recital my junior year of college. I know every movement by heart and I cannot hear it witout weeping like a willow tree.

8. A track that represents one of your favourite bands
"Rocket" by Def Leppard. Best drumbeat ever.

9. A track which best represents yourself
Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls?" Ha ha, just kidding. More like "Somebody To Love." Fucking story of my life. Oh hold on, here we go: "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?/It Sucks To Be Me," from the musical Avenue Q. Yep, that's the one.

10. A track which reminds you of a special person
"Get 'em In Again" by the illustrious Mr. H. Monsters, because he wrote and performed it. (By the way, what's the actual title of that song? That's how I've got listed on my 'puter, but I have no idea what you named it.)

11. A track to which you can relax
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum. Great tune, and makes an allusion to the Canterbury Tales. Wierdly, I fell in love with that tune years before I'd ever heard of the CTs, let alone read it. Call it fate.

12. A track that stands for a really good time in your life
Promise not to laugh? "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve. Springtime in Connecticut, 2nd year of uni. Everything was perfect that spring. Surrounded by caring friends, challenging profs, and blue skies. Did all my work that semester lying in the grass below my dorm room window. Every afternoon someone would put their speakers in their window and serenade the quad. Inevitably, Bittersweet Symphony was on the playlist. The whole campus smelled like viburnum.

13. A track that is currently your favourite
"Hard Love" by June Tabor. Also Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujia." Another case of discovering a teriffic artist after he's died. Jesus that's frustrating.

14. A track that you'd dedicate to your best friend
"Power of Two" by the Indigo Girls.

15. A track that you like especially for its lyrics
That's pretty much everything. I don't listen to music if I think the lyrics are shit, but I can zing a few of my favs at you. Lesse here, "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer than They Are" by Meat Loaf springs to mind, along with pretty much anyting Paul Simon ever wrote, and "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" by John Denver is always good for a giggle. "The Waters of March" by Art Garfunkel is also really cool, and you can't beat Tom Lerher for rhyming genius, as exemplified by "We Will All Go Together When We Go."

16. A track that no one likes but you
"I Try" by Macie Gray. For some reason whenever that tune comes on the radio everyone wants to change the station except me. I love her husky voice and the undulating beat of the song. But someone else out there must like it or they wouldn't play it on the radio so often, right?

17. A track that you like that's neither English nor German
"Volare'" by the Gypsy Kings. Anything by the Gypsy Kings, really. Awesome ensemble.

18. The track that best lets you release tension
"Livin' On a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. No matter how foul or festering my mood all I have to do is get in the car, put the windows down and the volume up and sing at the top of my lungs. I am instantly transformed from snivelling, insecure, weepy woman to invincible, wonderwoman extraordinare. Works every time.

19. A track you want to be played at your funeral
I honestly can't think of one. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

20. A track that you'd nominate for the "Best Track of All Time" category.
Oh, sure, no problem. I'll just name one song out of the billions that have been written and sung and declare it the best, shall i? Fuck. Fine, here goes:
"Unchained Melody," by the Righteous Brothers. Classic. Cannot be improved upon.


Ok, so why did I have the cheek to rip this list off Tim Footman when he didn't tag me? Because Here Be Monsters hasn't posted anything in ages, and so I'm tagging HIM. (I figured if I could get him to write about anything, it would be a list of his favourite tunes. I'm sneaky that way.) So there you go, Herebe; consider youself tagged.