I'm inventing a meme

[chuckro]

This was vaguely inspired by xavcat.

Name six of your favorite songs, then discuss when you first heard them/why they caught your ear/why you like them.


1. "Famous" - Vertical Horizon

My interest in Vertical Horizon began in the summer after freshman year, during my month in Philadelphia working for AirClic. I listened to the radio a lot during that summer, and watched a fair amount of MTV (the cable was weird and we only got a few channels), and as luck would have it, most of the popular bands that year were styles I like--Nine Days, Blink 182, SR-71, and Vertical Horizon. I downloaded everything I could find by VH when I got back to school, and discovered that I liked the earlier, more accoustic stuff better than the later, heavier-rock stuff of theirs. And this song in particular is a catchy tune about what's important in life.

This song also has the distinction of being the one Rebecca and I were singing when I proposed. So I suspect it'll stay with me for the rest of my life.

2. "88 Lines About 44 Women" - The Nails

I actually downloaded this accidentally, because it had been mis-labeled as a They Might Be Giants track. Then I listened to it and had a flashback to hearing a heavily-edited version of it at a roller rink when I was, like, eight. And the lyrics remind me of my dating history, occasionally.

3. "(Climb On) A Back That's Strong" - Shawn Colvin

I found Shawn Colvin's "A Few Small Repairs" and Meredith Brooks' "Blurring the Edges" in a discount bin sometime during high school, and bought them both on a whim. Both are excellent albums for completely different reasons. I kinda got bored with Colvin until I was looking around the RecEx freshman year and found a copy of "Fat City", and the cycle began again. Though a number of her songs are good (and only somewhat sappy) "in-love" songs, this one has an optimal match of strong and tender--the last verse is the key to the whole thing.

4. "Louder Than Words" - tick, tick...Boom!

Before my sister discovered the joys of high-speed internet at college, she'd have me download and make mixes for her of tracks she liked. More often than not, I'd leave these track in my playlist if I didn't already have them, because Sam has good taste in music. Relatively few of them inspired me to go search for the whole album, but this was one of them. In some ways, I think tick, tick...Boom! was a better musically-designed show than Rent.

5. "Worlds Apart" - Jude Cole

One of many songs that I heard an acappella version first (UPenn Off the Beat, maybe?) and then went looking for the original track. Do know how many diiferent [reasonably well-known] songs are titled "Worlds Apart"? At least half a dozen.

6. "Change Your Mind" - Sister Hazel

I heard Dan Johnson do this at karaoke night at Campus Club during senior year, and instantly became a Sister Hazel fan. This song is very good for getting me out of funks (well, when I want to get out of them--sometimes you just gotta have that funk).

Comments

[tigermelp.livejournal.com]

That is kind of funny...Sister Hazel always makes me think of Dan, too...but it's because he would listen to them in his car and he gave me rides sometimes (at home, mostly...and once to Jenny's in NJ).

[hutubachick.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! I have good taste in music! :)

Also, can you send me "Change Your Mind"? That's a great song!

[emsical.livejournal.com]

(1) By My Side from Godspell -- Because it's harmony, poetry, tears and smiles all in one. And I've sung it onstage, and that always changes everything. (That reminds me, do you have any recording of you in "Beowolf" you could email me?)

(2) I Miss You by Incubus -- Because my friend Alison put it on the first mix tape she ever made me, and I love it's very different beat.

(3) This is Halloween from Nightmare Before Christmas -- Because it's...just gorgeously dark.

(4) In the Car by Barenaked Ladies -- Because it was the first song I heard use the word "masturbation," and it is a damn sexy song. Also reminds me of my relationship with Johnny.

(5) Fever by Nana Visitor -- Because she was on a piano. Wearing red. And I turned a matching shade.

(6) Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Jane Monheit -- Because she turns the notes all around the universe into a beautiful montage of sky, heartache, and soothing purrs of singing.

Music makes me poetic. :)

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I actually have a copy of the entire Beowulf CD that I think I originally burned for you, way back when (and then I broke up with Sue and we fell out of contact for a while). You're welcome to it the next time I see you, or I could rip the tracks and send them to you.