My Soundtrack...

i've been thinking long and hard about how to respond to all of the emails that i received after posting 'james earl jones and a liter of bourbon' a few weeks back. i tried to respond to as many as i could, but i must say that eventually started copying and pasting my response, as it was far too much to type over and over again. i especially enjoyed all of the comments along the lines of 'chocolate rain' is a catchy song, but i don't get him at all... to this day, my friends, i don't either. my guess would be that tay zonday's popularity stems from the curiosity of people wondering: is he serious? could he be serious? this has to be a joke, and the like. curiosity has killed the cat this time, making his youtube videos some of the most popular on the site. and with hit counters jumping, it must just fuel his desire to make more, because he thinks everyone just loves his music.

so the majority of the emails were asking about the music that i listen to, and frequently included a question about 'do you listen to ________?' so do i make a list? do i jumble together a few short lists by genre? i still don't know as i sit here typing this, how it will come together, but i'll figure it out and make it work.

let me start off by saying this: music is a huge part of my life, without it things would be so boring. could you imagine a movie without a soundtrack? a play without a score? a roadtrip without an ipod? music is amazing, the way it can transport you somewhere else or hold you in a moment forever... a time, a place, a person, can be subconsciously ingrained in your memory forever with a simple tune or lyric...

if you asked about my 'favorite' music, i would say: what genre? what day? what's my mood? my taste in music is ever-changing and ever-expanding. i tend to circle around old classics like james taylor, csny, cat stevens & carole king, with a little weather report, mixed with a lot of maroon 5, topped with a healthy helping of justin timberlake and jason mraz, garnished with a dollop of zach macko & far north and a sprinkling of colbie caillat. cipes and the people is simmering in my cd player right now, with lady antebellum on the back burner, and billy joel's "summer, highland falls" has been on the last ump-teen playlists i've made. i listen to music to rock out at times and veg out at others. imogen heap goes well with a nice dinner, while cascada goes really well with dancing, and harry chapin always relaxes me. what more can i say? music is me.

so i came across an interesting bulletin on myspace the other day, where you put your itunes on shuffle, and fill in the songs as they pop up to make your 'life soundtrack.' i figured that would be a good list to fill in, without the shuffle mode of course, to tell you a bit more about me and the tunes that i listen to. so, if my life had a soundtrack, it would look something like this...

BEGINNING CREDITS: rain king - counting crows
WAKING UP: sleeping to dream - jason mraz
MOM: 100 years - five for fighting
DAD: cat in the cradle - harry chapin
MY SISTER RO: wagon wheel - old crow medicine show
MY SISTER CHRISTI: least complicated - the indigo girls
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: fly - cipes and the people
FALLING IN LOVE: magic - colbie caillat
FIRST SONG: tiny dancer - elton john
BREAKING UP: summer, highland falls - billy joel
POP SONG: love song - sara bareilles
THE HIGH SCHOOL YEARS: yearbook - hanson
PROM: time after time - cyndi lauper
FIGHT SONG: enemy - sevendust
LIFE: everyday - james taylor/life - keller williams
THE COLLEGE YEARS: the world ain't slowing down - ellis paul
DRUNKEN STUPOR: willow tree - g. love & the special sauce
MENTAL BREAKDOWN: pacing the cage - jimmy buffett
STARTING OVER: going away - the clark family experience
DRIVING: southern cross - crosby, stills, nash & young
ENTERING THE 'REAL WORLD': billy - james blunt
GETTING BACK TOGETHER: caught up in you - .38 special
MID-LIFE CRISIS: fool in the rain - led zeppelin
WEDDING: only you - yazoo
BIRTH OF CHILD: float on - modest mouse
REFLECTING ON LIFE: tapestry - carole king/heartbeats - jose gonzales
HOLIDAYS: celebrate me home - kenny loggins
THE 'SENIOR' YEARS: reelin' in the years - steely dan
FINAL BATTLE: numb/encore - jay-z & linkin park
FLASHBACK: here in this diary - the ataris
DEATH SCENE: falling down - ben jelen
FUNERAL: the only promise that remains - reba mcentire & justin timberlake
END CREDITS: the words - zach macko & far north/simple man - lynyrd skynyrd
BLOOPERS: can't get it right today - joe purdy

of course that's not all of my favorites, but it's a good selection of the music i love. it's strongly riddled with indie artists from myspace, as much of the time that's where the great music really comes from...