Yesterday afternoon, after my run, I sat in my usual stretching place in our yard (exactly under the spot where the sycamore and the plum tree touch limbs, so it's all lacy contrast) to, well, stretch. I was on that blissed-out wave that comes after a good run, and then I realized: ummm, hello Amy, you are singing out loud.
The song? Dave Matthews' "The Space Between" which has lately become my favorite post-run-stretching song. I heard it on the radio a couple of weeks ago and remembered how much I love it. As I stretched and did a little bit of pilates (yep, right there on the grass...my neighbors are used to this by now, although I usually try not to sing out loud because, well, we all know what my voice sounds like) I thought about the other songs I have been listening to lately. Tunes sort of come and go in my rotation...sometimes I'll get hooked on one or two songs and listen to them over and over until I can't stand them, and other times I'm completely OK with random. Still, certain songs start to become associated with certain time periods. At any rate, my post-run sing/stretch made me think I wanted to write about a few of my current faves, just because. (And, yes, I am thoroughly aware that most of them aren't really "current." That's just how I flow.)
- "Song Away" by Hockey. I mostly tend to listen to the lyrics when I listen to music, rather than the music itself. (Is that weird?) This song is a good blend of both though. "This ain't no Roxy music"? Maybe not...but it's still awesome. Like...awesome with an 80's groove. ;)
- "1,000 Oceans" by Tori Amos. This is from some movie soundtrack or other. It sounds like the old Tori whom I loved. Plus, no music list would be complete for me without at least one Tori Amos song. A sort of Haley-Amy theme song, although she'd roll her eyes at that idea! (Haley, not Tori.)
- "LoveGame" by Lady Gaga. Honestly: I am ashamed and embarrassed and horrified to admit I like this song. My gothy roots are vomiting in protest. My motherly protective instinct is rising up. My "I only like intelligent stuff" credo is trembling. This really is a horrid and nasty song. But it's also got a rhythm that matches my running gait. Yeah. I don't know if you can dance to it, but you can definitely run to it.
- "Any Second Now" by Depeche Mode. OK, you're right. This song is, like, twenty years old. At least. But suddenly I can't stop listening to it. The simpleness, perhaps. The building tension of the chords. That first line—"she remembers all the shadows and the doubts, the same film." It's short, let's listen to it again!
- "Eye" by Eve's Plum. Sometimes I'll hear a song somewhere—Grey's Anatomy, maybe?—fall in instant love, and download it. Then I forget where I first heard it. This song is in that category. It's sort of funky and random, hardcore-ish and mellow, depending on the spot.
- "When the Stars Go Blue" by Bono + The Corrs. Yet another old-ish song. I used this once for a title on a scrapbook layout. That Irish lilt to their voices never wears thin in my ears. "Where do you go when you're lonely?" I love that line!
- "Mad About You" by Sting. (OK, I'll stop with the this-is-an-old-song asides. You know me well enough by now, right?) I'd forgotten about this song for years until suddenly it turned up on my MP3 player. I don't know how it got there, but it was the first song that came up when I ran the Moab Other Half and it's been in heavy rotation since. It came out when Kendell and I were dating and if we had had dancing and/or a wedding song at our nuptials, this would have been it. Even though it's really about David (you know...in the Bible). It's such a gorgeous song.
- "Just Say Yes" by Snow Patrol. For a slow-ish song, this one is oddly fast and is, somehow, perfect for running to. Kaleb also likes it, although he calls it "that gosh-sakes song."
- "Wouldn't it be Good" by the Danny Hutton Hitters. I caught the tail end of Pretty in Pink last week (the part where Andy yells at Blaine by his locker—love that) and now I can't stop listening to this song. It is a classic.
- "Undercover" by Pete Yorn. I can't help it. I love Pete Yorn. Pete Yorn, I love you. In the same bullet I'll also mention that "Break Up" is equally awesome, although don't you know I'm way prettier than Scarlett Johansson? ;) Just kidding. She's gorgeous and I need to get over my schoolgirl infatuation. Squeeee!
- "Gives you Hell" by All-American Rejects. But only when my kids can't hear it.
- Almost the entire Alice in Wonderland soundtrack, Almost Alice. Robert Smith! Avril Lavigne! Grace Potter & the Nocturnals! I can almost put up with the Owl City song. (have I mentioned: I detest and loathe and hate and am strongly against that lightening-bug song. BUGS ME!) It could only be better if Pete Yorn had a song on it, too. (Have I also mentioned how much I love the spot in Alice in Wonderland when Johnny D/Mad Hatter talks about Alice losing her muchness? Probably I love it because I might have lost some of my own muchness. But still.)
- Violent Femmes by Violent Femmes. You know, the good album, with all the good songs on it. I recently rediscovered my copy of this CD and it makes me happy to listen to it again. It takes me back to one exact moment driving in Chris's little red car (WHAT kind of car was the cherry, Chris?) on a warm afternoon just before school was out for the year—a summoning sense of freedom.
So, tell me (or even better...tell me you blogged about it!): what tunes are limning your life right now?
Holiday Hodgepodge #1: A Christmas Cornucopia
Sometimes I have to come at a goal sideways. For example, I always want to blog more, but in November I had an unwritten and undeclared goal to blog every day. The fact that I didn't announce it made it easier, somehow, to actually blog every day. When I finally missed a day, the lack of "I'm blogging everyday!" pronouncements gave me permission to just start up again without labeling myself as a failure. I was able to push closer towards my blog-everyday-goal (20 out of 30 days) simply by not making a public declaration.
See? Coming at a goal sideways.
I'm going to try a more direct approach this month, however. I really wouldlike to make an entire month of blogging. So! Onward and upward through December. In the spirit of the month, I'm planning a whole bunch of December-Christmas-Holiday related posts. A Holiday Hodgepodge, if you will. Which brings me directly to today's topic: Christmas music.
I've blogged before about my Christmas-music tastes. Right now I am especially and still and thoroughly in love with Tori Amos's Midwinter Graces and Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong. But! Today I fell in love with a new CD, Annie Lennox's A Christmas Cornucopia. As any self-respecting alternative music fan would, I have a long-standing relationship with Annie Lennox. Is there anything better than "Love is a Stranger"? And of course I already own her rendition of "Winter Wonderland."
But! This CD—an entire album of songs sung by Ms. Lennox herself—is gorgeous. I love her voice—distinctive and strong. Nearly all my favorite carols are here. Only missing is The Carol of the Bells, which no one really sings much, anyway. And her version of The Holly and The Ivy? Oh my. I think I have listened to it 507 times today. It is SO GOOD. The whole CD is divine, in fact.
So divine that I can forgive the horridly awfully terribly bad cover:
Annie Lennox in puffy sleeves and a beatific feminine pose? My alt roots are quivering. Dear Annie: tell me this is meant to be ironic? Please?
An added bonus: Amazon has tons of Christmas albums available as $5.00 downloads. Too much for me to resist!
Posted by AmySorensen on Wednesday, December 01, 2010 at 04:08 PM in Holidays, Music Commentary | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)