I have an iPod jack so I can listen to my iPod in the car. Mother's Day, I expressed a desire to go for a walk. It was windier than I thought - whitecaps on the bay, a dead tree branch suddenly fell out of a willow tree. Anyway, I had my iPod playing on the way to the park. It was in a mellow mood - I remember the last song it played as we got there was Be My Number Two by Joe Jackson. I freaking love Joe Jackson. Then we got out, had our walk, the husband mourned the loss of his hat because the wind whipped it off his head and threw it into the drink, and I didn't care. Perhaps it was retribution for my blasé attitude that he said, "Are we going to listen to your shit music again?" when I got my iPod ready for the ride home.
I have to admit - that hurt. I don't profess to know anything about music, but to quote Genesis - "I know what I like, and I like what I know." And I'm one of those people who can't understand how another person couldn't like a song that I absolutely love. (Yet, there are plenty of songs other people love that I couldn't care less about hearing again. Is that hypocritical?)
Anyway. I have a friend who has similar musical tastes as I (plus he knows a lot about music since he's a musician), and one day he brought up the days when you would make a mixtape, and how you had to get the songs in the right order so everything would flow seamlessly (or about as seamless as you could get). I suggested we each make a cd of songs that really mean something to us, and we could contrast and compare.
So I go to my iTunes and set up a new playlist. However, I quickly realize this is a huge task because some of the songs I thought meant something to me are really songs I enjoy to the nth degree. So I set up another playlist just for those songs. But now I'm wondering - should the songs I enjoy immensely count as meaning something to me, or should I just stick with songs that really do mean something to me (i.e. clearly remind me of someone or a situation I was in, or the words reveal the real me)? I'll give you an example of each.
First up, One by U2. This song reminds me of my mother. Especially the words "Love is a temple/love the higher law/You ask me to enter/but then you make me crawl/And I can't keep holdin' on/to what you got/when all you got is hurt". Speaks volumes about our relationship through the years.
Next up, Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders. This album came out in ... 1979? I have it, and I admit I really bought this album back then because I thought The Pretenders was a really cool name for a band. I still think it's the best name for a band. There was rarely a day this LP wasn't on my turntable.
I still love listening to this song. I can relate to the video - when I was younger, I had many a time caught someone's eye, yet the guy always seemed to have a girlfriend. And there were many times I wanted to shout, "I'm special!" and "I want to have some of your attention, give it to me!", but let's face it, who hasn't felt that way at one time or another?
So there is my dilemma (word association - Nelly). We're talking hundreds of "omg I love this song" compared to not-quite-as-many "this song really means something to me". Also, I don't have all the meaningful songs on iTunes. I wonder ... rather than putting them on cd, would it be easier (yes, I think it would) to blog the songs that mean something to each of us. Only problem is, I don't think my friend has a blog. But at least this way, we could explain why a particular song means something.
You know what, I think I'll go ahead with my idea anyway and bore you, the general public (save it for later), with my, ahem, "shit music". I hope you all enjoy, and I will post a heck of a lot more often.
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