top 10 songs that define me

Top 10 Songs that Define Me

I think everyone has a top 10 play list (or lists). I mean, really, they are the best of the best of the soundtrack to your life! I love music. It is always on in my house and holds a high priority on the needs/wants spending list every month when it come to newly released albums, concert t-shirts and tickets, and downloads on itunes. My husband gave me a Spanish guitar a few years back and on the case he wrote the quote:  

"If music be the food of love, play on"....

-William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

Unfortunately, he wrote it in black permanent marker on a black case, but I memorized it. I think it every time I open up any of my instrument cases.

  

So here is my top 10 play list that helped define me...in no particular order. Feel free to post yours in the comment section and I will share those as well! Music is a best when it is shared!

Just. Press. Play.

10. Let Down, by Radiohead. And though the song title sounds a bit dreary (the lyrics are as well), it is actually musically one of the most uplifting songs to me. I love Radiohead and OK Computer was life changing for a lot of us. I have always felt like this song is best listened to ultra loud. Once you get to the last of the crescendos if stirs something in your gut that makes you feel like you can over come anything! Thom Yorke's voice all layered like that is beyond beautiful.

let down<--click here

(additional info) Even though OK Computer came out when I was 18 I didn't really really love this song until I was working as a barista in Pensacola,  Florida for just above minimum wage at the local coffee house, et' Cafe. Every night that I had to close I would put this song on full blast and imagine myself expanding into some better version of me....I always came home to our little bungalow full of small children content.

(other additional info) For the record, every person I worked with at that coffee house was incredible. I still keep in contact with almost all of them and feel like no other group of people influenced my adult views more than they did. So here's to you et' Cafe. And sorry Gio for making you listen to this so much.

9. Coast of Marseilles, by Jimmy Buffett. Ok. I know a lot of you are going to judge me for this one....but seriously give it a listen. I love me a good sad love song. It is super old school and off of his Son of a Son of a Sailor album which was a late 70's release. That being said, the album came into my 90's midwesterner hands at age 14. For the record...it is all my parents fault. They started taking me to Florida every summer and all of the sudden I was filled with this longing that I couldn't explain but somehow, this song was like a salve.

Actually, my sense of style was greatly influenced by the feel a lot of his songs created... and worn out jeans, flip flops and tank tops are still the go-to look for me.

Coast of Marseilles<--click here

(additional info) In 1992 the box set called Boats, Beaches, Bars, and Ballads came out. I bought it in 1993 at the music store in the mall and kept the CD's on heavy rotation during the winter to stave off the blues. I still do this.

8. Sweet Jane, Cowboy Junkies. In 1994 Natural Born Killers was released. I had to sneak into this movie at the theater with a purchased ticket to Forrest Gump. Hearing this Velvet Underground song breathily (<---not sure that is a word) covered by Margo Timmins punctuated by hollow guitar made me feel something I had never felt before. I think the word would be sensual but at the time it was more like the feeling you get when the breeze is a bit too cool but you forgot your jacket so your arm hair keeps standing up forcing you to shiver every little bit. Many will say that a cover can never be as good as the original, but for me this isn't even the same song Lou Reed sang.

sweet jane<click here

(additional info) I don't know think the movie was half as good as the soundtrack, which I think was actually pretty incredible. And for music purists here is the original.  sweet jane Velvet Underground

7. Bad Town, Operation Ivy. I started my punk phase in about 8th grade. I liked hardcore, but preferred the style that had the throwback roots of early rock. This was my favorite punk song (long live Cali punk!). There will be many many many of you who will say this isn't punk but ska, I agree, sort of. This was a beautiful blend and I love the entire album. (So does GOGO)! This whole time in my life was a technicolor dream of hair dye, Anarchy t-shirts, skateboards, Vans, and local shows!  

bad town<--click here

(additional information) I did not go through this part of my life alone. Strangely, many of us in the mid 90's sort of discovered punk in a swarm and KC music scene was pretty darn cool. Westport has never been as sweet since.

6. Wake Up, Arcade Fire....Wow! Where do I begin. The first time I heard the Funeral album in 2005 was in the car (named Miranda, it was red) of one of my kindred souls, Cat (silly traveling vagabond). It was so different than the music I was listening to at the time. It rocked my world, in a good way! I played that album on repeat for months. This song is the best of the best when it come to anthems...seriously...the opening guitar rift lights a fire in you that makes you feel like you can take on the world...while dancing your ass off. It was the one song that could make my angry little Beck arch his back and primal scream with joy. To hear this song live is beyond moving. 

wake up<--click here

(additional info) Arcade Fire is seriously like one of the best bands of our generation...they are both musically beyond words and awesome  as humans.  So awesome in fact, that if you bug them enough they will let you work with their charity Arcade Fire <3 Haiti check it....and give you tickets to their concert....and let you be a part of the show. So for your viewing pleasure...check out the Reflector Tour KC pics!)

Opening Number...SWEET

5.  Take a Chance on Me, ABBA. I am not even kind of embarrassed about this....(well, maybe a bit). Here's the deal. My mom was an aerobics instructor while I was growing up so she was always listening to dance music to choreograph her routines. She LOVED ABBA. We listened to it all the time. Everywhere. While cleaning, in the car, at her studio. It never stopped. ABBA is forever embedded in my psyche. Then I had one of the best friends a girl could ask for in high school. She loved dancing as much as I did. She had an Erasure tape that was nothing but ABBA covers. BEST TAPE EVER! We spent countless friday nights at a nightclub called Pogo's and every time we drove there we listened to the Erasure tape. We were pretty fly dancers (just sayin) and had some of the best 90's pleather dance getups ever.

take a chance<--click here

(additional info) I never saw the Mama Mia musical or movie.  Not really sure why, except that I am afraid it will usurp  the memories ABBA already lives in in my mind. And it looked sort of lame.

4.Going to California, Led Zeppelin. It is really hard for me to pick a single LZ song as I still feel like most all of them are pretty much amazing! This song and all it's lyrics really hit home for me. It's like this song was made to be roamed to. I would sit in my room and listen to this song on repeat in 7th grade dreaming of my cross-country adventures that were only a few years away. I never took those adventures...actually, I have never even been to California, but my son Beck has the middle name California. When asked why, I always respond that "California has always sounded like it would be pretty cool." My husband was there just last month. He said it was, indeed. Actually, once I realized I was a long way off from doing just about anything, I started giving my children States for middle names so they would strike out and see something. My time will come.

going to california <--click here

(additional info) The first time I ever heard this song was on vinyl. Seriously. (jealous) I will never forget it. I was sitting in my friends basement and her step dad has the most AH-mazing record collection ever....including tiny memorabilia like bumper stickers, old news paper clips, pictures, grade cards, letters and the occasional pot leaf tucked in among them. I learned  a lot about music in that basement, and fell in love with Led.

3. Hello Again, Neil Diamond. Man, I love Neil Diamond. Like...so much. When I was a kid my dad came home from a business trip with a Neil Diamond the Jazz Singer Piano sheet music book...(well they came home on the same day). I don't know why. I don't even know if he got it on the business trip. I actually don't even know if it was for me, but I claimed it. The only song he ever wanted me to play was Hello Again. So I learned it and made it better (to me) with my own twist and style. I was in 5th grade when I really remember him sitting down and actually singing the song. He did it in all seriousness and that was the first time I think I ever really saw my dad as more than just....well......my dad. He loved that song. I am sure he still does, but maybe not in the way you do when you are young.
hello again<--click here 

(additional info) Coming to America was also in this soundtrack. If you ever want to sing an epic song that get the crown involved...sing Coming to America during a karaoke outing....someone will buy you a drink. I promise.

2. If I could Only Fly, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. I love Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson and their Texas Country style. The delivery and phrasing can capture images in your mind as well as the best story teller. I mean, I love this song. Funny thing....neither of these gents wrote this. It was written by the late (great) Blaze Foley. This song carries a priceless memory in my heart.....If I could only fly....

if I could only fly<--click here

(additional info) These 2 men are about perfection to me. Even as a kid I wanted to be like them.  As a singer songwriter I desire to deliver my heart on my sleeve the way they do.  I feel like no one else in music influences me as much as they do....<3

1. First Day of My Life, Bright Eyes. I have sooooo many memories tied to this song. I remember hearing it for the first time and crying. I remember seeing the video for the first time and crying harder. I love the beauty and simplicity that this song displays. I was the best man in my brothers wedding and I convinced my friend Stephen to play this song as a surprise during the toast. I married my friend Stephen after I fell in love with him watching him play this song. I love this song. I love Connor Oberst and his way with words. Check out Bright Eyes. You will not be disappointed. He may even contribute to you finding love!

first day of my life<--click her and watch the video

(I have no additional info)

So there you have it...The top 10 songs that have helped make me who I am today. Hope you enjoyed and as always thanks for reading!
And Remember...when it comes to music...JUST. PRESS. PLAY.