Set Break

Someone has their window down. I hear a ripple of melody as I pull to the stoplight. I smile, “US Blues” brings me to the bleachers at Rich Stadium on a drizzly 4th of July…. Thanks, RAV4 driver-person — you just made my commute.

Given the relentless barrage of news and growing struggle for rights thought already won — every now and then, music has to reach up through the starved mindscape and Pied Piper humanity to a better state.

Or maybe it’s just me.

I saw this questionnaire — “21 songs of your life”. It was so happy-making, and thinking about the songs made me nostalgic in that good way — you know where the little flickers of warmth curl around the edges of your memory, glowing it orange and gold.

Feel free to share your songs…

1. is your personal anthem  
   1. ➔ Mi Vida Loca [Pam Tillis] or
   2. ➔ I Take my Chances [Mary Chapin Carpenter] or
   3. ➔ Feel Good (Neon Trees)
      • free-spirited and running barefoot in the surf, book in hand curled by a hearth, eyes wide exploring a new city
2. was your personal anthem in high school
   1. ➔ Get up & Go [the Go-Gos] or
   2. ➔ And She Was [Talking Heads]
      • dreamy, eager, waiting for everything to start, vulnerable yet cocky
3. 1st song alphabetically on your playlist.
   1. ➔A Girl Worth Fighting For [from Mulan]
      • yes, Disney
4. last song alphabetically on your playlist.
   1. ➔2000 Miles [the Pretenders]
      • I wanted my voice to have that throaty purr…
5. is from the 80s
   1. ➔ Graceland [Paul Simon] or
   2. ➔ Modern Love [David Bowie]
      • geniuses — though the 80s had shoulder pads & Reagan — the music made up for a lot
6. from a cartoon in your childhood
   1. ➔ Meet the Flintstones [Branford/Sting – noodling on a making of the Blue Turtles DVD]
      • about 45 seconds of utter joy
7. from a favorite movie
   1. ➔ Can’t Take my Eyes off of you [the melty scene from 10 Things I hate about you]
      • the romantic gesture should never become extinct, even in an age of “swipe right” relationships
8. A song that reminds you of your parents
   1. ➔ Hey, Good Lookin’ [Hank Williams]
      • Daddy coming into the kitchen and whirling Mama from the stove, spoon in hand, singing “what you got cookin”?
9. you crank up in the car
   1. ➔ Changin of the Seasons [Two Door Cinema Club] or
   2. ➔ Wagon Wheel [OCMS]
      • new beginnings and home
10. you like from a different genre’ than your usual
    1. ➔ Enter Sandman [Metallica]
       • kind of a cheat, because it crossed over & became so popular, it’s just inky and envelopes you
11. was a junior high/middle school “slow song”
    1. ➔ Hard to Say I’m Sorry [Chicago]
       • couple skate, the swaying back & forth of a slow dance with the shy glances into each other’s eyes
12. is a good drinking/partying song
    1. ➔ Iko Iko [Grateful Dead]
       • It’s laughter, music, dancing and partying jumbled together in a cocktail
13. A song that has made you cry.
    1. ➔ Seasons of Love [from Rent]
       • I love the song, the musical — shortly after my Dad’s funeral, I remember this playing as I looked out the passenger window of the car, those quiet tears dripping off my chin…..
14. A song that reminds you of your “first love”
    1. ➔ Fields of Gold [Sting]
       • drowsy, bronzy days, high ceilings, capturing words and sighs, lifetimes & minutes
15. A song that  someone has sung to you
    1. ➔ She’s Got a Way [Billy Joel]
       • a boy in high school, a two-week crush — and a lovely soundtrack
16. you share with a sibling
    1. ➔ Side by Side [one enormously tipsy summer night with my younger Brother]
       • there are very few times in life you will ever see me perform karaoke — that night was one such time
17. reminds you of a friend
    1. ➔ Grenade [Bruno Mars]
       • or really anything of his — she’s kind of a fangirl, and I don’t blame her — he’s quite adorable
18. reminds you of summertime
    1. ➔ Dixie Storms [Lone Justice]
       • I miss thunderstorms back home so much — when the sky turned to ink, and lightning streaked the sky while thunder shook the floor.
19. is a favorite song in another language
    1. ➔ Sympathique [Pink Martini]
       • it’s not a happy song if you take the time to translate, yet the boppy words in French make you forget you’re not working, not eating and sitting around smoking all day….
20. little-known from a favorite artist, Side B
    1. ➔ A Remark you Made [Weather Report, side B of Birdland]
       • probably not as popular as Birdland, because well, Birdland — Remark just has something sultry and rhythmic about it
21. is currently playing
    1. ➔ Paisley Park [Prince]
       • there should always be Prince playing somewhere….

A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” ― Leopold Stokowski or
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” ― Plato

Take care,
Aly