Meme Time: 25 Songs

1. A song from your childhood. The Dreams of Children. Wow, I hadn’t thought of this song for 20 years. My mother bought a CD player when they were expensive curiosities and I remember sliding in my socks on the hardwood floor of the long, new, not-yet-furnished living room. And I remember the name Shadowfax because my father had been reading us the Lord of the Rings.
2. A song that reminds you of your most recent ex. King of Anything.
3. A song that reminds you of one/both of your parents. The Lion Sleeps Tonight. My father was sick while his sisters kept playing this record, so he had jungle fever dreams.
4. A song that calms you down. Breathe (2 a.m.). I know, it’s about abortion and alcoholism. But it was on my iPod when I traveled a lot, so I got in the habit of using it to help put me to sleep. I remember being in a suite overlooking Michigan Avenue with this song after a long day at the convention center.
5. A song that is often stuck in your head. Black and Yellow. It’s the most pointless song ever, but those are generally the ones that get stuck.
6. A song that reminds you of a best friend. Jump Jive An’ Wail. It reminds me of black pants and dollar pizza and basement frat parties and a couple of guys who were totally not anybody’s boyfriend.
7. A song that reminds you of the past summer. California Gurls.
8. A song that reminds you of your “first love”. Daydream Believer. That Davy Jones had me wrapped around his (little) little finger. I was eight, and the Monkees were on Nick at Nite, and my father let slip that those weren’t newly-airing programs, and oh, I cried.
9. A song that makes you hopeful. Let it Be – the arrangement from “Across the Universe”.  I don’t know if “hope” is right – but it makes me remember that worse things have happened, that things get better, that there’s Someone we can go to.
10. A song by your favorite band. Singular? Who has a favorite? The Beatles, Freemasons, Jackson Browne, Jay-Z…. not only do I not have one favorite, but my favorites have nothing in common. So I choose I Believe by Cowboy Mouth. Because you haven’t heard them and you should and that’s a fun song. I had a jumping-up-and-down, losing-my-voice, soaking-wet, pitch-dark epiphany the first time I saw them and I can’t wait to see them again next week!
11. A song on the soundtrack of your favorite movie. More of this “favorite” business? Who has one favorite movie? Silliness. Jai Ho from “Slumdog Millionaire” is brilliant, but I think my favorite movie song is Crazy Love from “Phenomenon”. The movie isn’t the best, but the that soundtrack is something special.
12. The last song you heard. Never Say Never. Liking a Justin Bieber song makes me feel like I have to go stock up on Bath & Body Works, lip gloss and neon nail polish. I blame that cute little Jaden Smith.
13. A song that reminds you of a friend. Come On Get Higher.
14. A song that reminds you of your boyfriend/girlfriend. This one works nicely here.
15. A song you love singing along to. There are many. I have a Careoke playlist. I do an excellent Son of a Preacher Man, and I’m also quite good at What Is This Feeling?. You should hear me do Out Tonight, though. Well, no… you probably shouldn’t.
16. A song that has made you cry. Unchained Melody, in middle school, from when Ghost came out. I thought I’d get to dance with the boy I liked, and then he danced with somebody else. Oh, the prepubescent angst.
17. A song that makes you want to dance. Stand Up by Ludacris.
18. A song you love but rarely listen to. Call My Name by Charlotte Church.
19. The first song alphabetically in your iTunes. A, by Barenaked Ladies. Wow, this song probably hasn’t been played in ten years.
20. The last song alphabetically in your iTunes. Okay, iTunes alphabetizes, but then it puts numbers after letters, and then it puts untitled songs. The first way, it’s Zorba’s Dance from the Now Dance 2000 album, which I am immediately deleting because it’s awful. That makes the last song Zombie Nation, which reminds me of Wroxton.  The second way – ugh, something called 1999 (Gouryella Remix). I’ve got to clean out this old crappy dance music. Deleted. 1979 by the Smashing Pumpkins, which I don’t like, but don’t hate enough to delete. And the third way – HA! This has made this whole post worthwhile. The one untitled song I own? A remix of the Baywatch theme. Why do I own this? Why does this exist? Why can I not turn it off? Why will it now be stuck in my head for the rest of the day? Why do you secretly love it too?
21. Your favorite song. I refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it’s ridiculous. What I will tell you is that one of my current favorites is Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant.
22. A song someone has sung to you. Chasing Cars, which is a shame, and Sara, which is not.
23. A song you cannot stand to listen to. Anything by Pink Floyd. They’re one of my Trifecta. Pearl Jam’s saving grace is Last Dance, and Nirvana at least brings back middle-school nostalgia. but Pink Floyd is hopeless.
    (Oh, and while we’re here? Dark Side of the Moon totally doesn’t sync up with the Wizard of Oz.)
    (Oh, and one more thing? It’s a bird, not a Munchkin hanging himself.)
24. A song you have danced to with a friend. Oh wow. My dancing exploits, like my musical taste, have been wide and varied. I shall leave this one to your imaginations, or, if not, to comments from friends who have danced with me.
25. A song you could listen to all day. Hallelujah, by Rufus Wainwright.