I Blame Texas. But Not Really.

I like music.  I love music.  I greatly esteem music.  The first site I crank up on any given morning is last.fm.  (Spotify has too many ads.)  Even before facebook.  Or real-life coffee.  That’s big.

While my musical taste is kind of eclectic, my first music-love is country.  I love it down to the ground.  Or the red dirt road.

I know it isn’t cool to admit to liking country.  At least for me, growing halfway up on Long Island, New York.  I’ve heard all the country music jokes.  And I actually think this one is funny:

What happens if you play country music backwards?

Your wife returns to you, your dog comes back to life, and you get out of prison.

But that’s the difference between laughing with and laughing at.

I blame Texas.  But not really.  Because I’m not ashamed to say I like country.  And anyway, it’s not my fault.    I was born in Dallas, and according to my father, country music was all that was played at the hospital during my stay.  Funny, that.

After they sprung me, the first song I actively remember was You Are My Sunshine, as sung by my Grandparents.  To this day the Johnny Cash version makes me cry.

As I got older, I remember the local country station blasting out of the windows of my father’s Blazer.  I am a Garth fan from way back.  And I got a standing ovation after lip-syncing Kathy Mattea’s Eighteen Wheels and A Dozen Roses for my third-grade talent show.  Complete with suede-tasseled cowboy boots.

The best love songs are country love songs.  As a teenager, I would listen to a bunch on repeat, wondering what it would feel like when the lyrics to the happy ones actually meant something to me.  I’ve since figured that one out.

When I left for Uni, it was The Dixie Chicks blasting out of my Dad’s car windows.  When I got there, I’m kind of ashamed to say I began to use my CDs as coasters.  A bunch of them don’t play anymore.  I blame myself.  And Peach Schnapps.

These days, Sarge keeps his CDs well away from me, and that’s OK.  He doesn’t like country and I don’t like most of his music.  It’s healthy for couples to have different interests.

If my music is on when he gets home from work, he might greet me by saying:

‘Is it raining?’

‘No honey, that’s the song.’

Take last week for example, I had shut down the computer for the day and the house was too quiet.  The silence drove me to download a song on my phone.  It’s the first song to live in my phone.  (I don’t have an ipod/earbuds for the same reason I don’t wear contacts.  Because why would you voluntarily poke yourself in the face?)

Anyway, I might have been playing my downloaded song when Sarge got home from work.

‘The hell is that?’

‘I downloaded a song.  I’m working on my wedding music choices.  The .69 is a wedding expense.’

He raised his eyebrows.

‘Hey, country has Celtic roots.  Be nice or I’ll play it again.’

This was the song.  Kinda my new favourite:

Do you like country music?  It’s OK if you don’t.  Bless your heart.

PS.  This is my 200^th post.  If you’ve ever wondered why I ramble on here, I blame Texas.  But not really.

PPS.  This post does not imply that if you are from Texas, you must love country music.  But if you are, and you do, hi.

30 Days of Music: A Song That Reminds Me of Someone

This one is for Sarge, who said last week that he loves me more than penguins.  Which means a lot.  It also means, I win!

I also happen to think the title of the song is perfect for us.

And I have a bloody good excuse for not posting yesterday.  Really.  Words to follow…

30 Days of Music: A Song That Makes Me Sad

I’ve decided that the only way to get a more random selection of songs than my version of this list is to ask me what song is playing in my head at any given time.  Don’t worry, I won’t make a series out of that trunk of tenuous connections.

I associate this beautiful song with a very ugly, but appropriate to the song time in my life.  To this day when I find it on, I must skip it, turn it off or have a moment to myself.

30 Days of Music: A Song That Makes Me Happy

Lately, this one works:

Ethel Merman – Anything You Can Do

(hope it works for you!)

 

30 Days of Music: My Least Favourite Song (With Bonus Track)

I don’t even understand why this has its own day, but here you go:

 

And, here’s another one.  I’m not being ironic, I just hate this song, too:

30 Days of Music: My Favourite Song

My quietude may be attributed to:

A.  Getting old(er).

2.  Going gallivanting, and being out of range.

iii. Getting a job.  I now work to make the world a more accessible place.  Yes, really.

Or a mixture of all three.  Yes, I know 30 is not old.  I like being 30, it suits me.  Although, I did recently have to write ‘I’m 30′ for the first time.  I’d never seen it before.  I wrote it, and I said: ‘Holy shit, I’m 30.’  After my shock, I’m good with it again.  30 has already given me a lot to be happy about.

I’ll write up the last few days when I have enough head-space, and enough caffeine in my system to do so.

I’ve been waiting until I’m actually 30 to do the 30 Days of Music, because I’m funny like that.

For now, here’s Billy Joel talking about one of my very favourite, epic-musical-event songs:

Sunday Song: The Trolley Song

This one goes out to the happy, tipsy, singing sixty-somethings on the bus this evening.  And to all of you…

 

 

In Your Ear (Mine, Actually)

Before I decided I couldn’t write with music on, it was on all the time.  My last.fm library, when it loads, is one my list of favourite things.  I’d turn it on before I’d do anything else/procrastinate/check my email/apply for jobs/check Facebook/think about writing.

That was my old routine.

My new one is to have coffee and write and then procrastinate/check my email/apply for jobs/check Facebook/think about writing some more.

Today, I logged into Facebook, and I was tagged in a musical note.  The one where you put your music player on ‘Random’ and list the first 25 songs that play.

I thought, I can do that.  So I did:

1.        Laura Izibor – Shine

2.       Randy Newman – I Miss You

3.       The Offspring – Why Don’t You Get A Job?

4.       Al Green – Let’s Stay Together

5.       Eels –  Mr E’s Beautiful Blues

6.       Paul Simon – Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

7.       R. Kelly – Fiesta

8.       Courtney Pine – Children Hold On

9.       Seal – Crazy

10.   Finger Eleven – Paralyzer

11.   Maroon 5 – Through With You

12.   Billie Holiday -  Night and Day

13.   Silverchair – Leave Me Out

14.   Bill Hicks – A New Flag (Patriotism) – not a song, but so good.

15.   Michael Buble – Home

16.   Johnny Cash – That’s All Over

17.   Perturbazione – Partire Daverro

18.   Sean Paul – We Be Burnin’

19.   Molly Johnson – Another Day

20.   Lonestar – Everything’s Changed

21.   Indigo Girls – World Falls

22.   Death Cab for Cutie – Transatlanticism

23.   Alan Jackson – Gone Country

24.   Camera Obscura – Pen and Notebook

25.   Julie Delpy – Killing Bertha

(Courtesy of my last.fm library)

Funny, some of these aren’t reflective of my favourites.  Some are.  That’s what random means.

What about you?  What are you listening to?