Shuffling the Soundtrack of my Life

so this "exercise" has made the rounds a few times, but i thought i'd take a closer look at the songs that the shuffle gives me, partly inspired by a recent post from Brandarius.

possibly a little lengthy, but what the heck - it's Friday!

Doing the iPod Shuffle for the Soundtrack of my Life.(a sometimes interesting experiment – sometimes it makes you think, sometimes it gets you to listen to songs you haven’t heard in ages, sometimes it makes you listen to songs in a slightly different way, and sometimes you realize that you need to take some stuff off your iPod…)

Opening credits : Heartshine – Mother Love BoneWaking up : Chemistry - UNKLEAverage day : Bring It On – Nick Cave & the Bad SeedsFirst date : Daysleeper – R.E.M.Falling in love : Downer - LushLove scene : I Wonder What’s The Matter With Papa’s Little Angel Child - FeedtimeFight scene : Lost World – Green On RedBreaking up : South Pennsylvania Waltz – 16 HorsepowerGetting back together : Let It Happen – Jimmy Eat WorldSecret love : Liar – Built To SpillLife's okay : O’Malley’s Bar – Nick Cave & the Bad SeedsMental breakdown: Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine – Modest MouseDriving : Bye Bye Love – Alkaline TrioLearning a lesson : Karla With A K – the HootersDeep thought : The Thorn In My Side Is Gone – American Music ClubFlashback : $99.99 - ChannelsPartying : Believe – Smashing PumpkinsHappy dance : Emergency - ParamoreRegreting : Eleven O’Clock - MorphineLong night alone : The Never-Ending Story - PulpDeath scene : What Makes You Think You’re the One – The Twilight SingersClosing credits : Stop – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

And dissecting the Soundtrack – because I can:
The first two just work for me. A little heart shine as the story begins, and that particular UNKLE song has a great waking up rhythm to it.Hmm – well, let’s see… I would’ve put “Bring It On” as the first date, ‘cause it kinda had that same feel to it, from what I remember, and “Daysleeper” seems like it would be more of an “average day” song.

I was hoping for a more intense falling in love song, but “Downer” actually works pretty well. Lyrics like: “…Happy coursing through my veins / Don't even know my name / When I'm up you're coming down…”, and then the Love Scene hits – and yeah, sure, I would’ve been happy with something like Jesus & Mary Chain's "Teenage Lust", but listening to the demented blues grit fuzz of feedtime right here is kinda, well, sexy. I gotsta listen to some more Feedtime…

“Lost World” is more of an argument song than a fight scene, but that’s ok. I hate fights.Breakin’ up is hard to do, but if you’re gonna do it, getting some 16 Horsepower in on the action helps… “…oh my darlin' oh my girl / again I made you cry / I got a mean man in me / yeah, I guess that's why…” – and this one is the live version from “Hoarse”. Such a wonderful album.

I used to do the getting back together thing – it never worked for me, so this is kind of fitting… just let it happen, y’know? And that Secret Love – well that would usually happen during the whole “getting back together” thing – which is probably why it never worked… song title, Liar. ‘nuff said. “…Passing over, passions pour, passing everything…”

And if “O’Malley’s Bar” equals –Life’s Okay-, then it must’ve been a happier part of the worst part… although I have to admit that I did spend a whole lot of time in the bar… There was definitely not quite as much bloodshed, but I did imagine it at times, and the opening bit about being “…I am tall and I am thin / Of an enviable height / And I've been known to be quite handsome / In a certain angle and in certain light” does kind of apply… I suppose this would lead into a Mental Breakdown… which probably would sound a little like this Modest Mouse song.

Driving – well, honestly, I don’t do a lot of it, at all – but I love the idea of it – and if I did – it would be down some desert sunset highway, and this would be perfectly blasting out the windows. This version more than the original – though it is kinda fitting that the Cars get the driving song position. Then driving from that into learning a lesson, with an interesting choice – I actually have no idea where this song came from or why I have it, and I’m not sure what the lesson I’m learning here is – but it seems it has to do with just not giving up, times get tough, but fight through, and you can do it. Ok, I can live with that. I still want to know how this song appeared though… I’ll have to ponder that question, maybe while listening to the American Music Club… but this song definitely puts me into deep thought, but more about matters of the heart – which is what most of my life revolves around.

The flashback is interesting, because the song is a bit more recent than where most flashbacks would lead me to, but the singer’s previous bands are a big part of my life, both Jawbox and Burning Airlines, and I was immediately transported to a place where I was working behind a record store counter, making friends and meeting people, and yeah – it was a good flash.

Ok, so obviously I am not a party person, as in raging full-on get wasted and act like an idiot, but I do like parties, where friends get together and hang out, and we sit around and talk, have some good food, good wine (I must be getting older) – and this wouldn’t be out of place playing in the background.

Paramore? Sure – I could dance to this, not sure it would be a happy dance. I don’t think I would be in the places where this music and dancing would coexist. Maybe in a crowd doing some intense head nodding, though, if they were playing live, and I was ini the crowd…

Regrets – (I’ve had a few) – and like that surfer said… it’s better to regret the things you have done, than the things you haven’t (and by the way, if you see your mom this weekend, be sure and tell her SATAN!). And yeah – I did the going out every night at 11… and I’m sure regrets were had, but it was a helluva lot better than staying home, alone and depressed. Those long nights alone were hard… slightly disturbing choice here, I must say…

And then the death scene – we move into some epic twilight singing. I could hear this song playing as I lay dying, somewhere… and I have never been a Fleetwood Mac fan, but this version – a nice song to die to. “…What makes you think you're the one / Who can laugh without cryin'? / What makes you think you're the one / Who can live without dyin'?...”

And then it’s done, we fade to black, a slight pause, and as the credits roll… A damn perfect song to close on. Nice!