Tell All Tuesday: 20 Random Tracks from My iPod

When I saw I've Changed My Name to Mommy's new weekly meme, Tell All Tuesday, I knew I had to join in. I was always a big fan of Truth or Dare and those kinds of games as a kid, and I'm one of those people who enjoys those long email questionnaires about who you are and your experiences in life.

Anyway, this week's subject is music. 20 random songs from your CD collection or iPod or other music listening device. I love music and my taste is very eclectic. I love Broadway shows, kids' music, indie rock, even some country music. Heck, I've even got some Britney Spears on my iPod (great for workouts). I've got over 70 GB of music on my 80 GB iPod (hint, hint Husband, a new iPod is going to have be in my future!).

So, without any further adieu, here are 20 random songs from my collection - special thanks to iTunes DJ for doing the hard work for me and compiling 20 totally random tracks.

1. My Own Prison by Creed
2. Title and Registration by Death Cab for Cutie
3. Grew Up Fast by Tom Petty
4. Unfaithful by Rihanna
5. Violet Hill by Coldplay
6. All at Once by The Fray
7. Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan
8. Wonderwall by Ryan Adams (great cover of Oasis's seminal Wonderwall)
9. Torn by Natalie Imbruglia
10. Friend to a Stranger by Emerson Hart (the lead singer of Tonic, the band who sang You Wanted More and If You Could Only See)
11. Leave by Matchbox 20
12. Hosanna by Andrew Lloyd Webber, from Jesus Christ Superstar (the musical)
13. Istanbul (not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants
14. You Could Be Happy by Snow Patrol
15. You Will Know by Tevin Campbell (and others) from the soundtrack to Jason's Lyric
16. Too Far From Texas by Stevie Nicks, featuring Natalie Maines (of Dixie Chicks)
17. Cell Block Tango by the cast of Chicago (the musical)
18. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
19. Numb/Encore by Linkin Park and Jay-Z
20. Crush by Dave Matthews Band

How's that for random? Make sure to swing by I've Changed My Name to Mommy to join in on the fun!

Have you ever broken someone's heart?

For whatever reason today, when I turned on my iTunes and went to the Party Shuffle playlist so iTunes would make me a playlist while I did some blog homework, it picked a song I hadn't really listened to the words of in a long time. Barenaked Ladies's "Break Your Heart," but more specifically the version from "Rock Spectacle," the live CD they released many, many moons ago. This clip is pretty darn close to the perfection that is the version on "Rock Spectacle."



What an interesting song, isn't it? It takes me back to the other serious relationship I've had in my life, with the ex before I met Husband, a weird and twisted relationship that makes very little sense, looking back on it. He was nine years older than me at a time in my life when nine years was truly a big deal, but I think it was just my attempt to prove to everyone that I was a grown-up. What a stupid way to try to prove it, because we were at totally different points in our lives, and eventually it started to feel like we just grew apart, but I stayed in the relationship because I wasn't really sure how to leave it. For whatever reason, after I broke up with the guy, I felt really kind of awful about it. I felt like maybe I led him on, and that was why I broke his heart. Even though it was totally the right thing to do, I totally didn't mean to break his heart. That's not a nice thing to have on one's conscience. But, eventually, I'm sure he moved on and his life is much better without me, just like mine is much better without him. Or at least that's what I told myself when I had moments of guilt. Nowadays, nearly seven years later, I don't think of him often, but this song sure made me think of him.

BTW, did you know that the guy who sings this got kicked out of the band recently? Sure did, he got arrested for drug possession and the group I guess was sick of dealing with the drug issue. Too bad, he's an awesome singer. I hope he gets his act together.

So, have you ever broken a heart? Tell me about it...

Top 10 Favorite 80's Songs

Last week, I posted my Top 10 Favorite Books - which was fun to compile, so I thought I'd try to make it a regular feature, until I run out of things to list. I love music almost as much as I love books, so I thought that music would be the next logical list. Honestly, I had a really hard time finding just 10 songs I love, so I thought I'd narrow it down a little.

1. The Cure "Lovesong"
2. Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight"
3. Heart "Alone"
4. Michael Jackson "Billie Jean"
5. Pat Benetar "Love is a Battlefield"
6. Guns n' Roses "Sweet Child o' Mine"
7. Men Without Hats "The Safety Dance" (primarily because Baby loves this song)
8. Journey "Separate Ways"
9. Prince "Purple Rain"
10. Wham "Careless Whisper"So tell me, what's your favorite 80's song?

How I miss the Muppets

Imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon a CD of Muppet music at the library a while back. I am a diehard Muppet fan. I can remember jumping on my older sister's bed while listening to "The Muppet Movie" soundtrack on her record player. The funny thing is that Baby seems to like the Muppets too. I play that CD for him on my iPod a lot, and he loves when we dance around to "Movin' Right Along" - you know, the song that Fozzie and Kermit sing in the car when they begin their adventure together.

A few weeks ago, I read that Jason Segel, of "How I Met Your Mother" fame amongst some other influential TV shows, has written a script for a new Muppet movie, one that would make moms and dads recall the old school Muppets, before Disney got their paws on them. Since Disney, we've had "Muppet Treasure Island" and other odd Muppet movies and features, but nothing anywhere near as iconic as the trilogy of movies first made by the Muppets.

When I first popped in the Muppet CD I got at the library, I immediately latched onto the tracks from "The Muppet Movie." I hadn't listened to those songs in years, and yet I still knew all the words. I especially remembered the lyrics to the end of the movie, where the Muppets are the movie studio making their movie, and it's not going so wonderfully. Suddenly a rainbow appears through a hole in the ceiling (I know, this is sounding cheesy, but it's totally not in the movie!), and they're all transfixed by it. The song strips down to two simple notes on the piano, and Kermit intones: "Life's like a movie, write your own ending." For whatever reason, those words have kind of stuck with me over the years. Maybe that's why I majored in mass comm in college.

Anyway, today, I miss the Muppets. They were so neat. Baby doesn't watch TV yet, but the few snippets of "Sesame Street" he's seen, he's just transfixed by the Muppet characters. I'm hoping to pass my love of the Muppets on to him, so I'm hoping this new Muppet movie has more in common with the ones of yesterday than the Christmas special that aired on NBC this past year (which was nice in one way - hadn't seen the Muppets in a while - but nowhere resembled the quality the Muppets had been accustomed to). So there, I'll get off my soap box now, and maybe I'll watch one of the Muppet movies tonight.

:) Happy weekend everyone!

PS - I'm so excited to see that I have seven followers now! That totally made my day!!!

Baby's got a thing for George Michael

This is funny...

Today, Baby was in a funk this afternoon after we ran some errands, so we turned on some music. Everything seems better when there's music. I plugged in my iPod, turned it to random, and George Michael's "Faith" came on. Baby absolutely loved it. We danced, we sang, and he loved every minute of it! He normally loves music a good bit, but this was a whole new level of adoration. He was laughing half the time, and grinning the whole time. He even seemed to be bopping a little bit. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a while. At least now I know he appreciates the 80's.