Friday Fun: The Music Edition

I want to just write something mindless, so I searched for a meme that I thought would work well for me and came up with this one.

1. What are 5 songs that will forevermore remind you of high school?

1. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" by Van Halen: Actually, I think this was 8th grade, but I'm counting it. My friend Blaine and I had different tastes in music, but we both loved music in general. We were always trying to get each other to listen to new things. Blaine was the one who turned me on to Tori Amos. Years later, I'll finally admit, I like her. I still don't like Celine Dion though. At any rate, he was better at adapting than I was, and bought Balance when it came out because Van Halen was one of my favorite bands. He let me borrow the CD (actually, I think it might've been a tape) to listen to on a field trip to Fort Wayne. Listening to that CD takes me back to that trip, where I was both alone and surrounded by friends.

2. "Shape of My Heart" by Sting: This album was given to my by my ex, George, who I dated my senior year. George was a lot like Blaine, passionate about music, but in different genres than I was; and George's taste in music was actually pretty similar to Blaine's. He "accidentally bought an extra copy" of this CD. I liked The Police, but hadn't really listened to a lot of Sting's work. I fell in love with the album. It reminds me of him, but it's also comforting.

3. "Walking After You" by the Foo Fighters: My grandparents took me on a trip to Key West the summer before my senior year. Right before the trip, I won this CD off the radio. Well, actually, it was a consolation prize. There was a contest for a concert where they would call your name and you had a certain amount of time to call in. They announced a name that was only one letter different from mine, and I called in. The DJ felt bad, so he sent me the CD. I learned a lot about myself from that trip, and forever fell in love with Key West. I listened to that CD during the trip down and back.

4. The Theme from GoldenEye (James Bond): In the group of friends I hung out with in high school, we would make these silly short movies. Most of them were written, filmed, and edited by Blaine. At the end of one of the movies, The XYZ Files, he gave each person in the credit their own theme song. He gave me this song, it made me feel special.

5. "Amnesty is Granted" by Sammy Hagar: This tour was one of the first concerts I went to. But, the reason this song in particular stands out from an interview I heard with Sammy. He cheated on his wife when he was on the road, and fell in love with another woman. His wife was willing to forgive him, and gave him amnesty, but he didn't feel like he could continue with the marriage. He wrote the song for her. Even though it's a sad song about the ending of a relationship, it's very romantic.

2. Do you have “a song” with that special someone? What is it and how did it become “your” song?

Brian loves to tell this story. Our song is "Shag" by Sammy Hagar. It was during my Sammy stage when we really started dating, and I bought the new CD, "Red Voodoo" when it came out. The song that was playing on the radio. Our relationship was based on sex at the time (or, well, we brainwashed ourselves into thinking it was), so we decided to make it our song.

3. Is there a song out there that just seems to speak to you?

Just one? If I had to pick one, it would be, "It's Probably Me," by Sting. The premise of the song is that if you needed just one friend, it would probably be me. This is one of those areas where it's hard to describe myself, but of couse I have a story that I think explains it.

Miranda was house sitting and dog sitting, and she had mentioned having me out at it one night. She said she would call when they went out. After a while, she hadn't called, and I figured plans had changed, so I went to bed. At 1-something-am, she calls, and the answering machine picks up before I make it to the phone, and she leaves a message: "We gotta go save the dog! I know it's late, it's 1 am, but we're young, we should be up. We gotta go save the dog!" She was obviously under the influence, but I knew that she would be heading out there even if I told her not to, and it was kind of far considering. So I drove out there with her, so she could check on the house and let the dog out. Of course, she wasn't awake long after things were taken care of, and she went to bed. But I didn't mind, at least she got there safe.

The lyrics:

If the night turned cold
And the stars looked down
And you hug yourself
On the cold, cold ground
You wake the morning
In a stranger's coat
No one would you see

You ask yourself, 'Who'd watch for me?'
My only friend, who could it be?
It's hard to say it
I hate to say it
But it's probably me

When your belly's empty
And the hunger's so real
And you're too proud to beg
And too dumb to steal
You search the city
For your only friend
No one would you see
You ask yourself, 'Who'd watch for me?'
A solitary voice to speak out and set me free
I hate to say it
I hate to say it
But it's probably me

You're not the easiest person I ever got to know
And it's hard for us both to let our feelings show
Some would say
I should let you go your way
You'll only make me cry
But if there's one guy, just one guy
Who'd lay down his life for you and die
It's hard to say it
I hate to say it
But it's probably me

When the world's gone crazy, and it makes no sense
And there's only one voice that comes to your defence
And the jury's out
And your eyes search the room
One friendly face is all you need to see
And if there's one guy, just one guy
Who'd lay down his life for you and die

I hate to say it
I hate to say it
But it's probably me

4. What song just gets you moving and makes you happy?

"Let's Dance" by David Bowie. "Put on your red shoes and dance the blues!"

5. What is your favorite genre of music?

Rock. It's what I was raised on, it's my roots. I like a lot of different kinds of music, but I always tend to circle back around to rock and roll. I particularly like rock with blues influences.