Sunday, January 23, 2011

All Time Greatest Hits

It's time for the Top Ten Music Blogfest. What!? You haven't heard? That's okay. But now that your here you should check out mine and then check out everyone else's over at Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog.

My list far exceeds my age, especially since I was only born in 1978, but I'm the youngest and I have four older sisters with three being ten or more years older than me.

Besides exceeding my age, it doesn't quite match what I listen to on a daily basis either, but then this is an all-time greatest list. By the list you wouldn't know I currently listen to artists like Lady GaGa, Katy Perry, Pink!, Bruno Mars, Flo Rida, and on and on. However, those artists keep me young, they don't remind me of my first boyfriend, my wedding day, rollerskating rinks in the '80's, or the part of my early twenties when I experimented with drugs (shhhh!). That's why they don't make my list. Check this out though, you might recognize and relate to some of these:

  1. Somebody - Depeche Mode
    (This hits my list in 1992)
    My list starts here for a reason. Although the majority of my listening pleasure came from my parent's record/8-track player or any of my sister's stereos, I didn't really start loving music until I met my first boyfriend. Yep, this is the song I lost my. . .you get it. Good starting place, I think.
  2. Purple Rain - Prince
    (For me, 1993)
    First real introduction to writing poetry. I went from writing in a journal to writing my feelings in code, otherwise known as poetry. With first loves come Purple Rain, at least in my experience.
  3. Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Simon & Garfunkel(1994)My mom still has this record. In 1994 Dad came home from being away for business and announced he wanted a divorce. This song played a lot. I think I'm the one who played it over and over. In 2003, my husband took me to see them in concert. Definitely one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Probably the only audience member crying during this song. Oops!
  4. Ironic - Alanis Morissette (1995)Thank you Alanis for inspiring me to open my mind and gain a spine. I was seventeen this year. It was a refreshing year. I had spent a good three years with the first love and now I was branching out as a whole new kind of person. I was always kind of an introvert who incidentally had a family who moved a lot (2 elementaries, 2 junior highs, 3 high schools). I was tired of being the new kid in school and vowed not to be that introverted, shy girl this year. It worked out for the best.
  5. I Am the Walrus - The Beatles(1995)My introverted self found me a great new bunch of friends, well, kinda. Hmmm. They weren't the best type of friends, but we managed to have a pretty good time with each other for the short summer we spent together. I learned about The Beatles in a whole new kind of way. I Am the Walrus was actually a song playing on the radio on the way back from a busted party where the cops came and broke us up due to a neighbor's complaint that marijuana smoke was seeping into the hallway from the condo we rented in Park City, Utah. This isn't where my drug experiences begin. It is however, the year I vow to NEVER try and see Pearl Jam in concert again (no show, effing freak. I hate that guy! Love his music--hate him. Bitter party of one here.) Beatles won't show up again on this list only because the list is too short. I take great comfort in The Beatles and especially John Lennon, however.
  6. Casey Jones - Grateful Dead (1995)My sister, Anna, had been playing The Grateful Dead in her car for years trying to get me to catch on. She toured around and saw them in concert and brought stickers back for my sticker collection way before I started listening. Finally, the year I get into Casey Jones, Truckin', Sugar Magnolia, among others happens to be the year he dies and I have tickets to see them play. That sucked. I stuck to his music for years after. I even found a guy who followed The Dead around and tapped into their system to make recordings. I listened to those tapes for awhile in 1997. Good times had by all. (Still not my drug era.) I listened while I wrote poetry and screenplays.
  7. Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin (1998)My mom used to call me a throwback even as a small child. She pegged me for child of the sixties or even as far back as a beatnik. When I latched onto Janis Joplin and didn't let go my mom just kept saying, "I've always said you're a throwback." Maybe I was reincarnated, who knows. It's great to listen to this song but even better to watch her sing it. I have a huge framed drawing of Janis singing on my bedroom wall. I don't know why but she inspires me more than any other female singer. (Still not my drug era.)
  8. Into Dust - Mazzy Star(1999)I was fresh out of an abusive relationship and living a crazy lifestyle in West Hollywood, California. I was ready for a do-over. Unfortunately, I had never heard of Mazzy Star until I was high on acid. My writing took an interestingly dark and introspective turn but for the better. I was climbing out of a hole and onto a fresh new page. I was stepping away from years of raw poetry to short stories. I don't have an addictive personality and I was broke so I got bored with the drug scene pretty quick and focused entirely on sharpening my story telling skills. Mazzy Star gives me the incredible urge to play guitar. This is the year I get a guitar and meet my husband. The beginning and ending of a weirdly short drug stint into the rest of my blissful life.
  9. Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Brother IZ(2001)My then soon-to-be husband and I heard this song and just knew it was our song. My husband's mother and her family are from Hawaii and we were planning to get married in Hawaii so it just seemed perfect. Every time we hear this song we pause and reflect on how we once pictured our lives would be together and are happy to discover we are right on track. This was the song we danced to at our wedding. By this time in my life I really believed there were lights at the end of tunnels, pots of gold at the end of rainbows, better times ahead. . .I wasn't wrong. I'm not disappointed so far.
  10. Mad World - Tears for Fears (2002)Lots of things happened this year. I got married, plus I had my first child. My first child had kidney problems and faced surgery at 5 months old. My world had gone mad. I was falling apart and for some odd reason really latched onto this song. Sure, Donnie Darko was something else, but this song just understood exactly what was going on in my life at the time.
Now you've been through the deepest parts of my journey in music, hope you enjoyed. I can't wait to go around and read everyone else's. I would have put together some links but I'm typing this out in a hotel room in Utah and it's Sunday night. My husband and kids are begging me to close up shop and go to bed. We have a flight out of here Monday afternoon after I spent a good week caring for my mom during her first week of chemo. It's back to life in warm Southern California. Happy writing writers!

29 comments:

  1. OHHH! Mad World is definitely an amazing song.... I could listen to it for hours on end!

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  2. Great picks, Patricia! I had such a hard time, Prince just barely didn't make my list. He is one of the most talented musicians ever. I love Purple Rain and Somebody the most from your list. Somebody is so darn beautiful. And of course anything by the Beatles is awesome.

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  3. strong picks, i like all them except grateful dead... never ever got into them.
    what a great selection of music

    jeremy
    [iZombie]

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  4. I love the whole list. I wanted to add your #1 but it was so hard to choose.

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  5. Awesome song choices and lovely to read about the reasons behind them. Number 1. Well! LOL. Thanks for sharing.

    My Top Ten Songs

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  6. I love this list. # 9 is my favorite. I cry every time I hear it. Every_time.

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  7. I do a dance everytime I see Depeche Mode on someone's list. Man, I loved that song!

    Also, thanks for putting on Tears for Fears. I was a huge fan!

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  8. I Am The Walrus is the best Beatles tune! Thanks for participating.

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  9. This is a great list, Depeche Mode is coming up a lot today.

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  10. Casey Jones you better watch your speed...
    great list!

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  11. Love and own many of the songs on your list.

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  12. Oh Janis Joplin! Love. What an amazing list!

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  13. Mazzy Star, haven't heard that name in a while.

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  14. whooo!!! great choices! love mad world, somewhere over the rainbow, and ironic!!! sorry to hear about your baby! i hope all is well!

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  15. I think Somewhere Over the Rainbow is the most picked song on the lists I've seen so far!

    Love all of these songs.

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  16. Fabulous list! Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Iz is one of my faves as well, though I completely forgot about it when I put together my top ten. Go figure.

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  17. Nice list-- songs that I can get into.

    Lee
    Make sure you check my Wednesday post!

    Tossing It Out

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  18. Love your writing if not your choice in music:) Well, at least the stuff that doesn't belong to the 60s and 70s. Once Disco and the club scene came out, everything went downhill. But what do I know? I listen to Mozart and Vienna Teng.

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  19. Cool list. Ironic is a great song. Cheers.

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  20. We have very similar tastes, I think. I love this list and I listen to Katy Perry (grudgingly), Gaga, Pink...

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  21. I'm impressed. I was born in 62 and I think I'd agree with a good deal of those.

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  22. Hey, there's no law that you can't like music from before you were born! Great choices!

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  23. Love "Mad World" and "Into Dust" (the latter is OMG, so damn beautiful).

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  24. Great list. I love music. It is the only thing that gets me through sometimes. :)

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  25. Great blogfest idea. Can totally empathise with the Alannis M - in fact was just wondering where she is these days! Married with babies like the rest of us.

    Also felt a little emotional about your 5mnth old in surgery. I hope everything worked out well.

    TGW

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  26. Ooh, a lot of these songs are my favourites too! Thanks for sharing your experiences with them.

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  27. Hello, Patricia. I'm trying to finish going through the list today. It's been fun getting to know the music that drives everyone!
    I'm a huge Tears for Fears fan, owning everything they've ever done...
    Love the varied tastes: Prince, Alanis, Janis.
    I wanted to include some Beatles and agonized over it for a long while before giving up. But "The Walrus", really? It's funny! I claim to hate this tune, and yet I find myself singing it!
    So great to meet you,
    -James

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  28. I'm sorry I'm so late to this (trying to catch up)...but I LOVE YOUR LIST!!!! We have VERY similar taste in music. :)

    Hugs,
    Lola

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