My Friends' Music

atheist blog

One of the neatest ways to get to know someone better is to share music. There have been a couple of times when a friend and I would sit and share favorite music. It is always fascinating and eye opening.

Last night my friend Kaleesha was over and she was kind enough to sit and listen to my love of Harrison Craig (an Australian singer who won Australia's The Voice several years ago). In return she shared some of her little-known favorites with me. I think our musical horizons were both expanded during this exchange. As I recall it was about o' dark thirty in the morning last night and we were both quite tired, but the music exchange was perfect for a middle of the night musical discourse.

And isn't that a beautiful thing?
Not long ago I was feeling very bored of my own music; I have a tendency to listen to beloved music over and over and over again. It's my way and I love it. But a moment came when I was open and ready to hear new things and it was during this period when a friend and I had the fun idea to make CDs for each other. Each of us filled up a CD with our favorite and most meaningful songs and included written descriptions of the songs and why they meant so much to us. It was wonderful, so much fun, and I felt like I gained a deeper love and understanding for my friend Mary.

In the spirit of TMI and openness, here are a few of my favorites right now and why they are favorites. This list is, in no way, all inclusive. Please share one or more of your in the comments, along with a youtube link of available.

• Kiteflyer's Hill by Edie Reader - I picked up this singer/songwriter by watching this first song on a TEDtalk. I love the beautiful and ethereal quality of Edie's voice. As for the song, I love the longing and the lost first love stuff.
• Demian Rice's Blower's Daughter - Another song that is both tender and longing. Ignore the movie scenes for better appreciation of the song.
• Song for You by Ray Charles - the last song I listened to with Dad just before he died, but I loved it so much before that, which is why he and I listened to it together that night.
• Choir Girl by Taylor Henderson - The singer in this video is covering the song during the show Australia's X Factor a couple of years ago. The original song was done in 1979 by an Aussie group called Cold Chisel. All of the people my age in Australia love Cold Chisel; they seem to be one of the top pop/rock bands of that era. As for the song, it is about a young woman going in for an abortion. Weird subject, but great song.
• Celebrate Me Home by Kenny Loggins - it just reminds me of my sisters and how we longed for togetherness, so we turned this song in to a ritual song for the holidays. Also, the song was on the first LP that I had by Kenny Loggins and I listened to the album over and over and over again when I lived alone after I got my first apartment. It was wonderful.
• Turn the Page by Bob Seger - Just an excellent song. I listened to Bob Seger albums over and over and over again while I was in high school and in my early twenties. Truly the soundtrack of those days. This is just one of my favorite tunes. Include many other songs by Bob in this list though.
• Pahl Paeng Ee (Snail) by Cho Kyuhyun - One of the first Korean songs that Elizabeth shared with me. The lyrics are weirdly beautiful but Kyuhyun's voice is AMAZING. I've loved this song for several years now. About half of the views of this song on Youtube come from Elizabeth and I. Even if you don't read the lyrics just listen to Kyuhuyn's beautiful voice. Also stick around for the final smile in the last seconds of the video.
• Sail On by the Commodores - I have to include a song by Lionel Ritchie
• I'll Be There by the Jackson 5 - The Jackson 5 started with Motown and I had those first 45s. This song, as well as a few others by the Jackson 5, are truly the songs of my childhood. My sister and I would pile them up on the turntable and play them and sing and dance. It is a lovely memory. And very silly.
• You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me by Gladys Knight and the Pips - This was our first song at our wedding.
• Always on My Mind by Willie Nelson - The lyrics in this one are not about a romance but about a small infant that someone else got to parent.
• Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney - A song that is between Elizabeth and I. She is my beautiful-souled daughter; we always intertwine our fingers during this song.
• You'll Be in my Heart by Phil Collins - The song that I heard in the car on my way home from my gyn when I discovered that I was pregnant with a boy and I began sobbing on the highway with so much love for that little boy: a song for John.
• On My Own by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald - transitional song at a transitional time. I used to cry so hard to this song back in the eighties. I still love it; Michael McDonald's voice is like butta.
• A Different Drummer by Les Crane - This song is just one of the many songs on the Desiderata 8-track tape that our family listened to a thousand times. I loved every song on that tape. They were all kind of moody and groovy. 

I think that my songs reveal that I am sappy, emotional, backward looking, and a bit cheesy.