#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 5

Day 5 - A Song That Reminds You Of Someone

Kelly.

Taylor Swift - You Belong To Me

When Kelly and I first got together, this was 'our song.' We would sing it in the car, text each other when it came on in a restaurant. It was sweet.

Like a lot of inside jokes or little things with friends or lovers, over time it faded in prominence. At a certain point I didn't really think of it at all.

Then suddenly when we broke up, it was stuck in my head all the time. It was the sound track to my missing her. It just came back.

It's amazing how deep in the brain things can get buried.

So I always think of Kel when I hear this song, and I assume I always will.

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 4

Day 4 - A Song That Makes You Sad

I just listened to this song again (and I'm writing to it now) and thought it would probably be an angry kind of sad, but it turns out it's just a really sad kind of sad.

Matthew Good Band - Suburbia

This song is best in the dark, with the lights out in a room with a window, or coming through headphones out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees.

Something about the instrumentation gets me deep, and so does the matter of fact delivery of wrath, sadness, and pain.

But what really gets me are these lyrics

someday this place is gonna burn
is your whole life in there waiting?
someday your head is going to turn
and you'll realize i'm missing

do you realize?

I think about the ranch.

I think about disappearing, and how I did. Straight out of suburbia.

I think about the people making that decision to send me away.

I lose myself again.

And watch the world from a distance.

If I disappeared today, who would know I'm missing?

And would you realize how much you missed me?

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 3

Day 3 - A Song That Makes You Happy

It's been awhile since I've heard it, but...

Europe - The Final Countdown

I mean - it has its own dance.

Bunker Flashback!

Flash Fact - There are a LOT of photos of me and John Barkmeyer dancing to this or Journey on Facebook.

But less than there should be.

Flash Fact.

#275. Hook Up To Mother Mother's 'Body of Years'

This is now something that has happened.

Last night was pretty intense. And the next few days/weeks/months will be interesting.

I hope in a really good way.

I want that very much.

So much.

It's all process.

You gotta see the artistry in tearing the place apart with me, baby.

Either way, Mother Mother is a great band to hook up to.

- Wrecking Ball

- Body of Years

- Calm Me Down

Use your body - use it to put me to sleep.

Your body, oh - soothe my soul.

So beautiful.

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 2

Day 2 - Your Least Favorite Song

Uncle Kracker - Follow Me

True story - I have literally walked out of places to avoid this song. On more than one occasion.

I hate his name. I hate his voice.

I hate this song.

#280. Reconcile With An Old Friend You Are No Longer Friends With

This is not the venue to get into the longer story (so I have actually learned something since the days of livejournal, apparently) but in brief - at one point Nevie Brooks and I were pretty close friends.

For the last year and a half we were decidedly not.

After coffee today (during which no coffee was actually drunk) I'm not sure I would say we're friends again, but that the possibility will be left to the future, rather than decided by the past.

And that we had a surprisingly nice chat that reminded me why we were friends in the first place.

I'm going to call that one in the win column.

Times Past

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 1

Day 1 - Your Favorite Song

This one is easy. My favorite song of all time is without a doubt -

Matthew Good - The Fine Art of Falling Apart

I love this song.

The most hauntingly beautiful song I've ever heard. Recorded live in one take with an acoustic guitar. The combination of these lyrics and the tragedy and expressiveness of his voice is the most powerful and beautiful statement of sadness, loss, isolation, and acceptance that I've ever experienced.

"I used to think I'd get over everything

but everything just got over me."

My favorite lyric of all time.

This is a song that makes me happy and makes me sad. It gives me imagery and inspires projects and art, but also causes me to slow down and listen to every word and every note. I find so much meaning in every ache, every word, every chord.

One of my most treasured memories is seeing this song performed live, directly for me after a request at the XM Studios.

Ignore the bad sound quality of the video in the link, the recording is much cleaner.

Just sit back, turn the lights off, and listen.

This song is a piece of my soul, recorded by someone else.

I walk alone and I
I ride alone and I
I rock myself to sleep
Baby, there ain't enough room in this world
For people like you
And horrors like me

A time of darkness
There lived a girl in a cave in the woods
Disguised as a bee
At night she would fly into the city
Sting the cause
And sting the cost
And she would hover over me
Whispering
We're surfacing
We're surfacing

Well I stand alone and I
I fight alone and I
Stay clean by feeling cheap
And baby, there ain't enough room in this world
For perfections like you
And monsters like me

A time of darkness
You will look absurd and you will feel inert
And you'll go looking to blame somebody
You see I used to think I'd get over everything
But everything just got
over me

I'm some of it
You're some of it
We're some of it
I'm certain of it

I walk alone and I
I ride alone and you know
That's all right by me
See baby there ain't enough room in this world
For a great, great many things.