4.1.12

List #124: A Few Tunes I Want You to Hear

Everyone has a relationship with music. Sometimes the relationship is a strong one and includes a myriad of concerts. Sometimes it's a fickle one and usually includes the latest top pop artist. We're all just a little different and like all relationships, the one with the music in our lives usually evolves over time. Hopefully. Because no one wants to be person who still loves Bobby McFerrin with their fierce passion of 1988 just as no one really wants to be the person who marries their grade school sweetheart.

My own relationship with music is a loyal one. There are certain bands, actually more like certain songs, that are staples in my life. And probably, without fairness, measures of how I can best gauge a personal relationship. If you're dating me, there are certain quirks you'll have to endure and your reactions to these particular quirks are crucial. 

So, men of my life, take note:

The Ones that are Sentimental
This Year, The Mountain Goats
Chances are that I going to play this song for you at least once without telling you why. And then I'll probably play it again and give you some glimmers into my past life. I'll tell you about how I was once a teacher, how my boss was a bully, and how I came home from work crying every day. I will probably punch my fist in the air when I listen to this song. Out of triumph, not an ode to the Breakfast Club. And though I don't expect you to love it like I do, or have a little man crush on Josh Darnielle, I will want you to listen. I want you to laugh and be intrigued by my past, but not care to know too much about it. And I want you to learn the lyrics and scream them at the top of your lungs with me when any year becomes too much to bear. Even better if you have your own storied relationship with this song and share.

The Ones that Make Me Dance
specifically
Animals, Miike Snow and Sexy Back, Justin Timberlake
I'm 30. So consequently most of the dancing I'm doing is in my bedroom. Or at a wedding. And these songs are two of my top choices. Play Animal for me in the morning, after tea, as I get ready for the day? You'll get the chance to see me boogie down. I won't expect you to join in, but I want you to laugh with me as I show off my skills. And as for Mr. Timberlake? If we're ever at some fancy function and there is a dance floor, you can better believe this song will be played (I think it's joined the ranks of Shout! at weddings these days). And this time, I'll may want you to come dance with me. Or, probably more accurately,let me go crazy with old girlfriends as we sing the lyrics and remember that Justin Timberlake is dangerously close to our own age. We'll then share our own memories attached the song and young, foolish, drunken nights. And we'll discover more dancing songs along the way.



The Ones that are Wacky for Nostalgia
Rumpshaker, Wrecxx-N-Effect
Let me clarify that this doesn't necessarily have to be Rumpshaker. Though is a fine piece of work from the early '90s and reminds me of grade school English classes just when the boys were starting to act wacky from puberty but before we all knew what it really meant. What I mean is that when I start playing random videos from the past, you don't roll your eyes in disgust or find it ironic. Instead you recognize that neither of us was cool when growing up and that sometimes, it's fun to have a blast from the past. It will be a bridge for me to tell you about diagramming in the 5th grade and about my first crush. And you'll share stories about stealing your first cigarette and smoking it behind the gym. The shared culture of our youthful America bringing us together in the present.

So dear readers, what is your own relationship with music? Do you have certain songs that the special someone in your life must embrace, or at least tolerate? 

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