Answers and Lyrics...
Well, I figured out that part of the answer to "how do you tell someone how fabulous they are" is "send them the blog where you wrote the question." It may not have solved anything, but at least I know that, even if just for a moment, there was a smile on someone's face when he read that I think he's super special.
And now, on to the rest.... I was re-reading a very old blog of Jenn's tonight about how songs affect us and how certain lyrics will stick with us forever. So, in light of that, I wanted to share my list of my top 10 (or so) songs that stick with me in that "memory" way.
1. Leader of the Band (Dan Fogelberg): This is the song my dad and I danced to at my wedding, but that isn't why it's special. It was the song we danced to because it was already "our" song -- first being named so when I was about 7 or 8 and it came out and I used to climb up on my dad's lap and we'd sing it (badly) together. The line about the "stories of the road" always reminds me of my dad's "when I was a kid" stories that he used to tell.
2. Friends in Low Places (Garth Brooks): While this song has been played on about a million occasions, it always reminds me of Eric W.'s birthday during my junior year in college. This was early in the night, in Wayne's living room with all of us drinking and singing. Later that night and into the next day, Jenn and I would both hook up with the birthday boy, have our only ever fight (which would last a total of about 5 waking hours), and make up over dunkin donuts. The song always reminds me of the start of the night and how, no matter what, Jenn will always be my best girl.
3. Good Enough (Sarah McLachlan): This was "my" song during my senior year in college. Every week during his show, I would make Chris play this for me. When I was graduating, I promised him that, no matter what, I would still call him to request "my" song. During his first show that fall, I called. That was the only time we talked until 2 1/2 years later. The first time we saw each other and talked again, one of the first things he said to me was that he went to Lilith fair with his then-girlfriend, heard this song and couldn't help but think of me. It is now over 10 years later, and if you ask him what "my" song is, this is what he'll name.
4. Shut Up and Kiss Me (Mary Chapin Carpenter): In the winter of my junior year in college, Aim, Jenn and I took a trip to Loyola (during which I was so drunk, I thought people moved the furniture on me -- don't even ask) and then to Ocean City. We were supposed to be going to see some of our guy friends but somehow it ended up the next morning as one of those "I cannot believe I just did THAT" nights. This was one of the first country songs that I liked, because the lyrics just seemed to fit in so perfectly with the moment.
5. Joking (Indigo Girls): I have no idea why, but this is our "going out" song. The girls and I have a thing about this song that somehow puts us back in 1995-6 on our way out to the flying club. It's something about the line about "girls in bars." Beyond that, I don't really get what it is about this song, but when I hear it, I will always think of Lisa, Lisa and Amy.
6. Mr. Jones (Counting Crows): Okay, so there was this guy. His last name was Jones. I SOOOOO loved him. So did Cyn. Everytime either one of us heard this song, we would end up in an hour long conversation about him. I can't remember exactly what it was about him, but I do know that he still had it 4 years later when Lisa pushed me into him one day when we were out in OC with the words "You remember Karen, right???"
7. Pink Houses (John "My name is still Cougar" Mellencamp): When we were kids, my family spent part of our summers down at Point Pleasant at a little cottage a block from the beach. It was pink. I'm not talking "hmmm... is that peach or pink" kind of pink but BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT pink. When this song came out, Nee and I were convinced that it was all about us.
8. Dirty Little Secret (All American Rejects): The only band I've gone to see regularly in the past 10 years is my favorite cover band. While I always make a request, it's always something they already play -- until this spring, when i asked one of the new guys if they played this song. Soon there after, i got an email from the band leader that they had learned it. When they played it the next time I saw them, I almost cried, 'cause they announced to the bar that they learned it just for me. Of course, that may have been the drinks, but I don't think so.
9. Who I Am (Jessica Andrews): There's a line in this song that says "I am rosemary's granddaughter, the spitting image of my father and when the day is done my momma's still my biggest fan. Sometimes, I'm clueless and I'm clumsy but I've got friends that love me, and they know just where I stand." Except that my grandmother's name was mary instead of rosemary, this is me, and every time i hear it, I sing it at the very very top of my lungs.
10. Brickhouse (Commodores): This is "my" song. I cannot help but dance when it comes on. More than once, it has been me and lisa w. on the dance floor by ourselves, because the band decides to play it WAY too early in the night and because Lisa loves me too much to make me dance on my own. But my very favorite time hearing this was when I requested it and the band neglected to play it. Because George felt bad about forgetting, I got an acoustic, just for me, version at the end of the night as the bar was closing. I haven't requested it since because no version of it will ever be that good again.
There are others, of course -- I have a million songs swimming in my head all the time, and some of them I love for a simple line, others for a moment in time. There are three or four from this summer that I think may eventually get added to this "remember forever" list. But for now, those are just for me.
And now, on to the rest.... I was re-reading a very old blog of Jenn's tonight about how songs affect us and how certain lyrics will stick with us forever. So, in light of that, I wanted to share my list of my top 10 (or so) songs that stick with me in that "memory" way.
1. Leader of the Band (Dan Fogelberg): This is the song my dad and I danced to at my wedding, but that isn't why it's special. It was the song we danced to because it was already "our" song -- first being named so when I was about 7 or 8 and it came out and I used to climb up on my dad's lap and we'd sing it (badly) together. The line about the "stories of the road" always reminds me of my dad's "when I was a kid" stories that he used to tell.
2. Friends in Low Places (Garth Brooks): While this song has been played on about a million occasions, it always reminds me of Eric W.'s birthday during my junior year in college. This was early in the night, in Wayne's living room with all of us drinking and singing. Later that night and into the next day, Jenn and I would both hook up with the birthday boy, have our only ever fight (which would last a total of about 5 waking hours), and make up over dunkin donuts. The song always reminds me of the start of the night and how, no matter what, Jenn will always be my best girl.
3. Good Enough (Sarah McLachlan): This was "my" song during my senior year in college. Every week during his show, I would make Chris play this for me. When I was graduating, I promised him that, no matter what, I would still call him to request "my" song. During his first show that fall, I called. That was the only time we talked until 2 1/2 years later. The first time we saw each other and talked again, one of the first things he said to me was that he went to Lilith fair with his then-girlfriend, heard this song and couldn't help but think of me. It is now over 10 years later, and if you ask him what "my" song is, this is what he'll name.
4. Shut Up and Kiss Me (Mary Chapin Carpenter): In the winter of my junior year in college, Aim, Jenn and I took a trip to Loyola (during which I was so drunk, I thought people moved the furniture on me -- don't even ask) and then to Ocean City. We were supposed to be going to see some of our guy friends but somehow it ended up the next morning as one of those "I cannot believe I just did THAT" nights. This was one of the first country songs that I liked, because the lyrics just seemed to fit in so perfectly with the moment.
5. Joking (Indigo Girls): I have no idea why, but this is our "going out" song. The girls and I have a thing about this song that somehow puts us back in 1995-6 on our way out to the flying club. It's something about the line about "girls in bars." Beyond that, I don't really get what it is about this song, but when I hear it, I will always think of Lisa, Lisa and Amy.
6. Mr. Jones (Counting Crows): Okay, so there was this guy. His last name was Jones. I SOOOOO loved him. So did Cyn. Everytime either one of us heard this song, we would end up in an hour long conversation about him. I can't remember exactly what it was about him, but I do know that he still had it 4 years later when Lisa pushed me into him one day when we were out in OC with the words "You remember Karen, right???"
7. Pink Houses (John "My name is still Cougar" Mellencamp): When we were kids, my family spent part of our summers down at Point Pleasant at a little cottage a block from the beach. It was pink. I'm not talking "hmmm... is that peach or pink" kind of pink but BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT pink. When this song came out, Nee and I were convinced that it was all about us.
8. Dirty Little Secret (All American Rejects): The only band I've gone to see regularly in the past 10 years is my favorite cover band. While I always make a request, it's always something they already play -- until this spring, when i asked one of the new guys if they played this song. Soon there after, i got an email from the band leader that they had learned it. When they played it the next time I saw them, I almost cried, 'cause they announced to the bar that they learned it just for me. Of course, that may have been the drinks, but I don't think so.
9. Who I Am (Jessica Andrews): There's a line in this song that says "I am rosemary's granddaughter, the spitting image of my father and when the day is done my momma's still my biggest fan. Sometimes, I'm clueless and I'm clumsy but I've got friends that love me, and they know just where I stand." Except that my grandmother's name was mary instead of rosemary, this is me, and every time i hear it, I sing it at the very very top of my lungs.
10. Brickhouse (Commodores): This is "my" song. I cannot help but dance when it comes on. More than once, it has been me and lisa w. on the dance floor by ourselves, because the band decides to play it WAY too early in the night and because Lisa loves me too much to make me dance on my own. But my very favorite time hearing this was when I requested it and the band neglected to play it. Because George felt bad about forgetting, I got an acoustic, just for me, version at the end of the night as the bar was closing. I haven't requested it since because no version of it will ever be that good again.
There are others, of course -- I have a million songs swimming in my head all the time, and some of them I love for a simple line, others for a moment in time. There are three or four from this summer that I think may eventually get added to this "remember forever" list. But for now, those are just for me.
