Ain't it just like the night...

Day 10 at last! Hurray!

It's not that I'm thrilled for day ten in particular, or anything. Just that keeping this up for 10 days seems like an accomplishment, even if it has taken me like 3 weeks to do it.

Ok. Day 10, a song that makes you fall asleep.

The reason is that I used to listen to this one CD to go to sleep in about Jr. High, because there was a lot of quiet acoustic folky-type music on it. (Bob Dylan, Biograph box set, disc 2.) This was the first song on the CD. (I realize it's a little weird to listen to Dylan to go to sleep, but I need something to focus on. Lyrics help that. If it's Beethoven, or something, my mind keeps racing and I get all wound up. Trust me, I've got a system that works well enough.)

Any-hoo, all that aside, I. Love. This. Song. If "Like a Rolling Stone" had never been written (see Day 1), this would be my favorite song ever. It holds the #1 spot in the category of "Songs you love so much you'd name your child after them." (Don't worry, Pete has already vetoed that. But at minimum, I will someday have a cat named Johanna.)



I don't know what this song is about. I don't care. I've heard that it's about Joan Baez, which doesn't really make any sense, but whether that's true or not it just makes me like it more. J.J. Abrams (of "LOST") apparently loves this song, and it's said that he listened to it all the time on the "LOST" set, and said that if you understood that song the show would make sense. That didn't help at all, on either side.

On a... production-type note, I guess, this is not the original version of this song that you hear on "Blonde on Blonde." This one is live, and more stripped-down. I don't know if it's the same live version that I used to fall asleep to on the afore-mentioned CD, but it doesn't really matter. Any one would work.

This is the Picture Definition of Ridiculous.

Day 9 already! And only like 20 days after we started! Amazing.

Day 9 is "a song that you can dance to."

I considered choosing a song from the rotation at the Lambda Chi house. "Cecilia," "Like a Prayer," "Magic Carpet Ride"... all fine choices. But, I feel like really, that's more a controlled hop than a dance, generally speaking.

I do actually know the official dance to this song. I know it from my year on Camp McDowell summer staff, because my campers taught it to me during the Senior Camp lip sync. (We came in second. We were robbed.)



I will say, at least, we didn't look nearly as ridiculous as Mr. Ice does here. And by the way, if rhyme was a drug, I'd sell it by the gram. Just so you know.

And she also keeps the cards that read...

Short post today. I'm on reserve battery power on the laptop, and I don't feel like finding a place to plug it in.

Day 8 is a song you know all the words to.

This is kind of cheating, since I don't think I can start at the beginning and recite it without the music, but I can sing along with the CD. On a side note, sometimes when I'm really nervous and just need to think about something else for a while (like on airplanes, like last Monday), I try to remember all the words to this song in my head. Usually it doesn't work, but what can you do.



This isn't the album version-- it's a live performance, I think from England in 1966. (I have it somewhere on a CD, and that's my best guess as to which one.) Pretty sure all the verses are there, though. Also, did you know My Chemical Romance covered this at some point? Their video is only 3 minutes long on YouTube, so unless they sing really fast, they left out a few words. :)

I love this song. Enjoy.

... But I am afraid of spiders

It's been just a few days. I'm on vacation, pretending I'm a college student on spring break and hanging out with my parents. (Ok... maybe just a lame college student. Whatever. I had fun back in the day.)

We're now on Day 7 of our song challenge. "A Song that Reminds You of a Certain Event."

As we've discussed, most songs remind me of a specific place or time or person. This is the most recent event-specific one that came to mind.

Last October, Jon Stewart came to town. You may have heard about it. Or you may have gotten stuck somewhere downtown while the 250,000 people who attended his little gathering on the National Mall attempted to get home, or to their hotel rooms or friend's dorm or back to the train station. The Rally to Restore Sanity was probably the most *insane* day of my entire life. It was an amazing, awesome experience and I'm so glad I went, but it's not something I'd ever do again, mostly because it should never take you 3.5 hours to get to your apartment 3 miles away.

That said, I'm pretty sure that no matter what else ever happens, this is something I will always remember. I got to stand a mile or so away from Cat Stevens while he played half of this song to a crowd of a quarter million people. That's pretty awesome.



Take it down a notch for America, y'all.

Let's get together, before we get much older

Well folks, a lot has changed since the last entry. I am now a resident of Connecticut, and am waiting in the Hartford airport to catch a flight down to Birmingham for an extended visit with my parents. (Also I have to get my car.) Check out my other blog in a while for a "goodbye to D.C." post, but for now, back to the song challenge at hand.

It's pretty appropriate that today we reach Day 6- "A Song that Reminds you of Somewhere."

I've kind of struggled with this challenge game as a whole, because I associate most songs with some place or some person or some emotion. Likewise I can link some song to most people or places that I know. It's just how I think.

This time, though, I have to follow the crowd. This song makes me a little sad, but it's that good nostalgic kind of sad that makes you feel at home. I will never be able to hear this without thinking of the Lambda Chi house at Sewanee, and the friends I made there.

Coincidentally, this was also what I listened to as I drove down the Mountain for the last time as a student. (Or... the last time after graduation when I moved out of the dorm.) I don't remember if it was on purpose or not. Probably-- I used to plan specifically so I'd have an appropriate soundtrack to the gorgeous view from I-24. ("Used to" nothing. I still do that, actually.)

Somehow, I associate this more with "Sewanee as an adult" than with, say, sophomore year. This reminds me of fraternity dance parties, campfires, and PBR, but it's also one of the songs that I associate with the end my senior year. It's kind of a hard thing to put into words, but I really appreciate the relationship I have with my college friends as an adult. I feel like with some people, that was starting as school was ending, and that's what it makes me think of-- those friends that are really family, standing around the campfire out back like it's the kids' table at Thanksgiving. It ties me to that place and those people, and in a very strange way makes me feel like I'm not alone. Probably that's a lot more than what the Who meant to do with this one, but whatever. This song means a lot to me. And y'all are welcome at my kids' table at Thanksgiving any time :).

Ecce Quam Bonum. Yea, Sewanee's Right.

Sweet Home Alabama

Day 5! "A song that reminds you of someone"

This song reminds me of two someones, actually, who I could not possibly be more excited to see next week! My 2 younger brothers play this on the guitar together, and it made me love the song even before I knew Dylan wrote it. (They knew though, and liked it anyway. It's possibly the only time that's happened. :) )

As a side note, if you've heard this song before, it was probably at a crappy bar somewhere. Bands you've never heard of who play in crappy but awesome bars tend to love to play this song. Whenever that happens, I tend to get a little teary and send a text to the boys. They probably think I'm weird.

This song could also fit the category of "great songs with incredibly awful music videos." What the crap is going on here? And is that really what this band looks like? Because that's not remotely what I imagined.

Where can I find a woman like that

Hey y'all, I got back to you before Wednesday! It's Day 4 of the Song Challenge. (Notice I'm not saying 30-day anymore. This is gonna take way longer than 30 days.)

Day 4 is "A Song that Makes You Sad."

You can laugh at me for this one, it's ok. It's not actually the song, but again, the memories I have of it. It reminds me of a friend-- someone I was really just getting to know when he passed away suddenly and tragically, at way too young an age. My sadness pales in comparison to those that had loved him for years, but I will always regret the fact that I didn't get a chance to know him better.

That's the short version. I remember hearing this song at his funeral (still one of the greatest parties I've ever been to, and yes- that is totally appropriate), and to this day if it catches me in the right (wrong?) mood, I will cry like there's no tomorrow. But still, it's ok to laugh at me. He probably would. :)

Miss you, friend.