Music Meme: An Artist You Like that Your Parents Listen To

This is a bit of a weird question. There isn't much music my parents listen to that I don't like. It's where I got my love for The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Jackson, etc. Even artists like The Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris, and Nickel Creek came from my mom's CD collection. My musical tastes (except for the love of country) were pretty heavily influenced by my parent's musical tastes. So I could answer this question with "nearly all of them" and just move on. And I think I'll do just that.

Music Meme: A Song that Makes You Think of Spring

I love Nickel Creek, so I had to get them in this meme somewhere. They've got some great Spring-like songs, which makes them a good fit for this prompt. A lot of people go straight to Smoothie Song, which is pretty great. Though I personally like Scotch and Chocolate better. But for a real Spring song, I have to go with The Fox, for being nice and lively

I also find a lot of music by The Beatles to be very Spring-like. Especially this song about falling in love, though I'm grabbing the video from Across the Universe because I love it so much

Music Meme: A Song That Makes You Think of Winter

Winter is my favorite season. So I'm actually going to cheat here a bit and use a song about winter. It captures some of my favorite things about the season in a beautiful way. Emily Smith's Winter Song:

Most of my winter music falls under the category of Christmas Carols. And I am going to post one, even though it's a bit early in the year. Winter Wonderland has always been one of my favorite songs:

Music Meme: A Song That Makes You Think of Fall

Fall is a harder season than summer. There's not an awful lot of music about this season. More to the point, Fall wasn't something I experienced at length until I moved to Virginia. In Colorado it lasts about three weeks and in Southern California it's almost entirely non existent.

When I think of Fall, I think of things slowing down a bit. I think of that cozy warmth you get from sweaters and blankets, which is entirely different from the kind of warmth that accompanies a summer BBQ. So here are some songs that invoke some of those same feelings in me.

Almost anything Suzanne Vega sings has that warm cozy feeling associated with it. Here's one of my favorite songs of hers, Gypsy

Tom Waits also has a good Fall voice. I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You has been popping up on one of my Pandora stations a lot lately, so it's the first song that comes to mind.

Music Meme: A Song That Reminds You of Summer

 There are so many summer songs out there. And every year brings new ones that must be added to the list. I guess it's because summer is the season of parties, when you get to be carefree and just hang out. I certainly have a few songs that signify summer. They always remind me of those long, lazy days. Back when I wasn't working for a living and could actually a few months off from the rest of life.

First there's Smooth by Santana, featuring Rob Thomas. This song came out back when I was in middle school. It didn't even come out during the summer, but I feel like I've always associated it with the hottest season. Maybe it has something to do with the video. Either way, it never feels like it's officially summer until this song comes on the radio.

The next song on my summer play list is Maroon 5's Harder to Breathe. Actually, their entire first CD, Songs About Jane. I received it shortly after finishing high school and listened to it all summer long. I can barely remember listening to anything else that summer, though I'm sure I did. Any time I hear Maroon 5, I'm transported back to those post high school, pre college days.

A more recent summer jam is Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti and Spearhead. Again, I'm not sure this song was even released in the summer. But it's the perfect song for a hot, summer afternoon.

Finally, my most recent summer anthem is a song that came out last year. Kevin spent most of the summer in Alabama and his mom was out of the country for about a month, leaving me to feed her cat. It seemed like every time I drove over to her house Jason Aldean's Dirt Road Anthem came on my radio, which is impressive as it only takes about five minutes to drive to her place from mine. I think this song was just all over the radio, and I was spending a lot of time in my car. Either way, it makes me think of a warm, summer evening.

Music Meme: A Song That Reminds You of Your Childhood

I have a few answers.

The first is The Grateful Dead's Monkey and the Engineer, which was easily my favorite song when I was 6 or so. It's about a monkey who gets control of a train! And everyone's freaking out about this out of control train! But the twist is that the monkey actually knows how to drive the train, so everything is fine. Great song.

There's even a picture book of this song, so clearly it's great for kids.


The second song is Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London. I used to love howling along to this song. Also, best alliteration ever: Little old lady got mutilated late last night

I'm still mad at Kid Rock for sampling this song for his song All Summer Long. Every time it comes on the radio I get excited for a minute before I realize that it's not Werewolves of London.


Finally, I spent a lot of time listening to The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken albums in my parents car. My favorite song of all was Tennessee Stud, about a man's favorite horse.

Music Meme: How Do You Find New Music

I usually find new music either by listening to FM radio or to Pandora. FM radio is good for finding newer music, the new singles by bands I already know I like. Pandora is better when I'm looking for new artists to explore. When I need something new, I'll just create a new Pandora station and see what comes up.

I really don't buy music anymore. Nor do I download it. The last music I acquired was when my aunt sent me an iTunes gift card last Christmas. I bought a couple of KT Tunstall albums with it. I rarely find music that I feel like I need to own. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I prefer listening to music on the radio. Between FM radio and Pandora I almost never dig in to my personal collection. And if there's a song I need to listen to, I can usually find it on YouTube. Plus, I'd rather spend money on books than music.

Music Meme: Favorite Use of a Song in a Non-Musical movie or TV show

I think I have to go with the obvious answer. I love the use of Elton John's Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous. I can still remember how shocked I was when everyone on the bus started singing along. Excellent use of the 4th wall.

As for TV shows, I adore Community's use of ABBA in the zombie episode from the second season. I would never have expected that combination to work, but it was perfect.

I also want to talk about my least favorite use of a song in a movie. Which is hands-down Hallelujah in Watchmen. It doesn't fit with the scene at all, and it completely took me out of the movie when I saw it. So awkward and cringe-worthy. Here's the clip if you feel any need at all to watch it.

Music Meme: Favorite Musical

Wicked! Avenue Q! Rent! Jesus Christ Superstar! Camelot! The Fiddler on the Roof! Cinderella! The Sound of Music! Buffy musical! Chicago! Moulin Rouge! Phantom of the Opera! Bye Bye Birdie! Into the Woods! Oklahoma! My Fair Lady! Grease!

I love musicals. It's why I'm still watching Glee, despite all the problems with that show. Express an emotion with a song and you've got me hooked.

If I have to pick just one musical, I think I'll go with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, the one with Brandi. I adored this musical when I was a child. I actually wore out the VHS from watching it so often. It's a fairy tale! And the songs are so fun. I especially love the opening duet between Cinderella and the Prince, which they wrote just for this edition; it's what bumps it up above the Julie Andrews soundtrack for me. I like that Cinderella and the Prince meet before the ball, and that they actually have some things in common that make a relationship between them plausible.

On top of that I love every single song. Impossible is something of a mantra I can hum to myself when things start to get overwhelming. I'll often find myself singing A Lovely Night after a particularly good date (and occasionally I Could Have Danced All Night, but that's a different musical). In high school, I got to choreograph a waltz to Ten Minutes Ago when the choir did a Broadway review.

I do need to give a special shout out to Jesus Christ Superstar, which I listen to every Easter. It's about the only tradition I observe in conjunction with that holiday, but it's an important one.

Music Meme: Least Favorite Musical Genre

Heavy Metal

I just...I like music to relax me. I like instruments and voices that calm me down. Heavy Metal has the opposite effect. It stresses me out to listen to it. So I avoid it.

Funny story, though. The summer after high school I was dating this guy (who I honestly should have dumped long before I did, but c'est la vie). He was a huge fan of Metallica and immediately burned me a CD to which I dutifully listened. I didn't like it. I tried to be as diplomatic as possible when I told him this (they're fine, but it's not my taste) and he just exploded. I don't think he would have really accepted any reaction other than "Oh my god! This is the best thing ever! How have I lived my life so far without knowing about this glory?" (which, incidentally, was my reaction to trying sushi on my 21st birthday) Anyway, there was a fight. In retrospect, I should have broken up with him then and there, but I let it drag on for another month and a half.

All that said, there are of course songs I like that are considered heavy metal. In fact, I was surprised to discover that Led Zeppelin is considered a heavy metal band, mostly because I've always thought of them more as folk rock. It just goes to show how fluid musical genres are. Since they fit the bill, I'll leave you with Ramble On as an example of a metal song that I like.

Music Meme: Favorite Musical Genre

I have a huge soft spot for folk music. It's probably not terribly surprising, since I grew up listening to Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Eagles, all of whom have folk roots. My dad also owns a bunch of traditional Irish music, which has a lot in common with traditional folk music. I've always found this genre to be soothing, even though peer pressure told me that I was supposed to like pop or rock or hip hop. Although the first time my mom heard me listening to The Decemberists, she was surprised that folk music had manged to become to popular among my generation.

Folk songs, especially traditional ones, tend to have a plot, which I love. I'm not really sure I could tell you why I prefer songs that tell a story, but I definitely do. I also like the use of string instruments, the slight twang, and the overall earthy feel of folk music. It has deep roots. There are a lot of traditional songs that show up over and over again, meaning you get to hear a ton of different takes on the same source material.

Music Meme: Instruments

This question has two parts that I'm going to tackle one at a time.

Which musical instruments did you used to play?

Like everyone else in my elementary school, I had to learn to play the recorder. I actually still have it somewhere, I believe. And I spent a year playing clarinet in the school band, but I gave it in up middle school so I could take Spanish. My school didn't really support being in band and doing anything else. I don't currently play any musical instruments.

What's your favorite musical instrument?

It's a tie between the fiddle and the banjo. With the cello as a close second. The fiddle is incredibly versatile (and okay, is more a method of playing an instrument than an instrument in its own right, but I don't care). It can be upbeat or mournf

I love stringed instruments, and I especially love listening to them play off each other. One of my favorite bands is Crooked Still, unsurprisingly because they have a fiddle, a banjo, and a cello. Enjoy their cover of this traditional folk song, The Dreadful Wind and Rain

Music Meme: First and Favorite Concerts

The first concert I remember was The Backstreet Boys when I was 13. It was basically just a bunch of screaming girls, but my dad did manage to score seats in the second row for my best friend and me. I don't remember much about the concert, but I did have a lot of fun at it.

My favorite concert was Muse, who I got to see during college. It was notable because I actually managed to stay and have fun for the entire concert. Usually I get claustrophobic and have to leave early, which is really sad. I've stopped going to concerts, because it always ends up being a waste of money. I'll enjoy one song, then get progressively more uncomfortable until I have to leave to wait in the lobby. But Muse played at a fairly small, outdoor stadium, so I didn't feel overwhelmed by the crush of people. The simple fact that I enjoyed the entire concert makes it my favorite.

Music Meme: Preferred Way To Listen To Music

I'm a bit old fashioned in that I love FM radio. I have my CDs, I have a Pandora account and iTunes, I've even got an iPod (somewhere...). But FM radio in the car is where it's at. And at work I use iHeart radio to stream a station from Colorado, because I grew up listening to it and still love the DJs

Part of it is that I like not necessarily knowing which song comes next. When the station has good DJs, I also like learning bits of trivia about a song or artist. Good DJs can also put together nice sets of songs that play off each other.

On longer road trips (like DC to Pittsburgh, which I do somewhat regularly) I still use the scan button to flip through radio stations and get a bit of local flavor. It's also a good way for me to stumble across music I haven't heard in a long time. Or that I wouldn't necessarily think to put on.

I have 6 stations programmed in to my car so I can keep music playing when I'm driving. But at home, I usually just have one station on when I'm cooking or cleaning. I like hearing about events going on in my area. I discovered a local wine festival this way, and am occasionally reminded of events or places I'd like to go to. You don't get the same sense of your community listening to iTunes or CDs

Music Meme: The First Music You Bought

The first music I remember wanting and receiving was the Spice Girls' debut album Spice on cassette tape. Since I was nine years old at the time, I doubt I actually saved up my money and bought this for myself. It was probably something I asked my parents for and received as a gift. Still, I remember listening to this all the time at summer camp. In the girls bathroom. While my friends and I pretended to be the 1996 US Women's Gymnastics team. We also choreographed a dance to one of the songs ("If U Can't Dance") for the talent show. We were pretty awesome.

I believe that the first album I actually bought was Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time. I mostly remember my mom hating this CD, but I still have it.

So it's pretty clear that I was a pre-teen/teenaged girl in the late 90s. Who else would have owned both of those albums?

Music Meme: A Song From Your Favorite Album

My favorite album is kind of old. It came out in 1989. But I still love Joe Jackson's Blaze of Glory more than almost any other album I've heard. It's put together brilliantly, with each song bleeding into the next one. The songs actually tell something close to a coming of age story, making it feel like it could be a musical soundtrack. Listening to it, you can trace the journey of the "protagonist" from bright-eyed, optimistic youth ("Tomorrow's World") to unrestrained anger at the world ("Rant and Rave") to slightly jaded acceptance ("The Human Touch").

Unfortunately, I was only able to find a few songs from this album on YouTube. I guess it's not the most popular album ever. But if you can get your hands on a copy of it, I highly recommend you give it a listen. While each song is awesome on its own, together they really are something else.

Since the first two tracks are on YouTube, I'll leave you with them

Tomorrow's World:

Me and You (Against the World)

Music Meme: A Song From Your Favorite Artist

If I really have to sit down and pick a favorite artist, I'll have to go with Jerry Garcia. He's been a staple of my life since the beginning and probably before.

My parents were both big fans of the Grateful Dead, and my dad collected a bunch of Jerry Garcia's other work over the years. He had albums released by The Jerry Garcia Band and collaborations between Garcia and David Grisman that got an awful lot of play. Because of this I was exposed to lot of Garcia's music and covers. His guitar picking was the first I recognized and his voice can always calm me down. There's just something so soothing about his music; I'm sure at least part of it is that I began listening to it at such a young age.

Garcia has an impressive catalog of music, but I'm almost never sure what songs are originals and which ones are covers. It wasn't until Across the Universe came out in 2007 that I realized Dear Prudence was actually a song by The Beatles. I'd only ever heard Garcia's cover of it. I've had an impressively difficult time tracking down a list of songs that Garcia wrote either the lyrics or music for on the internet. You'd think someone would have already compiled something like that and posted it on a fan site. Perhaps I just didn't look hard enough.

So I thought I'd play it safe for this answer and leave you with Touch of Gray, The Grateful Dead's one and only hit single, since I know they wrote it. But I know my mom would be disappointed if that's the only Grateful Dead song I posted (I'm still going to post it here, since I like it a lot).

The thing is, it's hard to pick just one Grateful Dead song (even harder to pick just one Jerry Garcia performance). Ripple is pretty standard

Friend of the Devil will always have a place in my heart

And one of my favorite songs is The Way You Do The Things You Do (but I don't think this one is a Jerry Garcia original).

Music Meme!

When I first started this blog, I did a 30 day Buffy meme. I had a lot of fun with it and have sort of wanted to do another one since. But I had a hard time finding one that I felt would really inspire some interesting blog posts. Well I found a music meme that I'm excited to try. So for the next 30 days you get to be subjected to my taste in music. I'm hoping this will be fun!

Here's the meme I'll be following. I make no promises about sticking to a single song for each post

day 01 - a song from your favorite artist
day 02 - a song from your favorite album
day 03 - the first music you bought (album/cd/song)
day 04 - preferred way to listen to music
day 05 - first concert/favorite concert
day 06 - favorite instrument/what musical instruments can you play or used to play?
day 07 - favorite musical genre
day 08 - least favorite genre (a song you like from the genre)
day 09 - favorite musical
day 10 - favorite use of a song in a (non-musical) movie or TV show
day 11 - how do you usually find new music you like/do you still buy music?
day 12 - a song that reminds you of your childhood
day 13 - a song that reminds you of summer
day 14 - a song that reminds you of fall
day 15 - a song that reminds you of winter
day 16 - a song that reminds you of spring
day 17 - an artist you like that your parents listen to
day 18 - the most played songs in your music player
day 19 - a song you like by a band/artist you don't
day 20 - a song you don't like by a band/artist you do
day 21 - favorite duet/collaboration
day 22 - favorite one hit wonder
day 23 - favorite instrumental song
day 24 - favorite story told in a song
day 25 - favorite song about drugs
day 26 - favorite song about religion
day 27 - favorite political song
day 28 - favorite song about love
day 29 - favorite song about breaking up
day 30 - favorite song about death

Spite and Malice

Even though I no longer live in Colorado, I still listen to a Denver-based radio station every day at work. It's partly a familiarity thing (I grew up listening to these DJs) and partly because I like the time difference. I enjoy actually being coherent during the "Much too early for a question question" in the morning show. I like being able to leave around the time they play the three themed songs at three. And if I do have to work late, hearing the "Commuter comedy" around the time I'm leaving the office makes me feel a bit better about life in general.

But, since I do live 2000 miles away from the broadcast station of this studio, I have to stream it using iHeart radio, which isn't my favorite thing ever. They use the station's commercial breaks for different kinds of promotions. Some of these are Top 40 songs that I have very little interest in (but, hey, at least I've heard the songs on Glee before those kids sing them now). Lately, they've been replaying parts of old interviews in an effort to get me to download (and probably pay for) them.

This means that several times a day, I hear the same conversations between the DJ and Al Gore, Melissa Etheridge, and Alan Alda. To the point that I basically have these interviews memorized now.

During one interview, the DJ asks Alan Alda the secret to his long marriage (50 years!). He responds, "Spite and Malice", a card game that he and his wife play every day. Well I finally got curious enough to look up the rules to this game. If he attributes his long marriage to it, it's probably worth learning to play.

The instructions are here, if you're interested.

It didn't take me long to realize that I do know Spite and Malice. The difference is that I call it SkipBo. And I already play it with Kevin and our other friends pretty frequently.

In fact, we spent most of the morning leading up to Zach and Sarah's wedding playing this game (although our deck had no tens, thanks to Kevin's mischievousness). So if this is the secret to a long and happy marriage, I guess it bodes well for them. Make sure you play lots of SkipBo, guys!

A Tale of Two Compliments

Yeah I'm talking about street harassment again. I don't know if it's happening more or if I'm just noticing it more, but it's been on my mind a lot.

Today I had interactions with two different men and was struck by the contrast between them. The first made me feel dirty. The second left me with a spring in my step. The difference? Well, see for yourself.

Situation 1:
The man approached me on a crowded street corner while I was waiting for the light to change. He got close enough that I could feel his breath on my cheek while he whispered in my ear "Damn, nice legs. You're looking real good, baby girl." He disappeared as quickly as he had come, leaving me shaken.

Situation 2:
While I was walking down the street, a man called out, "Excuse me, ma'am."

Assuming that he needed directions somewhere, I stopped and turned to him. "Yes?"

He looked me in the eye and said, "I wanted to let you know that you look very nice today."

"Thanks," I responded with a big grin.


It is clearly not that difficult to give a stranger a compliment in a way that makes her day better rather than worse. It all comes down to respect. Why is this such a difficult concept for so many people?