It stops my mind from wandering

Pre-Post Addendum:

John Spencer (the actor who plays Leo McGarry) died today. He played one of my favorite characters on The West Wing. He will be missed.

John Spencer
1946-2005

Post:

I have been spending several hours each day for the last few days loading more cds into my iPod. I'm up to about 1700 songs, which does not sound like too many I guess, but it takes a while to load cds. My process has been to load all my "essentials" in first (R.E.M, New Order, Coldplay, Underworld, etc.), and now I have been going through alphabetically and loading stuff up. I am not going to load all of my cds right away -- some of them I never listen to, so they would just be taking up space.

So I decided that for today's post, I would try a little experiment. I am going to put my iPod on shuffle, and for the first five songs that come up, no matter what they are, I am going to write a little something about each song. Keep in mind that I have not listened to some of these songs for a long time. (This is an added benefit: I am again hearing music that I loved once, and this rediscovery will be the focus of another upcoming post.)

So, we'll see what happens . . . This post will take me a while to write since I have to listen to the songs first, then write whatever it is I am going to write.

The experiment starts now:

Song #1 - "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay
A fine first random pick . . . Of course I am always drawn to Chris Martin's piano, and I like the lyrics of this one quite a bit. I think it was a good pick as the first single from X & Y, though many thought it was too similar to "Clocks." I don't agree. The first time I heard this, I had downloaded it from the Coldplay website a few weeks before its release date, and I liked it immediately. The video really captures Coldplay's live energy, and the song actually reminds me a lot of the summer. Both Brakke and I made compilations of "boat songs" to play on the pontoon all summer long, and "Speed of Sound" was one song, along with "Feel Good, Inc.," that we both put on our boat music discs.

Song #2 - "Fixing a Hole" by The Beatles
Fun. This is a classic from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and this is the first time since high school that I have listened to this song with headphones -- very stereophonic. There is a musical kaleidoscope in my head as we speak. The left channel guitar is quite intriguing. Anyway, "Fixing a Hole" is a peppy little number by Paul and one of the many highlights of this classic album (consistently voted the greatest album in rock history). In the awful movie of Sgt. Pepper, George Burns sings this song -- not so classic.

Song #3 - "What Women Do to Men" by The Trash Can Sinatras
I have not talked too much about the Trash Can Sinatras, but they will be the focus of an upcoming band post. They are truly extraordinary. This song, from their most recent album, is a mellow and melodic love song with faint strings and lovely harmonies. Many Trash Can Sinatras songs are filled with clever wittiness, but this is a bit more straightforward:

"Did you suppose your lovers' quarrel
would bring a renewal of your love,
and then forget to make up?"

And the song's final seconds are filled with a plucky little guitar outro that makes me smile.


Ooh . I love the suspense of waiting for the next song to come on . . .

Song #4 - "Goodnight Jack" by Saint Etienne
Just like the previous entry, Saint Etienne is not a group I have mentioned much, but they are crucial to my musical world. Saint Etienne are poppy, artistic, and brilliant, with synth-pop exuberance and Sarah Cracknell's beautiful voice. I will also be posting about them soon. But this song "Goodnight Jack," from their album Good Humor is most notable for its amazing electronic flute line and subtle but essential bass line. Halfway through the song, some big drums kick in, and Sarah pines away:

"You know she's gotta run
Run away from home
She's got to run"

And then a harpsichord transitions us back to the original beat, and all is sublime.

Song #5 - "Radio War" by Iron & Wine
This song and pure and honest -- Sam Beam's little story of a dreaming woman, accompanied by a simple strum on a ukulele. It is unpretentious and beautiful, made a little more complicated by imagery of red talons and foundering boats.


Well, that was probably more interesting for me to write than it was for you to read. I liked the "what's next" factor, and I will probably do it again after I have loaded more cds.