Mixing It Up
Over the past three or six months I have been downloading music, $0.99 per song, from itunes. 99 cents doesn't seem much to pay for a bit of happiness or reminiscence. And I like being able to download whenever the mood strikes. Maybe the open jam guys play something I haven't heard in a while. Download. Maybe I hear a line from a song from an album that I lost, an album of mine that an ex-boyfriend conveniently kept, a borrowed album, a scratched album. Download. Maybe a song or musician comes up in conversation. Download. Maybe I'm happy when I think about a song. Download. Maybe I'm sad or angry. Download. Reasons not already given. Download.
One might think that with all of this downloading I have spent hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars at itunes. Actually--I've spent 20 dollars. 20 well-spent dollars--cheaper than therapy. And just the other day I decided that it was time to do something with my downloads--like burn them to a cd.
Though I could spend a lot of time writing about what a pain in the ass this process was--M4P format instead of MP3, converting, resaving so that I could illegally record my legally purchased music (Matt O--I should have called you and Tobias thank you for your help), I would rather write about the final result of my efforts, the burned record of my whims and moods for the last six months.
A sampling: some downloads, some previously owned
First song. Let it Be. Beatles. I am not much of a "let it be" kind of person, but I'm starting to learn that in some instances I should be.
Romeo and Juliet. Dire Straits. Because it reminds me of teaching and of student teaching. Love-sick Romeo and sensible Juliet. Or is it the other way around? But who is sensible in the end when they both end up dead?
A Tom Petty cache: Wildflowers, American Girl. Wildflowers for my mother. She likes this song. And I like this song because I'm reminded of my desire to flee. And the reasons that I don't. American Girl and Solitary Man (Johnny Cash and Tom Petty covering Neil Diamond) because how can a man be solitary with American Girl around?
Dirty Old Town. Pogues. Because some day Amanda and I ARE going to play in a bar, the music sounding the way that we want it to. A Pair of Brown Eyes for the disturbing visuals. I'm a Man you Don't Meet Every Day for my brother. Jock Stewart sounds a lot like Jack Stewart and my brother John/Jack is not a man you meet every day. Abigail Belle of Kilronan. Magnetic Fields. For Ireland and my favorite Abigail.
I Don't Really Love you Anymore. Magnetic Fields because the first few lines, "True, I'd give my right arm to keep you safe from harm/And, true, for you I'd move to Ecuador/And I'd keep a little farm/Chop wood to keep you warm/But I don't really love you anymore" always make me laugh.
Lost Cause. Already Dead. Beck. Because these songs are melancholy and beautiful and I like that he wrote them after his break up.
I Wish I had an Evil Twin. Magnetic Fields. Self explanatory.
1-2 Crush on You. The Clash. For Tad. And for all of the crushes I've ever had and all of the crushes I ever will have.
Sweet Jane. Femme Fatale. The Velvet Underground. Everyone's got ego. And though the lyrics may not apply, I dig Sweet Jane. Heard Femme Fatale the other night and it is still haunting me.
Last song. Dancing Queen. Abba. Because everyone's gotta laugh. I laugh when Aidan sings the words. I laugh when I think about karaoke in Japan. I laugh when I think about Monday night. I laugh.
A mix cd can say a lot of things, the ultimate gift from a wooing girlfriend or boyfriend, the I love you baby and this mix tape/cd proves it. I love you so much that I will sit for hours next to my tape deck and my cd player making this mix especially for you (yes--now we have computers that are time consuming in their own way). I will hand pick each song--just for you. When I am listening to this music I will think of you. When you are listening to this music you will think of me. Forever and ever. And ever. Till you break. Or I break. Or the tape breaks.
Tad made me a mix tape once. Titled it: Warning--Clichés may be Hazardous. Also titled it: Jane's Looong Time in the making tape. Side A: Better Late than Never, Side B: All Good Things to Those Who Wait. On the cover he painted a trout--olivey green and salmony pink, mountain peaks extending from crooked mouth to dorsal fin. Leafless tree standing behind fish. Blocks of color--purples, orange, browns. To fade. Opposite side of paper (on accident): watercolor trees painted by Grumps, Tad's grandfather who is no longer living. Didn't think it significant then, but as I look at the tape cover now I see the connection. Grandfather to grandson. I didn't know then that I would live in the same city as the man who painted those trees, that his paintings would hang on our walls. And that 12 years later I would still be able to listen to my mix tape, it not broken. Only the case.
Ahh...to reminisce. To wax nostalgic. To fall in love all over again. The allure, the seduction, the repetition. Ahhh.......the power of the mix--to woo--even to woo oneself. Again. And again. And again.
One might think that with all of this downloading I have spent hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars at itunes. Actually--I've spent 20 dollars. 20 well-spent dollars--cheaper than therapy. And just the other day I decided that it was time to do something with my downloads--like burn them to a cd.
Though I could spend a lot of time writing about what a pain in the ass this process was--M4P format instead of MP3, converting, resaving so that I could illegally record my legally purchased music (Matt O--I should have called you and Tobias thank you for your help), I would rather write about the final result of my efforts, the burned record of my whims and moods for the last six months.
A sampling: some downloads, some previously owned
First song. Let it Be. Beatles. I am not much of a "let it be" kind of person, but I'm starting to learn that in some instances I should be.
Romeo and Juliet. Dire Straits. Because it reminds me of teaching and of student teaching. Love-sick Romeo and sensible Juliet. Or is it the other way around? But who is sensible in the end when they both end up dead?
A Tom Petty cache: Wildflowers, American Girl. Wildflowers for my mother. She likes this song. And I like this song because I'm reminded of my desire to flee. And the reasons that I don't. American Girl and Solitary Man (Johnny Cash and Tom Petty covering Neil Diamond) because how can a man be solitary with American Girl around?
Dirty Old Town. Pogues. Because some day Amanda and I ARE going to play in a bar, the music sounding the way that we want it to. A Pair of Brown Eyes for the disturbing visuals. I'm a Man you Don't Meet Every Day for my brother. Jock Stewart sounds a lot like Jack Stewart and my brother John/Jack is not a man you meet every day. Abigail Belle of Kilronan. Magnetic Fields. For Ireland and my favorite Abigail.
I Don't Really Love you Anymore. Magnetic Fields because the first few lines, "True, I'd give my right arm to keep you safe from harm/And, true, for you I'd move to Ecuador/And I'd keep a little farm/Chop wood to keep you warm/But I don't really love you anymore" always make me laugh.
Lost Cause. Already Dead. Beck. Because these songs are melancholy and beautiful and I like that he wrote them after his break up.
I Wish I had an Evil Twin. Magnetic Fields. Self explanatory.
1-2 Crush on You. The Clash. For Tad. And for all of the crushes I've ever had and all of the crushes I ever will have.
Sweet Jane. Femme Fatale. The Velvet Underground. Everyone's got ego. And though the lyrics may not apply, I dig Sweet Jane. Heard Femme Fatale the other night and it is still haunting me.
Last song. Dancing Queen. Abba. Because everyone's gotta laugh. I laugh when Aidan sings the words. I laugh when I think about karaoke in Japan. I laugh when I think about Monday night. I laugh.
A mix cd can say a lot of things, the ultimate gift from a wooing girlfriend or boyfriend, the I love you baby and this mix tape/cd proves it. I love you so much that I will sit for hours next to my tape deck and my cd player making this mix especially for you (yes--now we have computers that are time consuming in their own way). I will hand pick each song--just for you. When I am listening to this music I will think of you. When you are listening to this music you will think of me. Forever and ever. And ever. Till you break. Or I break. Or the tape breaks.
Tad made me a mix tape once. Titled it: Warning--Clichés may be Hazardous. Also titled it: Jane's Looong Time in the making tape. Side A: Better Late than Never, Side B: All Good Things to Those Who Wait. On the cover he painted a trout--olivey green and salmony pink, mountain peaks extending from crooked mouth to dorsal fin. Leafless tree standing behind fish. Blocks of color--purples, orange, browns. To fade. Opposite side of paper (on accident): watercolor trees painted by Grumps, Tad's grandfather who is no longer living. Didn't think it significant then, but as I look at the tape cover now I see the connection. Grandfather to grandson. I didn't know then that I would live in the same city as the man who painted those trees, that his paintings would hang on our walls. And that 12 years later I would still be able to listen to my mix tape, it not broken. Only the case.
Ahh...to reminisce. To wax nostalgic. To fall in love all over again. The allure, the seduction, the repetition. Ahhh.......the power of the mix--to woo--even to woo oneself. Again. And again. And again.
posted by Jane | 9:08 AM
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