Mix It Up

So I'm making a mix CD to send to a fellow Jezzie. The suggestion was I lurk around her profile to see what she likes, but I decided to take a different approach. I'm going to make a CD based on stuff that is meaningful to me, in the hopes that I'm exposing her to something new.

I like to joke that my iTunes library has multiple personalities. People ask what kind of music I like, and I laugh and reply, "Let's start with what I don't listen to." So I'm putting together a list of possible songs, in many different genres. Here they are:

Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens (Louis Jordon)

This is a terrific old jazz song that was introduced to me by a colleague in England who became one of my biggest supporters. It is a great example of swing, and funny, to boot.

And So It Goes (Billy Joel)

I love Billy Joel--I have a ton of his stuff in my library. "And So It Goes" is a gorgeous little piano/vocal ditty about unrequited love. The first time I heard it was at a boy's house, just around the time I finally figured out that he didn't love me as I loved him.

Particularly poignant was the line, "So I would choose to be with you/That's if the choice were mine to make/But you can make decisions too/And you can have this heart to break."

Can I Get Get Get (Junior Senior)

Junior Senior are awesome. I first heard of them when visitng Italy in 2003. I would watch MTV Italia to get a feel for what was popular there, music-wise. I saw the video for "Move Your Feet" every day. "Can I Get Get Get" is just as infectuous. Love it.

Overture to Candide (Leonard Bernstein)

I have to include an instrumental piece. I've played this a few times on clarinet, and I adore it. Bernstein, of course, composed the music for West Side Story, and was a genius of the 20th Century. I'll never forget the first time I played the gorgeous countermelodies in the clarinet parts of Candide. I was smitten.

Crazy For You (Madonna)

I can remember being eight years old, lip-synching this in my bedroom, wishing I could be so cool as Madonna. It was 1985, and this was my favorite song. It still makes my Top 10.

Don't Stop Me Now (Queen)

I have awesome memories of this song from England. It always makes me happy, and no mix CD would be quite right without a little Freddie Mercury.

Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) -- (Train)

This is my theme song.

But tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated?
And tell me, did you fall for a shooting star?
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?

Something about it just resonates with me. I've loved it since 2001/2002, when I was in that difficult post-college transition, working on my credential. I figure it's about someone who is looking for themself, as I was at the time.

And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find?
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?

Here, There and Everywhere (The Beatles)

I didn't know this song until my sophomore year of college, when Dr. B. played it in Ear Training one day. I can't remember what the lesson was, and why he was playing it for us--just that I loved it. Just like Freddie Mercury, the Fab Four belong on any mix CD.

Suite in E-flat for Military Band (movement 2--Intermezzo) by Gustav Holst

Another awesome band piece that I've played a few times. Being both an instrumentalist and singer, I've been exposed to so many different kinds of music.

I'm In the Mood For Dancing (The Nolans)

Another song I heard a lot at clubs in England. It is pure dancing fun.

Lean on Me (Bill Withers)

Bill Withers is awesome, whether you're listening to this one, "Lovely Day," or "Ain't No Sunshine." I chose Lean On Me because I can remember hearing someone sing it at camp once, and falling in love with the song.

Mbube (Wimowe) -- (Ladysmith Black Mombaza)

Yep, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." But this is NOT the version made popular on the oldies radio stations, it's an a capella version by this awesome African group.

My Girl (The Temptations)

Gotta have some Motown! And who better to represent the Motor City than The Temptations? "My Girl" is classic--and I'd love to dance to it at my wedding someday.

No More "I Love You's" (Annie Lennox)

Another song that helped me get over a boy--in high school. And one I use to remind myself that sometimes, I have to stop giving all of myself to someone who can't give back and start taking care of myself again.

Red, Red, Wine (UB40)

My iTunes is light on the reggae. I have some Bob Marley and UB40, and UB40 is, honestly, a pop-reggae style. But I love, love, LOVE "Red, Red Wine" in all its drunken fun. And it has that reggae style.

Remember When (Alan Jackson)

I am not ashamed to admit that I like country music. Not all country--I shy away from Carrie Underwood for the most part--but I love Alan Jackson and George Strait. I had the pleasure of seeing Alan Jackson in concert in November, and I'll never forget watching Mom and Dad hold hands through this song, both wiping at their eyes. This is "their" song, and it is lovely.

It reminds me that marriages do still last, that people do make it more than 40 years, still best of friends.

Saturday In the Park (Chicago)

From Chicago's golden years, if you will. A lot of their 80s stuff went to loud pop-rock ballads, but in the 70s, they were all kinds of awesome. I love the big-band sound they make with just a few brass players. I love the image I get in my head of this small neighborhood park every time I listen to this song. I love the beat, the tune, the lyrics. It's classic.

She Will Be Loved (Maroon 5)

When I made the agonizing decision to leave England, I still had a few months of teaching to get through--"She Will Be Loved" was a favorite at that time, so I listened to it over and over again in my classroom when I didn't have kids around--actually, I listened to the whole Songs About Jane album over and over. Somehow, Maroon 5 kept me from going insane.

Strong (Robbie Williams)

I fell in love with this cheeky Brit in 1999, and our love affair has lasted 10 years. I will buy anything he records, though I'm most partial to his earliest stuff, like this one.

My breath smells like a thousand fags*
And when I'm drunk I dance like me dad
I've started to dress a bit like him.

And early morning when I wake up
I look like Kiss but without the makeup
And that's a good line to take it to the bridge.

...

You think that I'm strong
You're wrong, you're wrong

*Of course, in Brit-speak, fags are cigarettes.

It was hard to pick just one Robbie song. I could also have picked "Heaven From Here," "Millennium," or a host of others.

You Get What You Give (New Radicals)

It's been a long time, but there were some devastating events that prompted me to go to London for a semester in 1999. (Of course, it was all to do with a stupid boy.) Anyway, when I was there, I heard this song for the first time, and loved it.

New Radicals was actually a one-man operation with a back-up band. He put out one CD that had one big hit (this song). But what a hit!

You've got the music in you--Don't let go
You've got the music in you--One dance left
This world is gonna pull through--Don't give up
You've got a reason to live--Don't forget
We only get what we give.

What appealed, of course was, "you've got the music in you." Before I left for London, I had some serious reservations about continuing to major in music. Obviously, I stuck with it and I've never regretted it.


Not every song will make it onto the CD, and I'll play around with the order (right now they're in alphabetical order by song title) to make it flow just right. It will definitely be an eclectic, slightly crazy mix of songs...sort of like the woman making it. :)