The Soundtrack of Your Life

One of the things in common that my SO and I share is our love for music. About six weeks ago J took an introductory filmmaking course and it was during that time that I confessed that I composed 'soundtracks' in my head, to accompany my daily events - like walking Tendy down to the shops in Brixton or looking out the window whilst riding on a train. I hear a song and 'see' potential camera shots in my head. I can only assume that others do it too. SO and I agreed that there were certain songs that defined periods in our lives, by bringing back poignant memories and emotions. Songs that we listened to over and again whilst playing, eating, rollerskating/rollerblading/skateboarding (this dates me, I'm sure), songs that were playing while we were having a bit of a teenaged grope at dances or clubs, or just hanging out with mates and turning up the volume to 11...
Some of my earliest memories of enjoying music came from listening with my parents, who owned quite an interesting mix of folk, country, classical and pop records (again, my parents' music also dates me). Cat Stevens, Carole King, Earth, Wind and Fire, Kingston Trio and Bach gave me a foundation to enjoy the sounds of lyrics and notes from a variety of musical genres. I cannot go a day without listening to music and my house is often filled with impromptu sessions when J and I break out the CDs or plug in the ipod and lend our ears to each other's new favourite songs.

I'm sure you see a pattern emerging on my blog; I have a tendency to fill the gaps with music videos when I'm grasping for something to say, where others might use a meme. The music I put on my blog isn't meant to bore the reader - I'm happy to do that with my writing alone. I've been reluctant to share too many details online, but I hope that by listening to a bit of my world that, somehow, you will get to know bits of the real me at the end of this computer.

I know that musical tastes can vary from person to person but I would really love to know what your 'life soundtrack' would have on it. Say you limit it to 10 or 12 songs that reflect your personality or experiences at various times in your life. If that seems too complicated, then just pick a CDful (yes, that's a word I made up just now, and I'm keeping it) of your favourites and list them with your comments or blog post, if you feel so inspired. I'm sure this counts as a meme, somehow, but I think that the music that moves and shapes gives as much insight into the personality as any confession could.

Here are mine:

1. Peace Train - Cat Stevens : ages 5-10. My parents had Teaser and the Firecat and I adored every track on this album, but a cover of this song, done by Natalie Merchant before she knew that CS had converted to Islam, sealed this as my favourite. I remember doing cartwheels down the hallway while this record was playing on the stereo, in the middle of summer and I especially love the intonation of "Peace train, ho-ly roll-er, everyone jumpuponthepeacetrain"...you get the drift?
2. Kids in America - Kim Wilde : Junior High. What can I say about this song? I loved it and I had a huge crush on KW (though I would have never admitted it at age 13). It was great to dance to and it had a good beat, Dick. I'm giving this song an 8 outta 10!
3. Big Time - Peter Gabriel : High school. I obviously had ideas above my station to identify with the lyrics... I wish I had been one of those kids who took all the energy she had in feeling displaced and misunderstood and had done something spectacular with it. I've been living a bit of an insular life for the past twenty years, which is mostly okay but difficult to get out of when you really want to do something that requires the belief of others standing behind you. When I hear this song, however, I think there were a few key opportunities that I didn't take because I was scared and feeling unworthy and I wish I had disregarded that angst and really been "on my way" and "making it". I still love this song because it's a youthful, two-fingered salute to the entropy of small town life.
4. Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zepplin : High school/college. The melodic beginning turns into a dervish of vocal, guitar and drum genius by Plant, Page and Bonham. It's just a brilliant song that brings back memories of finding my feet as a young adult, and speaks to a romantic and nomadic nature I thought I possessed.
5. Down In It - Nine Inch Nails : early Boston years. I think I fancied myself a tortured soul. There were a few years where my behaviour was a bit sketchy and I found myself in some situations that seemed quite remarkable, at the time. However, looking back I feel more lucky to have weathered them with few or no consequences. Some of my friends weren't so lucky.
6. Mother, Mother - Tracy Bonham: This videois worth a watch. In the same vein as NIN, it encapsulates the feelings of youth simultaneously trying to break away and be independent whilst still struggling to find their next meal. I remember working in a train station from 6am to 2pm, making minimum wage and blowing most of my paycheck down at the pub, trying to forget that my life was a bit miserable. Oh, and the fact that I think most daughters have strained and strange relationships with their mother, makes TB's song a must-have on my life sountrack.
7. Are you getting bored, yet? I'm thinking that I'll save the last six for another day. Enjoy this last vid - it's the English subtitles that I dig. It's saying what I think most of us are saying through our blogs...

What I've been contemplating...

A quote from Czesław Miłosz's book, 'The Captive Mind'.

When someone is honestly 55% right, that's very good and there's no use wrangling. And if someone is 60% right, it's wonderful, it's great luck, and let him thank God. But what's to be said about 75% right? Wise people say this is suspicious. Well, and what about 100% right? Whoever says he's 100% right is a fanatic, a thug, and the worst kind of rascal. -An old Jew of Galicia

Things I've Seen

1. Three car crashes, each of which happened in front of me.

2. Stonehenge.

3. A box of photographs taken by the grandfather of a friend of mine who happened to be drafted as a soldier, in the Nazi army, during WWII. He was captured in Russia, held in gulag, allowed to keep his photos and camera, and marched back home to Germany after the war with them. Looking at them left me awestruck - I was looking at a piece of his country's, and Russia's, history that (probably) nobody outside his family had ever seen.

4. Four live rattlesnakes in the wild. Two were under rocks and two were coiled at the base of some sagebrush, back in NM.

5. The loveliest Christmas tree in the middle of an outdoor ice rink in Bruges, Belgium. The light was fading, we had stumbled onto a Christmas market with gorgeous handmade toys and crafts. Stalls were selling Gluwein and hot pastries around the square and this tree must have been about 12 meters tall! Gorgeous rosy-cheeked children were skating around the base and afterward we went and sat for hours in a stone, cavernous pub in the basement of a tavern and ordered drinks. It was picturebook perfect!

6. The Voladores, whose performance was breathtaking. They were the last act of the evening at the Gallup Intertribal Indian Ceremonial - and still are, I think. They went on after dark and a huge fire was lit in the middle of the arena. The sandstone cliffs acted as a backdrop and the firelight danced off the rocks. I could see why people believe they were messengers for the gods when they leaped off their platform, flying in lazy circles, like eagles, with their ankles tethered by ropes wound round the pole. The only noise in the arena was the tinny sound of the flutist, perched at the top of the platform, high above the ground.

What are some amazing things you've seen? Have they changed who you are or how you look at life?

Lasse, Come Home!

It's nice to see the machinations of another's mind...figuring it out, figuring it all out.

Loveliness

The whole idea of tinsel effect was to find a way to remove some of the unnecessary glitter that we put on things and get down to the bare bones of an issue. Naming things for what they are rather than what we'd like them to be. Finding a way to tease out the reality, separate it from fantasy is, I believe, one of the ways that humans can truly make sense of the world. I'm not sure that Im managing to do that, at all. I do know that nothing galls me more than when I attempt to go in one sure direction and then I meander down another. Here is a tinsel-worthy site that I found whilst perusing some interesting blogs. I'm not sure what the blog etiquette is for using a link within text, so if someone would be kind enough to let me know if I'm stepping on toes I'd appreciate the feedback. Until I get my head around html tags, again, so that I can create a link, you'll just have to cut and paste the address into your browser...sorry. Anyway, the blog is at: http://tlltworld.blogspot.com/ and I hope that the 'tinsel' in the images is enough to make your day happy, knowing that things do often appear to be what they are not. Loveliness is often in disguise. The artist has collected images from Flikr and other sites and found a way to link them together. It's quite a clever concept and I spent a good ten minutes on it just getting my dose of loveliness for the day.