30 Days of Music Meme
Aug. 24th, 2011 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tj_dragonbladeAs seen a couple different places on the flist. Meant to be like an entry a day for a month, or something, but it works far better for me to dump it all in one go.
01 - your favorite song
Of all time? Who knows. It's difficult to narrow down and restrict that far. And I'm kind of in-between favorites-of-the-moment at the moment. Although I have been having atorrid rekindled love-affair with Beethoven lately, and with cello-piano duets of all sorts. And listening a lot to genre-mashing not-so-pigeonholeable things like this.
02 - your least favorite song
Uh, lessee. Damn. There's a lot of songs that get on my nerves. But the worst? Maybe that dumb 'thong' song by that one guy ten years or so back. God. *facepalm* Also, I kind of hate Hinder's Lips of an Angel - something about it really rubs against the grain, possibly just the fact that the use of 'lips' in the lyrics sounds incredibly dumb somehow. And there's that country song by that one chick about all the petty-vengeful things she's gonna do to her man so maybe he'll think next time before he cheats that, lyrically, really gets my hackles up even though the music holds a certain twangy appeal. And I kinda have a grudge against Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl for necessitating once again that I fend off the (external) attitude that I ought to be more like the girl in that song. *sigh*
03 - a song that makes you happy
Cherry by Spitz. There's a musical brightness about it that tends to be very mood-lifting, ime, which one might think would be at odds with the wistful-bittersweet lyrics but since I don't understand them, they carry less weight than the melody and musical construction. The overall 'feel' is bright and positive and content, somehow. Roses by Poets of the Fall tends to leave a good feeling in its wake, also.
04 - a song that makes you sad
Er, well. Songs don't generally make me sad, as a regular thing? But...hm. Blue Monday by Orgy got to me shortly after my brother died, because he was quite fond of the New Order original and would have loved Orgy's cover, had he ever gotten to hear it.
05 - a song that reminds you of someone
Nothing Else Matters by Metallica - reminds me of my brother, for lots of reasons, not the least of which being that he used to sit in the living room while he was starting to learn guitar and pluck out that initial six note phrase over and over and over. It was definitely one of his favorites, guitar or no guitar. If I'd had my way about it, this song would have had some part in his funeral.
06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere
More a 'somewhen' than a 'somewhere', but Wonderwall by Oasis always reminds me of my graveyard-shift job doing janitorial work at ASU just after high school, which is where/when I first heard it and grew to like it. Glycerine by Bush does the same thing for the same reasons.
07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event
School's Out by Alice Cooper - reminds me of the Alice concert that I went to shortly before leaving AZ - was the hometown dress rehearsal for his Brutal Planet tour. My friend and I managed to get right near the stage and it was awesome. *happy sigh* This song in particular reminds me of it because when he performed it, there were big beach-ball balloons full of confetti bouncing all over the stage and out into the audience and he'd pop them every now and then and I had quite a lot of confetti stuck in my bra when I got home that night.
08 - a song that you know all the words to
Missing by Everything But the Girl. Mostly because the lyrics are clearly spoken and understandable and somehow stick with me on top of that. This is one of those underrated songs that I still love years later.
09 - a song that you can dance to
Ah, well. There are many songs that incite a definite sense of energy in me that would translate to the dance floor if I was less self-conscious, I think. I don't exactly dance, in any style - not that I'll admit to publicly anyway. ^_^;; But Dilruba by Niyaz rather makes me wish I could.
10 - a song that makes you fall asleep
Truthfully? I can fall asleep regardless of what I'm listening to, most times. Occasions when I'm having trouble drifting off, I generally turn on one of the apps on my iTouch that gives me rain-and-frogs-and-rippling-water sounds, or ocean waves. Or the track of Ishida Akira counting sheep for twenty minutes. ^_^ Need to get my hands on Inoue Kazuhiko's sheep-counting session. And Hirata Hiroaki's, if he's done one.
11 - a song from your favorite band
Gethsemane by Nightwish. I guess I'd classify them as my favorite band, sure. It's one of their older songs but still one of their best; I would love to hear it revisited with the full-orchestral backing that they're doing nowadays. Nngh. *_* So cannot wait for their next album.
12 - a song from a band you hate
Ahh. Well. I'm really not fond at all of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, the big names of grunge. Stuff like that. Or of Creed. Off the top of my head. So, as far as songs go, take your pick. *shrug*
13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure
E.T. by Katy Perry. It's so...ugh, god, I don't know. So urban-pop catchy-trite in the music and vocal styling and so utterly inane in the lyrics (and I'm not even talking about the Kanye West version, which just adds so much more headdesk-worthy material that I can't help rolling my eyes ("I wanna walk on your wavelength/And be there when you vibrate" - seriously?? >_<), but the lyrical theme, the gist of the song, it's...well, unique, and it speaks--very loudly--to my inner xenophile. I may or may not be guilty of looping it on repeat at various points in the recent past. ^_^;
14 - a song that no one would expect you to love
Ahaha. Well. I suppose that most folks I'm acquainted with, online or off, would be surprised to know that I rather like Cypress Hill's Insane In the Brain.
15 - a song that describes you
It'll Have to Wait by Rawlins Cross. It's a comical sort of thing that speaks to my distractability as well as my tendency to fixate on the trivial and trivialize the important. Also, Sammy Hagar's I Can't Drive 55. *cough* ^_^; Lagoon by Nightwish and Cocoon by Assemblage 23 both have a high personal resonancy value in their themes of therapeutic isolation to counter the psychological noise of other people and the world at large, the need to be left alone to recharge every now and then.
16 - a song that you used to love but now hate
Honestly? I can't think of anything. There are songs I got tired of hearing on account of heavy radio play (two or three from Stabbing Westward's 'Wither Blister Burn and Peel' back in the latter half of the nineties and a couple of Linkin Park's from the 'Meteora' album a few years ago), but once that overplayment faded out and I had a break from the songs, I like them again. *shrug* I can go the other way - used to hate, now love - and talk about Love and Rockets' song So Alive; my brothers both loved it in the very late eighties but I hated it - something about the 'you-hoo-hoo' I think really bugged me - but when it crossed my path again a few years later, I found that I really liked it. Still do.
17 - a song that you hear often on the radio
If You Only Knew by Shinedown. I rarely listen to the radio if I can help it - generally it ends up being with other people in the car. But this is one of the scattered few songs that can be heard semi-regularly on the radio that I actually like more than just a little. Something about it really resonates, especially in the melody through the chorus.
18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio
Er, well. See last question re: not listening to the radio much; if there's a song I'm wanting to hear I'll generally go to the ipod. But. It would be quite nice if more of the Finnish bands I like got played on US radio, so I'll go with Carnival of Rust by Poets of the Fall.
19 - a song from your favorite album
Er. Favorite album? Don't know that I have one. I could probably pick a favorite album by each of the bands/artists I'm really into, if asked, but I don't know that I could rank them against one another thereafter. Gah. For the sake of expediency, I'll just...pick one. And go with Illusion and Dream by Poets of the Fall, from their 'Signs of Life' album.
20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry
Given Up by Linkin Park. It's very helpful in exorcising the mood via externalization and amplification. By which I mean, angry music helps to pull the mood out in the open and process it, work past it, instead of me seething inside and burying it.
21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy
Anything and everything from the usual playlists, I suppose. I mean, I don't think I've ever gone 'Man, I'm feelin' happy - I oughta go listen to this song!' or anything. Don't really match music to emotional moods much beyond 'angry'. I...do tend to have a preference for more up-tempo music when I'm driving? *shrug*
22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad
Generally, if I'm genuinely depressed, I don't feel like listening to music. But there are instances where I'm maybe just a bit down, instead, and sometimes feel like listening to something slow and melancholy, but I'm just as likely to listen to such things when I'm happy, as well. So, uh. >_< Moving on.
23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding
Our wedding was a delightfully unconventional affair. I suppose, however, that if we were to ever re-do it/renew it, whatever, that Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World would have to show up in the proceedings somewhere.
24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral
...Fuck if I know - never thought about it. And I'll be dead at that point so what do I really care? Seems more appropriate somehow that those who plan/attend the thing should play music that reminds them of me. *shrug*
25 - a song that makes you laugh
The Scotsman by...well, I don't really know. When my friend shared it my way years ago it was tagged 'Dr. Demento'. It's this vaguely-scandalous little piece about a drunken Scotsman sleeping by the road and the two girls who come along to have a peek beneath his kilt that never fails to make me at least smile. Also, The Maladjusted Jester from 'The Court Jester' (Danny Kaye!) still warrants a grin, too.
26 - a song that you can play on an instrument
...Uh. Well. Whether or not I could still play it if handed a violin is up for debate, but waaay back in junior high there was this song from...uh. Land Before Time, I think? The very first one. I can't remember what the song was called or the lyrics - something about holding on together? - though I think I still have a handle on the tune, but anyway. Way back when, smack in the middle of my violining years, I thought it was like the prettiest melody ever and figured out how to play it by ear.
27 - a song that you wish you could play
Shah. Well. I wish I could play piano, and there's a whole slew of Beethoven's pieces I'd aspire to learn if I could, but the Appassionata probably tops the list. Wish I could play cello, too, and Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major would be a goal. Along with Apocalyptica's Farewell and their take on Nothing Else Matters. And the Jack Sparrow theme from PotC. Wish I still played violin, somehow or other, and have always kind of wanted to pick out the violin solos in Yanni's The End of August and Felitsa. Would like to play bass guitar, too, while I'm at it, and would probably be trying to play bass-prominent songs like Blood and Roses by The Smithereens and Queen's Another One Bites the Dust.
28 - a song that makes you feelguilty jealous
Sorry, wracked my brains for days trying to come up with one for 'guilty' but had no luck.
Tell Me It's Real by K-Ci and JoJo - husband likes to ham up his nostalgia for his ex-fiancee when this song plays, because he knows I get quite jealous over her still and that apparently makes him feel valued/loved. ^_^;
29 - a song from your childhood
Longer by Dan Fogelberg. I associated this with all my cartoon 'boyfriends' long about first grade or so. It's still a pretty song, though I hadn't thought about it in years.
30 - your favorite song at this time last year
...Well, I don't really know what my favorite might have been, as music was not really foremost on my mind with a new baby in the house, but I know I was singing the tune to Loreena McKennit's Lullaby every night to help put him to sleep.
I-I've changed my default icon for the first time since like...2005, I think. I feel like I've betrayed something/one somehow, and don't know that I won't change it back. We'll see. ^_^;;
01 - your favorite song
Of all time? Who knows. It's difficult to narrow down and restrict that far. And I'm kind of in-between favorites-of-the-moment at the moment. Although I have been having a
02 - your least favorite song
Uh, lessee. Damn. There's a lot of songs that get on my nerves. But the worst? Maybe that dumb 'thong' song by that one guy ten years or so back. God. *facepalm* Also, I kind of hate Hinder's Lips of an Angel - something about it really rubs against the grain, possibly just the fact that the use of 'lips' in the lyrics sounds incredibly dumb somehow. And there's that country song by that one chick about all the petty-vengeful things she's gonna do to her man so maybe he'll think next time before he cheats that, lyrically, really gets my hackles up even though the music holds a certain twangy appeal. And I kinda have a grudge against Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl for necessitating once again that I fend off the (external) attitude that I ought to be more like the girl in that song. *sigh*
03 - a song that makes you happy
Cherry by Spitz. There's a musical brightness about it that tends to be very mood-lifting, ime, which one might think would be at odds with the wistful-bittersweet lyrics but since I don't understand them, they carry less weight than the melody and musical construction. The overall 'feel' is bright and positive and content, somehow. Roses by Poets of the Fall tends to leave a good feeling in its wake, also.
04 - a song that makes you sad
Er, well. Songs don't generally make me sad, as a regular thing? But...hm. Blue Monday by Orgy got to me shortly after my brother died, because he was quite fond of the New Order original and would have loved Orgy's cover, had he ever gotten to hear it.
05 - a song that reminds you of someone
Nothing Else Matters by Metallica - reminds me of my brother, for lots of reasons, not the least of which being that he used to sit in the living room while he was starting to learn guitar and pluck out that initial six note phrase over and over and over. It was definitely one of his favorites, guitar or no guitar. If I'd had my way about it, this song would have had some part in his funeral.
06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere
More a 'somewhen' than a 'somewhere', but Wonderwall by Oasis always reminds me of my graveyard-shift job doing janitorial work at ASU just after high school, which is where/when I first heard it and grew to like it. Glycerine by Bush does the same thing for the same reasons.
07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event
School's Out by Alice Cooper - reminds me of the Alice concert that I went to shortly before leaving AZ - was the hometown dress rehearsal for his Brutal Planet tour. My friend and I managed to get right near the stage and it was awesome. *happy sigh* This song in particular reminds me of it because when he performed it, there were big beach-ball balloons full of confetti bouncing all over the stage and out into the audience and he'd pop them every now and then and I had quite a lot of confetti stuck in my bra when I got home that night.
08 - a song that you know all the words to
Missing by Everything But the Girl. Mostly because the lyrics are clearly spoken and understandable and somehow stick with me on top of that. This is one of those underrated songs that I still love years later.
09 - a song that you can dance to
Ah, well. There are many songs that incite a definite sense of energy in me that would translate to the dance floor if I was less self-conscious, I think. I don't exactly dance, in any style - not that I'll admit to publicly anyway. ^_^;; But Dilruba by Niyaz rather makes me wish I could.
10 - a song that makes you fall asleep
Truthfully? I can fall asleep regardless of what I'm listening to, most times. Occasions when I'm having trouble drifting off, I generally turn on one of the apps on my iTouch that gives me rain-and-frogs-and-rippling-water sounds, or ocean waves. Or the track of Ishida Akira counting sheep for twenty minutes. ^_^ Need to get my hands on Inoue Kazuhiko's sheep-counting session. And Hirata Hiroaki's, if he's done one.
11 - a song from your favorite band
Gethsemane by Nightwish. I guess I'd classify them as my favorite band, sure. It's one of their older songs but still one of their best; I would love to hear it revisited with the full-orchestral backing that they're doing nowadays. Nngh. *_* So cannot wait for their next album.
12 - a song from a band you hate
Ahh. Well. I'm really not fond at all of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, the big names of grunge. Stuff like that. Or of Creed. Off the top of my head. So, as far as songs go, take your pick. *shrug*
13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure
E.T. by Katy Perry. It's so...ugh, god, I don't know. So urban-pop catchy-trite in the music and vocal styling and so utterly inane in the lyrics (and I'm not even talking about the Kanye West version, which just adds so much more headdesk-worthy material that I can't help rolling my eyes ("I wanna walk on your wavelength/And be there when you vibrate" - seriously?? >_<), but the lyrical theme, the gist of the song, it's...well, unique, and it speaks--very loudly--to my inner xenophile. I may or may not be guilty of looping it on repeat at various points in the recent past. ^_^;
14 - a song that no one would expect you to love
Ahaha. Well. I suppose that most folks I'm acquainted with, online or off, would be surprised to know that I rather like Cypress Hill's Insane In the Brain.
15 - a song that describes you
It'll Have to Wait by Rawlins Cross. It's a comical sort of thing that speaks to my distractability as well as my tendency to fixate on the trivial and trivialize the important. Also, Sammy Hagar's I Can't Drive 55. *cough* ^_^; Lagoon by Nightwish and Cocoon by Assemblage 23 both have a high personal resonancy value in their themes of therapeutic isolation to counter the psychological noise of other people and the world at large, the need to be left alone to recharge every now and then.
16 - a song that you used to love but now hate
Honestly? I can't think of anything. There are songs I got tired of hearing on account of heavy radio play (two or three from Stabbing Westward's 'Wither Blister Burn and Peel' back in the latter half of the nineties and a couple of Linkin Park's from the 'Meteora' album a few years ago), but once that overplayment faded out and I had a break from the songs, I like them again. *shrug* I can go the other way - used to hate, now love - and talk about Love and Rockets' song So Alive; my brothers both loved it in the very late eighties but I hated it - something about the 'you-hoo-hoo' I think really bugged me - but when it crossed my path again a few years later, I found that I really liked it. Still do.
17 - a song that you hear often on the radio
If You Only Knew by Shinedown. I rarely listen to the radio if I can help it - generally it ends up being with other people in the car. But this is one of the scattered few songs that can be heard semi-regularly on the radio that I actually like more than just a little. Something about it really resonates, especially in the melody through the chorus.
18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio
Er, well. See last question re: not listening to the radio much; if there's a song I'm wanting to hear I'll generally go to the ipod. But. It would be quite nice if more of the Finnish bands I like got played on US radio, so I'll go with Carnival of Rust by Poets of the Fall.
19 - a song from your favorite album
Er. Favorite album? Don't know that I have one. I could probably pick a favorite album by each of the bands/artists I'm really into, if asked, but I don't know that I could rank them against one another thereafter. Gah. For the sake of expediency, I'll just...pick one. And go with Illusion and Dream by Poets of the Fall, from their 'Signs of Life' album.
20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry
Given Up by Linkin Park. It's very helpful in exorcising the mood via externalization and amplification. By which I mean, angry music helps to pull the mood out in the open and process it, work past it, instead of me seething inside and burying it.
21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy
Anything and everything from the usual playlists, I suppose. I mean, I don't think I've ever gone 'Man, I'm feelin' happy - I oughta go listen to this song!' or anything. Don't really match music to emotional moods much beyond 'angry'. I...do tend to have a preference for more up-tempo music when I'm driving? *shrug*
22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad
Generally, if I'm genuinely depressed, I don't feel like listening to music. But there are instances where I'm maybe just a bit down, instead, and sometimes feel like listening to something slow and melancholy, but I'm just as likely to listen to such things when I'm happy, as well. So, uh. >_< Moving on.
23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding
Our wedding was a delightfully unconventional affair. I suppose, however, that if we were to ever re-do it/renew it, whatever, that Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World would have to show up in the proceedings somewhere.
24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral
...Fuck if I know - never thought about it. And I'll be dead at that point so what do I really care? Seems more appropriate somehow that those who plan/attend the thing should play music that reminds them of me. *shrug*
25 - a song that makes you laugh
The Scotsman by...well, I don't really know. When my friend shared it my way years ago it was tagged 'Dr. Demento'. It's this vaguely-scandalous little piece about a drunken Scotsman sleeping by the road and the two girls who come along to have a peek beneath his kilt that never fails to make me at least smile. Also, The Maladjusted Jester from 'The Court Jester' (Danny Kaye!) still warrants a grin, too.
26 - a song that you can play on an instrument
...Uh. Well. Whether or not I could still play it if handed a violin is up for debate, but waaay back in junior high there was this song from...uh. Land Before Time, I think? The very first one. I can't remember what the song was called or the lyrics - something about holding on together? - though I think I still have a handle on the tune, but anyway. Way back when, smack in the middle of my violining years, I thought it was like the prettiest melody ever and figured out how to play it by ear.
27 - a song that you wish you could play
Shah. Well. I wish I could play piano, and there's a whole slew of Beethoven's pieces I'd aspire to learn if I could, but the Appassionata probably tops the list. Wish I could play cello, too, and Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major would be a goal. Along with Apocalyptica's Farewell and their take on Nothing Else Matters. And the Jack Sparrow theme from PotC. Wish I still played violin, somehow or other, and have always kind of wanted to pick out the violin solos in Yanni's The End of August and Felitsa. Would like to play bass guitar, too, while I'm at it, and would probably be trying to play bass-prominent songs like Blood and Roses by The Smithereens and Queen's Another One Bites the Dust.
28 - a song that makes you feel
Sorry, wracked my brains for days trying to come up with one for 'guilty' but had no luck.
Tell Me It's Real by K-Ci and JoJo - husband likes to ham up his nostalgia for his ex-fiancee when this song plays, because he knows I get quite jealous over her still and that apparently makes him feel valued/loved. ^_^;
29 - a song from your childhood
Longer by Dan Fogelberg. I associated this with all my cartoon 'boyfriends' long about first grade or so. It's still a pretty song, though I hadn't thought about it in years.
30 - your favorite song at this time last year
...Well, I don't really know what my favorite might have been, as music was not really foremost on my mind with a new baby in the house, but I know I was singing the tune to Loreena McKennit's Lullaby every night to help put him to sleep.
I-I've changed my default icon for the first time since like...2005, I think. I feel like I've betrayed something/one somehow, and don't know that I won't change it back. We'll see. ^_^;;
