I went to an event recently that included a talk that had to do with waiting. Music was mentioned, in particular the U2 song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” But then I started thinking about how many other songs are about waiting.
In so many ways, I feel like most of my life has been about waiting for things that take too long to happen or never happen. I’ve blogged about all of that so many times that I don’t want to get into it again. But here’s my playlist about waiting.
The week before Thanksgiving, I took some vacation time and went to NYC to see some shows: Hadestown, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Jagged Little Pill. I’m surprised I’ve never done a New York playlist before, but I haven’t- so here one is!
I’ve been hearing a lot on social media this week about how it’s the 20th anniversary of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer show. I never watched Buffy (vampires aren’t my thing), but it occurred to me that the 20th anniversaries of a lot of other things I loved as a teenager will be coming up.
How was 1997 twenty years ago?
This Buzzfeed article is all about the music that came out that year, and I just cannot believe it’s been that long. While I muse about how old I am, I will post this playlist of the songs mentioned in the article, which Buzzfeed somehow neglected to provide.
I did a couple of other OC recaps for Snark Squad earlier this month (here and here), and they reminded me of something- I have a playlist of songs about California.
Why? Because there are a LOT of songs about California. I mean, it is the most populous state and brings a lot of images and associations to mind just at the mention of its name, so I guess it makes sense. It was an incredibly easy playlist to make- I just searched my music for California and then added some about cities in California. I’m particularly fond of the first one- “My California” by Beth Hart. “I’ll love you like the sun loves California” is a lyric that has stuck in my brain since I first heard the song.
1. My California, Beth Hart
2. California Girls, The Beach Boys
3. California Stars, Billy Bragg and Wilco
4. Southern California Wants to Be Western New York, Dar Williams
5. Hotel California, The Eagles
6. A Song About California, Hey Ocean!
7. Heads Carolina, Tails California, Jo Dee Messina
8. All the Gold in California, Larry Gatlin
9. California Deamin’, The Mamas and the Papas
10. California, Phantom Planet
11. California, Rogue Wave
12. California, Rufus Wainwright
13. L.A. Song, Beth Hart
14. Goodnight L.A., Counting Crows
15. L.A. Woman, The Doors
16. L.A. Is My Lady, Frank Sinatra
17. Walking in Los Angeles, Kate Micucci
18. Santa Monica, Everclear
19. San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair), Scott McKenzie
20. Here In LA, Roy Joseph
On Valentine’s Day freshman year of college, because I like depressing myself, I decided to make a mix CD of love songs. This was back in 2003—when I started college, I’d been very excited to learn that my new laptop had a CD burner, since iPods weren’t quite mainstream yet and mix CDs were, in my eighteen-year-old estimation, the coolest thing ever.
Twelve year later, methods of music consumption have changed quite a bit. My love life, sadly, has not changed at all. But although Valentine’s Day makes me sad, and it gets worse with every passing year, I’ve always had a thing for sappy love songs. (I also love romantic comedies, so apparently I’m a glutton for punishment.)
I’ve since added to that playlist I made all those years ago, and here it is for you:
1. For You- Duncan Sheik
2. Never Saw Blue Like That- Shawn Colvin
3. Amazed- Lonestar
4. To Make You Feel My Love- Garth Brooks
5. Your Song-Elton John
6. I Finally Found Someone- Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams
7. For the First Time- Kenny Loggins
8. Breathing- Lifehouse
9. I’ll Be- Edwin McCain
10. Good Morning Beautiful- Steve Holy
11. Unexpected Song- Sarah Brightman
12. From This Moment On- Shania Twain
13. Here With Me- Dido
14. I Will Buy You a New Life- Everclear
15. When You Say Nothing at all- Rowan Keating
16. Wonderful Tonight- Eric Clapton
17. Untitled- Buckcherry
18. Valentine- Martina McBride
19. You and Me- Lifehouse
20. Falling Slowly- Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
21. Nine Million Bicycles- KatieMelua
22. I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today- Guster
23. You Picked Me- A Fine Frenzy
24. Just the Way You Are- Billy Joel
25. It Is You (I Have Loved)- Dana Glover
26. Hey There Delilah- Plain White T’s
27. Be Here Now- Mason Jennings
28. The Luckiest- Ben Folds
29. Question- Rhett Miller
30. Brand New Year- The Damn Millionaires
31. Come What May- Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman
32. We Belong- Pat Benatar
33. Eric’s Song- Vienna Teng
34. Grow Old with Me- Mary Chapin Carpenter
35. True Companion- Marc Cohn
36. Growing Old with You- Adam Sandler
37. I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing- Aerosmith
38. Everything- Alanis Morissette
39. Wherever You Will Go- The Calling
40. I Turn to You- Christina Aguilera
41. Snowfoot Waltz- The Divers
42. The Book of Love- Peter Gabriel
43. Songbird- Eva Cassidy
44. You’re My Home- Billy Joel
45. Arms- Christina Perri
46. I Choose You- Sara Bareilles
47. Annie’s Song- John Denver
A few years ago, for a friend’s birthday, I made her a mix CD where every song had “winter,” “snow,” or “cold” in the title. We’d been joking about doing a snow dance to make it snow.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, we recently got a couple of feet of snow dropped on us by the blizzard that the Weather Channel called Juno. Much like the dog it shares a name with, this Juno DEMANDED everyone’s attention. But I don’t mind- although it can sometimes be a pain, I really love snow and I’m happy that we have so much of it now.
For those of you who are not so lucky, here’s my snow dance/”wintry mix” playlist:
1. Let It Snow, Dean Martin
2. It Snowed, Meaghan Smith
3. Snowfoot Waltz, The Divers
4. In Time It Snows, Nedelle & Thom
5. Snow Like This, The Softies
6. Winter Wonderland, Tony Bennett
7. Your Winter, Sister Hazel
8. Sister Winter, Sufjan Stevens
9. Song for a Winter’s Night, Sarah McLachlan
10. Whisper in Winter, Frame the City
11. A Cold Wind Blows Through Your Door, Bill Ricchini
12. Cold, Nakia
This is going to be a little more involved than your average Playlist of the Moment post, so bear with me here.
I mentioned in the previous post that I’d be guest-posting a recap of The O.C. on Snark Squad. Voila. Writing it was a lot of fun, and both that and just reading Snark Squad’s O.C. posts in general made a bit nostalgic, so I’ve been re-watching some episodes of the show that I have on DVD.
I was first introduced to the show my senior year of college by my roommate Steph. That was Season 3, and I caught up with the previous seasons with Steph’s DVDs and bonded with my roommates over the show.
If you’ve never seen it, here’s the Reader’s Digest version: teenager Ryan Atwood, from Chino, California, gets arrested after he and his brother steal a car. Shortly thereafter, Ryan’s mother abandons him, so he calls his public defender, Sandy Cohen. Sandy lives in Orange County with his son Seth, who’s Ryan’s age, and his wife Kirsten, a rich real estate developer whose father owns most of the O.C. By the end of the third episode, the Cohens have become Ryan’s legal guardians. Over four seasons, we see all kinds of soap opera drama unfolding, particularly with Ryan and Seth’s love lives (Ryan has a tumultuous relationship with their drama queen next-door neighbor, Marissa, while Seth’s long-term crush on Marissa’s best friend Summer eventually turns into something real), but it’s also about family. It’s one of the only teen shows where the parents are not only a huge part of the show but also really good parents. You don’t have to be a poor kid from Chino with a neglectful, drunk mother to want Sandy and Kirsten Cohen to adopt you- and although I think the network intended it to be more of a Dawson’s Creek-esque teen relationship drama, the most interesting part of the show for me was always Ryan’s relationship with the Cohens. The moments that moved me the most and that were the most memorable for me were always about the love between this tough, fish-out-of-water kid and his adoptive family. This article explains everything really well.
The O.C. is kind of the perfect show for a site like Snark Squad or the late, sometimes great Television Without Pity because there is plenty to snark on (the episode I just recapped had a character faking a miscarriage and another character having a ridiculous screaming meltdown) BUT it’s also genuinely enjoyable most of the time. I feel like most statements you could make about The O.C. have a BUT in the middle of them. It’s a teenage drama BUT it’s also about the parents and the rest of the family. It’s a trashy nighttime soap BUT it also has a lot of moments that are truly moving. It’s kind of like Dawson’s Creek BUT the characters are a zillion times more likeable- a lot of characters on The O.C. start off as villains and gradually become more three-dimensional.
During the first year I blogged, The O.C. was in its final season, and although ratings had dropped, the show was having a series of fantastic episodes. You might recall these posts, where I tried to convince people to watch it so it wouldn’t get canceled. I was unsuccessful, unfortunately, but falling headlong into an obsession with a show was exactly what I needed during that crazy first year out of college. (I was living with Christiana Krump at the time, and I’m pretty sure at some point she threatened to fake-divorce me from our fake marriage over The O.C.)
Anyway! Another great thing about The O.C. was its music. It introduced me to a lot of awesome songs that to this day are among my most-played. So here’s my playlist with some of my favorite songs that have been played on the show. Some highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjHvJE1XU7E
Alexi Murdoch, “Orange Sky.” I can’t remember if I knew this song before I heard it on the show or not, but either way, I adore it. It’s so soothing I swear it lowers my blood pressure. “In your love, my salvation lies in your love.”
Patrick Park, “Something Pretty.” Aptly titled. “And I’ve known ugliness, now show me something pretty.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBlAdApfK9U
Placebo, “Running Up That Hill.” This show also had a lot of great covers- in fact, one of their six soundtrack albums is nothing but covers. This one, of a Kate Bush song, I like just as much, if not more than, the original.
Here’s the playlist. It’s not comprehensive, but it is a bunch of songs I like that were on the show. Welcome to my O.C. Playlist, bitch!
1. We Used to Be Friends, The Dandy Warhols
2. Caught by the River, Doves
3. Dice, Finley Quaye and William Orbit
4. Move On, Jet
5. Honey and the Moon, Joseph Arthur
6. California, Phantom Planet
7. Paint the Silence, South
8. The Way We Get By, Spoon
9. Rain City, Turin Brakes
10. How Good It Can Be, The 88
11. Forever Young, Youth Group
12. Fix You, Coldplay
13. Insomnia, Electric President
14. Hide and Seek, Imogen Heap
15. Goodnight and Go, Imogen Heap
16. Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley
17. Maybe I’m Amazed, Jem
18. A Bad Dream, Keane
19. Float On, Modest Mouse
20. Running Up That Hill, Placebo
21. California, Rogue Wave
22. Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own, U2
23. Start Today Tomorrow, Youth Group
24. Life Is a Song, Patrick Park
25. Any Other World, Mika
26. The House We Live In, The Stills
27. Orange Sky, Alexi Murdoch
28. Walnut Tree, Keane
29. Saturday Morning, Eels
30. Popular Mechanics for Lovers, Beulah
31. So Sweet, Johnathan Rice
32. Trouble Sleeping, The Perishers
33. Little House of Savages, The Walkmen
34. You Got Me All wrong, dios (Malos)
35. Specialist, Interpol
36. A Lack of Color, Death Cab for Cutie
37. Hello Sunshine, Super Furry Animals
38. Something Pretty, Patrick Park
39. On the Table, A.C. Newman
40. Play, Flunk
41. Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights, Aqueduct
42. Cartwheels, Reindeer Section
43. To Be Alone with You, Sufjan Stevens
44. Fortress, Pinback
45. Scarecrow, Beck
46. Eve, the Apple of My eye, BellX1
47. The View, Modest Mouse
48. Into Dust, Mazzy Star
49. Just a Ride, Jem
50. Mr. Brightside, The Killers
51. Your Ex-Lover Is Dead, Stars
52. Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Poison
53. Blue Light, Bloc Party
54. Love You Til The End, The Pogues
I feel like I should have a Christmas playlist for you, but I did that last year. So even though this isn’t seasonally appropriate, I’m sharing one about TV instead. I do love TV, if you haven’t noticed, and I realized that I had a lot of songs in my iTunes that were either TV theme songs or featured on TV shows- sometimes songs that were written for those shows. And here they are, with some explanations.
1. Cheers theme song, Gary Portnoy
Despite being a native Bostonian, I have never once seen Cheers. I did once go to the Cheers bar, though.
2. “Thank You for Being a Friend” by Andrew Gold- The Golden Girls theme song.
3. “Forever” by Jesse and the Rippers, from Full House
Remember this? Beach Boys song Jesse sings at his wedding.
4. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air rap
5. Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? theme song by Rockapella
I would have kicked ass on this show.
6. Boy Meets World theme song (the second one)
7. X-Files theme song
Twenty years. The show premiered TWENTY YEARS ago.
8. Another version of the XF theme
9. Cher’s cover of “Walking in Memphis”
From the “Post Modern Prometheus” episode of The X-Files
10. “The Scully Song” by Eric D. Snyder
I listened to this at work once and ended up laughing out loud at my desk
11. “David Duchovny” by Bree Sharp
“David Duchovny, why won’t you love me?” might be the best rhyme ever.
12. “Scully’s Theme” from the last couple of seasons of The X-Files
13. Sex and the City theme (from the movie, but close enough)
14. “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts- Friends theme song
15. “Smelly Cat” medley from Friends
The best of the Phoebe songs.
16. “I Don’t Want to Wait” by Paula Cole- Dawson’s Creek theme song
17. “Never Saw Blue Like That” by Shawn Colvin, from Dawson’s Creek’s soundtrack
18. “Blue” by Angie Hart
I never watched Buffy, but this song, which I like, was on it.
19. “Where You Lead” by Carole King and Louise Goffin- Gilmore Girls theme song
20. Lorelai’s painting song from Gilmore Girls (she makes it up to convince Luke to let her help paint the diner)
21. “Reflecting Light” by Sam Phillips
It was the song playing when Luke and Lorelai first danced at a wedding on Gilmore Girls.
22. “Boss of Me” by They Might Be Giants
Theme song to Malcolm in the Middle– ah, a simpler time, one before Bryan Cranston was “the one who knocks.”
23. Crystal Bowersox’s cover of “Me and Bobby McGee” from American Idol
This was the last season of the show I watched.
24. “California” by Phantom Planet- The O.C.‘s theme song
25. “We Used to Be Friends” by The Dandy Warhols- Veronica Mars theme song.
26. “It Don’t Matter to the Sun” by Rosie Thomas
I’ve seen Grey’s Anatomy about five times, but this is on the soundtrack.
27. “Dunder and Dwightning” by Sweet Diss and the Comebacks
An ode to The Office
28. “Let’s Go to The Mall” by Robin Sparkles
I’m totally going to spoil one of my favorite episodes of How I Met Your Mother– “Slap Bet”. At the beginning, Robin refuses to go to the mall with her friends because she doesn’t like malls, but she won’t tell anyone why. Everyone ventures guesses, but we find out in the end that she was a teen pop star in Canada in the 90s who had a hit song called “Let’s Go to the Mall. ” More Robin Sparkles songs pop up on the show as it goes on.
29. “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri
This song was featured on So You Think You Can Dance before Christina Perri even had a record- it was professionally recorded for the show because a mutual friend shared it with one of the show’s choreographers, who decided to use it. It immediately shot up the iTunes charts and she scored a record deal soon after.
30. “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall- featured on Ugly Betty
31. “Don’t Stop Believing” from Glee
I stopped watching this show awhile ago, but I’ll never stop loving this cover from the pilot.
32. “5,000 Candles in the Wind” by MouseRat
This song from Parks and Recreation is in an episode where the town is mourning the death of their beloved miniature horse, Li’l Sebastian. Sample lyric: “And here’s the part that hurts the most/Humans cannot ride a ghost.”
33. “Negro y Azul: The Ballad of Heisenberg” by Los Cuates de Sinaloa
One of the weirder Breaking Bad cold opens featured a music video of a Spanish song about Heisenberg, the main character’s drug lord alter-ego.
34. “Baby Blue” by Badfinger
Featured on the Breaking Bad finale, very appropriately.
35. “Wrong Song” by Connie Britton and Hayden Panetierre
One of my favorite songs from Nashville
36. “You’ve Got Time” by Regina Spektor- theme song to Orange Is the New Black
I was surprised when I realized how much traveling I’d done in the last year. Memorial Day weekend 2012 I went to New York. In July I went first to Narragansett for Lindsey’s wedding, then to southern California to visit Christiana Krump. In August I went to Dallas and then to DC. January brought me to San Francisco for Jenna’s wedding. I went on a business trip to St. Louis in March (and got delayed during my layover—five hours in the Milwaukee airport on a Friday not is not my idea of fun). And last month, I first spent a couple of days in the Philly area when my sister graduated from law school and over Memorial Day weekend, just for a day, I went back to New York to see Lucky Guy on Broadway (which deserves its own post).
This is all domestic travel, and there’s some more coming up- another business trip to Chicago and a trip with friends to Florida. And some very exciting news- this trip I wanted to take? It’s happening! We’re going to England and Ireland next month.
Anyway, getting to the point—this playlist is an updated version of one I did for a work CD swap a few years ago. Each song is about or has to do with an American city. (The Counting Crows have a lot of songs about cities, apparently- they’re on here three times.) Enjoy!
Every New Year’s Eve for the last six years, I’ve gone through my music and made a gigantic playlist of music I’d like to listen to more often. I just made my 2013 playlist, but I’m not going to share that here because it’s too long!