No idea where these came from… Shoot I can’t even tell which songs were supposed to be circled!
Also, oddly enough I was listening to Seal’s Bring It On at the time. So I’m really not sure what spurred these choices.
I Don’t Wanna Wait (or The Tales People Tell)- Kelly Finnigan
Overlord (or possibly “Windows Open”) – Dirty Projectors
Be Sweet (or Jubilee)- Japanese Breakfast
08152022
Pretty Girl- Eric Clapton
I was supposed to be packing up to move to Omaha and I came down with some strange summer flu. I was running a fever and by hauling things around, packing them up, running from one end of the house to the other I was causing the fever to get worse. I was banished (thanks mom ;P) to the sofa and Jonathan was my keeper (and the person keeping me away from the thermometer). Having finally settled down, I started my treatments while Jonathan and I listened to music through the front room TV. I was knee-deep in my treatments, hacking up a left lung and Eric Clapton’s “Pretty Girl” came on. Jonathan was humming along and when I glanced over at him I saw him looking at me. Looking at me, like I was the prettiest girl at a time when I felt very physically ugly. I was grunge-y, sweaty, feverish, probably a smidge smelly, but worst of it all I was gross, and yet looking at him I could tell that wasn’t what he saw. In that moment, watching him watch me, I felt so fortunate and loved. Reflecting on our relationship, it has not ceased to amaze me when I see how deeply Jonathan respects and loves me. It leaves me in awe of what an incredible individual he is and how lucky I am to have him. It’s reflecting on moments like these that I fall more deeply in love with him.
04052022
My love of Larry Coryell and Bill Evans began this week. With the thought of buying instrumentals (because that’s what turntables were made for), I started researching records in anticipation of Record Store Day. I brought my traveling Bose over to Jonathan’s, and I listened to this all weekend as he worked or was at the gym.
Green Dolphin Street- The Last Call
Chris- Spaces
On March 26, 2020, I searched for Edith Piaf on the iTunes store. I am still trying to figure out how I stumbled upon her, but from my screenshots, I was still looking her up five days later (4/1/20). From the screenshot, it looks like I was searching for Edith while listening to Anderson East’s, Pick Up My Pieces. Wanting to hear then Somebody Pick Up My Pieces today, 4/18/21, I typed the title into iTunes, and it showed me a Willie Nelson album. But why? I thought maybe Anderson sang on the album. Turns out Willie sang the song first! I learned something new that day. Note to self on 4/18/21: Let’s Make both songs SOW!
04182021
Googling it all these years later and hearing Willie’s version, I wondered if they were two different songs. I had to re-listen to Anderson’s version. Even re-listening to Anderson’s version, I had to double-check the writing credits. They are the same! Good for AE and his ability to make songs his own.
08292024
Somebody Pick Up My Pieces- Willie Nelson
Somebody Pick Up My Pieces- Anderson East
God Gave Me Everything
Mick Jagger
This was a throwback for me. I absolutely loved this album in undergrad. My annotation over the screenshot is questionable, but I believe it says ” Dancing like Mick, jerky body and bouncing leg.” I believe that. 🙂
08192022
I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
My mama calls me Tiger. If I was writing a memoir, I might start it that way. My mom and I were driving together when out of nowhere, she started singing,
I’ve got a tiger by the tail, it’s plain to see
I won’t be much when you get through with me
Well, I’m losing weight and turnin’ mighty pale
Looks like I’ve got a tiger by the tail.
I’m unsure whether she sang that or some iteration of her own lyrics to the tune, but I remember thinking she was fibbing me when she said it was an actual song she grew up listening to. My disbelief further compounded when she told me that Buck Owen and his Buckaroos sang it. Wild band name. But cool. Mama is always cool.
09092022
12:21 AM
Loneliness- Birdy
Not About Angels- Birdy
3:41 PM
The Great Divide- Luke Combs and Billy Strings
10:10 PM (really)
These Days- Rudimental ft. Jess Glynne, Macklemore, and Dan Caplen
Glorious- Macklemore ft Skylar Grey
…greatest music video… EVER!
Underdog- Alicia Keys
09162022
Boston- Augustana
In my early teens I absolutely loved this song. What a throwback.
It reminds me of Mr. Hoog and how when I mentioned Boston, Kohrman thought I meant the band, not the song. We were both mildly disappointed in each other.
Current day, sifting through youtube I found this channel. Very neat
08042022
Forever in Blue Jeans- Neil Diamond
Found it via Pandora’s Danny’s Song radio station
08042022
Thank you, Eddie Vedder.
Love,
Everyone who’s ever wished for cures.
Listening to this song, I teared up
Quite a bit
Only I know why
That’s good enough for me
Carefully
Donna Missal
Have you ever heard a song and it reminds you of someone you know?
But you don’t tell them, because it reveals too much about yourself to do so.
11/21/20 2:17:56 AM
The Few Things
J.P. Saxe
How Will I Know
Whitney Houston
“I just love this song. Going through my music with mom. golly I love cooking and listening to music with her in our kitchen.”
My 2015 note on the song:
“this will remind me of nights driving home from work. I always said, oh I need to get that song. Eventually, I did :)”
The funny part is that when I hear this song, now, 5 years later, driving home from work doesn’t even cross my mind. What does, however, is a time in Vegas when I was stressed out and incapable of enjoying music. I wasn’t deriving pleasure from the music. It was dull, merely noise and my mind was going miles per minute through all the things I had to get done. Then, one day, this song came on. And it unlocked something within me. I loved music again. I relaxed. I listened. I enjoyed.
…
And as I googled for the song URL, suddenly, I understood my present-day confusion. My 2015 note was referring to the Birdy version of the song. My 2020 note was referring to the Bon Iver version. Well, son of a gun, it’s a double whammy. Two songs, Two memories, for the price of one.
Skinny Love
2015:
2020:
472020
The pandemic was a difficult time for my parents and me. We spent ten months in strict lockdown, with just the company of each other. We were not without difficult days, but in many ways, it was beautiful. During our lockdown, my cousin Johnny had to test negative twice and sequester himself to attend a big dental conference. At that time, he came over, visited my family, and taught us how to make Pasta al Amatriciana. It was such a lovely night, and I fondly reflect on it. To this day, this is still one of my favorite pastas ever.
I have attached the recipe that Johnny emailed me, but I know that I made adjustments. One day, I will come back here and write them all in!
03262024
While in Vegas, this was one of my hands-down favorite albums. I loved almost every song on the album. This song, though, is the one that happened to inspire me that particular October day.
472020
At one point, before the inception of this blog, I was on a roll as far as being musically inspired, and I had aspirations to start my own TMJ-esque blog. Ordinarily, I would just put the songs in one post and note the dates. With these though, my note spanned a few months, 5 selections and sparse to no description, so I’ll be posting them on the day that they inspired me, just 5 years later.
Back in ’15, I scribbled down, “I’m A Cowboy On a Steel Horse I Ride”. I remember being taken aback that this is a Bon Jovi song. Then as now, I would have never guessed the name of the song had I actually tried. For whatever reason, I like it when I can’t readily guess the name of the song.
472020
In the past few years, I’ve actively sought ways to commemorate the heroes and lives lost on 9/11/2001. Last year I bought “The Only Plane in the Sky” and vowed to read it in the weeks leading up to the 19th anniversary. In the early hours of the 10th, I read the story of Ron Fazio.
Constance Labetti, accountant, Aon Corporation, South Tower, 99th floor
Our boss, Ron Fazio, knew he had to get us out of there. He said, “Go to the staircase.” I started to climb down the steps, heels on, and sneakers in hand. I remember hearing the PA announcement— the PA announcement said, “Do not evacuate. Stay where you are. We have no structural damage. There’s structural damage to Tower One, which we’re evacuating, but Tower Two, go back to your work stations.” I continued on down.
It especially moved me that even though he was given specific instructions to keep his workers where they were, Fazio acted on his instinct and evacuated his employees. We now know that he did so in the mere minutes before Tower Two was struck. I wanted to let him know how much his heroism meant to me.
Dear Mr. Fazio-
I wanted to write you a thank you letter. I wanted you to know how deeply moved I was by your heroism, how it gave me goosebumps. Your acts evoke the incredible nature of the American spirit. They encourage me, and they remind me. Through your story, those of the people you saved, and others like yourself, I re-connect with the pain and sorrow of September 11th. You prevent 9/11 from fading into obscurity, from becoming some date and label on a timeline. I wanted you to know that and more.
I looked you up. I sought your address, your current place of employment. I needed to know where to send my letter. I didn’t get very far. It took .47 seconds for me to pull up a StoryCorps article from 2013. Twelve years later, they weren’t talking about your acts; they were talking about your sacrifice. Nineteen years later, I realize that I can’t send you my letter. It isn’t fair. I hope somewhere you can see me typing on my keyboard at 1 am. I hope you can see my tears, and know that 19 years later, your life still has meaning, and you’re still cared for by people whose lives you never touched in your lifetime, but who will remember and keep your name alive, long after the world starts forgetting.
Through Mr. Fazio I found the stories of three others. See below: