Melodiusnessessness (Which is more than one melodious)

(This is a re-post from 2009 because my head hurts and I like music.

Really, those are the two reasons.)

I’ve oft professed my undying love for music. As an angsty adolescent, I laid in bed with earphones every night, my yellow Sony walkman clasped in my hands, listening to the Little River Band’s Help is On the Way or Chicago’s I’ve Been Searching So Long. Way before that, as a new-to-school third-grader, I stuck Neil Diamond’s Beautiful Noise on my parent’s dark wood phonograph console with its red velvet screened doors, and wished my world were how it sounded on that song. Way after that, I played Marc Cohn’s Things We’ve Handed Down to Toots as she floated in utero (also, R. Kelley’s Ignition, and I can think of no better example to illustrate the dichotomy of my personality) (or hers).

In between and far beyond, it’s been Toad the Wet Sprocket or Melissa Etheridge spun to excess as my heart broke during starless bitter nights in my L.A. studio apartment, Fisher blessing my wedding, and Sarah McLachlan and Wilco for everything, just everything.

If I had to pinpoint, I’d say my musical preference runs maudlin, soul thrumming, melancholy. Most of the time, the music I listen to are like poems I’d wish I’d written and set to music. I’m a lyrics girl first, but the melody’s got to be there, too. And I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, here: No one does THAT better than the Indigo Girls. Still, I need music — all music — every kind, every word, every soul thrum. Truly they are Notes to Soothe the Savage Cells.

My point? Well, I’d get to it eventually. I’m participating in Thursday’s Drive music carnival, and wanted to jot down some of the songs that (a) Make me remember who I am or (b) Remind me of who I want to be or (c) Give me a margarita craving.

So here we go.

My Old Standards

(Note: Listen far away from gas stoves big enough to fit your head.)

My New Standards

[Note: Wait. Could these songs explain this?]

My “Workout” Songs

[Note: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!]

Hope you enjoy some of these songs. And one last thing because I can’t help myself: If you want a great CD to play during mid-energy cocktail parties, you must get THIS.