Bowlful of Crickets

So I found this following exercise out in the blogospher and thought I’d give it a whirl:

1. Open your music library (iPod, iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that?s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don?t lie and try to pretend you?re cool?

Here’s what my iPod chose from the 11,845 songs currently on it.

Waking Up: Mushaboom (VV Mix) by Feist
First Day at School: The Seed by Nobody and Mystic Chords of Tomorrow
Falling In Love: Here Today by The Chameleons
Fight Song: See The World by Gomez
Breaking Up: Dog by Bob Dorough
Prom: Conduit For Sale! by Pavement
Life: Let It Be Me by The Beatles vs Shaggy
Mental Breakdown: This Ain’t No Picnic by The Minutemen
Driving: Laramie, Wyoming by Richmond Fontaine
Flashback: The Honey Month by Augie March
Wedding: I Aint Losing Any Sleep by The Sunshine Underground
Birth of Child: Where Gravity Is Dead by Laura Veirs
Final Battle: Giving It All To You by Liz Phair
Death Scene: In Every Sunflower by Bell X1
Funeral Song: Too Many Games by Maze
End Credit: Interlude (Milo) by Modest Mouse

My self-analysis…

Waking Up: Mushaboom (VV Mix) by Feist- So the original would be a good waking up song for me- upbeat, somewhat wistful. But this five and a half minute remix is bit redundant andgoes on far too long. Perhaps I can shave a few minutes off my morning routine?

First Day at School: The Seed by Nobody and Mystic Chords of Memory- A lightly grroving slice of modern psychedelia. An extended metaphor, something I picked up along the way during my schooling, so not a bad match.

Falling In Love: Here Today by The Chameleons- A bit downbeat for a soundtrack to falling in love, but certainly heartfelt enough. About mid-song, things open up a bit, and while the dour mood never lets up. Forlorn, if this is a teenage view of falling in love, they got it right for me…

Fight Song: See The World by Gomez- What begins as what seems it would be the wimpiest fight song ever, comes in with the second line of "Now you’re trying to pick a fight with everyone you meet". The chorus of "See the World/Find an Old-Fashioned Girl" implies that fighting may not be the way to go for the protagonist of this song- and sure enough, later on the plea to "lay down your arms" comes in. This is a fight song I can get down with.

Breaking Up: Dog by Bob Dorough- A crazy blast of beatnik jazz- "The dog trots freely in the street and sees reality/and the things he sees are bigger than himself". Much more happens to the dog, but all along, he trots freely. "He will not be muzzled". Sounds like the dog is taking the break-up in stride, which is I’m sure how we’d all like to remember handling break-ups…

Prom: Conduit For Sale! by Pavement- We’d all like to believe we liked cool music in high school. Pavement makes a nice soundtrack for a hipper-than-thou prom, perhaps in an alternate universe, one where I went to high school several years later on so this song was out when I went to prom.

Life: Let It Be Me by The Beatles vs Shaggy- A mash-up of The Beatles Let It Be and Shaggy’s It Wasn’t Me. Lyrically, I’m finding nothing that speaks about my life, but I do enjoy mash-ups, and life itself could be considered the ultimate mash-up- a bunch of unrelated things that somehow fit together nicely. Ugh, did I write that?

Mental Breakdown: This Ain’t No Picnic by The Minutemen- I couldn’t have picked a better song. The drudgery of work and fitting into a world that isn’t fair. Short and to the point, but makes a mighty racket along the way.

Driving: Laramie, Wyoming by Richmond Fontaine- It mentions driving throughout and has a lonesome, country highway feeling to it throughout- think Springsteen’s Nebraska album. Nice choice, iPod.

Flashback: The Honey Month by Augie March- The woozy ragtime intro leads me to believe this is a flashback to a previous life. The intro gives way to a slow shuffle that is pretty obtuse lyrically but suggests that this is a flashback, it’s a length, hazy one.

Wedding: I Aint Losing Any Sleep by The Sunshine Underground- The night before my wedding I was outside the hotel at 3 a.m. as the fire alarm went off at the hotel. But the wedding went great. This song has a fair amount of nervous energy to it, but is still enjoyable. I’m stretching to make this soundtrack concept work, aren’t I?

Birth of Child: Where Gravity Is Dead by Laura Veirs- Another mostly acoustic number with a far away feel to it. There’s a sense of wonder to it (am I stretching again?) and it’s got a nice sound to it. Something about this song reminds me of how long of a day it was when Chloe was born, and how well we slept that night, even with the hourly interuptions.

Final Battle: Giving It All To You by Liz Phair- Sounds like I’m surrendering the final battle. Not a bad return to form for Ms. Phair, sounding fine with giving in. Which is cool, as I’m not much for battles myself.

Death Scene: In Every Sunflower by Bell X1- Melodically, very nice for a death scene- a quiet departure. "I wouldn’t swap the pain/For never knowing you/I wouldn’t swap the pain/’Cos it was worth it for the view". This soundtrack is starting to come together…

Funeral Song: Too Many Games by Maze- So apparently, my funeral is going to be some sort of stepper’s party, where the Courvoisier flows freely. There’s no way to make sense of this one- the iPod is on shuffle, that’s all.

End Credit: Interlude (Milo) by Modest Mouse- %9 seconds, not a lot of credits. A baby coos from the midway point to the end. In every ending there is a new beginning?

So what have I learned about myself?

1) I like a lot of the songs on my iPod. Gosh, how did THAT happen?

2) If someone says "Hey, could this song possibly relate to X event?", I’d certainly give it the old college try to make it fit.