Thursday, February 03, 2005

Musically Challenged

For quite awhile, I've been meaning to say something about Rae's blog: A Likely Story. (If good intentions pave the road to hell, I think I can explain the unseasonably warm weather this winter in my part of the state.) Yesterday (Feb. 2, 2005) she gave me just the excuse I need, though. So Rae, here's everything you ever wanted to know about my musical tastes, and maybe then some.

Random 10 albums pulled from my collection:
1. Toolbox Classics--(You've not lived until you've heard "Ride of the Valkyries" played on power tools.)
2. Soundtrack--Lilo & Stitch
3. Don Henry--Wild in the Backyard
4. Michael Card--Starkindler
5. Rosa Lamoreaux--Chants of Hildegard VonBingen
6. Loreena McKennitt--The Mask and the Mirror
7. Suzanne Vega--Days of Open Hand
8. Rich Mullins--Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth
9. Kate Campbell--Visions of Plenty
10. They Might be Giants--No!

Total number of music files on my computer:
My search tells me 341, but I'm intentionally responsible for only 30 of them.

The last CD I bought:
U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, but I bought it for Scott. The last one I bought for myself was Enya's The Celts.

The song I last listened to before this message:
I can't remember, but Loreena McKennitt's "The Stolen Child" has been running through my head all morning.

Five songs I listen to often and/or that mean a lot to me (and why):
1. Suzanne Vega's "Penient"---Struggling with God is what I do, what I was created for, I sometimes think.
2. Yanni's "In the Morning Light"---I can hear and see my sister playing this before she moved 1/2way across the country. I miss her.
3. Michelle Tumes' "Christe Eleison"---Heart cry.
4. Vega's "If Language Were Liquid"--Captures perfectly the inability of words to adequately express all that needs communicating.
5. Bob Dylan's "Brownsville Girl"---Scott sang the whole song to me on our wedding night, in full Dylan imitation. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry (Dylan had not yet become one of my acquired tastes).

Five people to whom I'm passing this questionnaire (and why):
Jadon--Because I never know what he's going to say or who he's going to quote next. Knowing what he listens to might be the next best thing.
Astrid--For the same reasons, but in an entirely different way!
Joyella--Because it will do her good to look through her music and find parts of herself there that motherhood may have crowded to the side for the time being.
Michelle--Because I bet she'll have something interesting to add that I'll want to listen to.
Bruce--Because he's been giving some good book reviews lately, and I want to pick his brain on music, too.
David--Who, having been brave enough to confess his television vices, will no doubt have good things to contribute here, too.
Feeble Knees--We share too many literary tastes for me to not like at least some of whatever she's listening to.

5 comments:

David Millstone said...

Musicals! I'm listening to musicals! And you have no idea how weird that is for me. I hate musicals! Or, I used to, then one day I got old and wise and heard the dark growling laugh at Fate in 'Oklahoma'.... I still hate 'The King and I,' though, thank God. I wouldn't know myself if I didn't.

Random ten albums:

1 The Ink Spots 'Greatest Hits'
2 Going Driftless, 'an artists' tribute to Greg Brown'
3 John Lee Hooker, 'The Healer'
4 'The Lyrical Stan Getz'
5 Bob Dylan 'New Morning'
6 Alvin Youngblood Hart ' Territory
7 The The 'Mind Bomb'
8 Patti Smith 'Peace and Noise'
9 Michelle Shocked 'Short Sharp Shocked'
10 Joni Mitchell 'Blue'

Total number of music files on my computer:

Holy hell. I couldn't tell you. My IPod's nearly full, though. Lots of musicals.

The last CD I bought:

Three Penny Opera, 1953 recording with Lotta Lenya

The song I last listened to before this message:

'I Follow,' Audra McDonald

Five songs I listen to/mean a lot to me

1 'My Fathers house' Bruce Springsteen
2 'Another National Anthem' from ASSASSINS, by Sondheim
3 'The Transformation into Marlena Dietrich' Vagabond Opera
4 'Vincent' Don McLean or Susan Warner
5 'In A Silent Way' Miles Davis

Five people to whom... Nah, too lazy.

To summarize my musical tastes: I'm a musical tourist. Don't know much about any particular genre and still can't sing, though soon I'll be a member of very small club: straight men in musical theater.

Cindy, you're a lovable goof ball.

r said...

Most excellent list, Cindy :D I haven't heard of several and, of course, I really enjoyed reading why you choose the five songs and people to pass it on to.

I am glad you choose Joyella and I definitely agree with your reasoning, too.

Feeble Knees said...

Random 10 Albums (no particular order)
1. Layla -- Derek and the Dominoes
2. Special Beat Service -- The English Beat
3. Us -- Peter Gabriel
4. One Moment More -- Mindy Smith
5. The Very Best of Otis Redding
6. Madame Butterfly -- Puccini
7. Avalon -- Roxy Music
8. Monk's Dream -- Thelonius Monk
9. Jubiliant -- Jubilant Sykes
10. The Dirty Boogie - Brian Setzer Orchestra

Total number of music files on my (our) computer:
4,695 - that includes mine and Mr. F's music. That's 20.99 GB. If you started at the first song in our iTunes library and hit play, it wouldn't repeat a song for 13.7 days. We like music. :)

Last CD I bought:
Special Beat Service. I used to have a tape of it in High School and listened to it ad infinitum during the winter to cheer me up. (There is nothing like Ska & Reggae in January to beat the winter blues.) Anyway, I just discovered it's been recently added to the iTunes music store so I grabbed it. "I Confess" and "Save it For Later" are two favorites. "End of the Party" is good too.

The song I last listened to before this message:
Baila Como Es by Tito Puente (I think) - more good winter blues-beating music :)

Five songs I listen to often and/or that mean a lot to me (and why)
Hm, this is tough. It changes so often, depending on the time of year and my current situation. I'll have to go with the most recent.
1.Angel - Sara McLachlan; reminds me to pray for a friend who's made a mess of his life. Hearing it makes me quiet and mournful, but it's cathartic too.
2.Hurricane - Mindy Smith; a good stress & angst song :) "I need a hurricane, to straighten out this place..." Reminds me to pray for friends who have divorced.
3.Signed Sealed Delivered - Stevie Wonder; when I'm sick of feeling down - it's impossible not to get even just a little happy listening to this
4.Your love has lifted me Higher - Otis Redding; same reason as Signed, Sealed, Delivered
5.Beautiful Day - U2; this will forever be the anthem of the New England Patriots. We're getting ready for the Super Bowl on Sunday & it keeps running through my head.

Artists that Cindy and I both own:
Suzanne Vega, They Might be Giants, U2.

Lucindyl said...

David--Your iPod being full of musicals cracked me up. Most of what you listed I've never heard of. Next time I get ambitious, I know where I can start exploring.

Now about that "goof ball" comment. . .

Rae--Thanks for tapping me on this. It's fascinating, isn't it, to see the wide range not just from person to person, but within the individual lists. I love it.

Feeble--I could listen to Suzanne Vega just as long as the electricity holds out. Most of the ones on your list I'm not familiar with, though. Room for expansion. :)

Astrid said...

Mmm ... I'll see what I can do for you, but I do not really get your motivation:

"Jadon--Because I never know what he's going to say or who he's going to quote next. Knowing what he listens to might be the next best thing.
Astrid--For the same reasons, but in an entirely different way!"

Which way? A speedway? A right way? A left way? Haha .. help me out here!

x Astrid.