Soundtrack to my life
My friend Heather from work came up with this amazing idea. She decided to make a mixed CD of all of her favorite songs EVER. Not necessarily a mix of songs that she deems to be the greatest songs ever made, but a mix of songs that she cannot live without, for whatever reason. Each song on the CD should mean something to your life. Sort of a "greatest hits" for your own life.
After the mix is completed, you burn a copy of it and give it away to someone else. That other person also makes their own "greatest hits" CD and gives you their copy. It's a way of sharing music with other people. Just because you think a song is awesome and you can't live without it, doesn't mean the other person has even heard it.
It's a way of not only sharing and introducing music, but showing other people what songs mean the most to you. Like I said, it's not a "I think these are the greatest songs ever written" CD, but rather a "This is a mix of songs that have affected my life in some way or another."
So today at work, since it was rather dead and we had time to kill, we started making lists of the songs we each wanted to put on our mixes. Word got around of what we were doing and others decided to participated. By the end of the night, there had to be at least five people participating in our project. All we did at work today was talk about music and sing. It was rather amusing, but totally cool ... Who doesn't love music?
Anyway ... We were all dilligently working on our lists and all of our lists ended up being like a hundred songs long. Of course you can't realistically make a mixed CD with that many songs, so you have to try to narrow it down as much as you can ... Which, let me tell you, is difficult. I managed to narrow mine down to 55 songs. Yes, 55. So my "greatest hits" CD is going to end up beng multiple discs. More of a box set, if you will.
As I said, the point in all of this is to share our music with each other. Next weekend, we're all going to give each other copies of our own "greatest hits" CDs. We're sharing and introducing music to each other, but also giving insight to each other on the songs that mean the most to our personal lives.
My mix is 55 songs (I swear I narrowed it down as much as possible). When thinking of how I want to arrange the songs on the mix, I decided to break it up into "parts." For example, there's a part of all of the songs that have something to do with the relationships I've been in. There's a part of all the songs that have to do with dealing with breakups and being sad and "emo." There's a part that consists of songs that just simply make me feel good about life. There's a part that consists of songs that remind me that, no matter what, life's going to be okay.
My mix is somewhat of a story. It's arranged in a certain way that takes you through the good and bad parts of life, and then back to the realization that, yeah, there's good and bad, but life will work itself out.
My mix really is the "soundtrack" of my life (thus far, at least). It's every song that has somehow affected my life at some point. The song where you realize you love someone ... The song where you realize the relationship isn't working anymore. The song where you feel you could take on the world. The song where you feel like there's no reason worth living.
As I said, it was hard narrowing it down ... But here's my mix. Here's the playlist for the "Soundtrack of my life." I'm only sharing this in here because I think it's a really cool idea. I think it's really cool to look through all of your music and think back to what songs meant the most at certain points in your life. And even better, you can share it with a friend. I just think this little "project" of ours is a really cool idea and is something other people should do as well.
The Soundtrack of My Life
Part 1: "California, here we come"
These are songs that just make me feel good about life. Those songs that you like to listen to on a hot summer day, with the windows down in your car as you drive down the parkway down the shore. Whether it's a song that reminds me of my childhood or a song that I simply like singing out loud at the top of my lungs, these songs are just fun to listen to and make me feel good about life.
1. Brand New- The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
2. The Subways- Rock and Roll Queen
3. Yellowcard- Ocean Avenue
4. Third Eye Blind- Semi Charmed Life
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Dani California
6. Dashboard Confessional- Hands Down
7. Rufus Wainwright- California
8. Counting Crows- Mr. Jones
9. Death Cab- The Sound of Settling
10. Counting Crows- Up All Night
11. Boston- More Than a Feeling
12. Tom Petty- American Girl
13. Gin Blossoms- Follow You Down
14. Bruce Springsteen- Thunder Road
15. Bon Jovi- Living On A Prayer
16. Something Corporate- Hurricane
17. Brand New- The Archers Bows Are Broken
18. Red Hot Chili Peppers- By The Way
19. Journey- Don't Stop Believing
20. Phantom Planet- California
Part 2: "Crush me with the things you do"
These songs are the "love songs" of my life. Each is special in its own way. Whether it was the moment I realized I loved someone, or just a song that came on at the right moment ... These songs each belong to me and my heart ... But I also shared them with someone else, even if they don't know it.
21. Coldplay- In My Place
22. Dave Matthews Band- Crash Into Me
23. Oasis- Wonderwall
24. Dave Matthews Band- Crush
25. Filter- Take A Picture
26. Bon Jovi- Always
Part 3: "I'm not ready for this sort of thing"
Breaking up is hard to do. Even harder when you have music to go along with it. Each of these songs was there with me at some point during hard times following a break up ... Or even if I was just feeling "down" for some reason. Whether it was the moment I realized a relationship was over, or the moment I realized I wanted him back, these songs were there through it all.
27. Counting Crows- Anna Begins
28. U2- With Or Without You
29. Coldplay- The Scientist
30. Bell X1- Eve, The Apple Of My Eye
31. Death Cab- What Sarah Said
32. Brand New- Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't
33. Something Corporate- Konstantine
34. Goo Goo Dolls- Better Days
35. Jacks' Mannequin- Bruised
36. Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah
Part 4: "There's an emptiness inside her, and she'd do anything to fill it in"
Sometimes in life, you just feel like you can't go on anymore. You feel like no matter what you do, you just can't handle LIFE. These songs are the songs that I listen to when I just feel numb. When I feel lost and I don't know where I'm going or how I got to where I am ... When life gets shitty and you can't figure out what you need to do to make it better.
37. Death Cab- Marching Bands of Manhattan
38. Brand New- Limousine
39. Dave Matthews Band- Grey Street
40. Pink Floyd- Comfortably Numb
41. Death Cab- Transatlanticism
42. Dave Matthews Band- Typical Situation
43. Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here
44. Interpol- Specialist
45. The Used- Blue and Yellow
46. Finch- What It Is To Burn
47. Dashboard Confessional- Screaming Infidelities
Part 5: Intermission for one of the greatest rock songs ever written
Because come on ... It's Freebird, which is in my opinion, the most amazing classical rock song ever conceived.
48. Lynard Skynard- Freebird
Part 6: "I will go in this way and find my own way out"
It's the light at the end of the tunnel. The songs that remind you that, no matter how shitty life gets, it'll end up okay in the end. As Dave Matthews sings, even though this song didn't make the mix, "Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes, but I'll work it out." The songs that remind you that you are an amazing person and you're going somewhere in life, even if you're not sure of where that is yet. And yes ... I saved the best song out of the whole mix for last. You had to see that coming.
49. Dave Matthews Band- Don't Burn The Pig
50. Modest Mouse- Float On
51. The Killers- Smile Like You Mean It
52. Fleetwood Mac- Go Your Own Way
53. Something Corporate- Ruthless
54. Lost Prophets- Rooftops
55. Dave Matthews Band- #41