me, in an hour of music
I decided that it would be a fun project to try and capture as much of myself as possible in one hour’s worth of music. Here is what I’ve currently deemed the soundtrack of my life. The order is important, but more in that it tells a story, and not that it's in order of favorites in any way.
1) Creed, "Are You Ready?" (4 minutes, 45 seconds)
I called this my "theme song" for many years. To me, it’s just a song about change. Presently, I don’t really think it’s the greatest song. But it’s a foundation to who I’ve been.
2) Sonicflood, "I Have Come to Worship" (3 minutes, 16 seconds)
One twentieth of my soundtrack is devoted to the random cluster of Christian rock music that I enjoy for one reason or another. This also serves as something of an introductory song, because it is more of my past than my present. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to entirely shake the fondness I have for such upbeat, hopeful, spiritual music.
3) Coldplay, "The Scientist" (5 minutes, 9 seconds)
This is my first attempt at cramming several meanings into a song. Not only am I a scientist of sorts, but there are just lines to this song that ring true. "Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard." Plus, it’s included mostly to recognize my appreciation for Coldplay. It was hard to decide which Coldplay songs to include, since I love so many of them: "Shiver," "Yellow," "Don't Panic," "Clocks," "A Rush of Blood to the Head," "Warning Sign," "Fix You," "Square One," "Talk"... sigh. There are almost as many good Coldplay songs as there are good Something Corporate ones!
4) Train, "Free" (3 minutes, 58 seconds)
As a tribute to the select few Train songs I love, I picked "Free" as the one that best fits me, but I picked it just as much for its sound as anything.
5) Plain White T’s, "Happy Someday" (3 minutes, 22 seconds)
This is as good as any song I can pick to express my hopes and dreams that it all works out in the end. While I don’t relate to the lyrics literally as they stand, there is much that is quite similar. Again, though, this song is picked for its sound, and because I like the Plain White T’s.
6) Something Corporate, "I Want to Save You" (4 minutes, 22 seconds)
The first of four Something Corporate songs on my list, "I Want to Save You" is probably the first one I’d cut if I had to throw out a Something Corporate song. Indeed, it was hard to not include more SoCo songs. I wound up choosing this one for its refrain, and for its energy.
7) 3 Doors Down, "Here Without You" (3 minutes, 58 seconds)
My first song expressly for The One, although the prior song gets kind of close. I just feel connected to a force I can’t explain when I listen to this song.
8) Something Corporate, "Punk Rock Princess" (3 minutes, 52 seconds)
"You can tell me why you just don't fit in, and how you're gonna be something." While I just said "I Want to Save You" would be the first to go if I removed a SoCo song, this one almost didn’t make it... until I realized it wasn’t here. I am playing this song at my wedding. I am singing it to The One. We are dancing to it at the reception. That’s that.
9) Linkin Park, "Breaking the Habit" (3 minutes, 16 seconds)
In my mind, this doesn’t even compare to the other songs. But, for some reason, it’s here. I don't really know why.
10) Oleander, "I Walk Alone" (4 minutes, 9 seconds)
Before I discovered Creed, Oleander was the source of my theme song. "I Walk Alone" has always applied to me in one sense or another. I’ve only recently rediscovered it, and in the process, realized why I love Oleander so much. And... just listen to it. The first minute and a half are perfect. Eh, the whole song is. I feel like I can directly apply it to my life right now. If I had to sum up my life in two songs, it'd be this and "Watch the Sky."
11) Coldplay, "Amsterdam" (5 minutes, 21 seconds)
The longest song on my playlist, this song would have to be here even if it were twice as long. There are so many things I think of when I play this song. The pain and torture that was living with Andy senior year, the road trip down to Appleton senior year, the episode of Alias where Dixon nearly commits suicide, the love that my friends have for me. Most of all, the opening line just haunts me. "Come on, my star is fading." I could not describe feeling down any better than with that line.
12) Something Corporate, "Watch the Sky" (2 minutes, 54 seconds)
There is never a better way to spend a spare three minutes than by listening to this song. I love it. And I hate Something Corporate for not including it on the American release of North. But I forgive them immediately because this is the greatest. Song. Ever. It’s energetic, it’s enigmatic, it’s excellent. It acknowledges life’s downs yet carries a ray of hope. Mostly it describes to me what it feels like to be an observer. I suppose that if I were to just play this song twenty times, that’d be a decent one-hour soundtrack to me.
13) Our Lady Peace, "Somewhere Out There" (4 minutes, 11 seconds)
"I know you’ll come back someday." While originally I would think of The One more readily in an entirely different song titled “Somewhere Out There,” this song has somehow taken a different, more important place in my heart and mind. In either case, I’m always a sucker for stars in songs.
14) Something Corporate, "Miss America" (3 minutes, 49 seconds)
Before "Watch the Sky" entered my life, this song was it. "I will write this down for you so you can read it/ I will hold my breath for you ‘til I can’t feel it/ You don’t have to see me this way/ ‘Cause this way I’m ok." I hide my thoughts, fears, and pains from the world a lot. This represents all those who’ve hurt me, but it reminds me that it’s all been worth it. At the same time, I’m still awaiting The One. "Oh love, when does this twisting end?"
Sigh. So many SoCo songs didn't make the cut. I'd list all the ones I love but it'd be shorter to just say I love all of them but "If U C Jordan," "Unravel," and "Drunk Girl," which are still good in my book--I'm just not passionate about them.
15) Oleander, "Leave It All Behind" (3 minutes, 31 seconds)
I feel like this should have been the last song on Oleander’s Joyride. Just switch it with "Runaway Train." Both are hauntingly beautiful songs, but this one makes my playlist because (a) it’s a full minute shorter, (b) the guitar solo in the middle is my favorite guitar solo ever, (c) this song is one of those messages that the angels send now and then, and (d) it means more to me. I think it’s the best way for me to wrap up my hour-long soundtrack of my life, because it’s complete, yet just open-ended enough.
Grand total: 59 minutes, 53 seconds. My life in one hour. It’s the best combination of music I can think of to describe all that has been and is important to me. There are a lot of memories, emotions, and implications built into these selections and their order. I almost regret my self-imposed one-hour constraint, because I'm missing tunes from Collective Soul and Trapt... that's a shame. But if I added them, I'd have to add at least four more Something Corpoate songs, and... Anyway. These fifteen tell the story of my life in an hour, and when a movie is made about my life, these songs had better be the soundtrack.
And if Something Corporate wouldn’t mind playing live at my wedding, that’d be cool, too.
1) Creed, "Are You Ready?" (4 minutes, 45 seconds)
I called this my "theme song" for many years. To me, it’s just a song about change. Presently, I don’t really think it’s the greatest song. But it’s a foundation to who I’ve been.
2) Sonicflood, "I Have Come to Worship" (3 minutes, 16 seconds)
One twentieth of my soundtrack is devoted to the random cluster of Christian rock music that I enjoy for one reason or another. This also serves as something of an introductory song, because it is more of my past than my present. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to entirely shake the fondness I have for such upbeat, hopeful, spiritual music.
3) Coldplay, "The Scientist" (5 minutes, 9 seconds)
This is my first attempt at cramming several meanings into a song. Not only am I a scientist of sorts, but there are just lines to this song that ring true. "Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard." Plus, it’s included mostly to recognize my appreciation for Coldplay. It was hard to decide which Coldplay songs to include, since I love so many of them: "Shiver," "Yellow," "Don't Panic," "Clocks," "A Rush of Blood to the Head," "Warning Sign," "Fix You," "Square One," "Talk"... sigh. There are almost as many good Coldplay songs as there are good Something Corporate ones!
4) Train, "Free" (3 minutes, 58 seconds)
As a tribute to the select few Train songs I love, I picked "Free" as the one that best fits me, but I picked it just as much for its sound as anything.
5) Plain White T’s, "Happy Someday" (3 minutes, 22 seconds)
This is as good as any song I can pick to express my hopes and dreams that it all works out in the end. While I don’t relate to the lyrics literally as they stand, there is much that is quite similar. Again, though, this song is picked for its sound, and because I like the Plain White T’s.
6) Something Corporate, "I Want to Save You" (4 minutes, 22 seconds)
The first of four Something Corporate songs on my list, "I Want to Save You" is probably the first one I’d cut if I had to throw out a Something Corporate song. Indeed, it was hard to not include more SoCo songs. I wound up choosing this one for its refrain, and for its energy.
7) 3 Doors Down, "Here Without You" (3 minutes, 58 seconds)
My first song expressly for The One, although the prior song gets kind of close. I just feel connected to a force I can’t explain when I listen to this song.
8) Something Corporate, "Punk Rock Princess" (3 minutes, 52 seconds)
"You can tell me why you just don't fit in, and how you're gonna be something." While I just said "I Want to Save You" would be the first to go if I removed a SoCo song, this one almost didn’t make it... until I realized it wasn’t here. I am playing this song at my wedding. I am singing it to The One. We are dancing to it at the reception. That’s that.
9) Linkin Park, "Breaking the Habit" (3 minutes, 16 seconds)
In my mind, this doesn’t even compare to the other songs. But, for some reason, it’s here. I don't really know why.
10) Oleander, "I Walk Alone" (4 minutes, 9 seconds)
Before I discovered Creed, Oleander was the source of my theme song. "I Walk Alone" has always applied to me in one sense or another. I’ve only recently rediscovered it, and in the process, realized why I love Oleander so much. And... just listen to it. The first minute and a half are perfect. Eh, the whole song is. I feel like I can directly apply it to my life right now. If I had to sum up my life in two songs, it'd be this and "Watch the Sky."
11) Coldplay, "Amsterdam" (5 minutes, 21 seconds)
The longest song on my playlist, this song would have to be here even if it were twice as long. There are so many things I think of when I play this song. The pain and torture that was living with Andy senior year, the road trip down to Appleton senior year, the episode of Alias where Dixon nearly commits suicide, the love that my friends have for me. Most of all, the opening line just haunts me. "Come on, my star is fading." I could not describe feeling down any better than with that line.
12) Something Corporate, "Watch the Sky" (2 minutes, 54 seconds)
There is never a better way to spend a spare three minutes than by listening to this song. I love it. And I hate Something Corporate for not including it on the American release of North. But I forgive them immediately because this is the greatest. Song. Ever. It’s energetic, it’s enigmatic, it’s excellent. It acknowledges life’s downs yet carries a ray of hope. Mostly it describes to me what it feels like to be an observer. I suppose that if I were to just play this song twenty times, that’d be a decent one-hour soundtrack to me.
13) Our Lady Peace, "Somewhere Out There" (4 minutes, 11 seconds)
"I know you’ll come back someday." While originally I would think of The One more readily in an entirely different song titled “Somewhere Out There,” this song has somehow taken a different, more important place in my heart and mind. In either case, I’m always a sucker for stars in songs.
14) Something Corporate, "Miss America" (3 minutes, 49 seconds)
Before "Watch the Sky" entered my life, this song was it. "I will write this down for you so you can read it/ I will hold my breath for you ‘til I can’t feel it/ You don’t have to see me this way/ ‘Cause this way I’m ok." I hide my thoughts, fears, and pains from the world a lot. This represents all those who’ve hurt me, but it reminds me that it’s all been worth it. At the same time, I’m still awaiting The One. "Oh love, when does this twisting end?"
Sigh. So many SoCo songs didn't make the cut. I'd list all the ones I love but it'd be shorter to just say I love all of them but "If U C Jordan," "Unravel," and "Drunk Girl," which are still good in my book--I'm just not passionate about them.
15) Oleander, "Leave It All Behind" (3 minutes, 31 seconds)
I feel like this should have been the last song on Oleander’s Joyride. Just switch it with "Runaway Train." Both are hauntingly beautiful songs, but this one makes my playlist because (a) it’s a full minute shorter, (b) the guitar solo in the middle is my favorite guitar solo ever, (c) this song is one of those messages that the angels send now and then, and (d) it means more to me. I think it’s the best way for me to wrap up my hour-long soundtrack of my life, because it’s complete, yet just open-ended enough.
Grand total: 59 minutes, 53 seconds. My life in one hour. It’s the best combination of music I can think of to describe all that has been and is important to me. There are a lot of memories, emotions, and implications built into these selections and their order. I almost regret my self-imposed one-hour constraint, because I'm missing tunes from Collective Soul and Trapt... that's a shame. But if I added them, I'd have to add at least four more Something Corpoate songs, and... Anyway. These fifteen tell the story of my life in an hour, and when a movie is made about my life, these songs had better be the soundtrack.
And if Something Corporate wouldn’t mind playing live at my wedding, that’d be cool, too.