Music Tag with mp3s

RC666 tagged me with a music game, and since this is mostly a music blog, fair play. My answers will contain mp3s.


Q: How many songs do you have on your computer?

A: I have no idea. I have 20.8 GB on my computer at work, and 19.5 GB here on the home PC. I try to hover around 20. Any more than that is excessive.


Q: What song are you listening to right now?

A: Surrounded By Skanks (mp3), by Thunderbirds Are Now!, from the Necks EP.


Q: What was the last CD you bought?

A: I picked up the Belle & Sebastian EP collection, Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, and the Motown Remixed CD, yesterday. I also got Plane's Hello More from eMusic, if that counts.


Q: Name five songs that mean something to you.

A: I've been asked this before. I suspect that for most people, the songs that mean something to them might not be their favorite songs; rather, they're tunes that remind them of important places, people, or events in their lives. I'm not going to choose my songs that way - nothing that reminds me of a prom dance or a long goodbye - these are fairly recent songs that I can't listen to without feeling that jolt to the heart.


1. In a Little While - U2.

I always thought this was a nice little song, but it didn't really mean much to me until Bono explained how he intended it to be a simple song about coming home with a wicked hangover, but the meaning of the song changed when he learned that it was the last song Joey Ramone listened to before he died, and that Joey found more meaning in it than Bono intended. According to bpfallon.com, "His mum Charlotte said he was listening to U2's In A Little While in his room at New York Presbyterian Hospital when he died. 'Just as the song finished, Joey finished,' Charlotte said. He was 49."

Now I can't listen to it without getting chills. Listen to it again with Joey in mind. Bono explains it in the intro to this live version, from a Boston concert on the Elevation Tour: U2 - In a Little While (Elevation Tour - Boston) (mp3) And related to that, a Ramones song that hits me, covered here by u2: I Remember You (Live U2 Cover) (mp3)

In a little while, surely you'll be mine
In a little while, I'll be there
In a little while, this hurt will hurt no more
I'll be home, love

When the night takes a deep breath
And the daylight has no air
If I crawl, if I come crawling home
Will you be there?...

Slow down, my beating heart
A man dreams one day to fly
A man takes a rocket ship into the skies
He lives on a star that's dying in the night
And follows in the trail of the scatter of light

2. Season of the Shark - Yo La Tengo, from Summer Sun

This is a song of reassurance for someone who can't seem to find happiness, who is stuck in a state of worry and paranoia. You want to help, and are frustrated that you can't pull your friend out of troubled waters. The lyrics are here.

Yo La Tengo - Season of the Shark (mp3)


3. Nightswimming - REM

To me, this one is about the slow dying of one's youth, and remembrance of young love and vitality (It’s not like years ago/The fear of getting caught/Of recklessness and water/They cannot see me naked/These things, they go away/Replaced by everyday), but the memories are blurred: The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago/Turned around backwards so the windshield shows/Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse/Still, it’s so much clearer. The video, with its long introductory scenes with teens at a lake campfire, is one of the most beautiful and poignant ever made. Here's a live version of Nightswimming(mp3).


4. Daniel Johnston - The Sun Shines Down On Me, from Don't Be Scared (1992)
I could have listed a handful of Daniel Johnston songs here. He sounds awful, his instruments are out of tune, and he seems rhythm deficient. But you feel the weight of every word.

The Sun Shines Down On Me:
Daniel Johnston original (mp3)
Guster cover (2004) (mp3)

I'm getting closer to the fact
I've turned my back on silly things
I'm walking down that lonely road
And my heavy load ..I didn't bother to bring it

And the sun shines down on me
I feel like I deserve it
The sun shines down...

I'm walking down that empty road
But it ain't empty now ..because I'm on it
I'm getting closer to a hope
That I can carry and take home with me

The sun shines down on me
I feel like I have to earn it
The sun shines down

5. Beck - Lost Cause

It's no secret that I'm a big Beck fan, and this song is one of my favorites. I don't need to say much about it, I'm sure. You've heard it a zilliont times, and it's fresh in your memory. Besides, it's getting late and I'm tired. Here's a live solo acoustic version from Leno (mp3).


There's so much more that I could have put on this list, but the ones I included are songs that I listen to regularly these days.

So there it is. Now I need to figure out who to tag...I'll go with Mike at Take Your Medicine.