Liner Notes

I'm hooked on iTunes "Celebrity Playlists." I've always been a big fan of the mix CD that you make for friends and they make for you...we used to do that in college religiously. So, it's only natural that these intrigue me because it's like a celebrity is making a mix CD for you...

...the added bonus is that they usually put some liner notes along with the playlist. You know: The song, the band, and why they chose it.

Well, I made a mix CD for my seniors who graduated this year and then I realized that I forgot to tell them why I chose each song or whatever.

So, I decided to do that today...

The first thing they needed to know is that I really loved the movies "Garden State" and "Elizabethtown." The soundtracks for both those movies could not have been better as far as actually enhancing the flicks...and so I decided the "theme" of the CD for them would be to add a soundtrack to the last year of my life.

And, well, like both movies, they involve introspection on the part of the main characters due to the death of a parent. In Garden State, the mom died. In Elizabethtown the dad died. So, for those of you that know me, I related deeply to both those movies over the last year or so.

Hence, the soundtrack that would accompany my life (my own little celebrity playlist) over the last year would go as follows:

"The Late Greats" by Wilco. The line "the best bands will never get signed" sorta signifies that sometimes life doesn't go the way that it sometimes deserved or even expected. This song set the tone of my year. It had to go first in the mix.

"If I Had A Boat" by Lyle Lovett. He's fantastic, and this song more or less describes the desire to wish for things to be better and then getting away from it all.

"Loose String" by Son Volt. The best band nobody ever heard of or listened to. I accidently saw them live because I bought tickets for our anniversary so Tracy could see John Mellancamp. I had no idea who was opening or whatever and turns out Son Volt was. Now, my night has been made and Tracy to this day claims my truly altruistic gesture to go see a show I wouldn't enjoy is tainted. This song talks about how "sometimes the pieces don't fit in" and sometimes you're just "coming up for air again." It fits my life at times, and it gives me a chance to spread the gospel of Son Volt.

"I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" by the White Stripes. The quiet words and the violent chorus highlight the various mood swings over the year, plus the title is apt.

"Unsatisfied" by The Replacements. I think Paul Westerburg is a genius. This song is about how others can see what you're going through by looking in your eyes.

"Muzzle" by The Smashing Pumpkins. When you have various fears, you fall back on what you know. I love that section of the song where he talks about what he knows...everything from the distance to the sun to the "echo that is love." One of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar.

"Lightning Crashes" by Live. A soulful & haunting song about how fast life can change and the emotions you go through when it does.

"Driver 8" by R.E.M. We all need a break every now and again. In this case the train conductor tells Driver 8 he's been on the tracks too long and needs a break. Manalive I felt this way more often than not this year.

"Angel of Harlem" by U2. This is where the CD gets a little more upbeat. I love this song reminds me of how even when the day is cold and wet that an angel can brighten it...including about how even though New York is a busy city with hustle and bustle there's still an "angel" that can get you refocused.

"Heroes" by David Bowie. Sometimes a hero is needed. And, yep, we could all be heroes...even if it's just for one day. Even if it's only in a small way.

"Brilliant Mistake" by Elvis Costello. Sometimes we try to hard to say the right thing or do the right thing or whatever. "It was a fine idea at the time now it's a brilliant mistake." Who hasn't felt that?

"Karma Police" by Radiohead. We all need police to check our karma every so often, and sometimes we need to remember that we'll reap what we sow. Plus, Radiohead is a really cool band.

"The Only Living Boy In New York" by Simon & Garfunkel. I don't like being a grownup somedays and trying to revert to childhood seems like the most wonderful escape. Half of the time we're going and we don't know where...

"Yellow Ledbetter" by Pearl Jam. The greatness of Pearl Jam gets lost because they're from Seattle and most associated with "grunge." But this song shows all the members and their talent...plus who hasn't felt whether they're the boxer or the bag? And when you see your friends and it doesn't seem like they wave back and that you simply don't want to stay? And lonely guitar is beautiful.

"Oh Me" by Nirvana. Actually the Vaselines wrote it, but Nirvana did it on their "Unplugged" session. I get the feeling that others are looking at him and wanting to see his emotions and such but you don't know how how to verbalize them or make them appropriate to others. The line that he "formulates affinities formed deep inside him" and that he tries to "touch feelings" seem to fit me most of the time.

"Catapult" by Counting Crows. Ever felt like you're sitting in a catapult waiting to be flung? You just can't believe you're in the situation you're in and you're about to be scattered and you need some help from your friends? Great song.

"Footprints on my Ceiling" by Social Distortion. Since when did Social Distortion start using sythesizers? It's a song about relationships and how you want the best but you don't give enough to them. "How do you talk without speaking? How do you hear without listening? How do you live without feelings? How do you take without giving? How do you keep it all inside? I felt like that a lot...that I wanted to talk but just kept it all bottled up.

"What A Wonderful World" by Joey Ramone. He remade the Louis Armstrong classic while he was dying of cancer. Joey Ramone was my John Lennon and this song he did in classic Ramones style but the circumstances he recorded it under make it meaningful. Ultimately it's a wonderful world full of beauty in the normalcy of things.

"Time To Move On" by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. This song was a fitting end to the CD with my seniors--who, this class turned out to be wonderful and special--graduating. It was time for them to move on...even if you don't know where you're headed, but you know that grass is growing under your feet so yeah, it's time to move on and time to get goin'.

So, gosh, all of a sudden this blog entry seems so self-indulgent...but I guess in reality they all are at some level. But anyway, it's a rainy Saturday and I needed to do that anyway...

But it was the soundtrack of my year, and it might be the best mix CD I ever made...even surpassing Tracy's Fundamental Tunes I made her while we were dating in college. But it's close.