I try to be a good blogger.  As such, I take time out to review my blog.  You know, read it.   For my dear interwebs’ sake.  Making sure my stuff it still as funny as when I wrote it (it usually is), that I’m staying on message based on my About page (I mostly am) and that it’s all true (uh, sure.  Mostly).  Not because I think I’m hilarious and crack myself up, oh no.  Not that!   Not because I enjoy the heck out of my stuff!  I do it for YOU.  For my lovely, kind, intelligent readers, who evince such good taste as to have my blog in their blog feeds and aggregator-type gadgetry and such.  Thank you readers!

So I was checking out my About page, and I noticed that I said how much music was important to me, and that I’d most likely be blogging about it a bunch.

Except…well…I haven’t.  Have I?  Not really, no.  I checked. Out of 140-odd blog posts, I have a total of 4 posts under my music category.  FOUR.  WTF, me? Seriously?  That’s like…6%!  Music oughta be way higher than that, right?!

DAMN FRAKIN STRAIGHT, IT OUGHTA!

You can tell I’m perplexed. Music is so important to me. It has always been there, sometimes in the background, but most of the time a central part of my memories. It was a constant in my life, from the Turkish songs and operatic stuff my dad would sing to me as a little tot, to the 60’s and 70’s music that I would groove to with my mom as a kid. My mom and I would bond over music a lot, until I hit my teens and veered off into the punk, industrial and alternative stuff I preferred as I moved into adulthood. My mom, on the other hand, remained solidly in her top 40 R&B stuff. Pshaw. (ok not totally pshaw, some of it is ok I guess. Meh.)

Anyway! I intend to redress this EGREGIOUS oversight. Tout de suite. Witness:

I think about music a lot.  No really, a LOT.  I like talking about it, and thinking about it, and listening to it, and playing it, and sometimes even creating it.  I find it nearly impossible to drive without music playing.  If I don’t have some sort of musical pursuit in my life, there is something missing, a large gaping hole in my existence.  In case you’re wondering, the current venture is DJ school, which is progressing quite nicely, thank you very much.

One topic I think about often is this:  if I had to pick a song as my ‘theme’ song, my go-to song, the one that in some way encompasses my life or my outlook in some way, what would it be?

My answer:  I can’t pick just one.  I’ve thought and I’ve thought, and tried and tried, and I Just.  Can’t.  Pick.  One.  Sorry, annoying FaceBook questionnaire application writers.  Sorry.  Two reasons why:

1. I am far too multi-faceted a person for just one song to truly address all the different aspects of my life or outlook, and
2. I identify with too many songs; if I pick this one, that means I leave out all the stuff I identify with from that one, and on and on it goes.

So I think I’ve narrowed it down to THREE.  I think.  Well maybe four.  But for now, let’s just say three, ok?  I reserve the right to add a couple more down the line.  (YouTube-y goodness linking ahead!  You’re welcome.)

1. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy | Sarah McLachlan: Anyone who knows me knows I have to have a Sarah Mclachlan song in here.  It just goes without saying.  I can’t tell you how clearly this woman writes to my soul.  Or what a fangirl I am.  But to pick one…this is it.  No question.
2. Orpheus | David Sylvian: I remember the first time I heard this song.  Forever thanks to my friend Ariana, who lives in Eugene now, for introducing me to the album this is on, Secrets of the Beehive.  This song lets me breathe when I can’t.  It taps into my emotions at a basic level, where words alone cannot reach.  The whole album is phenomenal, but something about this one…this is the one that came closest to being The One.  Note: David Sylvian was the lead singer of the band Japan, in case you’ve never heard of him.  Not that you necessarily heard of the band either.
3. Solsbury Hill | Peter Gabriel (Sorry, couldn’t find a decent youtube vid of this one): If Sarah is my female singer/songwriter idol, Peter is my guy.   All of his stuff (with the possible exception of Sledgehammer and Big Time) is just beautiful*.  And he picks the best people to duet/collaborate with!  Every time my life has got me down, listening to this song reminds me that I’ve always come out better in the end.

There it is.  I’ve poured my musical soul out to you, my dear interwebs.  But herein lies a challenge:  Can you pick just one?  Well can ya…punk?

*Note: If you click on just one link in this list, click this one.  Trust me.  Do it.  Amazing video.