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Last week, when I picked up the Rilo Kiley CD, I also picked up a CD from Kate Nash. I’ve been listening to it off and on pretty much all week. Her sound is kind of like a mix between Lily Allen and Regina Spektor. Kate’s videos are a little strange, but I really like her personality. I’m looking forward to hearing more of her music! This is one of the better songs on her CD, “My Best Friend is You.”
Kate Nash “Later On”
This weekend, I scored some new music, which included a CD from Rilo Kiley. I stumbled across this band after I researched Regina Spektor on Last.fm, a site where you enter a band or artist and it plays similar music. I don’t love this CD – it has a little too much country influence for my taste. Boyfriend says their first CD is much better, but I did find a few songs on this one that I like. This first one is particularly addictive at the moment.
Rilo Kiley “Silver Lining”
The video doesn’t allow embedding (as usual), so you’ll have to settle for a link.
“Hooray, hooray
I’m your silver lining
Hooray, hooray
But now I’m gold”
We all have them – songs that reduce us to a weepy ball of mush. I tend to cry more easily than most people, so I may have more songs that make me tear up than most, but these particular ten songs always make me cry. Always. Every time. I’m not even sure why some of these songs make me cry – they’re not necessarily favorites – but regardless, these make me leaky. I’ve added links so you can hear the song.
1. Paramore “Misguided Ghosts” – I know why this song makes me cry. This song will forever remind me of my grandmother. I had just gotten the new Paramore CD around the time that she died. When I get a new CD, I tend to get really into it – it’s all I’ll listen to until I get sick of it. I was obsessing over this song in particular on the days surrounding her death, and because of the lyrics, it felt like a sign. I think the song would remind me of her even if she hadn’t died during the time I started listening to it. I’m still contemplating adding a lyric (echo) of this song to my clover tattoo (gotten in honor/memory of her).
“And there’s no one road
We should not be the same
I’m just a ghost
And still they echo me
They echo me in circles”
2. A Fine Frenzy “Near to You” – I think the reason this song makes me cry is partly because of its beautiful tones, of course, but also because I first heard it in a Wildfire episode during a scene that was particularly heart-wrenching. Every time I hear the song, I think of that scene and see the flashbacks in my head. Beyond that, as I said, the song in itself is both sad and lovely at the same time.
3. Hinder “Lips of an Angel” – I honestly have no idea why this song makes me cry. I think it has something to do with the singer and the girl he’s singing to obviously still wanting to be together. Originally, this song actually used to upset me because it’s about a guy who’s dating someone else, but talking to his ex (who’s also dating someone else) about how much they miss each other, and I’m the jealous type who would never do that. I’ve gotten over that, though, and now just cry when I hear this song instead.
4. India.Arie “Video” – I also know why this song makes me cry. During my final year of college, I co-directed The Vagina Monologues at my college and this was our introductory song when the ladies would walk out on the stage. It’s the perfect song because India.Arie talks about how she feels that her body is perfect despite all its flaws and imperfections. It also makes me cry because that’s the place I want to get in regards to my own body image.
“I’m not the average girl from your video
And I ain’t built like a supermodel
But I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen”
5. Imogen Heap “The Moment I Said It” – This song doesn’t make me cry until near the end, when Imogen starts getting lyrically worked up. The song builds passionately and sadly to a breaking point and it makes me tear up each time. I love singing along to music, but I can never finish singing along with this song because I start getting worked up and become unable to keep the note. Imogen’s music is lovely in general, but this song is my favorite of hers.
6. Flyleaf “Fully Alive” – A song about a woman who has been beaten down over and over again but refused to give up on her life and now is a survivor? Um, yeah, that’s going to make me cry. I haven’t been a victim of abuse, but it’s still close to my heart. Not to mention Melody has such a lovely voice – no wonder this song makes me cry.
7. Newsboys “Entertaining Angels” – This is another song that reminds me of my grandmother, but also is the song that’s closest to me in regards to my spirituality. Newsboys is a Christian band that I learned about when I was heavily into church in my teenage years. Despite the fact that I’m no longer a Christian, I still believe in a higher power and in angels, so this song always hits close to home when it talks about someone watching over the singer. Amusing note: the music video that I linked to suggested a bunch of Christian songs and then Lady Gaga. Ummm…
“Entertaining angels
By the light of my t.v. screen
24-7 you wait for me”
8. Fergie “Big Girls Don’t Cry” – Again, I’m not sure why this song makes me cry. I wasn’t even a huge fan of it when it first came out, and in fact, I’m not a huge fan of Fergie in general. This song, though, touches something in me. Admittedly, Fergie sounds very soulful when she’s singing about their past, so maybe that’s it. I’m not sure – just don’t play it around me unless you can handle me tearing up a bit.
9. Superchic(k) “Super Trouper” – Again, this is a bit of a Christian band, but it’s also a very uplifting band. For instance, this song is about reaching for your full potential and taking risks because you’re a rockstar. This always hits a chord with me because I constantly feel like I have more potential than I’m showing, but I’m never sure how to make myself shine. This song always cheers me up and makes me cry at the same time.
“You were meant to live large
Come on, take charge
Let’s go light the world up
Let’s not wait until the end
To be the things we wish we’d been”
10. Taylor Swift “Love Story” – I have no idea. I don’t even like country music. For some reason, I like Taylor Swift, though. Perhaps it’s because she’s a savvy businessperson already and she’s still a teenager. Perhaps it’s because her music has a pop flavor to it as well. Regardless, for some reason, this song makes me weepy. It has a Romeo and Juliet theme that is actually well done. The lines where she feels like giving up leading to his proposal are the ones make me the most weepy, so maybe I’m just a romantic at heart.
What songs make you cry?
All morning, I’ve been sitting at my desk, trying and failing to think of a song that would fit for today’s Music Monday. Finally, I caved and looked at my iPod and immediately recalled that I’ve been listening to Nikka Costa a lot in the past week. I was introduced to Nikka through MTV, of all places, back in high school while getting ready for school. I haven’t looked her up in a while – I found out she has a new CD, so I’m going to have to get my hands on that. Today’s song was the original song that I heard on MTV and is still my favorite Nikka song. Enjoy!
Nikka Costa “Like A Feather”
Earlier last week, I was pretty cranky at work, so I decided to listen to some tunes on Last.fm, where you can enter an artist or group and hear tracks from similar bands. I stumbled across a lot of great new music, but my favorite right now is:
Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man “Spider Monkey”
For those who don’t know, Beth Gibbons is the lead singer of Portishead.
Amazed I could even find a fan-made video:
I decided to steal the lovely Kate’s theme from last week and do this week on rituals. Well, I was going to, and then it kind of snowballed into routines, which is quite similar, right? …right? Well, I suppose this is my routines/rituals post, then.
1. My morning routine – When I get ready for the day, I have the same routine. I might not do the routine immediately if it’s a day off, but if I leave the house, chances are that I’ll be getting ready at some point. If it’s a work day, I do it immediately, so let’s presume it’s a work day: After I turn off my alarm, the first thing I do is love on the kitty (kitty likes to wake up at 6 a.m., but she doesn’t get love until 6:45 a.m. when I wake up). Then I get dressed, go to the bathroom, and feed kitty in random order. Then the real routine starts. I – in this order – brush my hair, brush my teeth, wash my face, pop my birth control pill, get rid of remaining eye makeup that has decorated my undereyes overnight, put on face lotion, put on deodorant, spray perfume, put on makeup, and put on jewelry. Even my makeup has its own order, although this is more for long-lasting hold: Foundation, eye primer (if used), blush, highlighting shadow, eyeshadows, eyeliner, loose powder, mascara, chapstick, lipstick. It’s a routine.
I haven't tried that yet.
2. My get-into-work routine – I have another morning routine – when I get to work, I have a fairly consistent routine. I’m always always the first person in, so I unlock the door, turn on the light, and lock the door behind me (policy). I put my stuff down, take off my coat, turn on my computer, and take my lunch into the back. I put my lunch away, start brewing coffee, and prep my cup with cream. I come back out to my desk, get settled in, and at some point go get my coffee. Occasionally I’ll run out of time at home, so I’ll bring breakfast in. It’s a fairly basic routine that I imagine most people do.
3. Eat food one at a time – Again, I’ve heard of many people eating this way. When I eat a main meal with a few different foods on my plate, I tend to eat one food at a time. As in I’ll eat broccolibroccolbroccoli chickenchickenchickenchicken rice chicken ricericericericerice. I don’t do it intentionally. It’s probably part of the reason that I finish my food so quickly. I also don’t usually think about my food while I’m eating it, which is something I should probably work on. Also, I don’t always eat in this order. I think I’ll get better about eating more intentionally.
I would mix my food, but this would happen and I wouldn't be able to eat at all.
4. My exercise routine – Granted, I haven’t been able to go to the gym for pretty much three months (speech sucked up all of my free time so I froze my account), but I get to start going again! I’m thinking Wednesday. And when I get there, I will warm up for five minutes with a walk/jog on the treadmill, then stretch, then do weight lifting starting with arms, then abs, then legs, then do a cardio. I’m also hoping to up my cardio workouts so that I’ll really exhausting myself. It shouldn’t be too hard – I went for a (at least) 10 mile bike ride with my boyfriend yesterday and I was incredibly exhausted. Out of shape!
5. Listen to a new song or CD again and again until I get sick of it – I don’t listen to the radio. When I’m in the car, I’m always playing music, but I use my iPod, or when that dies, I suffer with a CD that I’m not really into. When I discover new music, therefore, I tend to go a little crazy on it. As in, I listen to a song or favorite new songs on a new CD over and over and over again. Until I get sick of it. In fact, I reach a point when I know that I’m going to get sick of the song soon so I probably should stop listening to it, but I still don’t. I’m just not in the mood to listen to anything else.
I've always loved this picture.
I was going to add the ritual of going to Perkins for french toast with my boyfriend when I visit him, but we actually didn’t do this last weekend. Financial constraints are slowly making that one disappear. *tear*
What are your rituals?
My boyfriend and I drove to Rochester this weekend for a “quadruple” date and we played Imogen Heap on the way up there. It turns out we both think this is our favorite song of hers.
Imogen Heap “The Moment I Said It”
*Note: I apologize, I don’t normally use a video with lyrics, but there weren’t many options that I could embed.
Sometimes I get into the mood to listen to one musician or band – today, it was Garbage. I started out by listening to this song. It’s not my favorite (that’s “Temptation Waits”), but it’s a decent song.
Garbage “When I Grow Up”
It’s weird to see Shirley Manson dancing.
This is one of my favorite songs by A Perfect Circle. In fact, it probably is my favorite. Listen to it with your bass turned up to really emphasize the middle (best) part.
A Perfect Circle “A Stranger”
My boyfriend and I were jamming to Ratatat last night in the car, so I thought it would be apropos to share some of that today. This is my favorite because it never – seriously, never – fails to boost my mood.
Ratatat “Wildcat”
What’s your song of the day?
Oh, Say Can You Say? 