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Don’t forget the songs that made you cry, and the songs that saved your life….

It looks like procrastination is the name of the game today, and I’ve already watched two discs of The Office, a show on TLC about a woman with giant legs, and eaten most of the junk food in the apartment. I guess that means it’s time to blog?

Ten Songs I Really Like:

I could never make a top ten list. It would change too fast… Even while I was going through and trying to pick ten songs for this, I had a hard time. So, here are ten songs that I think you should probably check out.

Neighborhood #2 (Laika) – Arcade Fire

It’s no secret I’m a big Arcade Fire fan, and this is one of their best. I love the chanting, and the story it puts in my head. This is one of those songs I think could actually be made into a movie, as weird as that sounds. Not to mention it’s fun to sing along to.

Mimizan – Beirut

This song gets me every time. The way he sings “and I move for you” just breaks my heart. Also, I love the, what is it, an accordion? Fantastic.

Bridges and Balloons – Decemberists

This is a cover of a great Joanna Newsom song. Both versions give me chills and make me want to cry every time I hear them because they’re so beautiful. Joanna Newsom and Colin Meloy sing the song so differently, it’s really hard to compare them, but I usually prefer the Decemberists version, probably because I heard it first.

I Love How You Love Me – Jeff Mangum Live at Jittery Joes

I can’t remember who sang the original, but I heard it once and it does not compare even at all. Maybe it’s because Jeff Mangum is my favorite singer ever, but this song makes me sigh every time. Right now the line “and when I’m away from you, I love how you miss me” seems very fitting in my life.

100,000 Fireflies – Magnetic Fields

This was the first Magnetic Fields song I ever heard, and it is still my favorite. I love how the music sounds like fireflies. Okay, I guess fireflies don’t really have sounds, but listen to it and you’ll know what I mean. This is a haunting and beautiful song.

Casimir Pulaski Day – Sufjan Stevens

Oooh Sufjan. This is another song that makes me want to cry. It tells such a sad, sad story, but it is so, so beautiful. He makes it so real, and so sad. I once knew someone who didn’t like this album (Come On, Feel the Illinoise!) because it has a few songs that deal with God and religion, like this one. I’m not a religious person, and overly religious things tend to turn me off, but that isn’t the case at all with this song, so please don’t let that stand in your way of enjoying it!

Aeroplane Over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel

This has been one of my favorite songs for a long time. It is a happy song, it is a sad song, but above all it is one of the best songs ever written and you should just go and buy the album right now. I could write pages about what this song has meant to me for the past five years, but I’ll spare you! The singing saw (I think that’s what it is, I might be wrong) is magical and strange, and just perfect for the mood of the song. It also ends with possibly my favorite line ever: “How strange it is to be anything at all.”

The Past is a Grotesque Animal – of Montreal

This is a long song. I don’t mean 6 or 7 minutes long, I’m talking about 12 minutes of awesomeness. Putting this song on is a big time commitment, but it is so worth it to hear the whole thing. There are all kinds of references to  literature and plays and such, so if you’re into that kind of thing it’s fun to figure out what he’s talking about.

Shakespeare’s Sister – The Smiths

This is the Smiths’ song that I most consistently listen to. I go through my phases with them, but this song is pretty much a constant favorite. There’s something about the frantic way Morrissey sings “Oooh mama let me go” that really gets across the craziness and sadness in the song. Plus, the line “I thought that if you had an acoustic guitar it meant that you were a protest singer” always makes me smile.

I Need All the Friends I Can Get – Camera Obscura

This song is just good clean fun. Clapping! I think it’s been well established that I adore clapping, and this song might be the reason why. There’s clapping, lots of pep, and the hint of a Scottish accent. What more could you ask for in a song? Camera Obscura is an adorable Scottish band, and if you don’t know them you should. They’re a lot of fun, and they always make me smile.

Looking at this list, most of the songs are ones that make me want to cry, so sorry about that! But they are good songs, and I really do think you should check them out.

The title of the post is from Rubber Ring, another great Smiths song. It seemed very fitting.

Later Edit:

I just wanted to add Oh Sister by Neutral Milk Hotel… I was just listening to it, and it struck me that it always reminds me of “The Sound and the Fury” by Faulkner. Anyone else think so, or am I just weird?

You know our hearts beat time out very slowly…

Look at this, I’m already updating! Today was a pretty typical day. I volunteered at the lovely Champaign Library, read some of Michael Crichton’s Timeline (which I’m actually really enjoying!) and did some homework….which I’m still doing, because really, it never ends! But on to the real point of this post!

There are some albums that just stick with you and remain a source of entertainment a comfort. I’m always a little surprised to discover which ones I still like and which ones have become a thing of the past. I’m over R.E.M (good Lord, who ever thought that would happen!?) and The Hold Steady. I still love them, but I not nearly as much. But then there are albums like Neutral Milk Hotel’s Aeroplane Over the Sea that I still love love love love even more than I did the first time I heard it. Wolf Parade’s Apologies to the Queen Mary is another one of those “sticky” albums for me.

I love unpolished sounding music. I love when the singers voice isn’t perfect. I love when there is more than one singer. Steve says that singers like Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug take time to get used to, and he hated Apologies for about a year before he came to the same conclusion that I did the first time I listened: It is a beautiful and moving album.

When I moved here I thought I would want to take the opportunity to listen to new music and find new albums to associate with these months here, but instead I find myself going to the old favorites. There is something comforting about Apologies. I first heard it about three and a half years ago and ever since it’s been in my top 10, currently in my top 5. It’s about light, ghosts, modern life, love and anger and sadness. Okay, most of that applies to pretty much everything I listen to, but it’s different with this one, I swear! When Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts fades into I’ll Believe In Anything it is one of those perfect musical moments when you realize how perfectly put together something is. It’s an album that gives you great images of ghosts, light, hunters and kings.

While writing this I’ve been listening to the album and trying to pick a song to call my favorite. Well, obviously that would be I’ll Believe In Anything, which is probably my favorite “love” song out there. Or there’s Fancy Claps, which believe it or not has clapping. I love clapping! But then I go back to Shine a Light, which is so satisfying to listen to when driving in the car at night and makes me go “YES!” in agreement every time I hear it. When he sings “I’m content, I’m content, I’m content to be quiet” I get chills.

Apologies to the Queen Mary may not be for everyone, I can understand that. Or, like Steve, it might take you a long time to hear it for what it really is (genius). Go find a copy of it and give it a try. Although I do love Wolf Parade’s second album At Mount Zoomer, I don’t think it compares to Apologies to the Queen Mary, so make sure you listen to Apologies first!