Sunday, March 25, 2007

Fluffy Sunday... Music


I was tagged by Neen at "Can We Kick the Bar Here?" for a music meme. You know, choose several songs to share with others and then pick seven others who will ostensibly do the same.

It's a good idea and all the ones posted so far have been very enjoyable, especially the ones that link the songs. Honestly, folks, I do listen to all of them. :)

The thing is that I have a very strange relationship with music. As a few others have mentioned they do not, I also do not have music on in the background when I am doing things. Usually, when it's on, I am actively listening to it.

Music radio is mind-numbing. Too many of the songs are shallow and meaningless. At my age, teenage dating behavior is oh so boring! I stick mostly with a group of musicians I've enjoyed for years and years. The new stuff usually comes when someone recommends it. Hearing unheard, I buy the CD and give it a shot. Mostly though, I still listen to Donovan, Simon and Garfunkel and Janis Ian. Shirley Bassey. The Doors. Van Morrison. The old folks, the ones who are probably collecting Social Security by now. At this very moment, I am listening to "The Essential Donovan". His music is so old that many who read here might not be familiar with him!

Lyrics matter a lot. If I don't like the lyrics, I won't like the song. Most of the songs I like have some personal significance, reminding me of an important event in my life or the poetry of the song makes a statement that I wish I had the talent to write in the same way.

In other words, I'm really picky.

Just the same, leaving Thai stuff aside, here are several songs currently on my CD player. I hope you will enjoy them, just as I enjoy all the ones I've heard from others participating in this exercise.

1. Catch The Wind - Donovan

2. Sweet Dreams - The Eurythmics

3. Blackbird - Carly Simon

4. Because of You - Kelly Clarkson

5. Scarborough Fair - Sarah Brightman

6. Sounds of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel

7. Am I Coming Home Again - Janis Ian

As for the seven I am supposed to pick .. um... I can't actually think of anyone who hasn't done it already but if you are on my sidebar, you're tagged. (I stole that idea from elsewhere, by the way.)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! :)


Peace,


~Chani

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Chani,
Sorry I was so lazy with my links. I did link now to those I could. Now, I'm off for a listen to yours.

Girlplustwo said...

I love your choices. Simon and G, well, i've got every song they've ever sung..and Donovan.

We'd folk out nicely together.

dmmgmfm said...

Great choices, Chani. I love all of them, especially "Sounds of Silence".

I listen to music most of the time. Usually something on XM radio, the jazz channels or the contemporary stuff. Lately I've become enamoured of Miles Davis.

meno said...

I have loved Simon and Garfunkel since i was 12. And that's a loooonng time my friend.

I haven't thought about Janis Ian in along time. For some reason i connect her in my mind with Phoebe Snow, whose song "Either or Both" i also love.

QT said...

Ha -some artists transcend generations, Chani. Donovan, Simon and G - lovely.

Lyrics are important to me too - I am always listening intently to see what everyone is saying.

Pam said...

Have you been into my CDs? =) I'd pick all the same and add the glorious voice of Sarah Brightman singing anything!

Bones said...

Yeah - Sarah Brightman could sing the phone book and it would sound great. I was lucky enough to see her and Michael Crawford in Phantom on Broadway. Blew my music loving doors off.

But you can't automatically toss out simple lyrics and the same three chords. Many of the greatest rock and roll songs of all times have meaningless lyrics and use G,C,D, and an occasional F or Am, but weave them in a way that has blown the doors of generations. I want you to want me? Simple, but transcendent. Horse with no name? 2 chords: Am and Em. Cecilia? 3 chords and simple lyrics. Knockin on heaven's door? The same 3 chords. But they are all brilliant. Don't get me wrong; i love the complexity of singer-songwriters. But that’s why they are s/s's and not mainstream artists.

Check out Patty Griffin. If I had to pick a song, I’d say Making Pies.

thailandchani said...

De, no problem on the links. I was able to find them. :)

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Jen, I absolutely love folk music! I started as a kid with Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary. When I'm old and feeble, drooling in a cup in some nursing home in TYhaland, I will still be listening to folk music. :)

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Laurie, I have been trying to decide whether or not to spring for a subscription to XM radio. It could be a good thing because it would get me away from the tube. Hm. Something to ponder.

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Meno, I was hooked on Janis Ian from the time I was a teenager and she recorded "Society's Child". I practically worshipped at her feet! I listened to her through her various incarnations, through her "coming out" process ~ all of it. She just gets better with age.

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QT, lyrics speak to me so well. The song "Am I Coming HOme" is one of those that I mentally remove "lover" from the lyrics and it becomes an ode to my community in Thailand. In fact, I sign off my emails to most of them with "light a light for me".

~*

Pam, actually I'd considered pilfering some of your CDs but it was such a long walk! LOL.. Seriously though, certain types of people just gravitate to certain music. Don't you think so? When I visit someone's home, it's a reflex to look at their CD collection and their bookshelf.

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Bones, I will check out Patty Griffin. Sarah Brightman has the purest, most beautiful voice I can imagine! Alison Krauss comes close.. but doesn't quite get there.

~*

Peace, all...


~Chani