Musical Mood Check
I’ve been trying to put together some more iTunes playlists lately, even though I love just taking my whole library and sticking it on shuffle. It’s the closest thing to WDAVE I’m likely to get. But sometimes it ain’t a bad idea to have a defined playlist to fit a particular mood. Here’s my latest effort for a fairly up-tempo, reasonably upbeat mood. It’s heavy on the 90s alt-pop but then again, so is most of my library:
- All This Time – Sting
- Under the Milky Way – The Church
- Regret – New Order
- What Would You Say – Dave Matthews Band
- Pain Lies on the Riverside – Live
- Human Kindness – Neil Finn
- Lost Horizons – Gin Blossoms
- Big Bar Fight – Greg Edmonson (Firefly Soundtrack)
- Tried to Be True – Indigo Girls
- This Is Us – Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
- The Boy in the Bubble – Paul Simon
- Someday, Someway – Marshall Crenshaw
- Wait – Matthew Sweet
- Seen the Doctor – Michael Penn
- Cruel to Be Kind – Nick Lowe
- Annie Get Your Gun – Squeeze
- Stupid Songs About Love – Candy Apple Black (Joie Calio from dada)
- Crystal Village – Pete Yorn
- A Friend of Pat Robertson – dada
- Bittersweet Me – R.E.M.
- Main Title 1st Season (Extended) – Christopher Franke (Babylon 5 Vol. II)
- Special – Garbage
- Come Down – Toad the Wet Sprocket
- Even a Child – Crowded House
- How Could You Want Him (When You Know You Can Have Me) – Spin Doctors
The New Order song is one of those that is utterly tied to a specific memory. I believe this was the summer after I graduated from high school, and I was walking down Roosevelt Boulevard to the bus stop. I was listening to the radio on my Walkman, back when they were big enough to hold cassette players, and that song came on. As the “I would like a place I can call my own” chorus came out, I suddenly had such a rush of energy that I was practically jumping out of my skin. I’m thinking it was the fear and exhilaration of what was coming next, but regardless, I can’t help but smile when I hear the song.
Tried to Be True lets me sneak a second R.E.M. song on here, sort of, since Berry, Buck and Mills all play on the track.
I won a poster while I was on a college visit because I recognized Pain Lies on the Riverside when the campus radio station started playing it. Pretty sure it was a Spin Doctors poster.
Seen the Doctor is actually the first Michael Penn song I ever heard. Then I went back and found out about No Myth and the rest of March. I’m a slow learner sometimes.
I’m experimenting with sticking some of my soundtrack instrumental tracks on playlists with the pop songs. I think it’s working OK.
OK, I’ll open the floor for comments where you can all question my musical taste. 🙂
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.