Soundtrack for your life

Ah, so we meet again, or is it at first?
Ive been fascinated with an idea and I thought you guys would be interested in it. Ive talked before about the Soundtrack for your life. Well, I sat down and put some serious thought to it. If all that remained of your time on the earth was a 20 song soundtrack-what songs would it contain? A way to think of it is that is a person who never met you happened to hear your soundtrack, would they get a sense of who you was by the songs you chose? For me, they would be the songs that move me, make me laugh, cry, remember and think.

I didn't take this task lightly. Music is very important to me, it is with us from the day of our birth to the day of our death. It marks important days, memories, feelings, joys and sorrows. You are probably listening to mine right now. Don't worry, just hit pause if you don't want to listen right now.

Let's be clear. This is not a "20 songs that you would have on a desert island". This is 20 songs that define YOU.

So, here is my life soundtrack. At least, so far :)
1. Sugar Blue-Jeff Finlin. This is from the Elizabethtown soundtrack. It's quiet rhythm and grace make me think of my grandmother who passed away in 2005.
2. Learning to Fly - Pink Floyd. I hear this and I'm back in high school working at MacDonald's. This song was my first introduction to Floyd. My manager who I was desperately in love with played Floyd all the time. It echoed through the grill area. It made imagine soaring.
3.Time after Time - Eva Cassidy. This performance was live at Blues Alley. Eva passed away from cancer at 33. There is a haunted quality to her voice that touches me deeply.
4. Erotic City - George Clinton and the Parlament Funkadelic. Puts me square back in my Rocky Horror days. I had just moved out and discovered that I didn't have to be scared to be myself. If I wanted to sing "but he locked the door and gave me a disease" at the top of my lungs in a theater dressed in fishnets and a slip-I could.
I was free to be crazy, sexy and have fun!
5. Hang on St. Christopher-Tom Waits. My first few years of marriage. Hubby loved Waits and introduced me to it. This clip is from Big Time. Waits layers sound to the point of audio orgasm. Really.
6. Black Soul Choir - 16 Horsepower. The beginning of discovering a world of wonderful wild weird and amazing music. Kill the top 40 radio stations and explore!
7. Dear Mr. President - Pink. Makes me think of my brother. He is in the Army. He has sacrificed so much in the service of his country. His health, his first marriage. Takes me back to the days right before the beginning of the war. We said wait, they didn't listen.
8. Come as you are - Nirvana. This was the first Nirvana I ever heard. It marks the sea change between the 80's and 90's. When you think of music, there is before Nirvana and after Nirvana. This song says to me that its ok to be different.
9. I want it all - Queen. One of the last songs sung by Freddie Mercury. The power behind that voice gives me chills.
10. As Ugly as I seem - White Stripes. The guitar work and sweet simplicity of this song are very addictive. Beauty and simplicity will always go together after you listen to this.
11. Traveling Soldier - Dixie Chicks. I cry every time I hear this song. My brother gave his wife a cd with this song on it before he deployed the first time. My brother was supposed to be on a Black Hawk on his way home for leave. The helicopter was shot down. We didn't know for a day if he was alive or dead. This song takes me to that day, just sitting there not knowing what to do...
12. Don't Worry Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin. Schlocky I know, but this is a song that no matter how shitty my day is, makes me smile and remember simply to not worry, be happy.
13. Mad World - Gary Jules. I suffered from depression in high school. Lost, aching, painful depression. I used to say I felt like the red dot among the green dots-I didn't fit in. This song is the sound of my mind when I was depressed.
14. Sweet Dreams - Patsy Cline. Makes me think of my mother.
15. For the Longest Time-Billy Joel. Summer vacations when I was a kid. We would drive to Grandma's house. When this song came on the radio, mom, I and my brother would all sing along in harmony. Simple happiness comes with this song.
16. Yesterday - Beatles. Pure, simple, beautiful, soulful. Essential.
17. Ode to Joy - Beethoven. The sound of a ecstatic heart.
18. Fast Car - Tracy Chapman. I have had several copies of this album... I wore the tapes out listening to this. Another one that has a deep emotional reach.
19. Kathy's Song - Simon and Garfunkel. Beautiful ballad. Hard to decide between this, Neil Young Old Man and Bob Dylan Most of the time.
20. Every breath you take (acoustic)- Sting. Pure and clear. My 6th grade music teacher made us learn how to play this song on guitar. I remember her calling out chord changes. If only she had taught this version, maybe I would remember how to play it.

Ok, so there I am, laid bare to the "Innertubes". Comment, don't comment. I don't care. What I do care about is that you give some though to your own soundtrack. What would you pick and why?
Happiness guys. I will post a funky movie next time no worries ;)
C