Is there any better weather for driving with all the windows down and “Holiday From Real” turned up than today’s sunny breezy 79°?

I submit to you sir that there is not.

If you left it up to me, every day would be a holiday from real

Last week as I was driving across the barren expanse they call Central Florida, I stuck in a CD I burned a few years ago which I entitled “A Few Of My Favorite Things.”  This was burned back when I thought of a mix CD as A Work Of Art, the tracks of which had to be carefully and methodically laid out.  Well anyway I was pleased to see how many of those songs had withstood the test of time (albeit only two years).  So I’m gonna list the songs, what they’re about, what they mean to me, and my favorite lyrics from them.  And please note that I am not insinuating that the music I listened to when I was 15-21 years old is somehow The Best Music.  That is a mentality that can lead an otherwise intelligent, rational man to utter a phrase like “Metallica was the last good band” (someone I used to work with actually said that to me, and he wasn’t making a joke).  Without further ado, I’ll begin my long post.

1. Better Than Ezra - Desperately Wanting:  I’m honestly not sure what this song is about, but I know it’s one of my favorite songs ever.  He is obviously recollecting “better times.”  My best guess is that it’s about a childhood friend that died or got separated from him.  Either way, I think he’s talking about someone he was close to and how they both dreamed of better lives, but it didn’t work out for his friend.  Or maybe I’m completely wrong.  Any better Ezrites out there can feel free to correct me as to what he desperately wanted.

I remember running through the wet grass
And falling a step behind
Both of us never tiring
Desperately wanting

2. Linkin Park - My December:  A pretty depressing song about loneliness.  In fact, Jason once told me it made him want to kill himself back when I had it in my AIM profile.  He’s still alive, so he must have been exaggerating.  It’s a shame this song was a B-side, but I can see how they didn’t think it fit in with Hybrid Theory.  It saw some light on their remix album, but I prefer the B-side version.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s Linkin Park’s best song.  Somewhere in the neural network of my brain, this song is linked with this picture—hearing the song makes me think of that picture, and vice versa.

And I’d give it all away, just to have somewhere to go to
Give it all away, to have someone to come home to
This is my December, these are my snow covered dreams
This is me pretending this is all I need

3. No Doubt - Don’t Speak:  Before Gwen Stefani decided to pretend she was a sex symbol, she was in No Doubt and they made some pretty decent music.  Don’t Speak is the culmination of that; a song that (as I recall) is about her and one of the guys in the band having a relationship and then breaking up.  If I’m wrong about that, well then it’s clearly about a relationship ending, which I think we can all agree is generally not A Fun Thing.

You and me, we used to be together, everyday together... always
I really feel that I’m losing my best friend
I can’t believe this could be the end
It looks as though you’re letting go
And if it’s real well I don’t want to know

4. Foo Fighters - Everlong (acoustic version):  I specify the acoustic version of this song, because it’s a hojillion times more powerful in that version.  I think this song is about how you might feel at the beginning of love, when everything seems perfect but you’re afraid you might do something to screw it up.

And I wonder, when I sing along with you, if everything could ever feel this real forever?
If anything could ever be this good again?
The only thing I’ll ever ask of you-
You’ve got to promise not to stop when I say when

5. Third Eye Blind - Motorcycle Drive-By:  My interest in this song took a while to develop.  It’s tucked in at the end of the album, and for that reason I never realized what a good song this was until two years after I bought the album, after I had ripped all my albums to MP3s and was able to listen to them in no particular order.  I was surprised to find that I had overlooked this really great song for so long.  It’s another one about falling out of love, but on a less depressing note.  More of a “this is over, it was great while it lasted, yeah things are gonna suck for a while, but it’s time to move on, and things will get better soon” kind of feeling.

You smile and say the world it doesn’t fit with you
I don’t believe you—you’re so serene—careening through the universe, your axis on a tilt,
You’re guiltless and free, I hope you take a piece of me with you
And there are things I’d like to do that you don’t believe in
I would like to build something, but you’ll never see it happen
And there’s this burning, like there’s always been
I’ve never been so alone, and I’ve... never been so alive

6. The Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle:  I made it a point to not include two songs from the same group, and obviously that meant I could only include one Smashing Pumpkins song.  I think when both lyrics and music are factored in, this has to be one of the absolute best songs Billy Corgan ever wrote.  I think Thru The Eyes Of Ruby would be in second.  And while Mayonaise (sic) historically holds the Kip’s Favorite Song Ever title, the lyrics just aren’t all that awesome.  To me, this song is about realizing that the world as a whole pretty much sucks, but having hope that everything is going to be all right in the end.  Later, I decided it was also about looking back at the way you felt about Life The Universe And Everything when you were sixteenish, and realizing things were never all that bad.  Since I couldn’t pick just one excerpt from the lyrics, I’m gonna quote two parts of the song.

In my mind as I was floating far above the clouds
Some children laughed I’d fall for certain,
For thinking that I’d last
Forever...
But I knew exactly where I was

And then these lyrics are from the end of the song:

And the world is drawn into your hands
And the world is etched upon your heart
And the world, so hard to understand
Is the world you can’t live without

7. Our Lady Peace - Thief:  A song about watching a loved one suffer and slowly die from a terminal illness.  The closest experience to this in my life thus far is what we went through with August last year, but that was hardly the same thing.  Raine does an excellent job of conveying his emotions through this song.  Especially if you’ve ever seen the video with the heavy heavy rain in slow motion.

I can’t see the thief that lives inside your head
But I can be some courage at the side of your bed
I don’t know what’s happening and I can’t pretend
But I can be your, be your... I’m here
It’s a long, long get away

8. SR-71 - Alive:  A song about a woman finally working up the courage to leave an abusive relationship.  Mitch said this song was about a friend of the band.  Although I myself have never been exposed to an abusive relationship, I still find this song pretty moving.

She won’t talk about it, she’s made up her mind
But as the front door shuts behind her she whispers, “give me a sign.”
And feels the power of the engine as she climbs to sixty-five
Every piston sounds like freedom, every white line says goodbye
She’ll find strength in her anger and the truth in his lies
When the last scar finally fades she’ll have a new life

9. The Nixons - Sister:  I like this song, but not that much, so I’m not sure why it ended up in this mix.  It seems a little random.  Anyway, it’s a song about the guy’s sister, and there are probably more circumstances to it which I would fail to relate appropriately.  I never even had a sister, making it extra strange that this song ended up here.  Oh well.  No need to quote this one really.

10. Jars Of Clay - Love Song For A Savior:  As most of you probably know, I am what some might consider an actively religious person (depending upon your basis for comparison, and the connotation of the word “religious” in your personal vocabulary).  So it shouldn’t shock you that a Christian song ended up in the mix.  Jars Of Clay was labeled “Christian Rock,” but the only song that label could really apply to is Flood, as the other songs aren’t really what most would call “rock.”  In fact, this song is by far the prettiest one on my CD.

He’s more than the laughter or the stars in the heavens
As close a heartbeat or a song on her lips
Someday she’ll trust him and learn how to see him
Someday he’ll call her and she will come running
And fall in his arms and the tears will fall down and she’ll pray,
“I want to fall in love with you”

What I’ve just posted really contains only the “primary” group of songs on my CD.  I’d list some of the “secondary” group, but I’ve already spent way too much time on this post and you’re probably about tired of reading it (assuming you’ve even made it this far) so I’ll end it here.

I’m the first kid to write of hearts, lies, and friends

For any who may care, my site now is now validated XHTML 1.0 Transitional.  I was gonna do strict, but it seemed a little too strict (no target attribute on an anchor tag?  What’s that all about?).  Oh well.  I wanted to make a very short post after my previous very long post, so... peace out homies.

YIPPEE!!!  I had a job interview today!!!  Isn’t that super exciting!!  I’ve been waiting so long for someone to recognize the total awesomeness and potential that is within me, and someone finally did!!!  I interviewed today with a pharmaceutical company that makes generic drugs and it was not at all what I was expecting.  Has anyone else ever gone on an interview where they were asked no probing questions at all???  I mean, all the interviewers did was tell me about the company and then we sat and chatted for about fifteen minutes about life, football, and my dog.  It was excellent!!!  I just hope that their constant asking me if this was someplace I could see myself working is a good sign, and that I hear back on Friday that they would like to hire me.  Anyway, if I do get this job it will mean that my husband at one time was a drug dealer for his mother, and I will be the drug maker that will be providing the drugs that she sells, isn’t that fun!!  Anyway, I’m very excited about this and I wanted to share my excitement with all of my wonderful readers out there!!!  The job however will put a damper on my Solitaire play.  Oh well, the paycheck will be enough consolation for me, I’ll make do.

Later peeps!!!  I’ll keep you posted!!