Welcome to another edition of Desert Island Discs! Today's tracks are from my friend Jenn, an all around awesome gal who took the past year to do what we all dream about - she quit her job and traveled to cities near and far visiting friends, going to shows, and having herself a darn good time. She's a huge music lover, and I'm obsessed with this list (many of these were ones I debated including in my own list)...
1) The Wind by Cat Stevens... I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul. where I'll end up, well I think only God really knows." The first time I heard this song I was 11 and it instantly comforted me. 22 years later it still does. Simple & powerful....the beauty of Cat Stevens.
[embed size="compact"]http://open.spotify.com/track/75JdHluvivgVe8l2p74nb4[/embed]
2) Nightswimming by R.E.M... When I hear the first few notes of this song, I become 16 again, sitting in a beat up car with my friends, driving nowhere in particular, soaking up the August days we had left before school started. I will never hear this song and not remember my lovely, misfit friends and our restless summers together.
[embed size="compact"]http://open.spotify.com/track/2xLSFrm2oBeMtBMjlAoZSC[/embed]
3) That's How Strong My Love Is by Otis Redding... I wouldn't consider myself a religious person, despite being raised Catholic. But music is sacred to me. When I want to go to church, I listen to Otis. Side note: If someone ever felt the urge to write a song like this for or about me, I would be totally fine with it.
[embed size="compact"]http://open.spotify.com/track/1PEp3Cr6LDPcj8WDOyhZk6[/embed]
4) A Case Of You performed by James Blake... Two things about me: I love Joni Mitchell & cover songs. However, I almost always dislike covers of Joni's songs. Then I heard James Blake's version of this. The original song is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful and heart-breaking ever written. It's amazing, but this version is even more haunting. Perfect for a cathartic cry and cheaper than therapy.
[embed size="compact"]http://open.spotify.com/track/6tNrUI6H15kqWBff0HcEZr[/embed]
5) Walkin' After Midnight by Patsy Cline... If I was to live out the rest of my days on a desert island, I'd want songs that I loved to listen to, but that were also sentimental to me. My grandmother, Nora, when she wasn't singing along to something, whistled. Constantly. More often than not, it was one of Patsy's songs that had her whistling. On my island, I would whistle to this and know that wherever Nora is now, she's joining in.
[embed size="compact"]http://open.spotify.com/track/0u8I9lEvMQOdTDHnlP20Qv[/embed]
6) I've Got A Feeling by The Beatles... So I'm a total Beatlemaniac. I love so many of their songs for various reasons, but most of my all-time favorites are Lennon-McCartney working in a perfect union. This is a great example. Mood instantly lifted!
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7) Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen... As a Jersey girl, I had to have a Bruce song. Pretty sure I'd be kicked out of NJ and disowned by my family if I didn't. But seriously folks, this song never fails to get to me. Not to bring the room down, but when I was 19, I got sick and spent a lot of time in & out of hospitals. My brother, Steve, was 13 then and trying to keep up his teenage, "this is no big deal" exterior, no matter the situation at home. Then I had a pretty lengthy hospital stay and when he visited, he brought me something: my old walkman & a mixtape he made me of all my favorite songs. This was the first song of side A. Basically, I well up with a mix of emotions every time I hear it. Steve is a total pain in my *ss most of the time, but he's also one of the best people I know. Do not tell him I said that. I'll deny it.
[embed size="compact"]http://open.spotify.com/track/697RpGgVTwkaucnhGdUS6b[/embed]
8) Ball and Biscuit by The White Stripes... Jack White is my cerebral crush and just perfection to me. I could make a desert island playlist from his song catalog. The White Stripes were/are tops in my book (I've yet to come to terms with their break-up, but have high hopes of one day accepting it). This song is everything rock n' roll should be - a little ugly, a little sexy, all guitar and banging drums. 100% badass.
[embed size="compact"]http://open.spotify.com/track/5SI9IqXXoXic1gy93XVdS0[/embed]
Have Spotify and want to listen to the whole playlist (minus The Beatles because they're not on Spotify)? Click here.
(PS… remember that if you’re viewing this in a feed reader you’ll need to click over to the blog to see the Spotify tracks.)