Friday, May 25, 2012

Beautiful Songs for a Beautiful Girl

That's sappy, huh? It's the name of a Mix CD I made Kami on August 11, 2002. How do I know this? Because, in cleaning out Emmy's closet, I stumbled across a box full of CDs (I had a major problem from ages 14-22 about buying and making CDs. Now I use MOG, and pay $5/month as penance for the Napster Guilt I feel). I told Kami I loved her for the first time on July 25, 2002, in a parking lot on Music Row in Nashville, watching Wilco play a show for free. Kami wasn't so sure. I think I had nicotine poisoning from chain-smoking the whole show in preparation for telling her how I felt (I had a minor problem with smoking from ages 21-23). What's on this CD?

1. All I Want Is You - U2
One of my most favorite of all the U2 songs.

2. Beautiful - Flickerstick
Flickerstick, if you recall, was on some VH1 Battle of the Bands, in the early 2000s. I loved them. The one song that you may have heard (which also made me a very minor celebrity in Abilene, Texas during my senior year at ACU, thanks to karaoke. I was recognized in the mall as Flickerstick Guy.) was Choloform (The One You Love).

3. Better Than Beautiful - Jeb Loy Nichols
It is telling about Jeb Loy Nichols' popularity that there is not a YouTube video of this song. But it's a good one.

4. Say You Miss Me - Wilco
There are very few bands around as good as Wilco.

5. Sleep Better - Pete Yorn
I'm ambivalent about Pete Yorn now. But his first album is a good one, and this is a great song.

6. Here Comes Your Man - The Pixies
Presumptuous, no?

7. Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper
I liked the, "I pulled into Nashville, Tennessee" line.

8. 3rd of October - Matthew Ryan
Clearly, this song had more of an impact on me ten years ago than it does now. I had to Shazam the song to figure out what it was.

9. City Love - John Mayer
Say what you want about John Mayer, but that Room For Squares album was solid. And this is a solid song, especially for, you know, girls.

10. I Get My Beat - Richard Ashcroft
Ashcroft was the lead singer of The Verve, and decided that The Verve couldn't hold him creatively, so he made solo albums that sounded a lot like what The Verve would have done.

11. Lost - David Garza
David Garza is one of the best artists you've never heard of. And you won't hear this one on YouTube, either.

12. Shiver - Coldplay
I still like Coldplay. Again, I don't care what any of you say. And this one was sly, because it talks about the object of desire not paying any attention to the subject. POW!

13. Sail Away - David Gray
No explanation needed.

14. A Minute Longer - Stereophonics
Yes, I was - and still am - into some BritRock. But this song is tender, and accurately described how I felt about Kami. Pardon the video accompanying the song...it's weird.

15. Mysterious Woman - by some guy at Lipscomb
My cousin Adam had this album from a Writer's Night at David Lipscomb. It was something you typically laughed at, because a lot of the artists weren't all that great, and I mocked people who shared their emotions. There was one guy who had something he called Acappella Rock, which was as terrible as you can imagine. But then this song came up and it was a revelation. I can't link it to YouTube, because I don't know who wrote it, and I doubt very seriously it was made into a video. But it's a good song.

16. Lover You Should've Come Over - Jeff Buckley
Simply one of the best songs. Ever.

17. Hawkmoon 269 - U2
An "I love you" mix CD bookended by U2 songs. Kami can't say she didn't know what she was getting into.

All in all, I stand by the mix. It was bold, presumptuous, and something that I would have regretted if things didn't work out. But they did, so, thanks everyone, for writing these songs.

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