Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Person of Consequence's Infinite Playlist

Does this title still count as timely? Frankly, I meant to get around to writing a post on this subject long before now, but... with various other issues arising (Go vote!), I'm just getting around to it.

Anyway, as a going-away gift, my parents awesomely gave me an I-pod, making me officially the last person in my immediate family to get one. And about a month or so later, I finally cracked its case open and figured out how to get my tunes on it. Prior to this 'pod, I've never really been into music. There's a few songs and artists I like, but no band I really follow. Consequently, my own playlist was cobbled together from my personal preferences regarding the mp3s my brothers had left on my computer. I took a good, long look at this list, and the lyrics in said songs, and became... concerned.

First song that comes up: "Hurt", by Johnny Cash: "I hurt myself today/ to see if I still feel." Then Tom Petty, "Around the Roses": "Got a feeling I'm wrong/ Got a feeling the joke's on me."
Well, alright. Both well-established singers doing what they do; a little dark, perhaps, but good songs, all the same.

What else do we have... Gary Jules, "Mad World":
"And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had."

Beck, "Going Nowhere Fast."

Well, maybe my happy friends the Barenaked Ladies would solve this gloomy gus problem. First up, "Everything had Changed": "On the path of life, I wish you well--" Well, that's a good start, I think we're over the rough-- "Divergent journeys, but we will meet again in Hell." NO! Bad song!

Hmm. So there was a trend. I investigated further.

There's the extensive failed love song category: Foofighers, "Best of You"; Barenaked Ladies (again) "Intermittently";Jimmy Eat World, "Get it faster"; Alexisonfire, "You Burn First."

There's also the entire soundtrack to Sweeney Todd, which is reflective of perhaps both depression and bad taste.

Look, I told myself. This doesn't mean anything. So there's some depresssing songs on your list. That doesn't mean YOU'RE depressed. A song's just a song. Don't worry about--
Next up: Alanis Morissette. "Eight Easy Steps." Dammit.
At this point, I had to start to panic. My playlist clearly showed I was in the grips of depression and didn't even know it. Something had to be done, immediately. This downward spiral into despair and oblivion needed to be stopped, here and forever.

So I added the soundtrack from Juno to my playlist and called it a day.

Well, not quite. Nothing says quite so plaintively "I'm looking for internet friends" like a call for music. So... here's a call for music. If anyone's got any happy tunes (or any tunes in general) they'd like to recommend, please leave your name and songs after the post.

As for me, I will return to the happy-go-lucky lyrics of City and Colour's "The Death of Me":
Finally I could hope for a better day
No longer holding on to all the things that cloud my mind
Maybe then the weight of the world wouldn’t seem so heavy
But then again I’ll probably always feel this way.

Sing it, brother.


Later Days.

10 comments:

cait said...

What kind of music? You can't just say MUSIC. Should I send you a zip file of music? I can send you a zip file of music. I presume you want happy music? I will make you a happy music zip file. RIGHT NOW.

Person of Consequence said...

I was hoping I could count on you to rise up for the challenge. (If I was the kind of person who used emoticons, there would be a winking/smiling one here. But I refuse to subject myself to that.)

cait said...

haa! Well, you can't tell me you need music and then not expect a massive zip file -- what hosting site do you prefer? I was just going to put it on megaupload, but if you've a preference, let me know.

Person of Consequence said...

That... sounds fine? Amazing blog aside, I'm not that technically literate. Can you email me some instructions on how this works?

cait said...

Dude, I don't have your email. And I shan't use facebook! *hiss*

Person of Consequence said...

All right, all right. Is it acceptable to send my email address through facebook? 'Cause I'm not ready to give up my pretend anonymity on the site yet.

cait said...

Sure. Send it over. And OMG! Netty Wiebe is winning in Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar.

anecdotal said...

I wish I could offer you advice, but I fear that a massive list of Johnny Cash songs and Irish folk music would be less than helpful. There's nothing all that wrong with a depressing play list. If there were, I'd be in serious trouble.

Peter_Applebaulm said...

Happy music? You'll need Ken Nordine's unstoppably halcyonic word-jazz concept album, Colors.
Here's a sample:

http://rapidshare.com/files/154452056/07_Maroon.mp3.html

They're not all happy colors, of course, but Mr. Nordine will make you happy about the ones that are.

Anonymous said...

ahhh ipod. how many times will you inevitably change the way someone listens to music?

check out some feist or metric