September 27, 2012

on the songs that never ends


Have you ever had a particular song that relate you to someone or some occasion- that it’s embed deep in your brain and it makes you shivered whenever you hear the song? I do. 

I am quite a typical “my life had background music” kind of person. Every song in my playlist has its own background story, even the one like Begging from Madcon, or lyric-less tunes from Craig Armstrong.

    SecretGarden – Bruce Springsteen. “I’m about to tell you that I love him, I do. I love him! I love him for the man he wants to be. And I love him for the man he almost is.” Nothing really special about the movie really. I simply like the idea of a sophisticated guy who falls in love to a naïve kind a girl. Sometimes love is just that simple. And this song has been with me no matter how I change my playlist a lot, all the time. Oh and yes, I still watch the movie whenever they play it on tv.

2     All old albums from Alanis Morisette – I was 15th when a stranger high school girl introduce me to the song. At that time MTV played it over and over again every single day. It gets to the top of the billboard chart. I guess, at my age, nothing more suitable than listening to a quirky black long haired woman with a husky voice singing about love and life in a weird lyric. I still listening to the song that it gets everyone who happen to touch my itunes giving me the “dude what the heck?!”.


      The Police – ah. They’re the best. Not in I browse about them and collecting their poster kind of way. But this was the first album when I actually use (unwisely) my high school tuition to buy their album(s). Whenever I hear their song, I feel happy. I can’t explain why. But my junior-high school era was not that fun. Everybody trying to fit in a group, I had a weird relationship with a guy who turns out wanting me to be (only) his best-best friend but always jealous whenever other guy make approached to me. Such a full of drama for a 16th years old girl. And there this music, that I listened secretly during class with my walkman, makes me feel happy.

4    Lionel Richie – I can’t remember why I start to listen to his music. I guess my dad (unintentionally) brainwashed me with “Three Times Ladies” every time we’re driving. I remember I went to jogja with train by myself when I was 13th. My mother gave me some money so that I can bought some souvenir for my family, then I went to Malioboro with my uncle and his family and it end up with they lost me and found me in a music store spending my mom’s money for Lionel Richie’s albums. I still have the cassette btw.

5    Hyperballad,both Bjork and Mocca version – there was a time when I secretly deeply in love with my chat buddy (yes, a stranger I met on the net) and it breaks my heart when I decided to actually stop communicating with him after I found out that he’s in a serious long-term relationship with someone. It crushed me to the bones and leaves me in despair. It’s like there’s this really huge hole inside of me that it makes me hard to breath. Whenever he was online, I was always put myself on an invisible mode and listening to the song. Now whenever I hear the song, it tickles my stomach and makes me smile. I just realize that, I’d never like someone that deep before.

6    Time of my life, BEP – whoever into this song are never actually live in Bali for a long period of time (say 1 year). And yes, they play this song in the bar, every bars, that when you do the bar hooping you will think that you never actually moved from the first bar. They play it 24 hours, even when you're asleep. In the boutiques, shops, gasoline kiosk, taxi, malls, every corner of the island. It makes you feel sick. It makes me feel sick because every time this music was aired I couldn’t help to remember the hangover part I got from taking 9 shots of tequila in a row. Yes, I had (the best) time of my life.

      Caramel, Suzanne Vega – the sweetest tunes that always turn on the creativity (and moody mode) side of me. I remember listening to this song almost a whole month and end up asking one of my good fellow photographer friend to use his abandoned house and my secretary to do a conceptual photo shoot (I guess i was just still on recovering mode from broken hearted and trying to get up). It went well and I realize that becoming a photographer is probably what I wanted (it’s just too many people doing it, and I’m not that talented. So that’s why I’m doing my job now). Oh this is the result

          Let’s Go Out Tonight, Craig Armstrong – so I happened to randomly browsing around on the net and found this blog (the blog used to be so dark, with a black background color and slightly lonely moody pictures) and all the pictures kind of amuse me. In a strange way. Like I can actually relate myself to the people on the pictures. Like I know how it feels to be a stranger in foreign land. Like I can feel how the photographer actually enjoys his long-lone-strolling, but he also missed the presence and warmth of another person. This song just suits the mood.  I end up making a short clip with the song and my favorite pictures. Too bad the photographer doesn’t actually like the song, too moody he said.

       City of The Blinding Lights, U2– oh yes you look so beautiful tonight, Jakarta. The only reason why I don’t mind driving (or just walking) late at night around Jakarta. The big sky crapper, lights, giant billboards, night construction worker, the night owl-ers. I once, hear the song at a beach café when I live in Bali, I almost drop a tear cause turns out no matter how awfully disgusting is the city, I missed it. A lot.

      Stay, U2Just the bang. And the clatter. As an angel. Hits the ground. Every time you hear any of U2’s songs, you can be assured that it have some deeper meaning. A song that’s, at the first time, sound like a love song, doesn’t need to be about love. Oh and they have the ‘featuring Craig Armstrong” version!

I could go long with the list since I have so many songs that always remind me of something (or someone), from the Katy Perry’s Firework to the Japanese Indie Band, Anatakikou, each bring memory of my life. A sweet memories. 

what is yours?

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