Day 3 – Music
It’s time for another entry in the 20 Days of Me series. The “rules” for day 3 are to put my iPod (or MP3 player in this case) on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up.
Are you ready?
My MP3 is pretty much always set on Harry Potter. I listen to the series from beginning to end over and over and over again on my dog walks. (You may remember reading about this before during my Day in the Life projects.) It’s engaging enough that it keeps my mind entertained (and keeps me from stewing about how many other things I could be doing if I wasn’t walking the dog again) but I’ve heard the stories so many times that sometimes my mind will wander. A wandering mind is not necessarily a bad thing though. Creative ideas and solutions to problems come more easily when your mind is occupied with something else that doesn’t require a lot of concentration (like doing dishes or listening to Harry Potter for the 5,236th time). And because I know the story so well, I can easily tune in and out without missing a beat.
Sometimes I try to listen to a different book but I’m just so spoiled by the awesome narration abilities of Jim Dale that I just can’t do it. Harry Potter every day.
I clicked on the shuffle and after my current chapter of Harry ended, this is the music that popped up.
Mr Jones – Counting Crows
This sounds like college/young adulthood to me. This particular song didn’t come out until December of my senior year of college but it is part of the soundtrack of those years. College is a melting pot in a way. A place where you meet new people from many different places and backgrounds who bring with them new music you may not have heard before among other things. I was strictly country and pop growing up but my music horizons were opened a little more when I moved away from home.
(I don’t have a picture for this one. If I remember correctly, I was walking the dog at the time and the light was not cooperating.)
Enya
For some reason Enya makes me think of the spring during high school that I spent working in the greenhouse up the street. I have no idea why other than maybe I listened to Enya on my walkman while I was working? After all, it was the 80s. Enya is relaxing; plants are relaxing. Seems like a good match to me! Why do I still have Enya? It’s part of my relaxing/sleep playlist. When I’m at home I fall asleep with the tv on. When I’m traveling, that’s not always an option. I need something to listen to so I turn on my sleep playlist to put myself into a restful snooze. One last thing that Enya is good for – Study Music. Back in the day, it was perfect music to play in the background while I was doing homework. Even now it’s good background music for tasks that require concentration.
Cinnamon Bear
I first learned of Cinnamon Bear (an old time radio show) from JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly. I downloaded a copy and it became part of our December tradition to listen to an episode each night leading up to Christmas. We managed to do this for a few years in a row before the kids got older and the schedule became more complicated and now we don’t do it anymore. I transferred it to my MP3 player one year with the idea that we could listen in the car while driving home from the day’s activities but even that didn’t really work. Oh well. At least we have the memories of the short tradition.
Believe It or Not
This is the soundtrack to the show Greatest American Hero. Did you ever watch it? I really liked it as a kid. And thanks to the wonders of technology and the internet, I have a copy of the song to listen to whenever I want. The quality is not great but I still like the song.
“Believe it or not, I’m walkin’ on air
I never thought I could feel so free
Flyin’ away on a wing and a prayer
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it’s just me”
I was also able to get a copy of the show on DVD from Netflix or Blockbuster several years ago. That was a fun flashback! Totally a cheesy 80s show but what can I say – I liked it. Maybe it was the underdog aspect and how Ralph always had such a hard time controlling his alien supersuit.
All My Exes Live in Texas
This is straight up classic country from my childhood. I grew up on Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and Beach Boys – all on 8 track cassette!
Happy Birthday
Rather an odd choice, right? Well a few years ago I put some school songs on my MP3 player in hopes that I might listen and memorize them so I can more easily use them at school. Sadly, this idea didn’t really work. In the meantime, I still come up with random kid songs when I’m on shuffle mode.
Kenny Chesney – Outta Here
A road trip song – perfect for me! Also, I really like most of Kenny Chesney’s music. I grew up on country and still like it.
Toby Keith – My List
Hey he has a list too! I think I might need to add this to my dreams and blessings playlist… (Hmm… maybe I should write up a post about that playlist too.) Toby is one of my favorites.
U2 – Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Counting Crows sounds like college and U2 sounds like high school.
Bangles – Manic Monday
I’m pretty sure this has been one of my theme songs for most of my life! Don’t Worry, Be Happy is the other one. Is it odd that I have two theme songs that are so opposite of each other?
Luke Bryan – I Don’t Want the Night to End
Luke Bryan is part of the “new crowd” in country music. For awhile there, I couldn’t keep them straight. Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Jason Aldean, etc. That’s a lot of first names that are also last names and it was totally confusing to me. In my head, they were all the same! Even if I can’t figure out who’s who, I like the music.
What did I learn from this experiment?
I need to clean out my MP3 player! I cheated and skipped a few songs that popped up in the shuffle because I’m not sure why they were even there to start with. Then I can add more new songs that I like. According to my shuffle tally in the corner, there are 1,987 songs on my MP3. I wonder how long it would take to listen to all 1,987… How far could I drive without any repeats? Hmm…
Just out of curiosity- how many songs did you start to sing in your head as you read through this? Or was that just me?
Did you miss the previous days? Catch up here…
And what’s coming up next? Here’s the full list…
All the questions!
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