take the chill off

or not

i use this blog as something like a....conversation starter. two blogs ago, it was titled "join me, won't you" meant to offer up activities i wanted to pursue and invite your input and company. alas. the blog prior to this was titled "don't delete" to remind me that it's okay to say what i want here. again. not so successful. so this time "you should probably" is a more direct title, yet still inviting i hope. trying to solicit your ideas via a suggestion. it's what i wish i had more of in my life. conversation. idea exchange. yeah, i like to be light and joke with the best of them. i like company more than conversation perhaps. i do wish i was part of more long dinners. more sitting and talking. more walks and thoughts. in between those times i write to you here and hope it compels you to participate.
~~~
the npr all songs considered blog had an interesting topic: "Can you think of a song that gives you the chills, time after time? Why is that, and how does it happen?" there are pages and pages of responses. and when i read through them i thought to myself---there are so many songs here that affect people that either i've never heard of or would have never in a million year have chosen. a few made me think. i agreed with others. but the thought that there is no wrong answer to the question...no room for judgment. are YOU going to tell ME the song that gives me chills is dumb? wrong? worthless? if so you're a douche. the correct response would be, "really? amazing! you know which song really gets me is...." and i wish more of us were like that. didn't knee jerk judge other people's ideas and opinions. the conversation, to me, comes in when we can say, "i hadn't thought of that." or "tell me more about that." it's pretty much over when you say, "that's retarded."

so let's converse. off the top of your head, what's a couple of songs that really affect you? give you chills, or---what i would use as a good and bad term--makes you hurt. and maybe why if you're willing.

off the top of my head, a few songs that make me hurt so good. i've put a few below:

exist music (for a film)- radiohead
this song sounds like a dark ally. it sounds like a dark theater. it looses control. it "hopes that you choke." the chills in this song come from thom yorke's delicious and talented brain.

sister winter- sufjan stevens
i bought this cd box set when we lost power for 8 or 9 days in december 2007. the songs are a mesh of holiday traditionals and originals by ss. i wore this track out. i was getting over some friendships. and not unhappy about it. i was feeling selfish and self-centered. worried. content. okay with wanting nothing more than what was important to me. it's a dark song and yet ends with this odd christmas greeting. when i hear it now i remember the empowering feeling of de-friending the dead weight. and of the bitter dark and cold of that week and a half. "i apologize"

long road - pearl jam
this was pearl jam when i loved pearl jam hard. "i have wished for so long / how i wished for you today"

i will sing you songs- my morning jacket
nothing says lovin' like a nine minute song. sure i like some of the newer mmj, but it still moves will always be my favorite album. it reminds me of where and when i bought it. october. lawrence, ks. being single (which was about 9 months of my whole life, heh). walking. smoking. takeout in my motel room. it makes me feel lonely but happy. loved. content. these are good chills. "just don't make it last any longer than it has to"

minmin- do make say think
anything off 'goodbye enemy starship' would do it. again a when and where album. there's something clean about no lyrics. something exploratory in the build up. i think the chills for me come in the waiting.

you're it.