Ten on Tuesday: I am Music, or these are the songs of my life

This week’s Ten on Tuesday prompt, “10 Songs That Describe You (and/)or Your Life,” was especially fun for someone like me, who has always wanted a personal soundtrack. Coming up with songs was pretty easy, to be honest; cutting that list down to just ten was the challenge. Should I include some of my all-time favorites and try to make them fit the theme, just because I wouldn’t want to leave them out, or seek out songs with the theme in mind?

I ended up with some of each, including several that were among the first that came to mind – is that a lesson in trusting your instincts?

Other than the fact that the list starts out with the “describes me” songs and moves into the “describes my life” ones, there’s no particular order here.

“Brown-Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison
I have considered this “my” song for well onto thirty years now, but if you are also a brown-eyed girl, I’ll be happy to share it with you.

“Don’t Get Me Wrong” – The Pretenders
Aside from the fact that, since my teens, I have kind of wanted to be Chrissie Hynde, I’m always overly concerned with trying to communicate as clearly as I can, and I worry about being misunderstood. That is probably one reason why some of my posts here are so long – my need to explain things.

“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” – Cat Stevens
If you spend much time with me, you probably wish I didn’t want to sing out quite so much. I sing with the radio, with my iPod, and at random points in conversation when someone says something to trigger it.

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
‘Cause there’s a million things to be
You know that there are…

This song’s been around for awhile, but I have to thank my husband for introducing me to it – and to the movie that features it, the weirdly funny Harold and Maude.

And speaking of my husband, you may have guessed this one was coming up somewhere on this list:

“Tall Paul” – Annette Funicello
He was never the captain of the high-school football team, but “Tall Paul…he’s my all.”

“Love in the Library”
– Jimmy Buffett
Growing up in Florida in the late ’70’s and ’80’s, Jimmy Buffett was part of the landscape, but I hadn’t met too many people without that background who were fans; the Parrotheads came along later. Tall Paul is one of them, though, and Jimmy is one of many things we bonded over. Even if we don’t share all of the same favorite songs, we both appreciate Jimmy’s way with storytelling.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not really a library-goer, but I think readers might enjoy an excerpt from this story:

Love in the library
Quiet and cool
Love in the library
There are no rules
Surrounded by stories
Surreal and sublime
I fell in love in the library
Once upon a time

She gathered her books, walked while she read
Words never spoken, but so much was said
You can read all you want into this rendezvous
But it’s safer than most things that lovers can do


“Once Upon a Time/Storybook Love”
– Mark Knopfler
This is instrumental main theme from my favorite movie, The Princess Bride, and was the bridal-processional music at Tall Paul’s and my wedding.

“Mother and Child Reunion”
– Paul Simon
When you only see your son for a few days at a time, once or twice a year, this song seems to fit those occasions.

“Welcome to the Working Week”
– Elvis Costello
The story of every Monday morning of my life, and maybe yours too:

Welcome to the working week.
Oh I know it don’t thrill you, I hope it don’t kill you.
Welcome to the working week.
You gotta do it till you’re through it so you better get to it.

(I didn’t put “Everyday I Write the Book” on this list, because in my case it’s more like “Everyday I Read the Book.”)

“The Long and Winding Road”
– The Beatles
I’ll be 45 next month, and figuratively speaking, that’s what I’ve taken to get here – and I’m curious to see where it leads next. Life’s a journey, after all. Besides, I couldn’t post this list without including at least one Beatles song.

Literally, it also could apply to my 80-mile round-trip daily commute, but I think the last song I’m listing fits it even better:

“Traffic Jam” – James Taylor
This one’s for you, Los Angeles:

Well, I left my office at 5 o’clock 15 minutes to go 3 blocks
Just in time to stand in line with the freeway looking like a parking lot

Damn, this traffic jam, how I hate to be late
Hurts my motor to go so slow
Damn, this traffic jam, time I get home my supper be cold
Damn, this traffic jam…

Now when I die, don’t want no coffin,
Thought about it all too often
Just slap me in behind the wheel and bury me in my automobile!

Damn, this traffic jam, how I hate to be late
Hurts my motor to go so slow
Damn, this traffic jam, time I get home my supper be cold
Damn, this traffic jam.
1mile 2mile 3mile 4mile 5mile 6mile 7miles 8miles…

Do you have some theme songs of your own? Mention them in the comments, or join in the Ten on Tuesday fun this week!

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11 comments

  1. I think Brown-Eyed Girl belongs to a lot of us. Thank you, Morrison!
    My X used to know I was pissed when I was belting out Alanis’ Jagged Little Pill 🙂
    Almost every song in my life has a story; there’s no way I could list them all!

  2. Great list…I am working on mine and I think I will have to use brown-eyed girl, too! *grin* I love how you wrote out the reasons you chose the songs…

  3. Social Frog – Thanks! This was a fun topic for me.

    April – Alanis is the patron saint of pissed-off women everywhere. We oughta know :-). But I think you should make that list anyway.

    Green-eyed Siren – I pretty much can’t help myself. Hey, I could have included that song too :-)!

    Social Frog – Thanks! This was a fun topic for me.

    April – Alanis is the patron saint of pissed-off women everywhere. We oughta know :-).

    Faith – I can’t make lists without explaining them – see song #2 :-).

  4. I saw your post this morning and I’ve been trying to think of songs ever since. Maybe nobody has written songs that descibes me. Maybe I should write my own.

    You did a good job finding appropriate songs. Maybe I don’t listen to the right type of music. 🙂