Ode to an iPod

My trusty old iPod died this week. Poor thing has been on the fritz for awhile but I think she's officially dead now. I bought my iPod (a 20G third generation, way before the video/color iPods or the tiny nanos) for my 22nd birthday. I had just returned to the States after a life-changing semester abroad and my interest in music had been revitalized by my fellow study abroad friends Jasie, Sage, Danny and Margaret. They changed what I listened to and how I listened to it. That last year at BYU, I went to the more concerts than ever before, downloaded a ton of music, and kept up-to-date on all the new emerging indie bands. I haven't always kept up with what's going on in the music world, but I can never forget the music I poured onto my iPod that first year.

So in honor of my iPod's death and the music that's changed who I am, here's a look at my top ten songs (chosen from the top 25 playlist) that have been over-played by my iPod over the last four and a half years. Some of these songs have been there since the beginning, others are new additions that I've played on repeat (I do that a lot.....David can attest to that) but here's ten of the songs (and bands) that have changed my life. (Note: several bands have multiple entries in the top 25, but I only picked one song per band.)

1. The number one spot goes to "Funeral" by Band of Horses, from their debut album Everything is Illuminated. It's one of my absolute favorite albums, a rare instance when the entire album is worth listening to all the way through. (In fact, 4 songs off this album are in my top 25 playlist. I listen to them.....a lot.) This song....well, I can't really discuss why each of these songs means so much to me without this quickly devolving into a session of therapy so I'll just say that this song saw me through some tough times and leave it at that.

Favorite lyrics: "At every occasion I'll be ready for a funeral."

If you like this song, also check out: Monsters, Our Swords, Part One, No One's Gonna Love You, Is There's a Ghost



2. Coming in at a close #2 is Ted Leo and the Pharmacist's "The Gold Finch and the Red Oak Tree." Such a sweet little song, so full of hope and beauty. I put this song on every playlist I make. A day just doesn't feel complete unless I've listened to it at least once.

Fave lyrics: "Golden finch, your song is your love...Golden finch, alight in your loft,Where you have learned and, oh, you have taught. The red oak tree will carry your loss, when you alone can't carry that cross."

Also check out: Biomusicology, Parallel or Together, Under the Hedge, and his cover of Since U Been Gone


(Not the official video)

3. "The Lengths" by the Black Keys. Like Ted Leo and "The Gold Finch," this song by the Black Keys is a departure from their typically more upbeat stuff. (What can I say? I like sad songs.) I loved this song so much, I wanted to dance to it at my wedding. I didn't. It's not the most wedding appropriate song but I love it a big whole bunch.

Fave lyrics: "Tell me what you were thinkin', To treat somebody so, The care he took, The lengths to which he'd go, The coals are hot, To walk across, Without your shoes, But in the end, know that you've got nothing to lose."

Also check out: When the Lights Go Out



4. "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver. This is a relatively new addition to my repeat playlist, within the last year or so. Bon Iver has a really folksy sound which I've come to really enjoy lately from musicians like Sufjan Stevens and Iron and Wine. What I love so much about all these bands/singers is the emotional intensity in their voices.

Favorite lyrics: "I told you to be patient, I told you to be fine, I told you to be balanced, I told you to be kind, In the morning I'll be with you, but it will be a different "kind", I'll be holding all the tickets and you'll be owning all the fines"

Also see: Blood Bank, Creature Fear



5. "Cause of Rockslide" by Badly Drawn Boy. There are some songs that whenever you hear them, they take you right back to a very specific place or time in your life. This song, to me, is Monterey, with the fog rolling in, the sea breeze blowing its salty air along the bay and my windows rolled down in my green pickup truck. This song is David and the beginning of our relationship. (The main song is the first 3 minutes. After some weird stuff, another cute little song comes on at 5:13.) If you listen close enough, you might be able to smell the ocean, just like I do whenever I hear this song.

Favorite lyrics: "Your sweetness, would cause a rockslide, if only before the summertime, this could be our last goodbye, please darling, please don't cry..."

Check out: Everybody's Stalking, Another Pearl, Magic in the Air



6. "Red Right Ankle" by The Decemberists. So my friend Jasie is a big fan of The Decemberists and she gave me 2 or 3 of their albums to listen to but I never really got into any of them. I liked one song ("California One") which I used in a paper I wrote about wine and food culture in the Bay Area for my San Fran history class at BYU. (Great class, by the way.) So when The Decemberists came to Salt Lake on tour, Jasie insisted I go. Though I was hesistant, I went and I'll be forever grateful that I did because The Decemberists were meant to be listened to live. There are few bands, in my opinion, who put on really good live shows (and sound better in person than in recordings) and The Decemberists are one of them. Plus Colin Meloy is a poetical genius.

Favorite lyrics: "This is the story of your red right ankle and how it came to meet your leg and how the muscle, bone, and sinews tangled and how the skin was softly shed...This is the story of the boys who loved you who love you now and loved you then...some had crawled their way into your heart to rend your ventricles apart..."

Check out: July! July!, California One, Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect, On the Bus Mall, Grace Cathedral Hall, From My Own True Love


(Again, not an official video.)

7. Arcade Fire. Oh, Arcade Fire. The first time I heard Funeral (another awesome CD that should be listened to in its entirety) it was like a revelation to me. As Jasie told me, it was the kind of music she'd always wanted to listen to but never knew existed. Seeing Arcade Fire live (with Jasie, who came to D.C. for the sole purpose of attending this concert.....and seeing me, I hope) ranks up there as one of my top concert experiences ever. So you have to understand that it's very difficult for me to pick between my two favorite Arcade Fire songs. "Wake Up" is very representative of Arcade Fire's music and, I've heard it called, a bit of an anthem for indie rock fans and our generation. I have to agree with that. It's the kind of song that makes you want to stand up and pump your fist and do something. "Neighborhood 4 (7 Kettles)" is a much different song. It's very subtle, very slow. It haunts me a little. And it's the song that made me fall in love with Arcade Fire. So for that reason, I'll pick "7 Kettles."

Favorite lyrics: "Say a watched pot won't ever boil. Well, I closed my eyes and nothing changed. Just some water, getting hotter, in the flames."

See also: Everything Arcade Fire has ever done. Okay seriously: Wake Up, Crown of Love, No Cars Go, Keep the Car Running, Power Out, Rebellion



8. "I'll Believe in Anything" by Wolf Parade. I bought their CD, Apologies to the Queen Mary based on good reviews I'd read on Pitchfork. I remember getting the CD and listening to it and listening to it again, and then again. I didn't love it at first. And then around the 20th listen, I got it. And it quickly became my favorite CD for a good long while. (Another product of the Monterey days.) And while I love a good many songs on this CD, there's just something about this song, something that I cannot explain, that I absolutely love. I could listen to this song on repeat for hours. Also, I love this music video. The one for "Modern World" is very cool too.

Fave lyrics: "And I could take another hit for you and I could take away your trips from you, and I could take away the salt from your eyes, and take away the spitting salt in you, and I could give you my apologies by handing over my neologies, and I could take away the shaking knees, and I could give you all the olive trees, oh look at the trees and look at my face and look at a place far away from here"

Check out: You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son, Modern World, Ground for Divorce, Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts



9. "Please, please, please let me get what I want" by The Smiths. Another short, but great song. I've heard this song used in a lot of movies (most notably New York Doll, a very touching documentary), but it still rings true everytime. Such heartbreak and earnestness.

Lyrics: "See the luck that I've had could make a good man bad. So for once in my life, let me get what I want. Lord knows it would be the first time."


(I know this is a bad Twilight fan video, but it was the only video I could find that had the Smith's version of this song and not someone doing a cover of it. Apparently, everyone and their mom has done a cover of this song.)

10. I debated what song should take the 10th spot. Should it go to Bloc Party's "This Modern Love"? Or the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Maps" (my absolute favorite song to sing on Rockband.....though I've loved it for a long, long time) or Okkervil River's "Savannah Smiles"? Or maybe Beirut's "Postcards from Italy," Neko Case's "Star Witness," The Rosebud's "Makeout Song" (as advertised, this is a great song to make out to) or perhaps "It'll Be a Breeze" by the Long Winters. They are all in my top 25. So is Rachmaninov's "Rhaspody on a theme from Paganini" (the song from the movie Somewhere in Time if you've ever seen it), Azure Ray's "Sleep" and Death Cab's "Title and Registration." I love each of these songs for many different reasons. They all have a strong connection to particular times in my life. But the song I had to pick, which means a great deal to me, is Carey Brother's "Blue Eyes." I haven't listened to it much recently, but this is the song that David and I danced to in my apartment in Monterey, in the kitchen of my house in Virginia and in Templar's Hall at our wedding reception. And it'll forever remind me of David.

Favorite lyrics: "'Cause blue eyes, you are all that I need, cause blue eyes, you're the sweet to my mean....I just wanna sing a song with you. I just wanna be the one that's true.....so sublime when the stars are aligned, but you don't know...you don't know the greatness you are."



So, now it's time to get a new iPod. Or just steal David's, which he never uses anyway. But now I ask you, what songs are in your top ten? What else should be included in my top 25? Because chances are....these songs are all going to stay here for a very, very long time. Which isn't so bad, but I'm in the mood for a little new music right about now.