The Soundtrack to Life

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’m kind of into music mixes. Back in junior high and early high school, it was mix tapes a la “High Fidelity”– carefully crafted masterpieces that required hours of searching through stacks of records and CDs. In college, it was the less time-consuming but equally painstaking mix CDs. The first present I ever gave Brian was a mix CD for his 22nd birthday, a month after we started dating (and by the way, it was damn hard to find good songs that wouldn’t make him think I was a creepy stalker). We both love all different kinds of music, and we’re both pretty ADD, so creating mix CDs for our wedding favor is the perfect idea. Inexpensive, fun and more useful than Jordan almonds (not that I don’t love them).

The problem is, how do we narrow down all the songs that we love and that are meaningful to us into just one CD? When we were driving back from our mini-vacation in Memphis back in April, we spent a few hours scouring our iPods and making a list of potential songs. Here’s what we came up with…

1. Better Together- Jack Johnson. (unofficially “our song”) “It’s always better when we’re together.”
2. Stickshifts and Safety Belts- Cake. “I need you here with me, not way over in a bucket seat.”
3. Lovesong- The Cure. “Whenever I’m alone with you, you make me feel like I am home again… However far away, I will always love you.”
4. Sweet Pea- Amos Lee. “Sweet pea, apple of my eye. I don’t know when and I don’t know why. You’re the only reason I keep on coming home.”
5. All I Want is You- Barry Louis Polisar. (On the “Juno” soundtrack and perhaps the cutest song ever. Melia and I used to listen to Barry’s “My Brother Thinks He’s a Banana” album when we were kids.) “If you were a wink, I’d be a nod. If you were a seed, well I’d be a pod. If you were the floor, I’d wanna be the rug. And if you were a kiss, I know I’d be a hug.”
6. When I’m 64- The Beatles. “When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now, will you still be sending me a Valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine?”
7. WWOZ- Better than Ezra. “Let go of you fear, let’s grow old together. Find a place along the way. Let’s reel through the years, each makes the other better.”
8. Hey Girl- O.A.R. “My friends say I’m crazy and I agree, but that’s okay cause that’s the way I like to be. Hey, girl come with me and let yourself go.”
9. Life is Beautiful- Keb’ Mo’. “So easily forgotten, the most important thing is that I love you, I do. And I want to spend my days and nights walking through this crazy world with you.”
10. Mushaboom- Feist. “I got a man to stick it out and make a home from a rented house. And we’ll collect the moments one by one, I guess that’s how the future’s done.”
11. I Only Have Eyes for You- The Flamingos. “My love must be a kind of blind love; I can’t see anyone but you.”
12. Fool in the Rain- Led Zeppelin. “And the warmth of your smile starts a-burnin’ and the thrill of your touch gives me fright. And I’m shaking so much, really yearning, why don’t you show up, make it all right?”
13. Somebody Loves Me- The New Orleans Jazz Vipers. “Somebody loves me, I wonder who. Maybe it’s you.”
14. The Way I Am- Ingrid Michaelson. “If you are chilly, here take my sweater. Your head is aching, I’ll make it better. Cause I love the way you call me baby. And you take me the way I am.”
15. Grow Old With You- Adam Sandler. (yes, from “The Wedding Singer.” It makes me verklempt.) “So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink, put you to bed if you’ve had too much to drink. I could be the man who grows old with you.”
16. I Will- The Beatles. “Who knows how long I’ve loved you, you know I love you still. Will I wait a lonely life time? If you want me to, I will.”
17. Short Skirt, Long Jacket- Cake. “I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity, who uses a machetti to cut through red tape. With fingernails that shine like justice and a voice that is dark like tinted glass.”
18. Colors- Amos Lee. “When you’re gone, all the colors fade.”
19. Extraordinary- Better Than Ezra. “Your love’s extraordinary… ain’t love such a sweet thing, baby.”
20. Black Water- The Doobie Brothers. “I’d like to hear some funky Dixieland, pretty mama come and take me by the hand.”
21. Banana Pancakes- Jack Johnson. “Maybe we can sleep in, I’ll make you banana pancakes, pretend like it’s the weekend now.”
22. L-O-V-E- Natalie Cole. “L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see, V is very, very extraordinary, E is even more than anyone that you adore can.”
23. You Send Me- Sam Cooke. ” At first I thought it was infatuation, but oh, it’s lasted so long. Now I find myself wanting to marry you and take you home.”
24. My Sweet One- Phish. “Oh with you, I’d travel thick. And with you, I’d also travel thin and all the spaces in between.”
25. Iko Iko- The Dixie Cups. (OK, it’s not a love song, but it’s a great Mardi Gras song) “Takin’ ’bout hey now, hey now, Iko! Iko! an de’. Jackomo fe no ane’, Jackomo fe nan e’.”
26. Night Time (is the Right Time)- Ray Charles. “You know the night time is the right time to be with the one you love.”
27. Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison. “Slippin’ and a slidin’, all along the waterfall with you, my brown eyed girl.”
28. Ain’t No Other Man- Christina Aguilera. (Shut up, I love this song) “Ain’t no other man, can stand up next to you. Ain’t no other man on the planet does what you do.”
29. Signed, Sealed, Delivered- Stevie Wonder. “Here I am, signed, sealed, delivered– I’m yours.”
30. Sunday Morning- Maroon 5. “In darkness she is all I see. Come and rest your bones with me. Driving slow on Sunday morning and I never want to leave.”
31. Sea of Love- Del Shannon or Cat Power. “Come with me, my love to the sea, the sea of love. I want to tell you oh how much I love you.”
32. The Way You Do the Things You Do- The Temptations. “You make my life so rich, you know you should have been some money. Baby you’re so sweet, you know you should have been some honey.”
33. Dance Me to the End of Love- Madeleine Peyroux. “Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on. Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long.”
34. Baby It’s Cold Outside- Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. “Where could you be goin’ when the wind is blowin’ and it’s cold outside.”
35. One of the Johnny Cash/June Carter songs. ??

I know we’re missing some good ones, and I know we’ll have to cut this list by about half eventually. What do you guys think? Suggestions? Comments? Favorites?