Memeness, Day 5: Music

Day 1 - Ten random facts about yourself
Day 2 - Nine things you do everyday
Day 3 - Eight things that annoy you
Day 4 - Seven fears/phobias
Day 5 - Six songs that you’re addicted to
Day 6 - Five things you can’t live without
Day 7 - Four memories you won’t forget
Day 8 - Three words you can’t go a day without
Day 9 - Two things you wish you could do
Day 10 - One person you can trust

Another tough one! I have so many; music has always been a big part of my life. Here are six that I can listen to over and over and never get tired of them.

1) Queen, In the Year of 39. I love the way this song hints at a much larger, much more complicated story. Why did they have to go off searching for other planets? Where were they from? Who were the volunteers? Why did he leave her behind? So many questions. I keep hoping someone will write the story to go with it. Their Seven Seas of Rhye is the same way: anything that has beings descending from the sky saying, "I command your very souls, you unbelievers" just demands a kickass story to go with it. And oh god, that piano...

2) Loreena Mckennit, The Highwayman. This one tells a complete story, and it breaks my heart every time. I loved the poem from the time I read it in high school and was thrilled to discover the song, even though it's so sad.

3) Meat Loaf, Hot Summer Night. Just a damn good rock anthem. It's hard to beat the Loaf.

4) Runrig, The Summer Walkers. As a manuscripts librarian, this song had me at the phrase "archive gold." A gorgeous meditation on how things used to be, and how they are, and what we've lost.

5) Nightwish, I Wish I Had An Angel. Symphonic metal at its best: lush, heavy, thumping, operatic and gorgeous.

6) Warren Zevon, Accidentally Like a Martyr. This one carries a lot of bittersweet memories for me, which I suppose is exactly why it has stuck with me for so long.

There are a lot more, of course: The Mingulay Boat Song, a perennial favorite at the final pub sing; A Sailor's Prayer for the strength of its lyrics; and just recently I've become obsessed with Leonard Cohen's Come Healing.

But if I don't stop now I'll just go on and on and on, so I'd better hie me off to bed :)

Five things for the sixth day

Day 1 - Ten random facts about yourself
Day 2 - Nine things you do everyday
Day 3 - Eight things that annoy you
Day 4 - Seven fears/phobias
Day 5 - Six songs that you’re addicted to
Day 6 - Five things you can’t live without
Day 7 - Four memories you won’t forget
Day 8 - Three words you can’t go a day without
Day 9 - Two things you wish you could do
Day 10 - One person you can trust

"Can't live without" is pretty strong. I'm not sure there's anything I truly couldn't manage to live without, other than Maslow's basics: air, water, food, clothing and shelter. So assuming this actually means "Things without which my life would be unbearably dreary, featureless and grim," I shall go with these:

1) Family
2) Reading and writing (sorry, can't separate these two)
3) Music (if I haven't got any, I'll make some)
4) Cats (for companionship, they cannot be beat)
5) Wine or tea (I'm torn on this one, they're so mood-dependent)