Away We Go

Heart Songs Pt. 1: Are You Listening?

In 1995 I started listening to the radio. The events that preceded this occurrence are slightly obscured in my own mind. Suffice it to say, I did not discover KKDS 1060 Radio AAHS on my own. Radio AAHS was a children's (kids) station on AM (radio). I could now go into what I did while the radio played, the significance of it to my 11 year old life, what the radio looked like, and the time I called the station to answer the daily moral question asked by my favorite daytime DJ (whose name is lost to history), and how my recorded conversation with said woman was broadcast throughout these united states. But the minutia of biography is sometimes overbearing (at least to one's self), so let's skip it. I got an old radio and started listening. All of this is to say my first favorite song was "As I Lay Me Down," by Sophie B. Hawkins. All of my early favorite songs were sung by women. All of my life I have loved women. I know now and can see now the preparation that was occurring in my heart for the future.

This is the first in a series about the songs I love. Not songs that rock, not songs that are good, great, or greatest, but songs I love. Songs that have an emotional connection to my life, whether in time, space, or event.

Songs are music and words together. Lyrics alone can never give the same effect as actually hearing a song, but for your enjoyment: "As I Lay Me Down," Sophie B. Hawkins

It felt like springtime on this February morning

In the courtyard birds were singing your praise
I'm still recalling things you said to make me feel alright
I carried them with me today, Now

(chorus)As I lay me down to sleep

This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I'm far away

I'll whisper your name into the sky

And I will wake up happy

I wonder why I feel so high

Though I am not above the sorrow
Heavy hearted
Till you call my name

And it sounds like church bells

Or the whistle of a train
On a summer evening
I'll run to meet you
Barefoot barely breathing

It's not too near for me

Like a flower I need the rain
Though it's not clear to me
Every season has its change
And I will see you
When the sun comes out again

For an incomplete picture of Radio AAHS see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_AAHS

Practice

I was asleep and you woke me. I was a a stranger and you fed me. I was a boy and you called me beautiful. I was a child and you loved me. I was corn and you shucked me. Now I know what life is.

But that was just practice.

You were hiding in plain sight. Now I see you truly. Now I remember what life is. On and on and on what a song! Let it be in your head! Let it be in your heart!

This isn't just practice

Give me time to catch my breath. I want to mean something. Will you mean something with me? I only want to do what matters. Matter with me! Would you take my hand, and hold on to me, through everything?

Practice makes perfect

Hearts brake and bend, necks and wills bow to Him. Lives and souls sealed to Him. Enduring and Progressing.

We go on.

What Is Inside A Name

The best band name ever is Sonic Youth.*

Here are my favorite band names of my own invention.

Pool Honeys
The Economy
Youth Novels
The Shire
Future Hymns
The After Party
Our Young Love *
Mufasa
I Like Lightning
Patronus
The Love Gurus
Transcendental Businessmen
Peradventure
The Constant
Quaid
Our Moms And Teachers
The Lovely Vagrants
Venture Communists
Department Of Aging
Hot Conference
Think Tank


* Irregardless of the music.
* Shout out to Beka Lowe for this one.

Just Do It

Things I Want To Do 2009 Edition (Part One In A Series)

1.) Jump into a pool of jello (preferably green).
2.) See Wilco live.
3.) Steal something (then return it).
4.) Appear in a film directed by Wes Anderson.
5.) Bowl 300.

I Need An Editor

I have been negligent in my blogging, and I apologize.

What I would like to do is get "assignments" from everyone and blog about them. Examples would include, "How has having a friend obsessed with AFI blessed your life?" to reggae's influence on 70's punk rock bands, or ...

Thanks in advance, kids!