Sing Me a Song

Twice in one month I was tagged! Am I lucky? Or is it a curse?! It's unfortunate that I'm so slow in posting that I haven't gotten around to finishing this post until now.

Truthfully, I like being tagged. As a Leo, one of my favorite subjects to discuss is myself. Call me blessed with ample self-confidence, call me egotistical- but either way I'm honest!

When my friend Elly from Elly Says Opa! tagged me, I was leery what the tag was. I mean, how many random factoids can I come up with before I start repeating myself. Much to my delight, her meme is a musical one. Hoorah! I love music! I love to sing, dance, and back in the day I played a pretty good piano. (Don't ask about my trumpet playing skills though....)

The rules:
List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your world. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

1. John Mayer, Belief - This is totally my favorite song of the moment- very poignant and relevant to the hysterics that seem to be affecting people and the media these days. Off of his Continuum album, the music has a great dark and catchy tune. The lyrics though are what stand out for me. Two lines that really sum is up: "Is there anyone who really recalls/ Ever braking rank at all/ For something someone yelled real loud one time?" and "What puts the folded flag inside his mother's hand?/ Belief can, belief can." Powerful stuff.
   
2. Lily Allen, Knock 'Em Out - Oh little Lily from the UK! She's a smart-mouthed teenager with a delightful, dark wit and upbeat hooks. This song is about any person's experience trying to dodge creeps out at a bar/ club. The song has a great little spoken bit over the catchy rhythm- "You're just doing your own thing and someone comes out of the blue and is like 'Alright, whatdya say, can I take your digits?' And you're like no, not in a million years, you're nasty, please leave me alone." Classic.
   
3. Bebel Gilberto, Simplesmente - Bebel is the daughter of Astrud and Joao Gilberto, both of Girl From Ipanema fame. Bebel keeps the bossa nova tradition going with lovely Brazilian music. I can't understand the Portuguese lyrics, but the relaxing songs keep me happy at work.
   
4. U2, Electrical Storm - I'm big U2 fan, particularly since I met my husband in high school 14 years ago. They have evolved so much over time but always have a fantastic musical ability no matter their current style. We danced to All I Want Is You at our wedding and left the wedding chapel to Beautiful Day and ended the reception to their rendition of Everlasting Love. But I love Electrical Storm for the dark sound, building emotion, and poetic lyrics. "Car alarm won't let you back to sleep/ You're kept awake dreaming someone elses dream./ Coffee is cold but it'll get you through/ Compromise that's nothing new to you."
   
5. Dropkick Murphy's, State of Massachusetts - Rock. Celtic music. Politics. What a great combo! The Dropkicks are a Boston staple and I love their weaving of good American guitars with classic Irish fiddles. It sounds best with the volume turned way up!
   
6. The Offspring, Hammerhead - Like the DM's above, The Offspring are all about hard rock and a political edge. Hammerhead sings out about a soldiers' mentality in battle. I think it's against the war in Iraq, or maybe the point is I as the listener can think it's about whatever I want. Either way, it rocks.
   
7. Madonna, 4 Minutes - And the cheeseball entry. The alternative rock station in my area plays a lot of loud, chauvinist, crap rock. So I listen to the top 40 station, which is only slightly better. But man, that Madonna and Justin song makes me want to get out on the dance floor! If you see a brunette in Portland car dancing with the radio blaring, it's probably me.

So now I'm supposed to tag a few folks to hear what they are listening to. Hm. This is often where I fail. And in the desire to actually get this posted, I'm going to accept failure and cheat by not passing this along!!!