A to Z Afterthoughts/Honorable Mentions

The list I worked from for this project

I fully intended to have this post up on May 1st but I didn't get it done in time and to be honest, I've enjoyed having a few days without any blogging obligations. I spent almost six months working on these posts, off and on, so it feels strange to not have to do any more! Over all, I'm pleased with how they turned out. I got a lot of feedback, mostly from people I already know, and I can tell my friends enjoyed reading about my favorite songs and learning some of the stories behind who I am. I'm disappointed I didn't get more comments from new readers, through the A to Z Challenge. I was hoping my personal stories would resonate with more people and initiate discussion.

For almost every song I wrote about, I Tweeted my blog link to the artist. I was hoping at least a couple would read their posts. My theory behind that is that if someone were moved enough by something I wrote to blog about it, I would love to know that. The only response I got was that Liz Phair favorited my post about her song, but that's pretty awesome!

If you know me well, you know how connected I feel to Dave Matthews Band so you may have noticed that only one of their songs made my list. A friend asked me if I made a conscious decision not to include many of their songs and the answer is yes. When I initially made my A to Z list, I went through the alphabet and jotted down songs that came to mind for each letter. When I was finished, some letters had one or two songs and some had five or six, but each letter had at least one song by Dave Matthews Band or Better Than Ezra! They are my two favorite bands and I feel a strong connection to them both. I decided not to include many songs by either band mostly because there is a lot of music that came before them in my life, that shaped who I am and led me to their music. Also because people who know me already know how I feel about those bands and I wanted to add some variety and share stories about me that others probably didn't know.

Because it was difficult to narrow my list to just 27 songs, I feel the need to recognize some of the ones that almost made the list. There are some songs that deserve mentioning just because they are plain awesome. The opening cords to Sweet Child O'Mine get me fired up every time. The same goes with Pour Some Sugar On Me, it will rock forever.  So What by Pink got me through a tough break up by reminding me of how awesome I am. 32 Flavors by Alana Davis is runner up for Theme Song for my life  (yes, I know it's a Ani DiFranco cover but I like it better!).  During my pre-teen years I would sing You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling into curling irons with my friend Loni, who is now a professional musician. I could go on and on...My point is there is an endless supply of amazing music in the world and I hope I was able to introduce you to some new songs and make you smile in the process!

My Trifecta

I'd like to preface this post by saying I'm aware I may not be using the word trifecta properly here. In the midst of my writing, it occurred to me that I'd better check on the word's actual definition so I had to do a little research. I came up with mixed results; some sources say it's strictly a betting term but others say it's appropriate for a winning trio, which is what I feel this post is about, so I decided to stick with it!

A couple of years ago I was going through a particularly rough patch at my job at the time. I felt out of place and unwanted, as if I had to suppress my true self when I was there. I dreaded going into the office each morning, sometimes I cried on my way there. I usually listen to music when I'm driving and in a situation like this, I'll often choose Dave Matthews Band songs to cheer me up. Their music always reminds me of happier moments and that whatever I'm dealing with isn't permanent. After a while I realized that I had three particular songs I'd listen to on my drive to work each morning, always in the same order: Two Step, #41 and Lie in Our Graves. I started to think back to other trying times in my life, and noticed that these songs have always been part of my go to play list when I need to feel better or psyche myself up. Music has always been therapeutic for me. A specific song played at just the right moment can influence me in a huge way. I have many custom made play lists in my iTunes library: songs for when I'm sad and want to cheer up, songs for when I'm sad and need to wallow in it, songs for when I'm happy, excited or pissed off. There's music for running, cleaning, driving, relaxing. You name the scenario and I can probably give you a list of at least ten songs that would be fitting! All of those playlists contain at least one song by Dave Matthews Band, some contain several. The music of DMB has been a huge portion of the soundtrack to my life. Any time I'm in public, especially if I'm nervous about the situation at hand, and I hear a DMB song come on, I take it as a sign that everything is going to be okay!

It was around that time that I started referring to those songs as "My Trifecta". They're three of my favorite songs by the band, off of my favorite album. They contain some of my favorite of Dave's lyrics as well. From Two Step "Celebrate we will, because life is short but sweet for certain", from Lie In Our Graves "Would you not like to be, sitting on top of the world with your legs hanging free?" and "I can't believe that we would lie in our graves, wondering if we had spent our living days well". They're also some of my favorite songs to see the band perform live. All DMB remind me of the concerts I've been to and how joyful those experiences are. They're also each tied to certain people from my life; an ex-boyfriend, a former roommate, a friend from college who I'm still close to. These three songs together encourage me and calm me at the same time. I've made a tiny playlist that only contains these songs and sometimes I listen to it on repeat, over and over.

When it came time to choose my number for roller derby, it was a no brainer: I'm #41. Not many people get it, and I don't mind. It's just another way that I've been able to root myself to the music and people who have been so present in my life.

I got the idea for this post because I've been working on writing about the songs that have influenced me post in my life, for an A to Z blogging challenge this spring. Most of the songs on my list are ones I consider favorites but some of them are ones I don't listen to very often but were significant to me at a particular phase of my life. Music has been a comfort, a cheerleader, a constant companion to me over the years. I don't know who I'd be without it, without these songs I cherish so much. My mother and father are both passionate about music as well so I'm grateful to them for passing it on to me!