The Shuffler - vol. 1

The Onion’s AV Club has this regular feature called The Shuffler, wherein a celebrity of some degree sets his/her iPod to shuffle and describes the first five songs to play. No cheating (ie, no skipping ahead to a less embarrassing track) is allowed.

So, I decided to do my own version of The Shuffler. Throughout my two commutes yesterday and my morning commute today I kept my iPod on shuffle and jotted down the songs it regurgitated. Here are the results:

Angel of Harlem – U2
Rattle and Hum came out in 1988, and although I really didn’t start listening to it until 1990 or so, Angel of Harlem was a big radio and MTV hit and I loved it.

Running to Stand Still – U2
Two U2 songs in a row! Fancy that! This is my favorite song from the Joshua Tree album. My angst-ridden teen heart was all over the lyrics “You’ve got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice.”

Someone Else’s Life – Joshua Radin
Haven’t we all, at one point or another, even if only for a split-second, wondered if we were living someone else’s life?

What Doesn’t Belong to Me – Sinead O’Connor
This is such a great break-up song. “I miss you, but I’m glad you’re gone / I want you but I’m not alone / I’m haunted by you / But I’ll get you gone if it takes me all my life long / Take back the pain you gave me / Take back what doesn’t belong to me / Take back the shame you gave me /…/ Take back the rage you gave me / Take back the hatred you gave me for me / Take back the anger that nearly killed me / Take back what doesn’t belong to me.”

Marys of the Sea – Tori Amos
I’ve been a massive Tori Amos fan since 1992, but this album, sadly, doesn’t do much for me. Still, I felt obliged to put it on my iPod, because, dude, it’s Tori! And really, this song isn’t a bad song—it’s just not as spectacular and some of her other songs.

When Doves Cry – Prince
Lord, when was this, 1982? ’83? I think I was around nine years old when this came out. I loved it even though I didn’t have a clue what it was about. Even today, when I see Plath sprawled on his back, legs in the air, I sometimes sing “Animals strike curious poses!” to him.

Mad World – Gary Jules
You know, the original Tears for Fears version of this song kind of sucks. It’s very jaunty and carnival-sounding, and considering the bleakness of the lyrics, this juxtaposition is disconcerting and downright inappropriate. Gary Jules’s version is gorgeously, gloriously wrenching. If this had been around before I was medicated, it probably would’ve been the straw that broke the suicidal camel’s back.

Sky Blue – Peter Gabriel
So Missy once told me that every time she hears this song, it reminds her of all the people trying to escape from the World Trade Center on 9/11. And ever since then, I’ve had that image burned in my head every time I hear this song. Thanks, Miss. By the way, the extended reworking of this song that appeared in Rabbit-Proof Fence is just as brilliant as the original Sky Blue.

Den Bla Slatten/Ormsla – Den Fule
Nordic folk kicks ass, and this is one of the songs that really makes me feel like grooving (albeit spastically, as I am wont to do).

Lonelilly – Damien Rice
Damien Rice rocks my world. What else can I say? He sets my cold, dead heart aflame.

Bad – U2
Another U2 song! I love U2, but apparently not as much as my iPod does! There was a period—’round about 2001, I think—when I was obsessed with this song and another U2 song, The Unforgettable Fire, and I listened to them on a continuous loop when driving back and forth to my weekend petsitting job in Alexandria. So that’s what they bring to mind.

I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow
So dirty, but I had no clue what it meant when I was a kid. When it came to sex, I was about as naïve as you could get (and this carried on well into my teens).

Dirty Diana – Michael Jackson
I got my first stereo, a portable boom box, for Christmas 1987 when I was 13 years old. I got a handful of cassettes with it, including Michael Jackson’s album Bad. I loved that album—especially Dirty Diana. That bitch does sound dirty!

Spice Up Your Life – Spice Girls
Okay, listen, in my defense, when I’ve just had a long day at work, and I’m stuck in Beltway gridlock, and stretching ahead of me is an evening or weekend of grueling freelancing and being forced to listen to my neighbors bellow and pray and stomp, sometimes it’s nice to hear a fun, frothy, silly song that puts a smile on my face and rhythm in my weary ass. So yes, I’ve got three Spice Girls tracks on my iPod. Bite me.

Deeper Shade of Soul – Urban Dance Squad
I have this in my ’90s folder. I think it was out when I was in 10th or 11th grade. Not one of my favorite songs, but it still makes my tired old foot tap a bit.

Goodnight and Thank You – Evita
Heh. I had a thing for a few musicals in high school, especially around 9th grade, and this was one of them. It’s weird to hear it out of context like this, without the rest of the musical framing it. When it ended my brain automatically jumped ahead to The Art of the Possible, but instead I heard:

Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone – Glass Tiger
A prom/graduation anthem of the late ’80s! This came out in 1986, so I always think of big hair, shaker knit sweaters, and big ugly brooches when I hear it. Maybe I’ll request that Annida sing an operatic version of this at my funeral someday. (*smiles and waves at poor beleagured Annida*)

Have I Told You Lately – Van Morrison
Awww, such a nice love song. Conventional and hardly groundbreaking…but still lovely. I have a few of his songs on my iPod.

Waiting for That Day – George Michael
I was obsessed with the Listen without Prejudice album in 11th grade. This song features the line “Well, everybody’s talking about this new decade / like you say the magic number and then say goodbye to the stupid mistakes you made.” He was talking about the dawn of the 1990s, which seems like a lifetime ago. It’s so depressing to realize kids born at that time—at the turn of the decade—are now almost old enough to vote. And some of them have kids of their own. Jesus Christ.

Don’t Drink the Water – Dave Matthews Band
I really can’t stand the Dave Matthews Band. They earned my undying loathing for churning out two of the most awful songs of the mid-’90s: songs that I hate with the fire of a thousand suns and won’t even mention by name. Adding insult to injury, those songs got played several times on a day on the radio station I was forced to listen to during my two summers as a temp at a warehouse during college. So if I even hear, like, three notes of those songs I automatically think of being on my feet for eight hours, wearing a hairnet, and boxing up bars of chocolate with the dregs of Lebanon. Needless to say, no one was more shocked than I was when Don’t Drink the Water was released and I actually liked it. I think I like it because it’s so dark—the singing is a kind of feral growl, and then Dave Matthews repeatedly sings “Don’t drink the water—there’s blood in the water!” Blood in the water? Awesome!

Strangers in the Night – Frank Sinatra
A crooner classic. Part of me always wondered if I, too, would someday be enchanted by a stranger in the night. In reality, I’m more likely to be attacked and murdered by a stranger in the night.


song heard most recently before posting:
Con te partiro—Paul Potts