Do you ever run across the perfect song...

[VelmaD]

to describe your life in a given moment?

I'm sitting at work today. They just installed the updated version of Windows Media PLayer and I'm having to reset a lot of my playlists. I'm flipping through songs and run across "Criminal" by Fiona Apple.

I had forgotten I even had that song. I probably hadn't heard it in 6 months at least. But all of a sudden there it is speaking to me WAY more than it deserves to. Can't figure out whether I hate it or love it when the universe does this kind of thing.

[TNDemo]

1. That happened to me during my daughter's adolescence.

She was having an incredibly tough junior high. One night riding in the car I heard a song on the radio which was so on target. Of course they did not say the artist or name and it took me many months to search it out. It was Regina Belle's "If I Could," which was a song to a child saying if she could she would go through the hard times for them. Here's the lyrics. Probably lyrics only a mother could love.


If I could

I’d protect you from the sadness in your eyes

Give you courage in a world of compromise

Yes, I would



If I could

I would teach you all the things I’ve never learned

And I’d help you cross the bridges that I’ve burned

Yes, I would



Chorus:

If I could

I would try to shield your innocence from time

But the part of life I gave you isn’t mine

I’ll watch you grow, so I can let you go

If I could

I would help you make it through the hungry years

But I know that I can never cry your tears, babe

But I would if I could



If I could

In a time and place where you don’t wanna be

You don’t have to walk along this road with me

My yesterday won’t have to be your way



If I knew

I’d try to change the world I brought you to

Now there isn’t much more that I can do

But I would if I could

[bif]

2. Thank you!

My wife and I are going through a difficult time with our younger daughter. That lyric really hit home.

[TNDemo]

4. If it helps any,

This too shall pass. I just kept hanging on to that. She is now 23 and fine but there were some shaky years.

[bif]

12. Mine is 12 who thinks she's 20

She just isn't happy being a kid and wants so badly to be a grownup. I keep telling her to enjoy being a kid. Play. Have fun, because you'll never be a kid again. (Until senility sets in.) And I tell it isn't really all that much fun being a grownup. But she's so caught up in trying to look older, use makeup and concern herself with acting and dressing cool. It really made me sad when she put her Barbies away. Not that I'm big on Barbies, but it was just the idea that she didn't want to be a kid anymore. Oh well...

[TNDemo]

24. My 12-year-old has put her Barbies away too.

And she too thinks she is 20. Somehow it does not seem as bad this time as she still wants to sit in our lap. :)

[bif]

26. Mine's like that with my wife

She's still a little kid at heart. Even thought she won't admit it. It especially comes out when she's sick or feeling down. Then she's her mother's little girl. Isn't raising kids something? In some ways, I feel sorry for people who don't have children. On the other hand...

[redqueen]

3. Wow that's nice

Thanks... I'll have to look that one up!!!!

[VelmaD]

5. That's so sweet.

And certainly a song that I'd rather find meaning in than the one that has me by the mental short hairs today. :)

[Red State Rebel]

6. Driving home from divorce court - Too Much ,Too Little, Too Late

I cried.

[Loonman]

7. "Goodnight Lovers" Depeche Mode

Here, somewhere in the heart of me
There is still a part of me
That cares

And i’ll, I’ll still take the best you’ve got
Even though I’m sure it’s not
The best for me

When you’re born a lover
You’re born to suffer
Like all soul sisters
And soul brothers

I, I can see the danger signs
They only help to underline
Your beauty

I’m not looking for an easy ride
True happiness cannot be tried
So easily

When you’re born a lover
You’re born to suffer
Like all soul sisters
And soul brothers

Like all soul sisters
And soul brothers

You can take your time
I’ll be waiting in line
You don’t even have to give me
The time of day

When you’re born a lover
You’re born to suffer
Like all soul sisters
And soul brothers

[soleft]

8. And then you play it over and over and over again?

Right now I'm in love with the new one from Sarah McCloughlin - Fallen

[VelmaD]

11. God yeah...

must have listened to that damn song a half dozen times at lunch today. I still have it circling 'round in my head. It's making me feel like a bad person. :)

I've been a bad bad girl,
I've been careless with a delicate man.
And it's a sad sad world,
When a girl can break a boy
just because she can.

Don't you tell me to deny it,
I've done wrong and I want to
Suffer for my sins.
I've come to you 'cause I need
Guidance to be true
And I just don't know where I can begin.

What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal.
And I need to be redeemed
To the one I sinned against
because he was all I ever knew of love.

Heaven help me for the way I am.
Save me from these evil deeds.
Before I get them done.
I know tomorrow brings the consequence at hand.
But I keep livin' this day like
the next will never come.

Oh, help me, but don't tell me to deny it.
I've got to cleanse myself of all these lies
till I'm good enough for him.
I've got a lot to lose
and I'm bettin' high
So I'm beggin' you before it ends
Just tell me where to begin.

What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal.
And I need to be redeemed
To the one I sinned against
because he was all I ever knew of love.

Let me know the way
Before there's hell to pay.
Give me room to lay the law and let me go.

I've got to make a play
to make my lover stay
So, what would an angel say?
'Cause the devil wants to know.

What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal.
And I need to be redeemed
To the one I sinned against
because he was all I ever knew of love.

[GOPisEvil]

9. I Can't Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt

I was going through a period where I was REALLY into someone, and she wanted to be interested, but not badly enough...you know the drill. Anyway, I decided I hadn't heard any Bonnie Raitt in a while (for some reason, I almost NEVER get the urge to hear her), but I did, and this song came up...and well...let's say it fit the moment.

:bigfuckingsigh:

[VelmaD]

13. Aw honey...I'm sorry.

:hug:

I went through the same kind of thing with the Indigo Girls after my breakup with my evil-ex. I couldn't hear "In Love With Your Ghost" without bursting into tears for a while.

Then I got over it. He didn't really deserve a song to get weepy over. :)

[GOPisEvil]

14. Ah, she'd have been nothing but pain anyway.

At least that's what I tell myself to keep sane. ;-)

:hug:

[SOteric]

20. Well, this must be the place where

I koff up the hug :hug: and assure you that you're an incredibly wonderful guy. If so many of us can see that, there will most certainly come a day when someone you love does too.

[GOPisEvil]

22. Thank you so much!

All hugs accepted and returned! :hug:

[fudge stripe cookays]

35. Same with me, GOP

Before reprehensor, this guy was everything I'd ever wanted.

And when he told me that "we weren't going the same direction," I was completely totalled. This song still makes me cry because it was so potent at the time.

Fortunately, the effect has lessened a little bit after time.

[arwalden]

10. A Couple Of Times...

1) Breakout (Swing Out Sister) was popular back when I was trying to get up enough courage to leave an unhealthy relationship.

2) Get Here (Oleta Adams) was popular when I had met a new love interest who lived half-way across the country. It didn't work out.

3) You Gotta Be (Desree) was popular when I met my current partner and when we were both at that perfect point of being ready to move forward from our last broken romances.

-- Allen

[TNDemo]

15. Oh yeah, one more. Neither One of Us by Gladys Knight.

And it wasn't even my break-up. My brother was divorcing and I was in high school. We had been through a hellacious divorce of our parents and it was just so depressing to me.

I also can tear up with Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.

[felonious thunk]

16. yes, this one

There's a young man dying
as he stands beside the sea
You can see him smiling, unbelievably free
wind in his hair, light in his eyes
He looks a lot like you, you look so surprised
that he would send you on your way
with no goodbyes
But he can't go, and you can't stay
cause in the years it takes to make one man wise
A young man dies

[SOteric]

17. Yes, but it can be a sweet thing, too.

A dear friend who'd battled cancer, struggled through incredible pain and finally let slip the surly bonds of earth did so while Sarah McLachlan's Angel had been stuck in my head for two days.

...
In the arms of an angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort there
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here...

It made it a little easier to let go.

[VelmaD]

18. I was starting to get maudlin...

because so many responses (and so many of the times this happens to me in my life) involve depressing breakup songs.

But then you reminded me how sweet it can be too. The day I was driving out of Austin and "Get Out the Map" came on the radio. Perfect song for gypsy feet and the beginning of a little road adventure.

[SOteric]

19. Damn straight, Freebird is good for that, too!

And frankly, if I'm feeling the need to be a bit blue, nothing beats singing along to 6 consecutive renditions of Bruce Springsteen's "Downbound Train." Yodel that puppy out enough times and you really can't help but laugh at yourself.

[VelmaD]

21. Nonononononono...

we can't both be blue at the same time simultaneously. :hug:

[SOteric]

28. Fear not! I'm not currently playing any tunes by the Boss.

In fact, just at this moment, as sappy as it sounds I've got U2's It's a Beautiful Day stuck in my head, complete with heartbeat.

Life is good. At any rate, it's beating all hell out of the alternative.

[TEXASYANKEE]

31. Good roadtrip song ...

Roll Me Away by Bob Seger.

[GOPisEvil]

23. Now it's my turn....

...:hug:

[SOteric]

27. You see there.

You're a truly decent and caring human being, and I submit your post as exhibit A and rest my case. :pals:

:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

[GOPisEvil]

29. That and

all these :hug::hug::hug: feel good, too.

[Japhy_Ryder]

25. Oh yeah!

I, I'm so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me
'Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you

Since, since we've been together
Loving you forever
Is what I need
Let me be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue

Let's, let's stay together
Lovin' you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

Why, why some people break up
Then turn around and make up
I just can't see
You'd never do that to me (would you, baby)
Staying around you is all I see
(Here's what I want us to do)

Let's, we oughta stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

[LynneSin]

30. Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" and "What is and What Should Never Be"

Plus the Adagio from Mozart's Clarinet Concerto K 622

[TEXASYANKEE]

32. Well let's see ....

John Denver's "I'm sorry for myself" makes me think of my one great love. Even after almost 15 years, my heart still breaks to think of that young man.

Or would it be The Carpenters "I'll say goodbye to love"?

But then Ace of Base's "It's a beautiful life" picks me right back up.

[leftist_rebel1569]

33. About a thousand times...

I think the most recent time it happened was earlier in December when I was really really down about this girl who I had a crush on, and I told her and she didn't feel the same way (or at least at that given time) and I heard "The Great Below" by Nine Inch Nails pop up on my playlist...which fit nearly perfectly. But, I could name many times it's happened in the past

[TNDemo]

34. Yet another one (sad) - Brother To Brother by Gino Vanelli.

My husband's brother was shot to death when I was expecting our first child. Ultimately ruled a suicide but real questions remain. He said he was on the road to the coroner's inquest when that song came on and he cried for the first time.

[fudge stripe cookays]

36. "Rise From the Ashes" - Rosanne Cash

I went through a REALLY difficult period in 1993.

First, there was the perfect guy who broke my heart (see the "I Can't Make You Love Me" thread that GOPIsEvil started), then had a relationship with Satan, a lying asshole in a lawyer's suit, and then I tried everything I could to get a transfer from Austin to Dallas with my job so I could return to school, finish my degree, and finally have a real career and make decent money.

During this time, my department at my job (federal) transferred to another office. The woman who was the supervisor at this office had worked with one of the women in our group before, so we'd heard what she was like. She was one of these nasty old crones who wanted to control everyone. If you didn't do exactly as she wanted, she'd give you all 3's on your evaluations, effectively trapping you in her department so you couldn't even escape. No one in any of the other departments would hire you.

It took 6 months or more to finally find out about my transfer. During this time, my lease expired (when rents in Austin were skyrocketing during the boom), my car started its final death rattle, I was grieving for Mr. Perfect and then dealt with the aftermath of the loser, and then I had to go to work and deal with BLANCHE every day. Between my job, personal, and money worries, I was becoming seriously unhinged.

One night in December in the freezing cold, I drove to the Mo-Pac footbridge, stood there for the longest time, and wondered if I'd die if I threw myself in. I cried and cried for what seemed like hours, trying to decide if I really wanted to live or not. I was so miserable.

When I finally got back to the car, I popped in "The Wheel," by Rosanne Cash, and this song came on. It kept me going. And during the next few years after I finally got my transfer and worked full time while I was finishing school, I'd play it again and again to give me strength.

Now I just listen to it and smile, because I know I managed to do it.

[Bonobo]

37. SRV's "Life Without You" when I broke up with my first love...

Hearts breaking...SRV's death....extremely sad whenever I hear it.


I miss Stevie Ray!

[qwertyMike]

38. Hero - David Crosby

When I was getting off drugs many moons ago.

Phil Collins was on that somg for soome reason.

[Breezy du Nord]

39. "Let it Be"

I remember getting very upset right after Iraq was invaded last March. And then I heard that song on the radio and I realized: "I don't have any fucking control over what happens in this country, so I should just peace out." Perhaps not the most optimistic message, but it's what I got.

[Ramsey]

40. Just about every day!

I am a music fanatic though!

Today would be described by: The Voyeur of Utter Destruction As Beauty, by David Bowie