I couldn't pick just one particular time period in my life to base this mixtape off of. So many moments in my life have been defined by different songs and just music in general, so my overall theme, I suppose, is "The Life of Marley".
1. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
I believe this was the first song I ever knew all of the words too. I don't remember when I heard it for the first time because I couldn't have been more than two years old. See, my parents divorced when I was one and my mother moved to Lewisburg, TN. My dad, who still lived in our hometown of Owensboro, KY. would drive three and a half hours one way to come pick me up every other weekend in his really awful red S10 pickup truck. Every other Friday, without fail, he would come pick me up, we would stop at White Castle for dinner and listen to his Ramones cassette the whole way to his house because it was my favorite. Then, every Sunday we would do the same as he brought me home. This is probably the earliest recollection I have of music and it sparked an appreciation that I will never lose.
2. Blame It On Your Heart - Patty Loveless
I almost feel ashamed that to admit that this song had a major impact on my life, however, it certainly did and I cannot leave it out. This was the song that helped me realized that I love to sing and perform. I must have been about three when I heard it and, after immediately learning all of the words, I sang it everywhere I went. If I started singing this song in the middle of a department store, there was no way that anyone was going to get me to move until I had finished belting it out.
3. I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys
When I was about 6 years old I got my first Backstreet Boys CD and I instantly fell in love with them (A.J. especially). Then for my 1th birthday my aunt bought me tickets to see them live in concert. It was my first concert and when they sang I Want it That Way (which was my favorite song on the album) it was the happiest I had been in my life up to that point.
4. I'm Sensitive - Jewel
Once I was riding in the car with my dad and my step-mother and she said something that really upset me. A few minutes later this song came on the radio and I was in the backseat crying. She turned around and made some rude comment about how that song is about me and I'm just too sensitive. I was only about 8 years old and so that really hurt my feelings and for a long time I told myself that it was absolutely not O.K. to cry in front of people. I don't believe that anymore of course, but to this day I can't hear this song and not cry. As Jewel says, I'm sensitive and I'd like to stay that way.
5. Brown-Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Cliche', I know, but I love this song. My mother, my sister, and myself all have big brown eyes and I can remember many occasions when we would be in the kitchen or in the car and break out into this song. When the three of us sing Brown-Eyed Girl it's almost as if the rest of the world disappears and it's just the three of us.
6. I Wear My Sunglasses At Night - Cory Hart
Everyone has that one song that they love regardless of how idiotic it may be and this one is definitely mine. It's just a song that never fails to make me happy whenever I hear it and it's one of the few songs that I could listen to at any time, no matter my mood.
7. Closing Time - Semi-Sonic
Well, there was this boy... Of course every girl has a story that starts out with a boy. Mine is probably not unlike many others. The summer after my sophomore year we started spending quite a bit of time together. He was already in college so I knew that when summer break ended, so would the spark between us. One night though after a long day canoeing we laid on the hood of his car drinking SunDrop and eating Reese's and singing this song as it played on the radio. That may have been one of the happiest nights of my life. While my feelings for that boy are long gone,Closing Time still takes me back to that brief moment in time.
8. The Kill - 30 Seconds to Mars
This song is just kind of about defiance for me. It's about breaking away from someone who has always hurt you and finally deciding that you're not going to take it anymore. When I was a sophomore I listened to this album all the time and this song really got to me because it really speaks about the kind of relationship I have with my step-father. He has always cut me down and this song gave me a lot of inspiration and motivation to stand up to him and fight for myself because if I don't then no one else will.
9. Blue In Green - Miles Davis
Wow. I remember just being floored the first time I heard this song and "Wow." was the only comment I could come up with. I think there's something truly beautiful about a song that is completely dedicated to musical ability rather than a person's vocal ability. Every time I'm feeling blue I just get into my car and drive around while listening to this song and it never fails to give give me a new outlook on life. This is one of the few amazing songs that has been helpful and relatable throughout every walk of my life.
10. Stop This Train - John Mayer
This song has been extremely touching to me throughout the past year. I'm in this phase of my life - this funk - where everything seems to be more difficult than every before. Sometimes I wish I could stop the train of life and just put everything on hold.
11. I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
I've liked this song since I first heard it about ten years ago, but lately I've grown to like it even more since so there's been so much turmoil in my life here in the past few years I Won't Back Down has a lot of meaning to me. To me, it represents standing up to all of your problems no matter how how difficult that may be.
12. Forever - Ben Harper
About a year ago I started to realize that all of my relationships with men were incredibly unhealthy. Until I started dating my current boyfriend in March, I had never had a relationship that was anything more than physical. I always felt that if I distanced myself from men there was no way they could break my heart as so many others in my life have done. Forever really helped me to realize that not only did I want to break away from these destructive types of relationships, but that I needed to.
13. You Wouldn't Like Me - Tegan and Sara
I think everyone goes through phases of their lives when they don't like themselves very much and I am no different. You Wouldn't Like Me embodies that feeling in a way that no other song has ever been able to do for me.
14. You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd - Roger Miller
My best friend, Brittany, and I used to be managers for the boys basketball game at our high school. On those long bus rides to far away games we would get incredibly bored until the day that I discovered Roger Miller. The two of us would sing this song as loud as possible on the bus to entertain ourselves while annoying the cheerleaders. Every time I hear this song I smile.
15. Swing Swing - All-American Rejects
This was the very first song I ever learned how to play on the guitar. I think that pretty much says it all.
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