Guess what I'm listening to?
There are many windows to the soul, I believe. There's what you say, what you do...then there are your tastes - in music, in books, in movies. I think these things, these things we chose voluntarily, reveal a great deal about us that we're too afraid, shy or inarticulate to say. So, here's what's on my current playlist.
1. Unlovable, Darren Hayes
This song from Darren Hayes (available free to download off his website) is...amazing. There's simply no adjective strong enough to capture exactly how I feel about this song. It moves me like no piece of music has ever moved me - yes, all his songs move me, but this song feels so much like it came straight from my own heartache, it brings slight tears to my eyes every time I listen to it (and that's often). When he sings, "Did I remind you of a part of you that you don't like?", it takes all my willpower not to break down and bawl my eyes out.
2. Truly, Madly, Deeply, Darren Hayes
Another Darren Hayes staple; haunting in its eloquent simplicity. The combination of haiku-like lyrics and Darren's honey voice still sends shivers down my spine years after I first heard it. "I wanna stand with you on a mountain/I wanna bathe with you in the sea/I wanna lay like this forever/Until the sky falls down on me" - could romance be any more beautiful? I almost wanna fall in love again, just to be able to listen to this without feeling like I wanna take a flying leap off that darn mountain or drown myself in that freakin' sea.
3. Sexy Back, Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake's new single and definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. It's infectiously danceable, and for some reason, the one lyric that keeps repeating is also the one I think the censors should've attacked voraciously - "Dirty babe/You see these shackles, baby, I'm your slave/I'll let you whip me if I misbehave". Aside from the S&M undertones, it's a great litttle dance ditty. When are they going to start blasting it in the Bangkok clubs?
4. Come Back to Bed, John Mayer
You know, John Mayer could seriously duke it out with Darren Hayes for the title of the most romantic lyricist in today's music world. Such a simple concept, yet he manages to wrench such poetry from it. It's almost like a little story, the way it's written. The song details a fight between the singer and his girl, right before (you guessed it) bedtime and the song implores her to come back to bed, that she can "be mad in the morning/I take back what I said/Just don't leave me alone here/It's cold, baby/Come back to bed". Maybe it appeals to me because I know for a fact that if something like happened to me and someone said this to me, I'd forgive him (and I'm not a quick forgiver, just like the girl in the song). But hey, I'm a sucker for cheesy poetry.
5. Superstition, Out of the Blue
Marc sent me his award-winning group's song and I love it, and not just because he has a kick-@$$ solo in it, but because it's fantastic. Period. It's so well-performed, so professional, so poised. I'm so thrilled that I actually know this person. Of course, when he was around, it was kinda hard to remember how good he was when he used to sing at the oddest times (dissecting a cadaver? Yes, he used to provide the soundtrack to that) and his favorite bit was to pick up any object - and I mean any object - and say "Hello" into it like it was a telephone. But it all paid off, coz this stuff is awesome.
Final thought: Freud would have a field day.