Me Against The Music: Tracks 61-82

For reasons of her own, Elle has decided to listen to every single song in her music library and record the experience. These are her notes. 

Tracks 61-82

 61. Flowers On The Wall - The Statler Brothers (Pulp Fiction)

I have an unabashed weakness for falsely happy songs with surprisingly depressing lyrics. Have you ever listened to what this song is actually saying? Someone needs a hug.

62. Training - Danny Elfman (Hellboy 2)

I don't love everything Danny Elfman does indiscriminately (although most of it is pretty phenomenal), but I'm a complete sucker for his work on the Hellboy soundtracks. Plus, you know, Hellboy. Where's the third part of the trilogy? Someone call Guillermo Del Toro immediately. Then give me the phone, because I love him and his work and need to talk about movies with him.

65. An Insult To The Dead - Say Anything

Say Anything is a fun, silly band -- until they suddenly write heartbreakingly beautiful music that rips out your soul and you wonder why your face is leaking so much.

66. Snape To Malfoy Manner - Alexandre Desplat (Harry Potter) [DELETED]

This originally turned into a horrifyingly long rant about my favorite character in the Harry Potter franchise, and how loving a character doesn't mean condoning their behavior or even thinking they're a good person, but then I reined myself in, so let's just say that this song doesn't really do anything for me and leave it at that.

67. Skyway - The Replacements

Why don't I have more of the Repaclements in my library? I think a bunch were lost during the Great Computer Crash. That means I have to buy them again, don't I? Life is hard. 

68. Teenage Baby - T-Bone Walker

Pretty sure I grabbed this song when I was trying to listen to every single artist mentioned in the book High Fidelity. 

69. Paranoia Prima - Ennio Morricone (Death Proof)

I absolutely love Quentin Tarantino, but some of my nearest and dearest do not share these sentiments. Even if you hate him, think of this: Quentin Tarantino loved movies that Ennio Morricone composed the soundtracks too. Then he grew up and got to make movies that Morricone then composed soundtracks for. How cool is that?

71. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - Overture, Chinese Dance, Dance Of The Toy Flutes - Michael Halász: Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra

I never listen to Christmas music outside of the holiday season. It seems wrong. Listening to it on a balmy day in June seems borderline criminal. I wonder if there are any local statutes on this.

72. Gershwin: They All Laughed - Bing Crosby

Gershwin is the best. Let's move on.

73. Old Age [Unplugged] - Hole

OK, so Courtney Love is a large part of why I try to be sympathetic to kids who like people that I personally think are terrible. Because Courtney Love is probably not what most people envision when they think of role models for their kids. But for all her flaws, Ms. Love was a big part of helping me get through the rough years of middle school and high school. She was messy and loud and outspoken and disliked by a large portion of the population. Instead of feeling bad about things, she got angry or turned her pain into music. Realizing that you could take bad experiences and transform them into something creative was a pretty profound discovery for me, and seeing a girl who wanted to be the rock star instead of just marrying the rock star had an enormous impact.

I'd still like to apologize for my attempts to become a singer, though. I am so, so sorry.

74. When You're In Prison - The Offspring [DELETED]

I just do not like this song. For a band that made a number of highly successful humorous tunes, this just wasn't very funny.

77. Love Game (feat. Kendrick Lamar) - Eminem

File under: Weird Crushes That Just Refuse To Go Away

78. Last Christmas - Glee Cast [DELETED]

I am not ashamed of Glee. Season one was phenomenal, and about half of season two was really good. After that I gave up on the show entirely. Some of the songs will survive the Great Music Experiment. This isn't one of them.

80. Restless Heart Syndrome - Green Day

Green Day is in the Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame, which means they have been around for 25 years, which disturbs me every single time I think about it.

81. Echo - Jason Walker (The Vampire Diaries)

Laugh it up, but this is a good show (HONEST), and it has a kick-ass soundtrack.

82. Iluvya - Thom Yorke [DELETED]

I listen to about 99% of these songs in the car. I make mental notes as I listen, and write them down afterwards. Sometimes I jot down a few words/feelings to remember when I write out these posts. My notes for this song are simply 'Thom Yorke you OK?'

Because this song would suggest otherwise.