The other day, someone asked me a question that has haunted me ever since. It mocks me in dreams. It whispers in my head when I’m sitting at traffic lights, minding my own business and thinking surely it would be fine to just pop into the McDonald’s drive-through for a cheeseburger, right? Cheeseburgers are so little. It follows me when I’m taking the laundry over to the washing machine and wondering if I really need to go through my pockets for change, because really, do I ever put change in my pocket because I don’t remember ever doing that and why are you following me, question, when I really am just going over here and I’ll be right back I promise.
What is your favorite song?
My favorite song? The one I like best out of all songs that have ever been sung? The one song I would bring with me if I were stranded forever on a remote island and had to listen to just that one song for the rest of my life, which likely wouldn’t be all that long, since I would soon starve or get bitten by a creepy endangered spider that only lived on that one island and there are only two of them left, but somehow I managed to step right on one and since I had lost my shoes and was barefoot, I didn’t squash it but only made it mad and it chased me down (because that’s the one special trait of this uniquely skilled endangered spider) and bit me right on my toe, which swelled right up and sent poison into my stranded, starving heart. What song would I want to hear as I lay dying is really the question.
How am I supposed to answer something like that?
I had a long drive soon after, and so I fired up the iPod, intent on discovering my favorite song. Surely it would be somewhere on my 2500 song playlist. What I discovered is that my iPod holds a lot of crap. And apparently I have no taste in music. No wonder I don’t have a favorite song. I don’t own any good ones to choose from.
Sure, I’ve got Britney and NSync, but I apologize for none of that because it keeps me on the elliptical. And I’ve got AC/DC and Def Leppard and Guns ‘N Roses and ABBA, which is great old stuff, but not necessarily favorite song ever material. And I have some U2 and Madonna and Carpenters, which may be timeless, but is it worthy of agonizing spider bite death accompaniment? I’m not sure sure.
I have some Lemonheads, which is totally worth having if only for the “Outdoor Type” song with the line, “I can’t go away with you on a rock climbing weekend; what if something’s on TV and it’s never shown again”. Although these days dude, get a tivo.
I also have songs from Jennifer Love Hewitt’s first album, and honestly, there’s a reason she did better in her acting career than her musical one. I have Creed. Lord knows why. I even have something by Luckydog, which I’m sad to say I know is that band that that guy who won Survivor that one time was in. Fortunately, I don’t remember his name.
Clearly, there is no best song ever in the universe in this bunch.
So, I need some help. I have accumulated several iTunes gift cards and need to buy some decent music. What should I get? No matter what you suggest, it can’t be worse than Nick Carter singing “Rhythm of my Heart” before he was in the Backstreet Boys.
And I’m curious, what is your favorite song? And how many times could you hear it on endangered spider island before throwing it over a cliff and getting the resident chipmunks to hum?
July 11th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor (“Moonlight”).
Also in the running: “All Blues”, “Linus and Lucy”, “O Holy Night”, “Poinciana”, “What a Wonderful World”, “Blackbird”, “Ramble On”, “Lithium”, “Rhapsody in Blue”, and “Rainbow Connection”.
Hi, V!