A week or so ago I happened upon a gadget that seemed perfect for our house… a waterproof, rechargeable bluetooth speaker so we could listen to our music in the shower (just streaming it from our phones wasn’t loud enough to hear over the water). It was an impulse purchase, made possible by using Amazon points from our credit card so I didn’t have to pay anything for it and it arrived a day later thanks to Amazon Prime shipping… gotta love that.
I like music, Simon likes music and our kids both like music… it makes our lives happier. Being able to listen to it first thing when I’m just waking up in the shower, yes, it’s a luxury, but it’s also a great way to start the day. And watching the kids bop around in the bathtub while they listen to their favorites (“Everything Is AWESOME!” from the Lego movie is currently on repeat, endless repeat), well, that just makes my heart happy. It’s a simple thing, but one that has made a happy difference to us.
This morning a song I have heard a hundred times, including live during one of the multiple occasions I’ve seen David Gray in concert, came on and the lyrics really struck me:
Please be patient with your life… it’s the morning and you’re still to live your day.
We rush through life, in a hurry to get to the next thing… waiting expectantly for what’s to come. But sometimes we’re called to wait, to pause, to have patience. To enjoy the moment and where we are and to realize that better things are still to come but great things are currently happening. And if we are in the midst of difficulty, to remember that it is [perhaps] just the beginning of the story, that there is more to come; nothing is final. The day is just dawning. There is still more life to be lived. The rest of the day is still to come.
First off, happy birthday to my dad – both today and tomorrow. He’s a Leap Year “baby” so he gets two days to celebrate 3 out of every 4 years – the last day of February and the day after February 28th… both legitimate birthday days when your birthday only happens once every four years…
Second, in case you were dying to know what music I listen to when I work out, here’s my playlist… if you are looking for new tunes to run/walk/bike/ellipitcal to, maybe you’ll find some here. Also, I could use a couple other fast-tempo songs to add to the rotation, what do you suggest?
Warm-up, the first five minutes of Ants Marching – Live at Lakeside from the DMB Caravan we went to in Chicago.
Rumor Has It | Adele
Feels So Close | Calvin Harris
Lucky Strike | Maroon 5
We Found Love | Rihanna and Calvin Harris
Every Teardrop is a Waterfall | Coldplay Love the lyric, “I’d rather be a comma than a full stop.”
Alternatives for the cool down:
Hey Mama – Mat Kearney
Stuck Like Glue – Sugarland
Radioactive – Imagine Dragons
Perfect – P!nk
Take a Walk – Passion Pit
Little Lion Man – Mumford and Sons
We Are Young – fun.
Payphone – Maroon 5
Then, when I stretch and as a “reward” for myself for completing a workout, I listen to one of the following from Maroon 5: Beautiful Goodbye
If you are in Michigan you are currently cold – for everyone else perhaps not so much (especially Australia, where it has been about 100 degrees warmer than here – Fahrenheit, of course). But you might still enjoy some of the following songs… They are new to my line up and are currently helping me stay warm by bopping around listening to them. I share them with you because I am a giver. Enjoy!
Take a Walk | Passion Pit
Mountain Sound | Of Monsters & Men
Radioactive | Imagine Dragons
Locked Out of Heaven | Bruno Mars
Carry On | fun.
not peppy, but still loved: You’re the Reason I Come Home | Ron Pope
These are slightly different from my listing of most played in 2012… these more take into account the ones I burned to CDs and listened to on my phone/Kindle. I’d love to hear what your favorite songs of 2012 were… please share in the comments.
January
January kicked off with us on a plane on the way to Australia where I discovered Pumped Up Kicks and added it to my flying playlist on the way to and back from Oz… plus it was on the radio and in a regularly-played TV commercial while we were there. I cannot hear this song and not think of our time in the land down under. Same goes for Light Up the Sky which I heard on the iPad we borrowed for our trip, perfect since Simon and I saw The Afters live a few years ago while we were still dating.
Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People Runner up: Light Up the Sky – The Afters
M83 is on Amazon’s list for rising artists for 2013, so my liking them is ahead of the curve, I’d just like to note that. Runner up, fun., was a little sneak preview for the concert I didn’t yet know I’d be going to in November!
I previously admitted that I discovered this song watching the finale of One Tree Hill but don’t hold that against it, Half Moon is just really good. Side note: I would love to pick music for a TV show – that would be my dream job. And Mr. A to Z, Jason Mraz’s I Won’t Give Up is just the perfect pick-yourself-up-and-hang-in-there song.
Half Moon – Blind Pilot Runner up: I Won’t Give Up – Jason Mraz
A favorite of my boys since May, Feel So Close is still requested in our swagger wagon. And I couldn’t pick just one runner up this month – the trio listed is the ideal start to a low-key, rainy day playlist.
Feel So Close – Calvin Harris Runners up: Better Days – Amos Lee; Flowers in Your Hair – The Lumineers; Be Still – The Fray
My favorite praise and worship song of the year – though I will be sad to hear it in church again now that our phenomenal music person has left us for a job back in his hometown in Colorado. And on the opposite end of the spectrum – Magic – the second most-requested song in the minivan; I’m super thankful I can also enjoy the music my kids like.
10,000 Reasons – Matt Redman Runner up: Magic – B.o.B. with Rivers Cuomo
Thanks to this song being featured for the women’s gymnastics promos during the Olympics, everyone in the U.S. should love this song, or at least be familiar with it (and if you’re not, you’re not patriotic, or you are my father [who is actually patriotic, for the record]). You could not get away from it this summer and for good reason – it’s a great song by the doubly named Phillip Phillips (seriously). Much less familiar, but just as catchy is my runner up – find it on YouTube, you’ll be glad you did.
Home – Phillip Phillips Runner up: Watching You Watch Him – Eric Hutchinson
Oh Maroon 5. They came out with a new album (Overexposted), it’s my favorite of theirs so far and while I do always enjoy the more upbeat, poppier songs – Sad and Daylight are by far my faves.
Sad – Maroon 5 (Adam Levine’s voice and a piano, yes please) Runner up: Daylight – Maroon 5
September
Love Little Talks (and really love the live version in the video below). September brought lots of fun, new-to-me bands/singers.
Little Talks – Of Monsters & Men Runners up: Sooner or Later – Gavin Creel; Well Done – Moriah Peters
October brought even more new music and variety, plus a live concert with Sugar & The Hi-Lows and Ingrid Michaelson (marvelous). Nothing better than live music in my book (big surprise).
Odds of Being Alone – Amy Stroup & Trent Dabbs (a.k.a., Sugar & the Hi-Lows) Runners up: Ships in the Night – Mat Kearney; Almost Lover – A Fine Frenzy; Ghost – Ingrid Michaelson
Kiss Me was nearly my favorite song of the year, but it made it in just for the last two months so that was the only reason it lost out. I normally don’t care much for Alicia Keys and despite it being on that Citibank commercials, I quite enjoy Girl on Fire (though my husband does not share my love of the song – I believe the words, “I hate this song” have come out of his mouth when it comes on). And My Oh My is the song that introduced me to Tristan Prettyman, whose entire album is pretty darn good.
Kiss Me – Ed Sheeran [awesome acoustic version in the video below] Runners up: Girl on Fire – Alicia Keys; My Oh My – Tristan Prettyman
December
While I am not at all surprised that he didn’t win The Voice, Terry McDermott’s versions of I Want to Know What Love Is and Let It Be are effortlessly beautiful and awesome – so much so that I had to include both videos. And then there is Muse’s Madness… couldn’t let The Voice’s runner up push it off the list for my December runner up.
I Want to Know What Love Is – Terry McDermott (from The Voice) Runner up: Let It Be – Terry McDermott; Madness – Muse
And because I like it nearly as much as the original by the incomparable Beatles:
Song of the Year Home – Phillip Phillips Runner up: Kiss Me – Ed Sheeran
If only for my future grown children to shake their heads at me and my music taste, here’s another year-in-review installment for Music Monday. I’m sure Liam and Jack will be so glad to know their mom downloaded One Direction and Taylor Swift at THEIR request (we’ll not talk about how I enjoy the music as well).
I have added over 600 songs in 2012 to my iTunes library. Let us pause for a moment and consider that number. That is 1.5 days worth of music – which makes it seems like not that much, until you think that is over 2000 minutes of music. I have a music problem and I’m okay with it. In my defense, because there is always a defense for “extreme” behavior, there were many, many free albums and songs in that mix – at least 150 songs were gained for free and another 200 were super cheap. Plus I finally started using my iTunes gift cards – no sense in saving them forever when there is good (good is a relative term, I realize) music to be gained. Anywho… out of that list, I was curious as to which of the songs I played the most on iTunes (which means only when I was at work and does not take into account the songs I burned to CDs and listened to in the car or on my phone via the handy Amazon Cloud). Below is a list of those that got 10+ plays (in bold are the top 5):
Light Up the Sky | The Afters [This song and the one below it were on the iPad that we borrowed to take to Australia and I listened to them a ton there and clearly once I got back – just hearing them takes me right back to sitting on the couch in Simon’s mom’s house, listening to them with headphones on after everyone else had gone to bed]
Jesus Saves | Tim Hughes
Be Still | The Fray
Don’t Gotta Work It Out | Fitz & the Tantrums
Let My Love Open the Door | Pete Townshend
Yesterday | Tony Lucca and Adam Levine
Gonna Get Over You | Sara Bareilles
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together | Taylor Swift [’tis true]
Never Gonna Leave This Bed | Maroon 5
A Thousand Years | Christina Perry
Gaucho | Dave Matthews Band [my first glimpse at DMB’s new album]
Ships in the Night | Mat Kearney [This song is a nice wake up call for anyone going through a rough spot in their marriage – pointing out how easily our lack of communication can throw things out of whack.]
Not Over You | Gavin DeGraw
Better Days | Amos Lee [perfect song for moping around and feeling sorry for yourself and then wanting to be uplifted]
Midnight City | M83
Trouble | Tony Lucca
We Are Young | fun.
We Found Love | Rihanna
Stronger | Kelly Clarkson [I cannot hear or see her name and not think of the scene from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”]
What Makes You Beautiful | One Direction [’tis also true]
Some Nights | fun.
Half Moon | Blind Pilot
Forever & Almost Always | Kate Voegele
Tongue Tied | Grouplove
Kiss Me | Ed Sheeran [The most plays of the year at 28, make that 29… and I just downloaded it two weeks ago.]
This list is a pretty perfect reflection of my music tastes… even with a couple out of the box selections, we all have our quirks.
Hi, I'm Michelle, married mother of two active boys (plus one 9-pound poodle). I'm a proud Michigander, having lived here all my life (besides the 10 months I lived in Chicago during/after college). I love family, friends, God, food, enjoying life and continually striving for improvement.
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ememby 