Songs that move your world

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23 July 2008

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Quite by accident I stumbled across the music video of “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan on YouTube and clicked on play. And it hit me. Powerfully. Memories crashing in, feelings flooding through my body …

I watched the movie »City of Angels« on my birthday, just days after it hit the theaters in 1998. Wow. That is almost exactly 10 years to the day now. Apart from the fact that the movie touched me incredibly and remains one of my all time favorites, the song “Angel” got stuck in my head and I ended up buying the soundtrack. I took it with me when I went to the US for my exchange year not even a month later. And there, almost every night, I played that CD, setting this single song on repeat until I would fall asleep. This was also the song my iPod played first when I was on my way back home after learning that a good friend had died last year.

So, whenever I hear this song … I feel the blankets of my American bed, I can feel our dog cuddling next to me, I can see the house I spent a year in, I can see my High School and walk again the through the hallways in my mind. And I can see my friend laughing. It’s all so incredibly powerful, it brings me close to tears.

If anyone would ask me at any given time what my all-time favorite song was, this is it. “Angel”, by Sarah McLachlan (and in second place her song “Answer”).

If you feel comfortable sharing, I’d like to know what your all-time favorite is. Just one song, one that is most important to you - and why.

BTW: I own the DVD where these clips were taken from and when my friends first watched it they all went silent, they were just completely captured by it. It was a wonderful moment.

“Listen to the music. Not the song.”
- Ambassador Kosh, Babylon 5

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Matthias said:

It’s really a tough call to decide which song to choose. There are several songs that touch me deeply, both musically and lyrically. But since you want us to choose only one song, I’ll have to abide by your rules.

My vote goes to Meat Loaf’s “Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are” from the 1993 album “Bat Out Of Hell II”. This song isn’t associated with any particular event or incident but it helped me through some really difficult times in my life. For some unexplainable reasons it would give me strength and refuel my batteries. Still today, whenever I listen to this song, I turn up the volume and close my eyes. Without being able to help it, old memories start to resurface automatically, sending shivers down my spine. And don’t tell anyone: Sometimes I even sing along loudly.

By the way, thank you for bringing up Sarah McLachlan. I know her by name, but I hardly know any of her songs. Looks like a gap in my knowledge, I guess.

In psychology there is a special term that describes the effect when a smell, a word or a sound forcefully brings back memories.

Now you have me intrigued. What is this special term? Or did I miss something?

[Reply]

Starstuff Reply:
July 24th, 2008 at 1:04 pm

Hi Matthias,

thank you very much for sharing, I will check that song out. About the psychological term … dang, I hoped no one would ask I’ll find out, I heard about it in my third semester, so that was quite a while back.

And Sarah McLachlan … she is my favorite singer (female, obviously) and I wish she’d come to Germany for a concert. I’d be there, no matter where it takes place.

[Reply]

- 24 July 2008 at 11:05 am

Matthias said:

Based on your blog entries associated with the “music” tag, I did a little “music profiling” in order to get a better idea of your taste in music. Obviously (and not surprisingly after our discussion in this thread) you seem to prefer melodic rock/pop music with really strong lyrics. You don’t seem to care whether it’s written in German or English but it definitively helps if you can somehow identify with the lyrics.

Furthermore, I tried to find out whether some of my favorite songs and your supposed preferences coincide. Unfortunately, this genre of music is not my area of expertise, so only one song came to mind immediately:
(I’ll report back if I remember some more).

Dave Matthews - Gravedigger
As you’ve spent a whole year in the US, you probably know Dave Matthews since he is famous there (at least so I’m told). Unfortunately, he is hardly known in Germany. Curiously, quite a few of my friends recognize him from the House episode “Half-Wit” (without knowing his name, of course) but don’t know any of his songs. The song I recommend is from his only solo album “Some Devil”. Normally he’s the band leader of “Dave Matthews Band”, which is known for more complicated jazz-influenced rock music. If you feel like checking them out as well, I’d recommend the song “Spoon” (featuring Alanis Morissette on vocals).

[Reply]

- 25 July 2008 at 4:34 pm

Matthias said:

As promised I’m back with some more recommendations. This time it’s likely that you know the songs already.

Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice
You probably know the story behind this band. A well-respected all female country/rock band once, they openly spoke their mind on the Iraq war and criticized the Bush administration. With country music being considered “patriotic”, this created a big scandal in 2003 and led to a massive boycott campaign of many radio stations and other media against the band. In 2006, finally, they made a huge comeback, which won them an Emmy. The song mentioned above is the Dixie Chicks’s way to deal with all the repressions they had to endure in the meantime.

Ugly Kid Joe - Cat’s In The Cradle
Originally written by Harry Chapin, the cover version by Ugly Kid Joe is much more powerful than the original. Lyrically the song is quite simple but nonetheless extremely powerful and strikingly effective. And since I’m gonna be a father in the not-to-distant future, I hope I’m not making the same mistakes as described in the song.