Besties

I was thinking last night about the important role music plays in my life.  You may not know this about me, but I tend to relate how I’m feeling or whatever’s going on in my life to the songs in my vast collection of music.  Whenever I’m in a funk or feeling down, I just throw on my iTunes and let the music do its thing.

I tend to go for music with good lyrics; there aren’t many songs I can just listen to because I enjoy how they sound (I’m a bit of a snob).  That’s not to say that I never listen to silly music.  In high school there was a time when I listened almost exclusively to pop punk bands like Blink 182, Sum 41, and New Found Glory.  I still have a bunch of them in my music collection and will put them on from time to time, but for the most part I tend to enjoy songs that go a little bit deeper than rebelling against “the man.” 

One of the things I like most about music is where it can take you.  The best songs evoke something, stir something deep inside of you and fill your head with beautiful, funny, sexy, and sometimes sad, images.  For example, when I hear Ghost by Neutral Milk Hotel, I envision a motorcycle stuntman preparing for the jump of his life, realizing as he prepares that he will likely not survive.  Great songs also stir the passion inside us.  For example, whenever I hear Say Anything’s Alive with the Glory of Love I think of a guy showing up to a girls house, with that song blasting, walking up to her and the two of them just ravaging each other, National Geographic style.  I’m weird, I know.

The list below is of my all-time favorite songs.  It was originally only suppose to be 10 songs long, but I quickly realized that I would be leaving out some gems so I expanded the list to the top 20 in my collection.  Some of these songs I’ve had for a long time and others have only recently come into my life.  This list will most definitely change over time, but as of right now, these are my favorites (gush!), in no particular order.

Elliott Smith – The Biggest Lie

Say Anything – Alive with the Glory of Love

Iron & Wine – The Trapeze Swinger

Cursive – From the Hips

Josh Ritter – Come and Find Me

Neutral Milk Hotel – Ghost

Nick Drake – Parasite

Nirvana – All Apologies

The Shins – New Slang

Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day

The Weakerthans – Left and Leaving

The Shins – The Past and Pending

Coldplay – Don’t Panic

Bright Eyes – At the Bottom of Everything

Bon Iver – Skinny Love

The Beatles – Across the Universe

Beirut – Nantes

The Morning Benders – Excuses

The Postal Service – Such Great Heights

Vampire Weekend – Giving Up the Gun