Running soundtrack: song list

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I think I've mentioned here before that I'm training for my first half-marathon.  It has been quite an experience, and one day, when I have more time (most likely after the race), I'll write about it.  But, let's just say that you know all those things you hear about running?  Well, they are true.  This has been an exhilarating journey, thus far.

And since music is a big part of my life and my need to have a soundtrack for every experience, situation or challenge in my life, I created a running soundtrack to get me through training.  It's an hour of songs that push and motivate me during the series of arguments that go on in my head.  They're in this order for a reason, too.  You'll see below.

  

Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas

I personally don't like the lyrics of this song, and I'm ignoring whatever meaning it has.

But I love the beat, and in the beginning of the run, I need that push.  The beat of this

song gives me that, and my brain ignores the other parts that I don't really care for, and

all I hear is Pump it ... Pump it ... Don't stop and keep it going ...

Do it, let's get it on, move it!

By the end of the song, I'm warmed up and pumped up to go for that long run.

Jump by Pointer Sisters

An oldie is always good.  And I love the beat of this song, too.  Since I'm warmed up, it just

makes me want to jump and dance during my run.  Of course, it has nothing to do with running

(as all of the songs), but again, it makes me feel good and just so happy to be running.

Jump, I know my heart can make you happy

Jump in ... Jump ... Jump

Bust a Move by Young MC

Another oldie, but this song always makes me want to keep dancing, moving.

Since I'm one of those runners that doesn't get their wind until after the first mile and a half,

the early minutes of my run needs a lot of encouraging.  The part of my brain that wants

to stop is much louder so this song reminds me to just bust a move ...

You're on a mission and your wishin'

Someone could cure your lonely condition

Looking for love in all the wrong places ...

Some frustration first inclination ...

But every dark tunnel has a light of hope...

...

You run over there without a second to lose

And what comes next hey bust a move

Let's Go Crazy by Prince

Because you can never have too much of Prince.  This song starts out slow, but it's the

early part of the run when I tell myself it's okay to slow down and pace myself, and then,

well, it's time to just go crazy.  

Teenage Dream by Katy Perry

This is where I confess that I love Katy Perry songs.  They are just upbeat and the lyrics

just pushes me to go beyond my comfort zone.

Let's run away and 

don't ever look back, 

don't ever look back.

Last Friday Night by Katy Perry

Okay, this song reminds me of an out-of-control frat/college party.  So, the lyrics don't really

do much for me.  But, I love the beat.  And turns my run into a dance party.

California Girls by Katy Perry

I know, more Katy Perry.  I'm just continuing on with my Katy Perry party at this point.

Having a good time in my run.  And hey, it doesn't hurt that running does do a body good: fit.

Firework by Katy Perry

Now, I do love the lyrics of this song, because sometimes, I just feel that way.

And running helps me get through those times.

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag

Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin

Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep six feet under?

Scream but no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you

'Cause there's a spark in you?

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine

Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause, baby, you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"

As you shoot across the sky...

Express Yourself by Madonna

This starts my Madonna series, but the ones on my song list are the covers done 

by the Glee cast (no surprise!).  Although, I do love Madonna, I just happen

to also have the Glee's Tribute to Madonna album.  So, this song?  Need I say more?

Madonna songs make me feel angry (in a good way).  Maybe that's not the way to 

put it, but they do remind me: You can do this.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Don't go for second best baby

Put your love to the test

Borderline by Madonna

This song starts slow, too, so it's the part of my run when I'm reminded to pace myself.

Again, absolutely nothing to do with running.  But this song reminds me of heartache.

It makes my heart hurt.  But, then, it pulls me up and tells me to get over it.  Just move on.

Keep going.  Don't let anyone take the best of you away.

Stop playing with my heart

Finish what you start

Open Your Heart by Madonna

I don't know why this song pushes me to run.  I think it's the energy of the song.

I'm leaning on pure emotion at this point.  I'm getting my energy from it.

Dress You Up by Madonna

I just like this song.  Picks up the beat and I'm done with all the emotional part.

I'm feeling empowered again and determined to keep on running.

Don't Stop Believing by Journey

Again, I have the Glee version on my song list.  This song just inspires me.

At this point, I'm about forty-five minutes (or more) into the run.  And I'm

reminded to just keep on going.

Working hard to get my fill

Everybody wants a thrill

Payin' anything to roll the dice just one more time

Some will win, some will lose

Some were born to sing the blues

Oh, the movie never ends

It goes on and on and on and on

...

Don't stop believin'

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) by Kelly Clarkson

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller

Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

What doesn't kill you makes a fighter

Footsteps even lighter

Doesn't mean I've over cause you're gone

Roar by Katy Perry

Yes, I'm ending with a Katy Perry song.  But, nearing the hour of my run, I'm feeling great.

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath

Scared to rock the boat and make a mess

So I sat quietly, agreed politely

I guess that I forgot I had a choice

I let you push me past the breaking point

I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

You held me down, But I got up

Already brushing off the dust

You hear my voice, you hear that sound

Like thunder gonna shake your ground

You held me down, but I got up

Get ready 'cause I've had enough

I see it all, I see it now

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire

'Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar

Louder, louder than a lion ...

Now, that's my running soundtrack.  Do you have a running song list?

on repeat

This song seriously gives me chills. 

Still so in love with it.

I've been feeling good all day.

Just excited and happy.

About what?  I don't know.

Just because.

It's Wednesday.

What better reason could there be!

But, seriously, if I didn't have to sit in my office,

reading and typing away on some legal memorandum,

I'd be dancing and singing around at some inconspicuous dive bar.

Wait, I think that's what I'm doing tonight!

Okay, save the dancing and singing and inconspicuous dive bar part.

But, I am going out.

On a school work night.

My friends will be proud.

Hey, I'm proud of myself.

Will let you know how I do.

Happy Wednesday!

Soundtrack: pieces of my heart

Today's topic for the Challenge is five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories.  I love this topic since I have this visceral reaction to music.  It speaks directly to my heart.  And makes me realize things I was unaware of before.  Before I heard the song.  Feelings I didn't even know I had.  Or existed.

I used to collect soundtracks, and even though it has been a long time since I've actually bought one, I always pay attention to the music that they choose for particular scenes in television shows and movies.  When I'm working on my novel, I always go to music to inspire specific scenes or feelings.  I actually have a soundtrack specifically for writing time.  I have a soundtrack for my novel.  So, it's no wonder I have a soundtrack that traces the pieces of my heart.

Don't Know Why by Norah Jones

Reminds me of my last semester of law school, and picnic dinners in my barely furnished

apartment with the guy who taught me about being in love.

La Cienega Just Smiled by Ryan Adams

The summer of 2003.  Sometimes the best kind of love is the kind that takes you by surprise.

The Reason by Hoobastank

When things ended with that guy who taught me about being in love, I couldn't listen to this

song without burying my face in my hands and soaking it with tears.  I never thought a song

could break my heart as much as this one did.

Kite by U2

Reminds me that letting go doesn't have to mean that love is forever gone.

Every time I hear this song, it crushes my heart and restores it all at once.  It's amazing.


Myth by Beach House
The pain that comes with realization.
"It's never as it seems."

Okay, I'm cheating on this one and listing more than five because I need to include these songs:

So Cruel by U2

One of my most favorite U2 songs.  Inspires me to write because the lyrics just

rips me to pieces.  I wish I could write such brilliant poetry.

Yellow by Coldplay

Because I love Coldplay.  And every time I hear this song, I just fall in love.

Again and again.

What songs speak to you?

rememberin' '80's music

There's something romantic about the '80's ~ a cheesy, but incredibly hopeful and heartfelt romanticism that's missing in today's times.   

There's definitely something about '80's love songs that tug at my heart.  Remember this?

thursday's tune

So, I'm on this soundtrack quest.  Creating a new soundtrack for my book ... writing.  I've somewhat changed the story since I first started it (many years ago), and well, I've changed since I started it, so, I thought that I should create a new soundtrack.

(And well, since I've been watching a lot of Felicity lately, thought I'd post this video with the song.)

So, where does this song fall in the book ...?  Hmmm, I think beginning of Act II. 

Happy thursday, everyone!

Madness

I ... I can't get these memories out of my mind.
And some kind of madness
Has started to evolve.

And I ... I tried so hard to let you go.
But some kind of madness
Is swallowing me whole, yeah.

I have finally seen the light.
And I ... have finally realized
What you mean.

And now, I need to know is this real love
Or is it just madness
Keeping us afloat?

And when I look back, at all the crazy fights we had,
Like some kind of madness
Was taking control.

And now I have finally seen the light,
And I ... have finally realized,
What you need.

And now I have finally seen the end,
(Finally seen the end)
And I'm ... I'm expecting you to care,
(Expecting you to care)
And I ... have finally seen the light,
(Finally seen the light)
And I ... have finally realized,
(Realized)

I need to love
I need to love

Come to me,
Trust in your dream,
Come on and rescue me.
Yes, I know, I can't be wrong
Baby, you're too head-strong
Our love is ....

Ma-ma-ma-mad-mad-madness.


I think I've mentioned more than enough times how I listen to music when I write, and how I even create "soundtracks" for my stories.  So, anyhow, the other day, I was in my car and this song came on.  I've heard it before but never really listened to it until that day.  I guess it came on at just the right time as I was going over a scene from my book in my head, and well, I have to be honest here and say that lately, I've had a hard time writing.  I've been stuck on fragmented scenes.  They're not flowing.  I know it's because I've been really busy with work so the book has been in the back burner for awhile, but I'm trying really hard to not let it stay there too long because I know how difficult it is to go back to it.  Thus, when I'm in my car, and can't do any legal work, I brainstorm.  I write in my head.  But for awhile, I had been going over the same fragmented, shallow scenes in circles.  I hit a wall.  I just had scenes with not much emotion.  And I need emotions!  I need to feel it to write it.  And I hadn't been feeling it.  Then, this song came on.  And bam!  I heard.  I finally listened.  To the music.  To the words.  And the scene just came together.  It's as if this song was written for my character.  And I saw it, I heard it ... playing during that turning point in her story when she finally realized what she had been doing wrong, and she finally saw what she needed to do: love him.

But, loving him can mean many things.  So, you'd have to read the book to find out what that means for her.  :)

By the way, I love this song. 

another thursday tune.

Sorry for all the music posts.  But when I write, I always look for music to inspire me.  To evoke certain images and emotions that I want to convey.  (I even make soundtracks for my stories.  And my characters.) 

Anyhow, Ben Harper has this voice that makes me want to close my eyes, and just sway.  Surrender to the music.  And when I do, the story just comes to me.

I found this cover that Ben Harper did.  And wow!  That's all I can say.  But, I can write for another couple of hours. :) 

thursday's tune.

Working on writs have this weird effect on me - gets me excited and just a little nutty, sometimes.  I love legal research.  If that's not nutty enough.  I had an assistant tell me that watching me work on writs or motions is like watching a scientist at work, but instead of having tubes and burners, I have the computer screen and keyboard.  And if my hands are not on the keyboard, they are speaking in some kind of sign language that only I probably understand.

I get into this zone when I write.  Whether they be stories or legal pleadings.  And I speak when I write.  And yes, I do speak with my hands, too.  But something about the legal analysis that goes into a writ, the procedural arguments that always includes research into legislative histories, gives me some kind of high (and I mean that in a very legal [non-criminal] sense).  I love discovering distinctions between cases, especially when the law (case law) is against us.

But, staying in the zone for a long time can be a little harmful to my brain (and maybe to my well-being).  It's like being sucked into the Black Hole.  So, I make sure to pull myself out of there, just to allow my brain to breathe a little.  Life is not in the black print of codes, statutes, and regulations.  It's definitely not in the oftentimes horrific facts that make up these cases.  So, I need my outs.

Music gives me my outs.

And U2.  Absolutely.

I went to this concert.  By far, the best concert I've ever been to.

My friend and I bought the tickets last minute, and paid a lot of money.  But, it was worth it.  We were smiling the whole night.  And the next day, I was still smiling.  Makes me smile right now thinking about it.

thursday's tune.

It's been awhile since I posted a U2 song.  Although there are times, that's all I need. 

(I love how Bono introduced this song here.)

2012 theme song.

Don't know much about your life
Don't know much about your world
But don't want to be alone tonight
On this planet they call Earth

You don't know about my past
And I don't have a future figured out
And maybe this is going too fast
And maybe it's not meant to last

But what do you say to taking chances?
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay
What do you say, what do you say?

I just want to start again
Maybe you could show me how to try
May you could take me in
Somewhere underneath your skin

What do you say to taking chances?
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay
What do you say, what do you say?

And I had my heart beating down
But I always come back for more, yeah
There's nothing like love to pull you up
When you're lying down on the floor there
So talk to me, talk to me like lovers do
Yeah, walk with me, walk with me like lovers do

Don't know much about your life
Don't know much about your world.

Yellow.

I am a huge Coldplay fan.  And after seeing them in concert a couple of years ago, my love for them (esp. Chris Martin) was sealed.  And although I absolutely love most of their songs, this song touches me in a different way.  It claimed my heart the moment I heard it.

But, I was a delayed Coldplay fan.  I discovered them after they had already released their first two albums.  I discovered them the summer I was studying for the Bar exam.  I remember I was sitting in my car, in the parking lot of where my review class was held, and trying to concentrate on another set of 10 multiple choice questions, which I routinely did before each class.  But, I couldn't concentrate.  My mind was at the upcoming Bar exam, whether I had time to go to the bank, whether I had money in the bank, my Europe trip after the Bar, and the "boy" I was (unknowingly) falling in love with.  My mind was everywhere except those 10 questions I was supposed to answer.  And then, this song came on the radio.  Immediately, a sweeping calmness came over me.  Everything that was crowding my mind disappeared, and I was left with this song.  And for the first time that summer, everything was clear.  Everything made sense.  My heart spoke, and I heard it.

So, every time I hear this song, I remember that day.  I remember that feeling of clarity.  Of love.  Of undeniable, life-changing, exciting, silly-can't-stop-smiling, breathtaking, don't-want-to-be-without-you kind of love.  The kind of love that needed no words.  Just a look and we knew.  The smile in our eyes said it all.  This song reminds me that kind of love is real.  It is possible.  It exists.

It reminds me that no matter what happened, I became a better person because of that love.  And that I am forever grateful (and feel extremely lucky blessed) to have experienced it.  All.  The confusion, the messiness, the tears, the anger, the disappointments, the heartache, the lowest lows and the highest highs, the excitement, the happiness.  And especially, the laughter.  We laughed.  We talked.  A lot.  But boy, did we laugh.  That's what I remember the most.  How much we laughed. 

I believe people come into our lives for a reason.  He came into mine to make me realize what I needed.  What I wanted.  Every time I hear this song, and I think of him, I remember: the man I marry will be the one who makes me laugh even when my heart is breaking.

been one of those days

When I need music.  When my body thirsts for it.  Craves it.

I love these two.  Didn't even know they toured together.  :(  I love this Death Cab for Cutie song, and Mat and Ingrid singing it just blows me away.  The moment Mat started with "love of mine", I was completely drawn.  In awe.  And I felt happy.

That's the thing about music.  It can break me to pieces (in a good way), turn me into a sobbing mess, and make me happy (in the best way) all at the same time.  It really is the best therapy.

Hope you enjoy their cover as much as I did.  I can listen to these two all night.  All day.  And I'll be the happiest person alive.

Have a good night! 




 

Wait.

Have you ever heard a song, and instantly, your heart broke?  One minute you were one whole person and the next minute, you became someone completely different?

Changed.

Well, this song did that to me. 

Then, the other night, while watching the season finale of Parenthood, I realized something: we never know.  We won't know how we'll feel about a given situation until we're right there, faced with it.  And I know, it's a little "nutty" that a television show made me realize that, but it did.  And afterwards, I was a mess.  I never thought a show and a wedding and a Bob Dylan song* could make me cry like that.  But, it did.  And again, I was changed.   

We'll never know who we'll end up loving.  Until we meet that person.  Or, unfortunately, sometimes, not until we lose that person.   

A long time ago, I heard someone say, I didn't know what I was missing until I found it. 

Well, I didn't know what that person meant, until I felt it.

We just never know.

I never knew this song would break my heart until I heard it.  And I felt it.

I'll wait for  you, I'll wait for you alone
And I'll wait for you, I'll wait for you alone.



*Maybe it was the fact that it was a cover of the Bob Dylan song that I posted a couple of days ago (hint: the one Adele did a cover of).  Who would've thunk?

on making the imagined life real + the songs that transport me

2011 was a great year. 

Then, it wasn't.

November came, and my heart broke to pieces.

But, after two days of crying every five minutes (and thus, having to work with my office door shut because I didn't want everyone to see me in tears), after questioning the things I thought to be real, and after questioning myself and my ability to recognize truth versus my own made-up fantasy of a certain relationship or situation, I woke up. 

And I realized, then, that perhaps, I needed to find myself completely broken (again) to pick up the pieces.  I guess, at that point, I had no other choice but to do that.  I mean, I can wallow, feel sorry for myself, but what good would it do?  So, I vowed to make 2012 the year of doing things. 

This year, I am going to live the life I had imagined.

Make it real.

And to report on my progress, it's been a pretty good start.

* * * 

Now, on a completely different note, it's Thursday.  Time for music of the week.  But this time, I decided to make it about music that transports me in time.  Because songs have a tendency to do that.  They are like time machines.  

Wild Horses by The Sundays

Brings me back to afternoons at my desk, when I was working as a legal assistant,

pre-law school, but just wanting so much to be a writer.  So, during my breaks,

I read screenplays for the producer I worked as a reader for,

and feeling, this is the best job ever!

The Reason by Hoobastank

Sitting in the car with someone I loved so dearly, and just wanting so badly to freeze time,

or fast-forward it to when I was ready to be with him.  Again.  For good.

Don't Know Why by Norah Jones

That year of firsts.  First year in my very own place, when I couldn't afford a

coffee table, and dinner picnics on the living room floor was the best part of my day.

Hands by Jewel

Sitting at the park, up the hill from where I used to live.  And writing.  Searching.

I knew what I wanted, but I didn't quite know that I could have it.
That I could be it.

I know it has taken me a very long time.  Sometimes, it takes me awhile

to realize things, but now, I can see it. 

And I could. 

I will.