Party Shuffle Time: Keith Urban Rules All

Hello friendlies.

I’ll start this post by making one thing clear: I AM SICK. And I know everyone is sick of hearing it (hi family!) but I really really just don’t feel good. So I may or may not make sense.

And on that bright note…

I feel like talking about music. And in order to do so I’m going to hit the little “party shuffle” button on my iTunes and talk about the songs that come up. Fun, right?

No?

Okay, well I don’t see you coming up with any better ideas so here we go.

I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight by Toby Keith:
When you become a mature adult you’ll learn to love country music. Toby Keith = awesome. I would expound but… no expounding is needed.

The Puppy Song by Harry Nilsson:
If you’ve seen ‘You’ve Got Mail’ you may remember this as the song that plays in the beginning, when the city changes from a computer animated-looking landscape to an actual city. That movie is my all time favorite and could stop wars if people would just learn to unleash the power of it, so of course every song on the soundtrack makes me very full of happiness. If you haven’t seen the movie, I command you to rent it (or better yet BUY IT) STAT.

I Thought You Knew by Keith Urban:
Umm, this song is sad. Great. Amazing. Wonderful. But sad. Also: I used to really be against Keith Urban. I think because he was a druggie and I am against that sort of thing on principle… but now I love him. I just bought his Greatest Hits CD last week actually. So yeah. There you go.

But for the Grace of God by Keith Urban:
Nearly two thousand songs on my iTunes, yet when I hit Party Shuffle two of his songs come up BACK TO BACK. But I’m not arguing. I like songs like this, songs that talk about the lives of different people. The couple fighting in the house over, the man who’s filthy rich yet has no friends, etc.

Too Late Now by Jane Monheit:
I haven’t heard this song in a while. Jane Monheit sings jazz, which is interesting to me. Beautiful, but beautiful in an “artistic” way – not necessarily the stuff I’d listen to on repeat ad nauseam.

Fly by Hilary Duff:
Not one of her best songs but if you take the lyrics by themselves, without the music, they’re pretty good. Cliche, but there’s a reason cliches become cliches, right? (Besides, many of Hilary Duff’s songs are just cliches strung together and set to music.)

To Be With You by Jamie O’Neal:
More cliches! But the melody to this song? Oh. My. Its great, really great. I love the strumming in the background. (I knew there was a reason I highjacked our Jamie O’Neal CD when Mom was ready to throw it out.)

If I Could by Jack Johnson:
You know, it sounds so island-y and carefree, but when you listen to the lyrics it’s all about a guy who wishes he could fix things. He sings about talking to a friend on the phone and says, “the doctor gives him two weeks to live, I’d give him more, if I could.” It’s really very sad when you think about it and I think we all (or at least I) have those moments where we wish we could just fix everything for those around us. I have that feeling all the time, every day, for many different people. If only I could.

Letter Song by Tyler Hilton:
Ahh, the song that made me fall in love with Tyler Hilton’s music. Just go listen to it. You won’t be disappointed. More people need to become fans of this guy; he’s awesome. Also, a little fact for your infotainment: he was the guy who played the role of Elvis in ‘Walk the Line.’

Balaclava by Artic Monkeys:
You know what? I really have no idea what most or any of their songs are about, and for the most part they all run together in this great big mess of THIS IS ARTIC MONKEYS, but I like them anyway.

It’s a Love Thing by Keith Urban:
Okay, officially checking how many Keith Urban songs I have on here…. 31. 31 compared to 43 Faith Hill songs and how many of hers have shown up? But anyway. This song is the first song of Keith Urban’s that I really liked, and by that I mean that even when I didn’t like Keith Urban I still had a thing for this song. It’s fun and upbeat and good.

Dancing in the Dark by Jane Monheit:
This song starts out all instrumental and quiet and slightly creepy, or at least sad. And then her voice comes in all quiet and slow. It’s not exactly gripping.

I Love This Bar by Toby Keith:
YES! I love this song! Love love love love love! That’s all I can say except for that everyone should love this song because it is awesome and great and awesome and… oh I need more positive adjectives, don’t I? (Seriously though, I’m pausing this post to listen to the whole song. You can listen to whatever dredge you have on your iTunes while I listen to this. No offense of course, I’m sure you all have FABULOUS songs on your iTunes.)

Love Ain’t Like That by Faith Hill:
Hmm, complain about Faith Hill not showing up on your Party Shuffle and she appears! I’ve actually been listening to this song a lot lately, even though it’s older. From her… first CD? I’m not sure. And yes, you could say that this song is a string of cliches too, but I refuse to listen to that nonsense. This song is poetry. Beauty. Go listen.

Dueling Banjos by someone or other:
I’m sure this song has an original artist, but I’m not sure who it was. I have this song from a CD I bought at a Ross or thrift store or something, and “Zza” is listed as the artist for all the songs, even though I think they’re the actual original artists. I don’t know. It’s a weird CD. But a good song.

Mona Lisa by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole:
My mom bought me this CD when she was in Hawaii. And the music is in Hawaiian. Besides that fact, it’s a very odd CD because apparently the singer died and these were put together after his death… so they’re not actual recordings? I’m a bit unclear on that but this is a nice song. I mean, this is the first time I’ve really listened to it, but I like it.

Die Alone by Ingrid Michaelson:
When I first saw the title of this song I was like WOW THAT IS MORBID, DUDE, but it’s a very good song. It begins with the line, “I woke up this morning, a funny taste in my head,” and I’ve been struggling for a while to decide the story of this song, and I think I’ve finally got it. Are you ready? You are? Okay. It’s about a girl who used to be in dastardly love with this boy and she thought if she didn’t end up with him she’d die alone. He really broke her heart. She really loved him. But he didn’t love her. And to make a very long story and process short, the girl in the song gets to the point where she realizes she can’t love him anymore, but she can find someone else, and sh says, “maybe I won’t die alone…”  At least, that’s my interpretation. I could be wrong. That happens on occasion. But Ingrid Michaelson’s songs are difficult to understand sometimes and whenever I don’t “get” a song I make it my job to either come to understand it or just invent on my own what it means.

Grace Kelly by MIKA:
You just have to listen to this song. NOW. “Why don’t you like me why don’t you like me??”

 Heart it Races by Dr. Dog:
Two things about this song. (a) It is on the RED the book CD, so ALL KINDS OF YAYNESS FOR THAT!! and (b) my iTunes had the artist/title mixed up, so I had to fix that real quick. I love this song, I love this CD. It is so great. For the whole first semester after the book came out and I got the CD I would listen to the songs on repeat on my way to school in the morning. Good memories are associated with these songs, yessir.

Safe From Harm by Massive Attack:
One of the few songs of theirs that I absolutely adore, seeing as how I bought the CD for about three bucks at a used bookstore in SFO because it had the theme song to House on it. And what’s that line I like so much in this song? Oh yeah, “I was looking back to see if you were looking back to see if you were looking back at me to see me looking back at you.” Phew.

So there you have it. Twenty songs from my library. And this was really fun to do… maybe I’ll make it a regular thing? Party Shuffle Time! Party Shuffle with Jordyn! Yay? Or Nay?

Vote here:

And please, if you say there should be a different music feature, elaborate in the comments. I love comments!