Songs of Experience

I'm no professional critic, so this review is as much about me as it is about dgm's musical selections. I'm sitting here packing and thinking about moving out of my parents' house, and pretty much never coming back. This summer was probably the last extended period of time I'll ever live here. So there are certain messages that I am, well let's say "ready to hear." But what else do you expect from a blog? And maybe the mix I got is more thought-provoking than the collection of noise I mailed WhyLaw.

The mixtape "Songs I Never Get Tired of Listening To" opens like a firework sent up into an empty night sky. It starts off with a burst of energy from the Black Eyed Peas, and their exuberance fans out into whimsy with the charmingly old-school Rappers' Delight. From her writing at Sunny Side Up, dgm looks to be a big Jason Mraz fan, and the album's mood begins to mellow early on when he shows up with a sweeping Tonight, Not Again that for some reason recalls Tracy Chapman. The Foo Fighters classic Everlong deepens the bittersweet mood with their ballad about joy shout through with foreshadowings of loss. The Beatles ease us the rest of the way down with slightly plaintive calm as the final embers slowly fade out.

Maybe it's just the emotional space I'm in as I sit here packing to go away, but I hear the album as being about emotional maturity, about finally growing up. Except for Dinner Bell. I can't make head or tail of that song, so I'm skipping it here. We get some velvety ruminations on ambiguity from Nat King Cole and a dose of worldly cynicism from Liz Phair. One of my favorite tracks is from Joni Mitchell; California is about homecomings, but also new beginnings. It makes me homesick without even having left yet.

Sittin' in a park in Paris France
reading the news and it sure looks bad
they won't give peace a chance
that was just a dream some of us had
Still a lot of lights to see
but I wouldn't want to stay here
it's too old and cold and settled in its ways.
Ah but California ...
California coming home

We get a gently updated Fur Elise, where I hear a statement about the enduring value of classical beauty. Also, it reminds me for some reason of the Gypsy Kings cover of Hotel California from The Big Lebowski. Maybe Mark Knipfler is singing about living up to your destiny, and Willie Nelson is certainly singing (in one of my other favorites, which almost made in onto my mix) about how some decisions can't be unmade. We hear more about dealing with loss and sadness form Natalie Merchant. Finally, I love the contrast between the desperate confusion of What's Going On and the ultimate embrace of all this difficulty and complexity in Life Is Wonderful. What does it mean that I see the final synthesis in the work of someone as young as Mr. Mraz? Can't be sure about that. But that's okay.

Track List

Pump It Up - Black Eyed Peas
Rappers' Delight - Sugarhill Gang
Tonight, Not Again - Jason Mraz
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Blackbird - The Beatles
Mona Lisa - Nat King Cole
Dinner Bell - They Might Be Giants
Rockville - REM
Shitloads of Money - Liz Phair
California - Joni Mitchell
Fur Elise - Galaxy Trio
One Tree Hill - U2
The Letter - Natalie Merchant
Sailing to Philadelphia - Mark Knipfler
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys - Willie Nelson
Life Is Wonderful - Jason Mraz
Change Is GOnna Come - Gavin DeGraw

Thanks dgm!