All Or Nothing : The Mix Tape To End All Mix Tapes

Well, a mix tape.

I'd love to just throw the songs up here and say enjoy, oh and also please comment on how awesome the songs are and how even more awesome I am for selecting them, but instead I have to give a short explanation for WHY these songs qualify in the category of Memories Frozen in Time. I even asked Tiff, who spearheaded this particular Internet mix tape thing, if I really had to give the memory-laden explanation. What if the song in question reminds me of puking? Or of the first time I got my period? I mean, do my readers really want to know about that? What about my brothers? But Tiff would not relent; she said I absolutely had to explain why the songs mean something to me, and also that she didn't want to hear any more lip about it. Luckily, in her infinite grace, Tiff told me that I could use revisionist history if need be (also, if you're easily bored you can just scroll down to the bottom where all the songs are listed).

So without further ado, allow me to present my mix tape:

Memories Frozen in Time

1. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
All I have to hear is the first kazoo whistle in this song and I am immediately transported back to Texas Tech Fashion Design, junior year, Spring semester, Flat Pattern II. I spent so many hours sprawled out on my (tiny) living room floor in my (tiny) apartment with half-constructed pattern paper, muslin, and various cutting/measuring tools strewn around me, listening to Highway 61 Revisited (the album) over and over. And over. And over!

2. Coldplay - Amsterdam
I dated this one guy for a long time. He never really liked me as much as I liked him, or vice-versa, always at opposite times. I used to drive to visit him, and lots of times the route I chose took me through these gorgeous caprock canyons, right in the heart of West Texas. I would listen to this song as loud as I could crank it, because it was just so beautiful.

3. Dixie Chicks - Cowboy Take Me Away
My first couple of years in college, I had these two best friends who eventually broke my heart into one million pieces (don't worry, there's a song about that, too!). Anyway, before all that happened, one of them and I would drive to Waco to watch baseball games, or just to anywhere we felt like, for any reason we could think up. We listened to this song a lot, and I still can't listen to it without remembering riding shotgun in her black Isuzu Rodeo.

4. Fiona Apple - Get Gone
Ooh, this is a woman power song. Well, maybe it isn't actually, but it was for me. This was my senior year of college, still at Texas Tech, broken up with boy from song #2, and kind of in that bitter/angry/triumphant stage. Does it go without saying that I would sing along as loudly as possible? I think so.

5. Guns N' Roses - Patience
This one has two strong memories for me, and both are good. The first is from junior high summer camp, where one of the boys who worked in the kitchen played this song for me on the very last night of camp, on his guitar, while we sat under the stars at White Sands, New Mexico. I think I was 13 years old. It was very romantical. The second memory is much more recent, from a night spent karaokeing when I lived in Las Colinas, and our friend Derrick sang this song and BROUGHT THE FREAKING HOUSE DOWN. Seriously, he was so good it was kind of incredible. Also, right after that Cody left and got rear-ended by an illegal immigrant outside of a Tejano strip club. While he was driving my mom's new car. Yay!

6. John Mayer - Split Screen Sadness
A breakup. A long distance breakup, that took too long to happen. Obviously.

7. Josh Kelley - Special Company
This barely qualifies as a memory, since it reminds me specifically and strongly of The Rock Boat, which we just went on this past January. Josh Kelley was one of the artists on board, and although I wasn't surprised at how good he was, having already been a fan, I was surprised at how cool he turned out to be. And no, Katherine Heigl wasn't on board. Because I know you'll ask.

8. Lee Ann Womack - I Know Why The River Runs
Okay, this is the girlfriends-broke-my-heart song. I won't go into all the details in this short format, but suffice it to say I spent the better part of a semester in my room, alone (because they had moved out - surprise!), listening to this song on repeat. I know it's about a guy, but in my experience, girls can hurt you SO much worse. You kind of half-way expect it from a guy, but I never expected it from my girlfriends. What can I say, I was naive.

9. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
Muse is my second favorite band ever and this song reminds me of rocking out. Yep, that's pretty much it. Just rocking out, hardcore. Because that's how I do it. I dare you to not rock out to this song. It can't be done.

10. Radiohead - My Iron Lung
Speaking of favorite bands, Radiohead is my number one favorite for sure. This song reminds me of lots of things: a 2001 New Year's Eve party in Frankfurt, Germany, my friend Heather Dalton (hi Heather, if you ever read this!) from Texas Tech (specifically a memory of going to watch that Adam Sandler movie 'Punch-Drunk Love'), and meeting my friend Kyle Lent, a rockstar fellow I bonded with almost solely through our mutual adoration for Radiohead and Sigur Ros. Hi, Kyle! Wow, was that random enough? And probably boring? Yeah. At least it didn't have anything to do with unrequited love or ex-boyfriends.

11. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh)
Have you ever listened to a song and thought "oh my gosh, my whole life is about to change, and somehow I feel this song is directly related"? Well, I have, and I thought that about this song specifically, in or around June 2006. I kept waiting for this major life changing event to occur, because I was just certain that this song would be the harbinger. Alas, nothing huge happened, and although I could cheat now, nearly two years later, and list all the things that have changed between '06 and '08, it wasn't anything earth-shattering. Doesn't stop me from remembering Summer '06 every time I hear that opening guitar riff, though.

12. Wyclef Jean - We Trying To Stay Alive
This reminds me of my old friend Paige Smith, pure and simple. We used to bring her jambox (ahh, high school) and blast this song full volume as we danced around her hot tub in our swimsuits. She would rap one verse and I would get the next and we would always argue over who got to sing "Johnny's chillin'/ Dirty guy's dealin'/What more can I say, we livin'"

13. Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
Definitely, definitely my last year at Texas Tech, free of all boyfriend-related encumbrances, driving to the airport to visit my brothers and friends in California. I felt like the world was my oyster and Bjork captured my thoughts exactly with her "I don't know my future/After this weekend/And I don't want to"

14. Van Morrison - I'll Be Your Lover Too
This song doesn't really remind me of anything except the movie I originally heard it in, 'Moonlight Mile' - a great flick and one I would definitely recommend if you haven't seen it already. Anyway, all that I could think when I first heard the song is what a freaking great makeout song it would be, and I have been secretly plotting to use it for my own devices soon. Feel free to follow suit and do let me know how your makeout session turns out. If the feel of the song is any indication, it's gonna be AWESOME.

And the compiled list, sans wordiness:

1. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

2. Coldplay - Amsterdam

3. Dixie Chicks - Cowboy Take Me Away

4. Fiona Apple - Get Gone

5. Guns N' Roses - Patience

6. John Mayer - Split Screen Sadness

7. Josh Kelley - Special Company

8. Lee Ann Womack - I Know Why The River Runs

9. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole

10. Radiohead - My Iron Lung

11. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh)

12. Wyclef Jean - We Trying To Stay Alive

13. Bjork - Big Time Sensuality

14. Van Morrison - I'll Be Your Lover Too