Pt. 1

Junk, by Paul McCartney, from McCartney
-I first heard this on one of the Beatles anthologies, and then there was a sweet instrumental version ("singalong junk") in Jerry Maguire after they first go out to dinner at that Mexican restaurant and then kiss on the front porch. It's really very sweet. Very McCartney, acoutic-y.

Narc, by Interpol, from Antics
-anything by Interpol makes me feel like something from an action movie is about to happen, and I get vaguely nervous. I don't know why. I saw them at the Belmont and Sheffield street festival back in the summer of '03 with Zack and Jessica, and, maybe Alan Bailey? I am certain that O'Holleran was with us, because he liked that band with the Japanese girls that I didn't care about. I don't remember it well. Only that I had invited Kelly Doodeman and she didn't come, and that I really liked Interpol live much better than their record, and that it was a great summer. It really was. I think it was the best summer I've ever had.

Tampa to Tulsa, by the Jayhawks, from Rainy Day Music
-This used to be a song that I listened to in the spring of '03 when Libby Ford had dumped me and I got super dramatic and blah blah blah. I bought the album in D.C. when O'Holleran and I were at a "leadership conference", running up $200 bar tabs for three nights in a row. We had a really good time that weekend. The memory seared into my head about this song is taking a long, long walk in the early morning down to the parking garage on Harrison after staying up all night, and being all "woe is me, time to super-brood".

The Electric Version, by the New Pornographers, from Electric Version
-My God! The summer of '03 is a recurring theme here! This album was played nonstop during shower-time in both bathrooms of our apartment above Francesca's, along with Rilo Kiley and Postal Service. Another song that reminds me of being reborn in that summer, playing catch in the park with Nicholas and Kevin and Jay, being sweaty and happy and drunk and having absolutely no clue what was going to come next, only that it would be exciting. And it was.
This never has never, ever, failed to excite me.

There Goes the Fear, by Doves, from the Last Broadcast
-Nate Luman and Amanda Winterroth: if those two as a couple had a theme that I immediately relate to them, it's this song. They were visiting one weekend and Nate kept talking about what an amazing record this was, and he was right. Usually I can forget who reccomended an album, but this is eternally the album that is Nate and Amanda.
When were they visiting, you may ask?
The fucking summer of '03!
What the hell? My iPod may be possessed.

Lonesome Day, by Bruce Springsteen, from The Rising
-What to say about this one, except that I love almost everything that Springsteen does the same way that die-hard Tom Waits fans feel about him, or that Dylanologists do about him. Got the record from Nathan when he was visiting (with Amanda!), and listened to it constantly; he even gave me a promo poster that I put up on my wall when we first moved above Francesca's.
"House is on fire, viper's in the grass, a little revenge and this too shall pass". . . .goddamn.

Sense, by Pete Yorn, from Music From the Morning After
-The summer of 2001 I was working at Skinnyguy.com, and a few nights Tyler would come over and we'd get drunk on the stoop and listen to his label's artists. The new guy was Pete Yorn, and I was in love with this album that summer. It's one of the lesser songs, but still reminds me of sangria Boon's Farm wine and throwing up with Tyler on Mixon and Hartrich's bathroom floor, switching off who got to put their head into the toilet after smoking massive amounts of pot, drinking tequila, and smoking cigarettes all night.
Yuck.

Beside You, by Van Morrison, from Astral Weeks
-I never think of this album in terms of songs, just a threaded-together string of sections of one big song. This one is where he kind of yells a bit with sparse acoustic guitars and some flamenco picking.
Obviously, not one of my emotionally connected songs.

The Queen of England, by the Mendoza Line, from Lost in Revelry
-"So you thought you were in love just 'cause I bought you pancakes."
Great lyrics, boring song, sorry to my friend Zack who loves it. I like this album a lot, mostly because of the six or so songs that are outstanding. But it doesn't hold up on its own, at least not right now.

Soul Meets Body, by Death Cab, from Plans
-Everyone knows this song, it sounds like the Postal Service covering an REM song, which I mean as a compliment. And I now always think about the episode of How I Met Your Mother when Ted sees the cupcake baker girl at the wedding, because maybe they play the first part of this song there?