or songs to scream along to on a gorgeous day
Okay, so you know those perfect days you sometimes have in the Summer... 80+ degrees, low humidity, gentle breeze, full-on sunshine... you know, a total gift from the Gods. The kinda day when you slap on your shades, open all the windows in the car, crank your favorite CD up to eleven, sing at the top of your lungs and let your spirit soar as you fly through the streets at break-neck speed-- making sure to take the long way home just so you can hit that repeat button one more time.
Today is that day. Absolutely GLORIOUS!!
There are some songs that invoke that sense of elan even if it's the dead of winter, but when the sun is shining and the windows are down, wind blowing through your hair... Aaaaaaaaaa. It's a slice of heaven on earth. There's no better way to wash away the ills of the day. It's absolutely freeing.
Recently our kick-ass public radio station, WYEP asked listeners to submit their 20 essential songs of the decade. That is no easy feat, my friend. Trust me. Hell, I could have filled all 20 slots with my fantasy husband's work alone! Sha!
But it got me thinking. What criteria do you put on a song to term it "essential"? For me the determining factor is whether or not I feel the urge, nay the NEED to crank the volume and sing... LOUDLY. Sadly for those around me I'm not always in tune, but if I keep hitting repeat button over and over, that song is IT.
So here are some of my favorite cruising-with-the-lid-down tunes:
The Golden State by John Doe
Let Me Go by Cake
Short Skirt, Long Jacket by Cake
See a Little Light by Bob Mould
Cruel To Be Kind by Nick Lowe
And of course, Born To Run by Bruuuuuuuce!! (one, two, three, four...the highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive!!)
And then of course, there's my fantasy hubby and his band:
Won't Be Home
Motorcycle Club
If It's Not Love
If My Heart Was a Car
The Fool
Roller Skate Skinny
Four-Eyed Girl
Time Bomb
I could go on and on and on...
Clearly, music (and speeding, but I'm working on that. seriously. don't laugh. I really am trying to slow down. really.) is my lifeline, my soul soother. The thing that forever fills me with joy-besides Geo, of course. I'd love to hear some of your must-have driving tunes. There's always room for more on my list.
So if it's a picture-perfect, sunny, summer-like day and you hear a raspy voice bellowing "Won't Be Home" from the inside of a red blur screaming past you on the highway... thaaaaat would be me.
