music meme

gawd i'm exhausted. we arranged all day today. everyone was much tireder and quieter, less the party atmosphere of yesterday. it was getting into cruch... but we have every order for tomorrow made, and hopefully some pre-makes to sell, too. a few days ago i wasted alot of time typing up my lil music entry, so now i'm so glad it's done and i can go right to the bathtub without extended typing first.

so ceclia passed this music meme onto me. i'm pretty into music, so i'll be glad to not only answer, but elaborate. here goes:

1. Total amount of music files on your computer: 1668 in my itunes bibliotek. there's about that many on my ipod, as i have my xmas music on that, but not my dad's new cds. it will get much higher after i finish loading my cds on my new computer (old only had 6GB, so i had to be really picky and choosy). probably about 2000.

2. The last CD you bought was: katell keineg's high july. but i've burned stars's set yourself on fire since then. also indigo girls's epon. and best of phoebe snow on vinyl.

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
right now itunes is playing a moreno veloso song in portugese that i uploaded for g. but it's been playing interesting stuff on shuffle: tom's diner, suzanne vega; take the time, michael stanley band; que hora son, manu chao; sun, moon and stars, prince; life effect, stars; another day, jen porter; pay me later, colin blunstone; joni mitchell, california; the systematic dumbing down of terry constance jones, butterfly jones; the good, the bad, the ugly, ani difranco; antartica, al stewart; fairpoint diary, over the rhine. i bet there's not another computer in the world that has 10 of those songs on it. i'm glad it ended up being so random. it seems to be playing alot of ani d today.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:
i'm one of those people who read alot of meaning into songs. so this is way too hard to peg down. so i'm gonna intensify this:
4a. the 5(ish) albums that mean the most to you: (not the 5 albums you would take to a desert island. i wouldn't need to take these with me, they are already part of my soul)
1. sixpence none the richer, this beautiful mess. the album that got me through high school. it vocalized my self hatred and confusion so well. i still think it's well written, and her squeeky voice still doesn't bug me. even now, these songs sometimes end up on mix tapes.
2. over the rhine, good dog bad dog. this album seems to have a base in some of my deepest friendships. the saddest piano i've ever heard. her breathy voice. linford's lovely poetry. i was slowly discovering the meanings of these songs in high school, but i feel like as i've grown up they've grown up with me. this is an album that i sang to myself from begining to end while making bread at my grandma's, that summer when i didn't have music and was going crazy.
3. indigo girls, swamp ophelia. definately the indigo girls crowning achievement, a beautiful album lyrically and musically. when renee and i were friends we listened to this driving across indiana, back into chicago, and we stopped it after every track to discuss what we thought of the song, and what it meant in our lives. then i sent a copy to a. for the next holiday, and photocopied all the lyrics and wrote everything renee and i talked about all over them. otr's till we have faces and this album really journeyed through my time at su casa with me. i can sum up the whole year in the line "we act empty and innocent, but we are fueled by distortions of lives led in discontent, shading misfortune." and it's also been providing good lyrics for comming out. they were the first lesbians i ever knew of.
4. natalie merchant, ophelia and nancy griffith, flyer. not my favourite singer, but i believe there's one natalie merchant album that bowls anyone over. ophelia is mine. (ch laughed at this till motherland came out) i first heard it (besides the radio hits) in fabian's studio in berlin, and it was the soundtrack for my first trip in europe. it's so dark and beautiful, and that's what i was feeling, i was so lucky and free, by myself on extended vacation in germany, but also very lonely and depressed and running away from the pain in my past and my fear of the future. i hear it and am immediately sent back to my pastor's friend's mother's housegroup leader's spare bedroom where i was staying in london. i only play it after dark, and from begining to end, rarely pulling songs from it. it's excellent with candles, tea, christmas lights and incense. also in this catagory is flyer. i don't know why i bought my own copy, but i unashamedly adore it. each and every song reminds me of germany. a few always make me cry. i try not to listen to the words.
5. patty griffin, living with ghosts, and ani difranco dialate. my 5th one should be a good breakup album but i can't decide. i love patty's rawness on her first. she is so powerful and laid bare. "i don't necessarily want any key to the future or happiness, but i need a little place in the sun sometimes or i think i will die. and everywhere is somewhere and nowhere is here. everybody's got somebody with their wine and their beer. so i'm just this tragic figure in the corner over here, go home to an empty apartment and a best friend who is a queer." this is so specifically the type of depression i've always had, the emotions on this album are so familiar to me. dialate isn't ani's best album, but it's the album as a whole that speaks to me the most. i loved her epon. for when i was moving to the big city, and imperfectly's another fun coming out one, but dialate speaks of very specific emotions i've gone through with g. it's not your basic love songs. it's a complicated relationship. when justine told me of how shameless speaks to her life, i was so surprised, so perhaps it's not that she describes specific emotions, it's just she writes easily relateable songs. i don't know. i just know she's SO hurt on this album, and it can feel really good to sympathise with.

4b. the 5 songs i'm listening to the most right now:
1. katell keineg, i'm in love with a german film star. also shaking the disease. ch and i are always singing along.
2. funeral in his heart- october project. why this one is sticking so much, i have no idea
3. butterfly boucher- another white dash- ch has me addicted
4. lesson in survival, joni mitchell- my current fave, or at least most relateable joni
5. when it don't come easy, patty griffin- my current fave love song, and perhaps i should go to therapy for this alone.

4c. the first 5 best lyrics that come into my head:
1. "sometimes i feel tangerine, sometimes i feel blue... i still take your picture with me everywhere i go, but i use it as a coaster and i drink the overflow." prince, tangerine.
2. "superb food prepared by her constant companion, chef and secretary rafael martinez would be served, also shared with her 18 exotic cats, all encouraged to roam and help themselves. woe betide the visitor who tried to intervine because leanor fini remained her own person with great brilliance...until the end" katell keineg, leanor.
3. "richard got married to a figure skater, and he bought her a dishwasher, and a coffee perculator. and he drinks at home most nights now, with the tv on, and all the houselights turned up bright." joni mitchell, the last time i saw richard.
4. "everybody's story is more interesting than mine, it took me twentysome odd years to see i'd been born blind" or "for the night sky is an ocean, black, distant sea, washing up to my window. all the stray dog night owl junkies, orphans, vagabonds, angels that lost their halos." over the rhine, fairpoint diary and if nothing else, respectively
5. "my heart is on the baggage rack, it's heavy as can be, i wish that i could find someone to carry it for me. just to pay it some attention, and to handle it with care, for it has been dropped and is in need of some repair." nanci griffith, southbound train.
4d. albums most shafted by this assesment: joni mitchell's blue sinead o'connor's faith and courage, and the nields's gotta get over gretta

5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?
I am passing this stick to justine and kira, because i know they are into music, but also because they are the only 2 people i know with blogs who know i exist.
If I may, I would like to know my other friends’ musical whim as well so please feel free to join in, and please let me know!