Songs to Make You Dance

It's done! This morning I booked our tickets to India!

We've waffled and waited, trying to decide if we should do it and yesterday I took the plunge and made the reservations--come January we'll be on our way to Bangalore to see Mom and Dad, ready or not.

The question now is . . . what to do with the kids?

Anyone out there want to babysit?

I'm kidding. Sort of. At any rate it's pretty exciting to finally have things solid, thanks to a VERY nice Alaska Airlines customer service rep who walked me through the whole thing (thank you so very much. Talk about your customer service--they deserve a plug).

Anyway, in celebration I'm doing little dances around the house so it calls for a list from my Happy Music playlist. The songs that I'm currently listening to while I'm doing the nasty Friday cleaning or working out. Enjoy.

1. Fort Knox by Goldfish
This probably means nothing to you unless I say the word "hamsters" which might then trigger memories of this:

This chunky beat gets me going every time and you know I'm grooving right along with those furry little rodents.

We Kia owners are very cool people you know.

Anyway, Goldfish is a South African group that has been rather difficult to get a hold of in the U.S. until just recently but I've got them on my itunes now and I'm loving it.

2. Major Tom by Peter Schilling
Grace has discovered the 80s in a major way. This song particularly appeals to her because she's taken three years of German and now can sing along with that techno beat (she used to go around reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in German which really confused me--I mean does it seem odd to anyone else? Of all the things to teach the students I'm pretty sure the Pledge of Allegiance is the one paragraph in all of English that is said pretty exclusively in English, right? Funny.) But nonetheless it's a great song. The recent remake? Not so great.

Anyway, the only part I can sing is "Four . . . Three . . . Two . . . One . . ." then I'm completely lost. Maybe I ought to introduce her to Def Leppard and Scorpions for some extra German. With afro?

3. Separate Ways by Journey
Speaking of 80s revival tours, Spencer is a BIG Journey fan. Yes, I've done something right as a mother. Not only does he love the original classics, his piano teacher has humored his fetish by giving him all the sheet music to every one of Journey's greatest hits.

First it was "Don't Stop Believin'" then it was "Separate Ways," "Any Way You Want It" and "Open Arms" and I think he's getting ready to tackle "The Girl Can't Help It" and "Wheel in the Sky." "Faithfully" can't be far behind though I suspect he's less favorable to the ballads. Just a hunch.

In fact he tends to have only one level when he plays: loud. Lucky for me I love the song. At least for now . . . You want proof? Here's a video of him playing just for me.

4. Everybody Got Their Something by Nikka Costa
Again another great soulful R&B tune with a hot beat. A great song to clean the refrigerator to though I do think I need more bass around here. Bigger woofers so I can really get that "boom boom" going.

The song kind of reminds me of "Juicy" by Better Than Ezra which is another favorite and has the added benefit of being totally fun to sing. "Juicy! Juicy!"

5. Human by The Killers
I'm a huge Killers fan and I think this is my favorite song of their's to date. (I'm sorry Mr. Appleton, I'm going to just have to agree to disagree with you on this one).

You notice that I'm giving you links to the song videos here? Well check out this one. While the song is Fabulous with a capital "F" one has to ask: "WHAT on earth is Brandon Flowers wearing?? Didn't anyone check to make sure he was properly dressed when he left that morning to film a music video? I mean really! Feathers?? He looks like an ostrich. Or maybe a muppet--I'm not sure which but either look probably isn't what he was aiming for when he stood out in the dessert and sang this beauty.

I'll cut you some slack this time but next time? Fire your wardrobe guy and get someone who doesn't want you dressed like grandma's coat.

6. Viva la Vida by Coldplay
I have to confess that I've never been a Coldplay fan. In fact I've thought their music was pseudo-eclectic, mechcanically manipulative and irritatingly omnipresent. Kind of like Starbucks--even with that whole Gwyneth Paltrow bonus going on there.

But in my old age I've softened and have recently come to appreciate a couple of their more popular songs and can be caught listening to "Talk" and "Yellow" regularly. However, "Viva la Vida" is terrific. I'm not sure if it's the Beatles-esque string accompaniment, the quirky lyrics or the 5/4 time signature that keeps me on the edge but I love it.

Had you heard of the accusation of plaigarism filed by guitarist Joe Satriani? Claims Martin stole the underlying guitar riff from him but I've listened to both tracks and I don't know that what Satriani had was that original first of all and then even if it was the inspiration for "Viva la Vida" sounds to me like Coldplay changed it enough not to justify the claim. I'm just saying . . .

7. Days Go By by Dirty Vegas
Probably a dance tune that I've picked up from chaperoning too many teen dances but go ahead and point those fingers, I don't care. It's a catchy beat and a great song to do those crunches to. Because I'm ALWAYS doing crunches around here. You know . . . Cinnamon Toast Crunch . . . Nestle Crunch . . . Captain Crunch.

8. Just Dance by Lady GaGa
Okay this one is really embarrassing to admit. Seriously! I couldn't pick a more embarrassing song to be caught listening to. Unless maybe we're talking Celion Dion. That would be worse. Or Barry Manilow. Worse. Or the Captain and Tennille. Much worse.

So maybe it's not quite as embarrassing as I once thought but still . . . it's a silly silly song that is much too catchy (I'm not going to link to the trashy video). Did you catch her performance on American Idol? There aren't really enough adjectives in the language to properly describe the scene but I watched the whole train wreck from beginning to end, yes I did. Fascinating.

But all that aside I'm still twisting and turning to the beat, yes I am.

9. Eye in the Sky by Jonatha Brooke
Switching gears just a tad here to a little ballad. Not really a workout song but a good one for the cool down mode because it's a terrific remake of the classic 80s Allan Parson's Project song you all remember so well. Something about her reminds me of Alison Krauss. Not sure what it is--because her voice is much lower and more nasal but there's something there that appeals. Did I ever mention that I have this weird talent for being able to distinguish singing voices? Andrew is always picking up songs on itunes, playing them for me then trying to get me to guess who it is singing and I'm pretty good at the whole thing. Not that it's really got me anywhere I guess.

10. Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard
I mentioned this one a couple weeks ago and while I know it's been out for a while it's had a revival on my ipod. I do that periodically--dive down into my playlists and pull out oldies that I haven't listened to for a while then listen to them all over again--and this one is on the rotation right now.

While I like the duet he did for the movie Once I can't decide if I like The Frames' version better than the accoustic. Tough call.

11. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy by U2
From their latest album (do they still say "album" nowadays? What's the alternative?) No Line on the Horizon this is my favorite track and right now it's on my playlist. Though it's not really their best work and I tend to think it'll fall in my rankings within six months. Not like "With or Without You" that I can still listen to with a tear in the eye or "Mysterious Ways" that can get me sweeping the floor with some suh-weet moves. Now those are classics that are beyond classics.

Even their Vertigo live album had a remake of "Where the Streets Had No Names" that was possibly better than the original it was so good. This one? I like it quite a bit but not in that "true to the death" way that some of their other songs have me.

12. Knights of Cydonia by Muse
I know it's been out a few years but you can chalk that up to my huge un-hippness. I only discovered Muse in the last year so I'm still going strong on this amazing song. I totally love their Live at Wembley Stadium version that is so cool it pretty much melts the speakers into pure energy. Yes, it's that cool.

And while I may not be so hip as to catch these songs the minute they come out I think I've got a six year old who is the other extreme. Having older sibs and a mom who loves her music means she is unusually up on such matters. I heard her singing "Knights of Cydonia" in her best operatic soprano voice while playing out in the sandbox a couple days ago. "No one's going to take me alive . . . the time has come to make things right . . . " right out of her sweet little mouth. Hmmm . . . means I'd better watch what I listen to I suppose. So much for "C Is for Cookie" huh?

Man the guitar in that song is amazing.

13. Super Massive Black Hole by Muse
And in tribute to number 12 and to reinforce how much I'm loving Muse right now (did you all catch that? I LOVE Muse. Completely.) I'm including this other ear-popping number in the list. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. When I'm listening to this I can clean at three times the speed of other mortals, I promise.

Okay I'll stop now.

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