“[The Coen brothers] write and direct their films with spaces for music. When you see their films, you can clearly tell which scenes are going to be told by music. They think about telling a story visually and musically.” – Composer Carter Burwell
This is the fifteenth year I’ve written my year in review using music, and the first ever where I had two songs tie for theme of the year. This is also the first year where I didn’t publicly publish my list between Christmas and New Years, but as they say, better late than never. I’ve found adulthood with its related demands sometimes means sending Christmas cards in springtime as well- the point is you still do what’s important. And 2012, for better or for worse, held a lot of very important events in its twelve months. But let the songs tell the story.
Here is my 2012 in review:
1. Love the Way You Lie – Eminem feat. Rihanna. Originally dedicated to a longtime friend. The message is that some things never change, and those things can be destructive both physically and emotionally. Some people are so afraid of moving on to the unknown that they end up staying with things that slowly destroy them. 2012 opened with some tough choices, not just for me, but for many close people around me, and this song very much resonated with that.
2. Somebody I Used to Know – Gotye. This one is Laurie’s song, and ties back to the last track – I made my choice to move on.
3. Stronger – Kelly Clarkson. I think this is pretty self-explanatory.
4. Beautiful Morning – Ace of Base. “And this beautiful morning changed my mind, Believe me when I say, The shadows fading out.” Amazing how much brighter life becomes when you cut out the parts that decay the soul.
5. The Search Is Over – Survivor. This song and the next one are wedding related. I should mention that I absolutely, 100 % HATE the traditional Wedding March, and was dead set against walking down the aisle to it. In fact, I was perfectly okay with foregoing the traditional wedding altogether to go to Vegas, but compromise won out. Thus, the one part of our wedding that I had the most interest in (and subsequently put a LOT of time into) was picking out the perfect song for the wedding party’s grand entrance, and this song was on my list from the very beginning because of how it tied back to the Baron and I first coming together (check the complete lyrics here). It eventually lost out to our next track, solely because I couldn’t find a good (or, really, any) instrumental version. However, if anyone wants to help me petition VSQ to do a string rendition of it, I can hear in my head how it should go 🙂
6. Somebody To Love – Vitamin String Quartet. So after months of sampling tracks, debating ceremony times (important because different times of day warrant different types of music), and timing processional walks, we finally picked this track to be The Song for the party to walk down the aisle. The procession itself would be tricky, because the party members were strewn throughout the country, some wouldn’t get in town until the morning of the wedding (so there would be no rehearsal), and there is one movement that required one of our pairs to play out their time by dancing down the aisle. Still, I had complete faith in my friends, and even for last minute they did an incredible job. The only snafu? That’s right. We had an outdoor wedding, 3 PM start time, on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year. We were lined up in the heat, waiting for the music to start, when we got frantic word that they couldn’t get the music to play. At. All. As I watched the love of my life sweltering in the sun where the heat index was now over 112, I knew decisions needed to be made, and quickly. And that is how, despite my best efforts, my bridal party and I sended up singing our way down the aisle to “Here Comes The Bride” after all (and yes, Kelly and the Drewster danced down the aisle anyway).
7. Dream a Little Dream Of Me – The Mamas and the Papas. For all the dreamily soft summer sunsets.
8. Washing of the Water (Live) – Peter Gabriel. In memory of Gizmo, by far the most amazing cat I’ve ever known. I miss you, buddy.
9. Bella’s Lullaby – The Twilight Orchestra. I am not a Twihard. The books were ok, but I have no interest in seeing the movies (I did watch the first one with my mom once, but we only made it through by Mystery Science Theater-ing the crap out of it. It was HORRIBLE.) Regardless, this piece is hauntingly beautiful.
10. Ordinary World – Duran Duran. As summer drew to a close, change was in the air on all fronts. So much upheaval all at once leave one a bit unsteady about their place in the world, but we have to keep moving forward.
11. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road* – Elton John. This is one of the overlying themes of the year, and important on a number of personal levels.
12. All Over You – Live. This is one of those song attached to a specific time, not so much for its content as just because of its presence at that time. Sometimes these are the most intensely personal tracks, if only because no explanation can make anyone understand the significance outside if a handful of people intimately involved with that time and place.
13. One Hit Wonderful – Reel Big Fish. Ah, the reminiscence of the fallen mighty. This is my favorite RBF song, and really fit toward the end of 2012. Most fitting:
Well, things don’t last long in life; that’s how it goes
They’ll smile and applaud, then turn up their nose
Things will shrink as quickly as they’ve grown
But it’s perfectly normal for us to ask why
The company wasn’t untrue, they just didn’t try
And a new career is born. It will eventually die
14. Shake It Out* – Florence and the Machine. We finish out the year with a latecomer – I didn’t hear this song for the first time until just before Christmas at the end of a “How I Met Your Mother” episode, but along with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road it really tied the year together. There isn’t one particular line that stands out – they all do. And that’s what makes this song so special. It’s not just a song about moving on – it’s a song about renewal, and understanding you can’t do that unless you understand yourself. Sometimes you have to hit the hardest, darkest parts of your life before renewal is even possible.
And so begins 2013…
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