I was hit up by Chrissa over at A Little Wicked in a musical game of tag.

Seeing as how music is such a huge part of my life – as anyone who sees all my Grooveshark tweets can attest to – I figured this one would be easy for me.  The thing is, it’s really not.  Music is such a huge part of my life that I might have a hard time narrowing the list down to the ten most important things I would want to say about it.

However, I’m going to give it my best shot.
Pardon me if I get girly about it at some point.
And you’ll also have to excuse me if I wind up needing a kleenex or five by the time it’s over.

Thing the first. There are a lot of things that I would prefer not to live without; there are precious few things that I would not be able to live without.  Music is one of the latter things.  When everything else fails me, the music is always there.  It brings me up, it calms me, it soothes whatever needs soothing.  It can also tear me down in a heartbeat, should I hear a song that I wasn’t expecting to hear.  I was brought up in a house where music played constantly.  My Mom sang.  Dad did, too.  And the music plays on.

Thing the second. I have a very difficult time separating music from memory.  Hearing a song can take me right back to where I was the second that the song was imprinted on my mind.  Be that a good place, or a bad one.  Songs for me are tied up with feelings and with people; they are inexorably linked to every facet of my life.  While I wouldn’t have it any other way, there are times when this can lead me into fits of melancholy that are hard to get out of.  However, I have a playlist for that.  And every time I add a song to that playlist, my arsenal of happy is that much stronger.

Thing the third. I have two musically related tattoos.  They are also related to other things as well, but they are based on lyrics to songs that have followed me through my life, and mean something very difficult to explain.  I am considering two more – both based song lyrics as well, but again both meaning so much more to me than simply that.  Each of the tats that I have are very personal to me, and I think very long and hard before figuring out what I want.  The lyrics that I have tattooed on my body are no different, and are just as powerful to me.

Thing the fourth. There are many songs, that for one reason or another, mean more to me than anything.  While I have no desire to get into the reasons why here, each of these songs will forever hold an incredibly special place in my heart and soul.  The top ten:

• Somewhere Over the Rainbow, any version
• When You Wish Upon a Star, any version
• Side of the Road, Blue Rodeo
• Life in a Northern Town, The Dream Academy
• Thank You, Led Zeppelin
• Blood on Blood, Bon Jovi
• Wanted Dead or Alive, Bon Jovi
• Daughter of the Rockies, George Fox
• Knowing that You Love Me, Journey
• One Day Like This, Elbow

Each of these songs is capable of reducing me to tears; tears that flow for different reasons in each case.

Thing the fifth. One of the greatest and most thoughtful gifts I have ever received was that of music.  The person that gave me this gift had no idea that what he was doing at the time would mean that much to me, but it did.  Since that time, he has given me the gift of music many times.  Each time he does so, it is so precious to me.  Both for the music, the thought behind it, and because it brings me back to that first time when he gave me pure, undiluted joy.

Thing the sixth. There are songs that have an effect on me in other ways, too.  Songs that can immediately have my mind slipping into the gutter and wishing that I was somewhere else, with someone who knows just how to handle me when I get in one of those moods.  I will not, for reasons that probably aren’t that hard to figure out, be listing those songs here.

Thing the seventh. My musical tastes are eclectic, to say the least.  They run the gamut of classical to metal; country to hip-hop.  Pretty much anything and everything.  I don’t like every song in every genre, and some give me an intense and immediate headache.  But I mostly judge a song on it’s own merits, rather than what genre they happen to be attached to.

Thing the eighth. I almost always prefer the original version of a song to the remake.  Maybe that’s just a personal thing, but for the most part, it’s true.  In some cases, the remade versions of songs make me want to stab myself in the ear.  In the case of Faith Hill’s sugar-coated cover of Joplin’s Piece of my Heart?  I want to stab myself in both ears.  But only after I’ve found Faith Hill and stabbed her through her vocal chords.

Thing the ninth. One of my stupid girly fantasies is that someone will write music for me.  I think that most women secretly harbour this fantasy.  I just think that it would be amazing to have a song that I could listen to and not project something of my own onto a song, but instead to know that what I’m experiencing is truly about me.

Thing the tenth. I can sing, kind of.  When I’m not nervous about it, and when I’m just doing it alone and when no one is listening, I can sing kind of well.  Put me in front of someone and ask me to sing and I turn into a wreck.  I would never – as much as I love to sing and as much as I love music – be able to pull off being a professional musician.  I would be reduced to a quivering puddle of nervous the second you put me in front of an audience.

There you have it.  Ten musical facts about me.  I was right.  That wasn’t easy.  However, I really have to thank Chrissa, because I really enjoyed writing that.

Now, to tag a few people to join in the fun…

@TenaciousTanaka at Hydroponic Nirvana, who will probably de-friend me and un-follow me for it, but I really would love to see what he has to say on the subject.  So I’m going to chance it.

@so_you_know at Trial of Words, because I would simply love to read what she has to say.

@LeyMarieCel at A Mom’s Playground, because I’d love to see what her take on music is.

I hope you all enjoy writing yours as much as I did.