Music That Moves Me

Tracy tagged me more than a month ago to respond to a musical meme.

The challenge: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

I haven't responded because I'm having a really hard time figuring out which seven songs - 7, one less than 8 - that's just not enough. As my Dad commented the last time he was in my house, I own a lot of cds. While I don't listen to music at home much, I do listen to music almost constantly at work and a good portion of time in the car, especially if I'm driving by myself. I spend nearly 2 hours a day in the car during the week, and lately a lot of that time has been solo. Music runs through my head frequently. The workday playlist usually starts with me scrolling through ITunes and stopping when something catches my eye. Some days I start at the top, some at the bottom, and every once in the while I scroll to the middle. I've got several days worth of music in there.

The other problem I've been having with this is that there are so many songs and artists worthy of mention. Most of the artists I listen to regularly aren't mainstream, so I feel an obligation to give them credit for touching my life, and also figure that mentioning them may prompt interest and improve the likelihood that they'll be able to put out more cds.

So, here I sit a month later still trying to figure out which songs artists to include. The music I enjoy tends toward the mellow. When Amy and I were putting together the play list for our wedding celebration we discovered that we owned almost no dance music. The music I love is primarily women's folk music, although I do have a soft spot for Billy Joel, James and Livingston Taylor, Bare Naked Ladies, and even a song or two from Jethro Tull. I also still enjoy John Denver. (I have recently realized what torture it must have been for my older brother to put up with my listening to John Denver albums over and over and over until I memorized all the lyrics. Sorry Brad!)

Without further ado here's my top 10 (I just couldn't keep it to 7) in no particular order.
1 - The One's Who Aren't Here written by John Calvi, sung by Meg Christian. It's a bitter sweet look at coming out and of all the forces which work against gays and lesbians being able to be themselves without fear. (This one's been playing in my head cause I only have it on LP, not CD.)
2 - We Are One by Emma's Revolution.
A song of peace, I always want more verses of this song.
3 - Northern Star by Ann Reed.
This song makes me think of Amy who is "my east, my south & west".
4 - Ordinary Town written by Dave Carter, sung by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
My wonderful sister-out-law, Shelley, introduced me to Tracy Grammer (yes, we did go to the concert at TCAN and, despite the fact that Amy had a concert of her own earlier that day, it was great and I'm hooked). This song first grabbed me with it's tune.
5 - Little Road - Cheryl Wheeler
This song is all about reconciling the good things in life, with all the horrible things happening in the world.
6 - We the People - Cris Williamson
This is another song of peace, from the perspective of our nation's reaction to the terror attacks of September 11th.
7 - I Heard an Owl - Carrie Newcomer
The chorus sums this song up well:

Don't tell me hate is ever right or God's will
These are the wheels we set in motion ourselves
the whole world weeps and is weeping still
Though shaken I still believe
the best of what we all can be
The only peace this world will know
Can only come from love

8 - Travelin' Soldier - Dixie Chicks
I never listened to the Dixie Chicks until they were lambasted for making comments against President Bush. I like a lot of their songs. This one made me cry the first time I really paid attention to the words.
9 - Raisin Pie - Diane Taraz
I discovered Diane Taraz last year at NEFFA. Much of her music, including this song, pay homage to her French Canadian ancestry. This one always makes me smile.
Other NEFFA discoveries include the Short Sisters, Taproot, and the Johnson Girls.
10 - I don'thttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif know the name of this last song. It's one I learned from Amy and it's been in my head because Purim was last week. It's a children's song, complete with hand motions. The English words (there's also a Hebrew version) are

My hat it has three corners
three corners has my hat
and if it did not have three corners
it would not be my hat.

That's the list for tonight. I wish I could have included songs by Tret Fure, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tracy Chapman, Ferron, and many more.

I'm supposed to tag a bunch of other people, but the only other bloggers I know besides , who should consider herself tagged, are Tracy, who tagged me, and Shelley, who was also tagged by Tracy.