Coming to theaters when Hell freezes over (The Soundtrack to My Life W/O)
Jan 14 '04 (Updated May 02 '04)
The Bottom Line Like sand through the hourglass, so is the Soundtrack to My Life... really boring to bear witness.
Prologue
I've seen a load of "Getting to Know Each Other" entries as of late and, while a great concept, is basically something that I've seen tons of time getting passed around via e-mail from all the acquaintances that I've accumulated throughout the years. Sure, this adds to the community feel of Epinions, but there's always been one movie quote that's stuck with me more than any other.
"What really matter is what you like, not what you ARE like." - Rob Gordon (John Cusack), High Fidelity
And, as I read many of the write-off entries (specifically, Bluehawk's entry, I had an idea. Since High Fidelity is about music, a topic that most people feel strong about, why not tell me about music that identifies with you? Really, what's more intimate than the music you love?
So, I bring you the "Soundtrack to My Life" Write-off. I'll try not to be cliche and I'll try to avoid becoming "Now That's What I Call Grunge Volume 1" as much as possible.
Butterfingers - "Naive Sick Chasm"
This song, to me, has always seemed like it would be the perfect opening song to any spirited movie. From the squeal of the guitar and powerful drum addition to the reverberating exclamation of "Yeah" (which really sounds more like "Go!"), this intro alone conveys enough raw energy to open any action scene.
While my movie will by no means be action (and would perhaps be the polar opposite of action, like a Kevin Smith flick), I could see myself starting out the story as a coming-of-age tale. I see my friends and I sitting in eighth period class, waiting for the clock to hit 2:47, so we could get the heck out of the school that repressed us so and get home to our parents that repressed us properly.
It reminds me of that time, just before I entered high school, that I’d spend with my childhood friend, Sara, and how we’d do the things we shouldn’t do. While we never did what a man and a woman often do, we were inseparable.
I’m pretty sure this song was made around the same time period that I'd kick this all off in, as Grunge ruled the airwaves. Grunge and alternative are what shaped the way I look at music today and, in some cases, kept me looking for a brighter tomorrow.
"Naive Sick Chasm" would set the tone like no other.
Radiohead - "Creep"
While "Naive Sick Chasm" set the mood for the movie, this is the song that introduced me to alternative music. How much did this effect me? I, uh... I used to like country. I mean, come on, I grew up in a country town that's claim to fame is having crossing railways, since the B&O Railroad is now defunct.
During a short period of teenage angst and low self-esteem, I suffered in my own agony and had nowhere to turn, no one who wouldn't judge me for what I said, no one who took how I felt seriously. While it was merely the outsider feeling that I have to this day, it seems so much more important by comparison.
Really, when you're a thirteen year-old boy, all the more you've really accomplished is learning to wipe your own butt, unknowingly having your brain shrink, discovering that you can grow hair on places other than your head and figuring out how to touch yourself properly. Maybe there's some math and science involved, too, but that's the gist of it all.
I fell back on music as an escape that even video games couldn't always provide me. And, when I heard "Creep," I found a song that sounded how I felt. I felt like I would never be good enough for my parents nor my peers. The manifesting hormones that fuel that growth spurt, fuel the fire of lust for which I had no outlet. You know, other than the newly learned skill of proper touch.
If nothing else, this is the only song that I MUST sing when I go to karaoke and the karaoke booths in Korea always have it. My singing voice only affords me this song and any song by Cake. It’s pretty difficult to find a karaoke booth that’s rocking “Distance” when you want it.
"Creep" introduced me to a world of music that I felt I could call my own. Radiohead, along with the pioneers of that time, may have saved my life.
Cibo Matto - "Sugar Water"
While I could never use the song better than it was used in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, nor would I be able to put it to awe-inspiring use as Michel Goundry did in the music video, I'd love to set this piece to a love interest.
In real life, I relate my first meaningful kiss to "Violet" by Hole, the song that was playing at the time, I'd love this to be the song that sets the pace for the love interest in my life.
Even though she's not who I'll end up with in real life, the closest to any love interest during high school would be my eventual best friend, Kim, whom I spent most of teen years pining over. The music and beats, combined with the breathy and soothing vocals of Yuka Honda, may make this the best mood music ever.
"Sugar Water" is one piece of sexy music.
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
My favorite band is Nirvana. So, when Foo Fighters came out, I was a fan by default. They were something different but, as I grow older, I'm finding myself more at ease with peaceful music.
Though the first two albums had its fair share of rocking moments, it was the song that most people overlook from the second album that I hold nearest and dearest.
While sitting in the shadows, somehow, of "My Hero" and "Monkey Wrench," "Everlong" stole my heart away.
I hold "Everlong" in high regards. I'm not likely smart enough to elaborate in the proper nomenclature required to do a pittance of justice to the song or my reasons for loving it. Considering a few of you just checked a dictionary, that should mean something.
Had it not been for Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," I'd go as far as saying this is the best song ever. While not overpowering, the dual guitars used don't compete, but cooperate in such harmony that it's difficult to tell that it's not just one. It's complexity in its most simplistic form.
There's one night that seemed, regardless of the many flaws throughout, the most perfect. Everything falls to the wayside, a moment standing timeless, to a simpler time spent between Kim and I. Since then, as I'm sure to elaborate later in this writing, things became too complex, we parted ways and went about our own seperate lives.
"And I wonder....if anything could ever be this good again."
"Everlong" stands, in my eyes, for that first love at its peak.
Sonic Youth - "Tunic"
One of my biggest flaws is that I'm a dreamer. Regardless of what little I've done with my life, I keep telling myself that I've got some higher purpose that I've yet to discover. There are multiple paths my life could follow, just not one that's clearcut, yet.
This has been an ongoing struggle in my life. Dreams are the Wily to my Megaman, the Bowser to my Mario, the mediocrity to my Sonic the Hedgehog. Dreams are why I fancy myself a writer and still retain hope that I could one day be a professional wrestler with a successful humor column. Dreams may one day be the death of me.
"Tunic," and its dreamy otherworld, cotton-soft sounding music, would be merely a transitional song, one in the movie just to add another strong title to the soundtrack. It holds meaning to me and might be used to represent dreams, though, as Kim and I often analyzed each others dreams. Poorly, I might add.
However, it's doubtful I'd ever be able to include the dreams into my movie. Dream sequences, in most movies, weaken them overall unless used as a premonition.
So, if anything, this would be for when Kim went to college far away and I stayed close to home. When you compare and contrast how she went from small town life to living in the big city and looked to have hope where there was none before, she was "bigger in every way."
White Stripes - "Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground"
Alright, I realize this is starting to look like The Complete Works of Director Michel Gondry, but stick with me, here.
I'm a rat bastard when it comes to how I left Ohio. Kim had just moved back to the area and went to the same college that I quit attending. One day, as I sat feeling vulnerable, the Army Recruiting Station called my house and what they offered me made sense. I went up to take their evaluation test over again, applied for their computer job and went back home after negotiating when I'd actually join up.
For months, I told everyone that I wasn't going to join the Army. Then, when the time came, I darted faster than a tranquilizer out an elephant gun. I went up to Detroit with the intention of telling them I was no longer interested, but I stayed and finally left "The Middle of Nowhere, Ohio" for a new life experience.
It was shocking to them and I've always wondered how they took to it. Admittedly, part of it was that I felt hurt and didn't think I'd ever recover in Northwest Ohio. Actually, most of it. I felt it was better out of sight and then it'd be easier to get out of mind.
I wondered how my friends reacted to my abrupt absense. I know my friends ended up becoming friends with my older brother. He filled the void up until he left for the Army, too, and then it was back to no Rader in their circles.
The last time I had to leave Ohio, I was called off of leave due to the World Trade Center tragedy. It was right after a friend's wedding, which I had to fight to stay for, and many people had their chance to say goodbye for the first time. Sure, they were drunk and already emotional from witnessing a wedding, but there's no denying that I finally saw what I meant to a number of my closest friends.
If for some reason I didn't place it to my departure the first time, I'd use this music to represent the time after September 11th, where everyone got all sorts of squishy on me.
"Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground" would be the piece of music that could remind me just how bad it feels to miss someone.
Descendents - “Hope”
88 Fingers Louie - “Go Away”
I couldn’t really decide which song I wanted to use, but I’ve narrowed it down to two.
This is the breakup song. There’s different points in my life where I got my heart broken and the one that hurt most is the reason that I left Ohio. It wasn’t just a small period, either. It was around a year and a half where I couldn’t deal with unrequited love.
And, rejected, I reacted two ways. The initial reaction was to be left the hell alone and have nothing to do with the girl. I was rejected and there are few feelings in the world as bad as the thought that you’re not good enough. As such, “Go Away” conveys the hectic anxiety that I felt.
“Hope,” one of the most covered songs of recent memory (right up there with Weezer’s “In the Garage”), is also one of the most aptly titled songs. It’s the tale of a person biding the time in hopes of one day being the significant other. I always felt that all I’d have to do is bide my time and that one day, that select girl would be my only one.
However, if The Wonder Years series finale has taught us nothing else, it’s that, "Things never turn out exactly the way you planned. Growing up happens in a heartbeat."
The Winnie Cooper to my Kevin Arnold is still with someone else while I get to look forward to introducing her to my wife when we finally come back home.
“Go Away” is the initial shock of rejection, “Hope” is the self-defense mechanism that compensates to make you feel better about yourself.
Soul Coughing w/Weezer - "American Girls"
There's always got to be some aggression and I've got a history of women fighting over me. Mind you, this is over me, not for me, so it's not like anything fruitful ever came out of this. I remember watching Sara, one of my few childhood friends, beat the living *Snarf* out of this girl who dumped me at a party.
This song would be the antithesis of your typical fight song and provide simple irony should I ever convey the beatdown. Also, so I don't make the movie into Girl Fight, I'd condense all my favorite moments from all the fights I've seen in my honor into one moment. I can see it now.
"Why are all American girls so rough?
Damn a girl can't ever hurt you enough."
It's at about that time Sara would slap Nikki and push her down to the ground. As Nikki tries to get back on her feet, she looks up.
"Lady, you've got me down on my knees and I can't stand up."
As she's on her knees, Sara looks over to me.
"You've got that look in your eyes as you smack my butt."
From that point, she let's her *Snarf* kickers do the talking with a boot to the head. Then, Sara straddles Nikki and lets loose a series on quick punches. Finally, she grabs Nikki's hair in her clenched fists and, the video goes to slow motion.
"Why are all American girls so rough?
Why do all American girls act so tough?
Why are all American girls so rough?"
Then, after the last "rough" as the drums finally begin to pound, so does Nikki's skull against the ground to signal the end of the fight.
So, since I'm including the gratuitous coming-of-age fight scene, I'd like to do something to set it apart from the others. This would be enough to separate it from the rest.
Some Girls - "You Don’t Know" or “The Prettiest Girl”
I'm not going to lie. I feel my life will never be complete until I make Juliana Hatfield stinking rich. I've always segregated, perhaps unfairly, male and female fronted bands. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one.
Outside of a brief flirtation with commercial success after Juliana Hatfield Three - Become What You Are, Juliana Hatfield has remained virtually unknown.
In her latest project, brings many catchy songs to the table that could actually bring her that success. However, I’d love to use “You Don’t Know” before that happens, if only because her fans are devout and will buy anything she’s associated with. See, this is why I own the Reality Bites soundtrack.
Regardless, right before I left Korea, I risked my military career (which I’ll admit doesn’t mean much), just to get married before I left. I failed and almost saw some disciplinary action for it. In retrospect, I wish I would’ve faced the consequences and went through with the marriage. However, I’ll make up for that mistake soon enough.
“You don’t know what you do to me.
I would risk losing everything.
Turn around all the heartbeat.
I don’t know what to make of us.
I can’t tell if it’s dangerous.”
I was confused, scared, and afraid to lose the freedom of a bachelor’s life. However, I’d been with the same girl for nearly two years, and happily, so it’s not like I was really living a bachelor’s life. She loved me for everything that I was, flaws, video games and all, and I nearly overlooked it. Of course, my father, after asked why he married my mother, gave the response that I think about most when asked why I would get married:
“I knew I could live the rest of my life with her. I married her because I didn’t want to live the rest without her.”
As for “The Prettiest Girl,” I’d use that as the cliché song and take it only at face value instead of the depth that’s found within. I’d use it just as someone, perhaps my soon-to-be wife, took my breath away. Maybe I’d use it for Kim. Doubtful on both, if only because they’re not exactly gorgeous. They are, however, both amazingly beautiful.
Juliana Hatfield needs some love and money… if I brought out a movie, I’d bring both to the table. I cleared it with the wifey. It’s cool.
Here are songs that I’d try to throw in just because I’ve always liked them. They don’t have any real significance to me, they’re just excellent songs or songs that I’ve always felt would be great in a movie.
Bruce Springsteen - “I’m on Fire”
I’d love to include flashbacks, if time permitted, to my youth. This was one of my earliest memories and still one of the songs that I love to this day. I don’t think I could use it for any dire situations, which is how it’d best be used, but I’d love to have it if only because I’ve a newfound respect for Springsteen when he’s not being lauded as Mister Blue-Collar America.
Journey - “Don’t Stop Believing”
I’m a gamer. I cut my teeth on Kangaroo, Pac-Man, Lady Bug, Jungle Hunt and Mr. Do! However, when I got an Atari 2600, one of the games I played most often was Journey Escape.
It’s the first console game that I remembered had music the entire time you played and the intro to “Don’t Stop Believing” was looped in glorious MIDI fashion. Again, this is a flashback song.
Chris Stewart - "The Bubble Man Theme"
Hey, this is just too keen not to include in this list. I'm not a big fan of remixed game music you'll find on Overclocked, but I can't help but dig this one. An electronic/techno remix of the best song from Mega Man II resonates well with me. Can you dig it?
David Bowie - “Ziggy Stardust”
Oh, come on… it’s Bowie. I might not be an avid listener, but you need the Bowie.
Butthole Surfers - “Who Came In My Room?”
Again, video game reference, as this was the song that played to skateboarders and game footage during the Super Nintendo “Play it LOUD!” campaign.
Neil Young - "Harvest Moon"
I promise, this is the last song included because of the importance of a video game. "Harvest Moon" is an excellent song and the Harvest Moon game series lives up to the song's legacy. I spend an unhealthy amount of time trying to woo fictional women.
Dead Kennedy’s - “Holiday in Cambodia”
I heard this one time when I met the fiancé at her workplace. It’s one of the few songs they played in the bar that I had never heard elsewhere before. So, if there’s any scene in the bar, it’ll have this one.
Pornos for Pyros - “Pets”
I’m not an avid fan, but I’ve always dug this song. I’d use it as ambience after a high school's party end, where my friends and I would have our drunken roundtable discussions. Whether we were arguing why we can't prove anything in our world is true to my counterpoint that math logically makes sense and could prove nearly anything true or which girls we'd like to get naked, the end of a party was always what I liked the most.
George Clinton & the Parliament Funkadelic - “Stomp”
Little known fact: I’m a big fan of George Clinton. I was a big fan of PCU when I was growing up and he plays the coolest part any musician had, until then, played.
Sugarcubes - “F**king in Rhythm and Sorrow”
I’m a closet Bjork fan, too. I really like her older stuff. And that video that showed her boobs… and her back piercings. This isn’t the song, but it’s just a nice tune that I felt would be cool to have at, like, a party. It sounds swing, almost, but isn’t.
Fraggle Rock Theme
I love the idea of referencing pop culture. The constant references to the current buzz, like Paris Hilton’s sex tape or Fred Durst being a worthless piece of crap who’s well past his fifteen allotted minutes, should have been a clue.
I grew up watching Fraggle Rock and The Muppet Show, when not watching Pinwheel and You Can’t Do That on Television on Nickelodeon.
Ween - “Pollo Asada”
Yes, the brothers Ween are weirdos. I’m a weirdo. It should come as no surprise that I’m a Ween fan. Maybe it’d introduce someone to their goofy songs.
Epilogue
The only thing I'm more passionate about than video games is music. I hope that my experiences have given you insight to who I am, what I'm about and what makes me tick.
Now that we’re intimate, check out the awesome others who participated in this write-off:
Arada392
Debbie26
Mimi369 (A write-off tease wrote off my write-off by not submitting.)
Tanta07
And realize, that having a name followed by a number was NOT a requirement of my write-offs, merely cruel coincidence. Write-off crashers are welcome to join the party.
Here's a list of write-off crashers thus far:
jennull
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
rader6795
|
|
Member: Terry Rader
Location: noun - a point or extent in space
Reviews written: 107
Trusted by: 120 members
About Me:
If you can't beat them, join them. Look for game reviews on the horizon.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.