I had a funny dream last night that I was in some kind of motivational class taught by Richard Kline, the actor who played Larry on the 70s/80s TV show Three's Company, which is sort of funny since I mention Larry and Jack from Three's Company in the track listing for 2007, which was the next one I planned to post. (Also a bit funny since I just learned he is an acting coach.) Thinking of Three's Company at all is a bit odd — have not seen it in years, and it was hardly a masterpiece, even if it sort of broke down some barriers in the television sitcom world. It also makes me think of the late John Ritter, who was hilarious.

The 2007 mix is still actually one of my favorite ones.

Random Gum 2007
Main Title UK – from Battlestar Galactica (Conjures up memories from the past year when I became obsessed with BSG and all the people who got me hooked – Jeroen – and whom I got hooked to it – Alfa, Jane, and other friends who are fans as well as people I’ve watched it with, like my mom, Olivier.)

Pyar Do Pyar Lo – Sapna (Beloved Bollywood music… makes me think of Indian food, which is for me more normal fare than any other kind of food.)

Love Souvenir – Calvin Harris (When I went back to the US this year, my brother introduced this CD to me… and this song reminded us both of Three's Company – something Jack and Larry would have been listening to while trying to hit on women at the Regal Beagle. It also has some sad connections, as we listened to it en route to my uncle’s wife’s funeral.)

I Will Internalize – Martha Wainwright (Having been a fan of Martha’s mother and brother for some time, I was not surprised to find that I love Martha, too. This song somehow speaks to me because it makes me think about how introverted I am… how I internalize not only my own emotions and problems but even take on the anxieties of others and never express how I truly feel.)

Forbidden City – Electronic (“…But it’s too late to wash my hands…” While I was visiting France this autumn, this song came up randomly on my MP3 player and got to me with the underlying thought that sometimes, you get so far down a certain path that you can’t stop it even though it is clearly the wrong one.)

Let’s Call It Off (Girl Talk Remix) – Peter Bjorn and John (In keeping with the theme about continuing down wrong paths, this song advocates the opposite – calling the whole thing off. This is more my style.)

Let It Die – Feist (Another variation on the theme of letting things go, which has always been a theme for me, whether it be love or friendship or any phantoms of the past. “The saddest part of a broken heart/isn’t the ending so much as the start.”)

Far Away – Martha Wainwright (I was listening to this song and album while reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and somehow the combination of both was overwhelmingly emotional. This year I have been confronted by feeling quite alone, sometimes very lonely, wondering how I got here. I have conveyed an image of myself that has made me seem even more standoffish than I really am – and independent. Yes, I am independent, I don’t like compromise all that much… but I don’t necessarily want to spend my life alone. This song makes me long for things I may never have. “I have no children/I have no husband/I have no reason/to be alive… oh give me one.”)

Darling We’re Out of Time – Cracker (I enjoy the straightforwardness and imagery of this song – again about facing the reality of something best left in the past/letting go. I’ve always enjoyed David Lowery – Camper Van Beethoven. Cracker is no exception.)

Don’t Be – Memory – The Chills (This makes me long to run away to New Zealand again.)

Someday We’ll Be Together – The Supremes (Certain Supremes songs evoke memories of earlier times in life, and awaken a lot of emotion. Somehow emotion seems to be something I am incapable of conjuring up without initial triggers like songs and television.)

Cocksure Whistler – The Aislers Set (This has a quiet, distant feel that I enjoy.)

Sugarbaby – Kristin Hersh (I debated about what song from Kristin’s latest album to include. I chose this because something about it appealed a lot to Marco… and he and I have had an interesting acquaintance in 2007. “Sugarbaby/I was thinking no pain/Sugarbaby/ I was thinking no fear.”)

Jap Chaye – Asha Bhosle (I like the sound of this; makes me feel energetic.) Cannot find a good link for this.

The Chills – Peter Bjorn and John (I just had to include this because I’ve been overexposed this year to the fact that Swedes are incapable of making the hard “ch” sound and instead say “sh”, e.g. “shills” for “chills”, “shild” for “child”, “sheck” for check, etc.)

Horizon – Let’s Active (The album this song comes from was out of print for a long time… and the song itself is something that I loved in 1989. When I hear it, it is like going back to that point in time, the only time in my life I felt like I was in touch with my real, unfiltered emotions. It makes me think of people with whom I was very close in that period, who are all gone now. Another lesson in letting go. Yet the song also feels fresh to me upon listening to it again so many years later.)

Sverige – Kent (I include this… for many reasons, despite not caring much for the song. I spent so much time in Sweden this year (early on with my dear friend Sarah, later for work); fell in love with Sweden this year; worked for a Swedish company that will apparently not be Swedish anymore soon enough; makes me think of dear Naomi when we saw Kent open for the Cardigans many years ago; makes me think of dear Ben who loves Sweden and Nikki who loves Sweden; of beloved Jakob who hates Kent but lives in the future that is Sweden; lovely Catharina who originally sent me a copy of this…)

La Rondine – Luba Orgonasova (In a rather contemplative but inactive period of my life, I watched all the existing seasons of The Sopranos one weekend; in fact I had a few spots in my life when I wasted all my time absorbed in endless tv, mostly to avoid reality. This song was in an episode of The Sopranos, and there was a kind of sadness to it – a power to the song – that dredged up a lot of emotion in me at a time when I felt that my emotions and senses were numb.)

TV Show – Martha Wainwright (“Not the way that I don’t love you/But the way that I hate myself.” I don’t even need to get into the way I relate to this song.)

The Bike Song – Kate & Anna McGarrigle (This song reminds me of the futility of being in love with – and continuing to love – someone who will never be in love with you but nevertheless being unable to control it, always wishing things could be different.)

Closer – Low (Another song I fell in love with when it played randomly on my MP3 player. It brought to mind one of my favorite poems while also making me again long for some kind of closeness that I seem to be getting further and further away from.)

The whole thing, except what is not available on Spotify.