Accompanying the 2008 Halloween mix in the Halloween card was the following poem:

Evolution
–Marin Sorescu (Romania)
It is time to learn from the bats
The between-creatures
Who can home in the dark.

Learn flying blind.
Dispense with the sun.
The future is dark.

Random Gum: Halloween 2008
Novastar – Wrong
“Where did we go wrong?” (Thanks to Peter for sending this song to me early in the ugly part of 2008.)

Simple Minds – Don't You (Forget About Me)
For the sake of nostalgia.

John & Mary – The Azalea Festival
This reminds me of junior high school and lost friendships. (Unfortunately the only link I have for this one is a terrible live version.)

Echo & the Bunnymen – Ocean Rain
I rediscovered Echo & the Bunnymen this year (lots of rediscoveries – nostalgia again – this year. As poet Odysseus Elytis wrote (rough translation from the Greek), “I wish nostalgia had a body so I could push it out the window.”).

Snow Patrol with Martha Wainwright – Set the Fire to the Third Bar
Continued to love Martha Wainwright (will see her live in October in Oslo) and got into Snow Patrol.

Sam Phillips – How to Quit
“I was broken when you got me…” The real soundtrack of 2008 was provided by Sam Phillips and Sleater-Kinney, both well-represented on this mix.

Elena Frolova – No Love and No Honour
One of Frolova’s interpretations of Marina Tsvetaeva’s poetry.

Peter Bjorn and John – Money
“At least I’m not bored yet…”

Diana Ross & the Supremes – In and Out of Love
I went through my whole life without falling in love and then suddenly could not fall out of love with one guy and for the first time
fell madly in love with someone else before quickly falling out.

Kristin Hersh – Slippershell
“And you can go to hell/Maybe see you there”

The Wedding Present – Kennedy
“Lost your love of life/too much apple pie…” In September, I saw the Wedding Present for the first time since 1993 in Seattle with Naomi. Amazing live experience.

Sam Phillips – Love Changes Everything
“I’m not sorry we loved/but I hope I didn’t keep you too long” (This year’s sad theme song.)

Sam Phillips – Edge of the World
“Running through a thousand lives/hoping there’s one on the other side/at the edge of the world, looking up…”

Portishead – The Rip
“And the tenderness I feel/will send the dark underneath… will I follow?”

Salad – On a Leash
“How come you never call me your best friend?/You left me on the wall./When we went skating on that icy pond,/You seemed to help me fall.”

Sleater-Kinney – The Remainder
“You were the one when the day had begun/the sun was shining on us/blinding me such/so that I couldn’t see/there was a hole
beneath me/And then you watched me fall with no expression at all.”

Sleater-Kinney – 02
“I want to run away…” (There were not good links for either Sleater-Kinney songs; check out the album from which these came.

Vincent Delerm – Anita Pettersen
“Je pose des questions norvégiennes à une Anita Pettersen./Existe-t-il sur votre sol un genre de compagnie créole?”(Thanks to Bruno for the song.)

The Chills – Singing in My Sleep
“The search for compassion and attributes found in those younger/finding however unaccountable harrowing hate/craving reaction/a hideous terminal hunger/starving for life in a world with so much on its plate”

Throwing Muses – Status Quo
“I’m drunk on the sound of your voice.”

Alanis Morissette – Thank U
I have never been an Alanis fan but somehow this song resonated with me. Perhaps because I am thankful that a year that started so
miserably has ended so well.

The whole thing except tunes not available on Spotify.