Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat

Dear Megan,

Melissa, an old friend from high school, posted a link to this little game on Facebook. It just so happened to be the perfect way for me to waste an hour or so at work. Also, I think that this game was made for me, as I love to look for secret meanings in pretty much anything.

For example, do you remember the time when I decided that "Still I Long For Your Kiss" was my liberation song after the end of the Philip situation? What the hell was that all about? I'll tell you what it was about. I was feeling sorry for myself, so I took a drive. "Still I Long For Your Kiss" came on the radio and I started singing along. (My voice sounded amazing.) Well, I just so happened to be driving downtown as Lucinda and I sang the following lyrics: "I go downtown!" I thought it must be fate. Nevermind that the rest of the lyrics included such liberating gems as "I see your face/Nobody around can take your place/But you put me down/But you turned me away/Still I long for your kiss." That's liberation, baby!

Anywhos, it's a fun game. I know you don't do the whole music on the computer thing; really I just posted this for Heather since I know she's the only person who reads this blog. (Love ya, HDK!)

Okay, the rules are as follows:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc., on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the >> button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Put the artist after a dash following the song name.
5. Put any comments in brackets.
6. Tag some lucky people to spread the disease.

My answers:

a. How would you describe yourself?

"Like a Hurricane [live]"--Neil Young. [A simile! "I am just a dreamer, but you are just a dream." Didn't he write this about a time when he was totally fucked up? It's a pretty song, nonetheless. Lots of noodling going on in the live version. I just like how simple of an answer it is to that question.]

b. How do you feel today?

"I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) [live]"--Bob Dylan. [Neil and Dylan one after the other? Excellent. And another live track, too. Weird times on the iPod. Geez, sad lyrics when you can make 'em out. "It's like I ain't here" is pretty much how I feel at work most days. As the great Kramer said, "In my head, I'm already gone."

c. What is your life's purpose?

"She'll Remember"--Dwight Yoakam. [Ha, ha. This is a funny one since I am the person that you always call when you have hazy memories about things that we may or may not have done in college. Yes, we did see The Band {sans Robbie Robertson}, and yes, The Crickets did join them for the encore. This is a pretty good life's purpose--to remember. The good times, I mean. Although I can hold a mean grudge, too. So it fits. My iPod is a genius.]

d. What is your motto?

"Living on a Thin Line"--The Kinks. [Boo! Bad iPod. . . . Well, maybe it's okay. Not as a motto, but whatever. I think it's a reminder that we have to do what's right now because otherwise there won't be anything left for our kids. "Yes, it really, really matters."]

e. What do you think about very often?

"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1"--The Flaming Lips. [That's pretty funny. This reminds me of when we were in college and I would always plead with our computer engineering friends not to program the robots to overthrow us, like in The Terminator. I sure hope they listened. Can't say I still think about it that often anymore, though.]

f. What is your life story?

"Why Can't You Be Nicer To Me?"--The White Stripes. ["Everything's so funny/I don't have any money, oh oh." That sounds about right.]

g. What do you want to be when you grow up?

"Memphis Pearl"--Lucinda Williams. [Alrighty then. Except for the whole wife-beating part of the song . . . wow. I guess I'd like to be Memphis Pearl before her eyes got the "vacant stare," back in Memphis when she was a pearl. Not a great stretch of answers here.]

h. What will you dance to at your wedding?

"I'll Back You Up"--Dave Matthews Band. [Aww, this would be a sweet song to dance to. But . . . WRONG! I danced to "Sentimental Reasons." If we had been able to get the CD from Old Crow Medicine Show before our wedding, rather than after, I would have danced to "Wagon Wheel." Unfortunately, it had only been self-released at that point, and Tower did not have a copy before Kevin and I left for Mississippi. {Man, do I miss Tower!} Critter gave us a signed copy when we saw them at the Station Inn after we got married. It was a sweet gift. And this is a sweet song.]

i. What will they play at your funeral?

"Has Anyone Seen My Man?"--Memphis Minnie. [Best answer ever! That is awesome. Although I was hoping that it would be "You Can't Always Get What You Want." I imagine you sitting at the organ playing the intro, like on The Big Chill.]

j. What is your hobby/interest?

"Bright Lights, Big City"--Them (feat. Van Morrison). [I do like the big cities. Wouldn't call it a hobby, but I am certainly interested in being able to visit them more often. Is that a stretch?]

k. If you could do anything right now, what would it be?

"Do You Realize?"--The Flaming Lips. [Another Flaming Lips song. WTF? Geez, this is a depressing answer to that question. Although I guess it's kind of nice. I don't know. This song will forever be colored for me by an essay I read on McSweeney's. This father wrote about what this song meant to him and it was all about one the last times he was with his son. They went to a Flaming Lips concert and listened to this song on the way. His son died soon afterward. "It's hard to make the good things last." Now it makes me boo-hoo.]

j. What do you want most of all?

"Jigsaw Puzzle"--The Rolling Stones. [I think this song just reminds me of what I want most of all. It's not that I actually got to, got to have a jigsaw puzzle.]

k. What is your greatest fear?

"Is This Home On Ice?"--Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. [Hmm. I guess that's kind of right. Ice is fragile, breakable. I guess my biggest fear is a broken home.]

l. What is your darkest secret?

"Call Me On Your Way Back Home"--Ryan Adams. [Doesn't really fit except for maybe two lines. I will not elaborate. Pretty song, though.]

m. What is your favorite thing in the world?

"All I Want Is You"--U2. [This is correct. My favorite thing in the world is my friends, so the "you" in the title would be you. We may be getting back on track here.]

n. If you could have one wish, what would you wish for?

"Bob Dylan's Dream"--Bob Dylan. [This is true: "I wish, I wish, I wish in vain, that we could sit simply in that room again. Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat, I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that." And, while it's probably not the one thing I would wish for, it would be nice to dream Dylan's dreams, wouldn't it?]

o. What is your theme song?

"Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)"--Cracker. [Hilarious. "I don’t know what the world may want, but a good stiff drink it surely don’t. So I think I’ll go and fix myself a tall one." Excellent motto, if I do say so myself.]

p. The next time you hear this song (aside from now, that is), you must dance.

"Margie"--Ray Charles. [You know I dance every time I hear Brother Ray sing!]

q. What will you post this as?

"Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat."

Have fun (Heather)! Let me know what you come up with.

love, molly

previous post title source: "Since You're Gone," The Cars