:: a.whisper.in.water ::

:: Monday, May 03, 2004 ::

[a thorough failure to present actual content as to the details of my life, take three ]

Here I re-invoke the old duality of non-blogging: either life is too hectic to catalogue, or too mindless and unworthy of archiving. It's been the former for perhaps 2 months now. So, as a casual placeholder, I elect to participate in the 20-random-song lyric guessing game, as brought to my attention by Amanda. I'm going to eschew extensive commentary on these songs for the time being, but expect an update not only to that effect, but also to the effect of simply narrating my fucking life.

The rules: open up your playlist, set play-order to random. Transcribe your favorite line from the ensuing twenty songs with lyrics.

Guessing is DEMANDED. I might give prizes, or something dippy like that.

1. "Crush and crumble under your defenses / it's not treason, it's no lie."

2. "I dream at night / of going home someday / somewhere so far away. / So dream alright / I know it's going to take some time / I'm going home / someday"

3a. Broken Social Scene - Shampoo Suicide (Instrumental. Clearly, not a legal participant, but a stellar song nonetheless.)

3b. "He's a self-professed savior of the dim right wing / he's got respiratory problems and a mason's ring."

4a. The Gentle People - Journey (Aphex Twin Care Mix). Another instrumental.

4b. "I have a mandolin / I play it all night long / it makes me want to kill myself." (I was previously unaware that my version, by Superchunk, is a cover.)

5. "If you'd been a dog / they'd have drowned you at birth."

6a. The Flaming Lips - Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia). Another instrumental, from the list of music I've yet to reach judgment on.

6b. Boards of Canada - Sixtyten. Yet another instrumental, but I should at the very least mark this one as phenomenal.

6c. Kid 606 - Now I Wanna Be A Cowboy. Yep, another instrumental track. An illuminating survey, in that it showcases how little attention I pay to the lyrical meaning behind most songs (relative to my obsessive attention to instrumentation, production, and composition. Music and poetry are two entirely separate entities, and at the risk of overgeneralization, typical lyrics are pretty meaningless and inane anyway.)

6d (a long-awaited song with words). "One more song about moving along the highway / can't say much of anything that's new / if I could only work this life out my way / I'd rather spend it being close to you."

7. "A sour wavelength and a heart of steel / building clear boundaries / changing wavelength, swimming the wave." (NB: Lyrics translated from the Welsh and do not appear in the song itself. Another instance of me failing to care about lyrics.)

8. "Ten silver saxes, a bass with a bow / the drummer relaxes and waits between shows." (A Radiohead cover, and one I'll probably delete the next time I clean out the player no less.)

9. "It's groovy...it's groovy I guess." (NB: actually a sample in a song full of fantastic samples. Technically instrumental, but I'd do the song utter injustice to just lump it under the instrumental category.)

10. "Take these broken wings and learn to fly / all your life / you were only waiting for this moment to arise." (For God's sake, get this one, at least. I'll concede to a few of the others being somewhat obscure, but come ON.)

11. "I said I'd make you smile for the simple fact I'm good at it / I said I'd make you smile just so I can sit and look at it."

12. "It's astounding / time is fleeting / madness takes its toll."

13a. Venetian Snares - Cashew. Instrumental, noize-y, experimental glitch-tastic music.

13b. "Breathing / is the hardest thing to do / with all I've said and all that's dead to you / You lied."

14. "You haven't moved from that spot all night since you asked for a light / you little smoke stack / you've wasted my time / I'd like to see you try and give it back."

15. "Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes / that call me on and on across the universe." (Another gimmie, but I hardly care: the lyrics are phenomenal, and I absolutely adore this song. Honestly, my choice as to my favorite lyrics was pretty much arbitrary.)

16. "Just five minutes, worm, your honour / him and me alone."

17a. Amon Tobin - Chompsamba. Yay Ninja Tunes.

17b. It's sometimes just like sleeping / curling up inside my private tortures."

18. "...and if I'm asleep / make sure my blanket covers me."

19a. Daft Punk - Superheroes. An instrumental, with the sole vocal contribution of Barry Manilow crooning "Love is in the air," sampled from "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?" Sweet Christ, is this song ever good.

19b. "...and I'm on the market and when I'm on a market words move faster wire and clouds move thin between us like a skin / like a salty skin for a seed a fat circles / a smiling smiling her voice so intentionally smiling and a cloud between us / These are my intentions."

20. "When lava pours out near the sea surface, tremendous volcanic explosions sometimes occur." (NB: A sample.)

That took ages, but goodness, do I love music. I'm pleased with the variety of songs that came up, if only because the instrumental songs afforded me the opportunity for long-winded discourse, even if I didn't take it. To you all: good hunting. Anyone who gets 16 or more, name your reward-terms. Negotiations will ensue.

:: Aziz 11:56 PM [+] ::
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