Summer Mixtape
[DJ Tom is responsible for this post.]
I can’t remember the last time I put together a mixtape, or even felt the urge to make one. But, after 7 weeks on the road, there are certain songs that I know will always remind me of our summer travels in Argentina, so it only seemed right to compile them together all in one place.
Courtesy of Favtape, you can play along as you read the rest of the post.
- Sheena Easton – “My Baby Takes The Morning Train”
I swore this was a Juice Newton hit, but Michele insisted it was Sheena Easton. She was right, and she hasn’t let me forget it. (Clearly, I was mistaking if for “Angel in the Morning”.)
This song’s chorus was impossible to get out of our heads. For weeks and weeks, one of us was always humming this tune. Zelda especially loved it, and if somehow the rest of us had collectively purged it from our minds for a short while, Zelda would come bopping along, singing “My baby takes the morning train…” and instantly reinfect us all.
Admit it, you’re humming it right now, aren’t you?
- Vampire Weekend – “I Stand Corrected”
A lot of mixtapes segue from Sheena Easton to Vampire Weekend, no?
- Coldplay – “Viva la Vida”
The girls loved this song and desperately wanted to sing along with it, but could never get through it without asking a ton of questions. “Why is he rolling the dice?” “What are the bells ringing for?” “Who is St. Peter?” “…just what is this song about, anyway?”
- The Ting Tings – “Shut Up And Let Me Go”
How do you learn about new music these days?
Well, I’m not sure how hipsters do it, but I learned about The Ting Tings because their song was the background music for a Sponge Bob Square Pants commercial that played incessantly during our Bariloche stay. That commercial was easily my favorite thing on TV.
The rest of the family quickly became nauseated by my ability to work the phrase “I ain’t freakin’, I ain’t fakin’ it” into nearly every conversation.
- The Decemberists – “Oceanside”
By the time we hit Ushuaia, we had left our poppy, dance phase and had become a bit more contemplative and alternative. I’m not sure why I had to travel all the way to the end of the world before finally giving one of our hometown’s most acclaimed bands a listen.
- Bob Marley & the Wailers – “Iron Lion Zion”
Uncle Ian filled our daughters’ iPod Shuffles with his favorites, making sure to ground them in the classics (Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin) and cover all important genres. This was the family consensus pick from the Reggae lesson.
- Madonna – “Give It 2 Me”
We rented a car for a couple days in Bariloche. We spun the radio dial while we drove along the winding lakeside roads, searching for any song simple and catchy enough for the whole family to sing along to…and Madonna gave it 2 us.
- Katy Perry – “I Kissed A Girl”
Yes, we’ve already mentioned that we heard this song everywhere in Argentina.
Somehow, we managed to avoid a parent-child discussion about what exactly Katy Perry was singing about, but if that conversation comes up in the future, I’m ready. Thanks to the Pastor at Havens Corners Church, I now know what I’ll say:
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i seriously could not stop laughing at that church sign for a full minute or more. at least someone in the church’s staff is having fun and getting creative…
If you enjoyed that one, you may be delighted to learn that there is an entire site devoted to Crummy Church Signs. (That was the original source for the photo.) Though to be honest, I didn’t see any quite as funny as the Katy Perry-inspired one…