34. “Bailero” from Chants d’Auvergne, Frederica von Stade with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Remember mix tapes?

Um. No.

Okay, I get it, Valley-Girl-Voiced Imaginary Reader. You’re younger than me. You can un-pause Spotify now.

Anyway, I would pick my songs and add up the times of each song to make sure I could maximize each 45-minute side of a 90-minute tape.

33. “Where the Streets Have No Name,” U2

Bono, impressed by Edge’s riffage, about 10 feet in front of me.

Almost two months ago I went to my first U2 show ever. In my review of four dudes in their 50s keeping my eyes as wide as a five-year-old who just got a puppy for two hours, I said something kind of important that I never really elaborated on much: I realized that U2 has been with me throughout my life more than I knew.

32. “White is Red,” Death From Above 1979

You can’t listen to this song. This song is mine. All mine. You can’t have it. You couldn’t handle it, anyway. No, seriously, log out of Spotify or YouTube or Apple Music or whatever you’re using to listen to it. Right now. This song is not for you. It’s for me. Only me.

31. “Imitation of Life,” R.E.M.

Michael Stipe dancing in the Toronto rain. (Photo courtesy Reuters.)

May 17, 2001 was a grey, drizzly day in Toronto. I remember that because I can photographically recall the weather on any day in my life. Okay, that’s not remotely true. I remember the weather because that was the day R.E.M. played a free outdoor show at Yonge and Dundas, promoting their new album Reveal, and it was a beautiful, wet thing.

30. “Celebration,” Kool & the Gang

Like that big wave-pool wave at your favourite water park, the memories this song conjures crash into me and wash across my brain. There isn’t necessarily one thing, but a crazy jumble of things.

29. “Lazy Eye,” Silversun Pickups, Revisited

Yesterday my late grandfather spoke to me through shuffle.

I’ll just let that sink in for a minute…

28. “Rub You the Right Way,” Johnny Gill

Puberty. One minute you’re 14 going on 15. Then it’s your birthday and you open a present and suddenly you’re aware that there’s a new perception of you. You were always just a kid. Presents had been fun. But now you’re turning into an adult. Or some scrawny, embryonic, grease-and-pimple-faced facsimile of one. And presents could be a little something other than fun.

27. “Little Wing,” Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

Yeah, my obsession with SRV has even led to drawing this oil pastel portrait.

 

Oh boy. This is going to be disappointing.

26. “Hollaback Girl,” Gwen Stefani

Let me hear you say,
“This run is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S!”

Before I ran two marathons, I thought 10 km was a long run. And it is. But there’s relativity for you. (A marathon is 42.2 km, FYI.) Back in the spring of 2005, I decided I was going to commit to running 10 km at the Terry Fox Run. I’ve always been inspired by the story of Terry Fox.

25. “Simmer,” Silversun Pickups

This is actually the opposite of what this blog is supposed to be about. It’s supposed to be: a random song comes up on shuffle and it reminds me of something; my shuffled life. This song couldn’t have been played any less randomly. But it speaks to the power of music and how it works in my brain.