Kayla’s Playlist, Song 1
This is going to be super rustic, as my 20th century brain is having trouble adjusting to 21st century blogging technology (“What do you mean I cannot just write the whole thing in html?”)
Less than a week before my baby sister’s twenty-fifth birthday, I had what I thought was a stroke of genius. What does the 21st century veterinary student need but not yet have? A 25 song mix CD, with one song to represent every year from 1995 to present.
I thought this was a genius idea because a mix CD is one thing that my little sister may very well have never been given. However, I very quickly realized that the curation process for this project far exceeded the time that I had before her birthday, so now we are shooting for Christmas.
Anyway, let’s just jump into my current contenders for song 1 (1995), and worry about further explanation later.
When I began, I thought that the selected songs should be songs that I was actually listening to the year that the song debuted. Being only twelve and living out in the suburbs in 1995, my music access was almost entirely limited to the cassette tapes and CDs that my parents purchased. Do we want a playlist made up of Phil Collins, Celine Dion, and, when we’re feeling brave, Shania Twain? Nope.
So, before even starting, new rule: any song that debuted that year is game. Songs that came out in September or later can be shifted to the next year’s list of contenders. Living out beyond where the sidewalk ends, to this day, the radio playlists run three to six months behind the rest of the world.
1) “Hook” by Blues Traveler
Why? It’s one of my all time favorite songs that I assume that no one else really likes. I’m a sucker for any song that talks about the writing process and satirizes how the audience interprets a work.
2) “32 Flavors” by Ani DiFranco
Why? I did not hear this song for the first time until I went to college. The song tells the story of so many women: here we are, just trying to be ourselves, vs. the rest of the world, which has some real issues with anything that cannot be easily labelled.
3) “Just a Girl” by No Doubt
Why? No Doubt has the distinction of being one of the very few “cool” bands that I was vaguely aware of during my upbringing. Again, here is another anthem to welcome a girl into the world: “Welcome, Child. The world is going to largely underestimate you and treat you like as though you are less than, but it will be fine, eventually. Really.”
So, Peanut Gallery, if you are out there: which song should win the slot?