I been tagged.

Lydia asked me to do the music meme. I'm not gonna tag anyone else, 'cos I think everyone I "know" well enough to feel okay about tagging has already done it. (But if you haven't, and want to, consider that an invitation).

1. Total amount of music files on your computer:

None! I'm kind of a Luddite that way. (I also still don't own a DVD player). That said, I do have Windows Media or whatever-it's-called so that I can listen to KING-fm in my office

2. The last CD you bought: Hugo Alvfen, a CD of his compositions put out by Naxos. Ummm...it had the Uppsala Rhapsody on it. I heard it on KING and decided I wanted a copy. And to hear more of his music.(Bought it from Arkiv Music, one of KING's supporters, and my current go-to place for all things classical)


3. What is the last song you listened to before reading this message:
I think it was probably Shostakovich's "Second Waltz," which is the first piece on the CD I have loaded in to the CD player in my bedroom - it's what I use in place of an alarm clock.

4.Write down 5 songs that you listen to a lot or mean a lot to you:

This is gonna be all over the map.

A. Brahms, Academic Festival Overture. I listen to this because it meshes with my romantic idea of what being at a college (either as a student or faculty member) was like - busy, bustling, full of purpose. Lots of pomp. But also the old, old traditions - Brahms wove in the melodies of old drinking songs. (Somehow, the reality, with its hours-long meetings, and students who complain about having fifteen minutes of homework to do, and lack of good on-campus restaurants, never quite lives up to my dream of what it "should" be like).

B. Charles Trenet, Le Temps de Cerises. It's an old French folksong that Trenet jazzed up. I like it because it lifts my mood. Actually, just about anything Trenet did lifts my mood. He's my favorite "pop" singer, even though his period of greatest popularity and activity was fifteen to twenty years before I was born.

C. (This is a whole CD) Steal Away by Hank Jones and Charley Haden. This is sort of a jazz/folk album - spirituals set for piano and bass. Very restful to listen to. Also uplifting. My favorite cut is actually #3 on the CD, "Chanson de Moi," which was apparently played at MLK's funeral.

D. From out of my past: "I Am a Rock," Simon and Garfunkel. This is one that almost embarrasses me. I remember playing it over and over again one Valentine's Day weekend when I was in college - all my friends were out on dates and I was by myself, and I was desperately trying to convince myself that romance was for the weak-minded, and that the only people who ever got anything DONE in life were people who didn't give in to the mushy impulses. (Didn't work; I still had dissolved into tears and thoughts of "I'm such a loser" by 8:30 pm).

E. Red Balloon, Alison Brown Quartet (from their album called Replay). Sort of a bluegrass blend. I guess "real" bluegrass fans would sneer at it as "bluegrass lite," but I like it.* It's very cheerful and jazzy.


(*And I've decided to give up for Lent allowing other people who think themselves superior in taste and breeding to me to pee all over my fun)