Ode to the Mix Tape

I’m not sure if you were this kind of kid, but I was the kind that would wait by the radio for hours to hear THAT song on the radio, for the one that I had been waiting forever to hear. It would drive me crazy if the announcer talked over the first couple bars of the song! Oh how I would try and hit the record button at just the right time and have just enough space between the songs so that when I was done I had the most perfect mixed tape.

It’s funny how even after thirty years not much has changed when it comes to mix tapes. Now we have digital music that I can just download off of iTunes. Granted, before the music was free, but I had to pay with my time. Now the music costs, but I don’t have to spend more than a couple of seconds to download a song.

I’ve always loved music. Ever since I was little I could hear a song and within a couple times of hearing it knew all the lyrics. I don’t know about you, but if I couldn’t figure out the lyrics, I’d play my mixed tape and listen to the song, stop it, rewind it, and play it all over again until I wrote down all the lyrics. After I got done with that I definitely would know all the words to any song I chose to study.

 I can’t play an instrument or read music to save my life. Michelle Blankenship tried to teach me way back in the day when I was in like in 1^st or 2^nd grade, but after that I just gave up on it. Regardless of whether I could read it or not I would envelope myself in music anytime I got the chance. Music sets my soul free. I’d rather listen to music then watch television. My tastes range from Heavy Metal like Metallica to Instrumental music like Chris Botti. I will listen to just about anything except NWA. I find Eminem an artistic genius and find George Winston an inspiration.

I sometimes find it hard to find something to write about, but earlier this week my mom was down from Houghton and we got to talking about music. She introduced me to Meghan Trainor, she’s a hot new artist and her newest song came out a bit ago and it’s called ‘All about the Bass.’ It’s a catchy tune with a cute message about being a curvy girl and being okay with what God gave you in the booty dept. The first time I saw the video and listened to the lyrics I was giggling. She’s quite a clever girl. Mom was happy that she, MY mother, introduced ME to some music that I hadn’t heard before. I was glad to hear such a cute song, with such a powerful message.

Here it is for your viewing & listening pleasure: All about the Bass

As we got on with the evening we got to talking about music and how she ran out of the house so fast on her way to come down here that she didn’t pack any music! The whole way down here she just channel hopped! So being the mix tape girl I went downstairs and downloaded Meghan Trainor. I must admit I was kind of disappointed to only find 4 songs. I also went thru our music library and gave her the newest Coldplay. My mother is a Coldplay fan, some OneRepublic, and burned her off two of her own mixed tape CD’s for great driving music which included her four Traitor songs. There is one thing that every road trip needs…and that is MUSIC! The longer the road trip the more music you need. Now I could have loaded her up with at least twelve different genres of music, but like me she can listen to the same music over and over again and not get tired.

Over the years I have made plenty of mixed tape cd’s for plenty of my loved ones and friends. It’s my love of music that I pass on to them. I enjoy sharing. I went All-State in Kindergarten for sharing! At least that’s what my mother tells me. *laughing* The music I give hopefully tells the person that I love and adore them. That I want to give them something that they will enjoy; that they will sing along to the music and in doing so will bring them joy. I pray that the music that I share with others makes them smile, and know that we have a connection thru that music. I heard somewhere that if a person gives you music it truly is the lyrics that you need to listen to, for the lyrics are the feelings that the person wants to convey to you.

In my life I have been given four mixed tapes or cd’s; all from the gentleman in my life at the time. I have to admit I don’t know if there is anything more personal to me music wise than a mixed tape. I HEART MIX TAPES! There is even a reference to the mix tape in the recent song Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Hero's featuring Adam Levine. In the movie ‘High Fidelity’ at the end John Cusack makes a mixed tape for his girlfriend. So in honor of the mixed tape I give you this:

Rob (played by John Cusack) the protagonist in Nick Hornby's 1995 novel High Fidelity, gives some of the most influential words of wisdom on how to make a good mix tape. As he puts it in the 2000 movie version, "The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem." High Fidelity mixtape refers to the book and movie High Fidelity, in which the music geek protagonist rants about the art of making a great compilation tape. Whether you are making a tape or a CD for your significant other, love interest, friend or family member, Hornby offers some advice.

Instructions

1. Start your tape with an attention grabber, then immediately take things up a notch.

2. "Cool if off a notch" after the first few songs so as not to blow all of your best songs too early.

3. Avoid having two songs by the same artist next to each other, unless the whole mix is organized in pairs.

4. To paraphrase what Hornby writes in High Fidelity, don't combine music by black artists, particularly Funk, Soul or Blues, with music by white musicians, unless the white music sounds like black music. This can be tricky, since "white" music has a tendency to borrow heavily from "black" music and, to a lesser extent, visa versa.

things-you-miss-about-mix-tapes

Just a few of my mix tape play lists for your reading pleasure:

My Relationship Mix
Mine Would Be you  by Blake Shelton
Ho Hey By The Lumineers
Where are you Now by Mumford & Sons
What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts
Compass by Lady Antebellum
Easy by Rascal Flatts and Natasha Bedingfield
Feel Again by OneRepublic
You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins
It Won't Be Like This for Long by Darius Rucker
Have a Little Faith in Me by Jake Worthington
Stay by Rihanna
Mirrors by Justin Timberlake

Another good one for the ALL Country folks was:
Barefoot Blue Jean Night by Jake Owen
Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band feat. Jimmy Buffett
Smile by Uncle Kracker
Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane
Take a Back Road by Rodney Atkins
Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts
God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton
Keep Me in Mind by Zac Brown Band
Hell On the Heart by Eric Church
Honey Bee by Blake Shelton
Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum
We Owned the Night by Lady Antebellum
Something 'Bout a Woman by Lady Antebellum

And just for the Happy Crowd:
Happy by Pharrell Williams
Good Time by Owl City and Carly Ray
Wake Me Up by Avicill
Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine
Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell
Apology by SafetySuit
Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars
Compass by Lady Antebellum
Counting Stars by OneRepublic
Too Close by Alex Clare
Treasure by Bruno Mars

SO there you have it. My Ode to the Mix tape!