The Soundtrack Of Your Life game, part I

Image from wjbc.com

Image from wjbc.com

This game is music geek heaven. I’m one, and so are many of my friends and family. So I sent this message to several of them:

The rules are simple. They’re making a movie of your life, and they’ve asked you to pick the songs for the soundtrack. All you need to do is list a song for each category below. Be creative. Explain your choices if you choose.

The categories are:

Opening Credits
Waking Up Scene
Average Day Scene
Buddy/Sidekick Scene
First Date Scene
Falling In Love Scene
Love Scene
Fight Scene
Breaking Up Scene
Getting Back Together Scene
Secret Love Scene
Life’s Okay Scene
Mental Breakdown Scene
Driving A Car Scene
Learning A Lesson Scene
Deep Thought Scene
Flashback Scene
Partying Scene
Happy Dance Scene
Getting Shitfaced Scene
Regretfulness Scene
Hitting Bottom Scene
Long Night Alone Scene
Death Scene
Closing Credits

Gallantly I offered to show mine first:

Opening Credits: “Try To Make It” by Sloan
Waking Up: “Got The Time” by Joe Jackson
Average Day: “New Slang” by The Shins
Buddy/Sidekick: “Two Of Us” by The Beatles
First Date: “Little Bit Of You” by Laura Cantrell
Falling In Love: “My Lucky Day” by The Smoking Popes
Love: “Sea Of No Cares” by Great Big Sea
Fight: “If She Knew What She Wants” by The Bangles
Breaking Up: “Someplace Love Can’t Find Me” by Marshall Crenshaw
Getting Back Together: “I Will Hold On” by Moxy Früvous
Secret Love: “Searching For A Heart” by Warren Zevon
Life’s Okay: “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” by Buzzcocks
Mental Breakdown: “Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness” by Nanci Griffith
Driving A Car: “Movin’ On” by The Rankin Family
Learning A Lesson: “All The Things To Do When She Says No” by Eytan Mirsky
Deep Thought: “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab For Cutie
Flashback: “My Back Pages” by The Byrds
Partying: “Eagle Rock” by Daddy Cool
Happy Dance: “Banana Chips” by Shonen Knife
Getting Shitfaced: “I Got Stoned And I Missed It” by Shel Silverstein
Regretfulness: “Sad Sound Of The Wind” by Jules Shear
Hitting Bottom: “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” by Bob Dylan
Long Night Alone: “Hold On Hope” by Guided By Voices
Death: “The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes” by Elvis Costello
Closing Credits: “All The Way Home” by Dry Bones

Slowly, responses began trickling in. My friend Laura, creator of the excellent blog My Life As A Slinky, offered hers with comments:

Opening Credits: “Blues Power” by Eric Clapton and Leon Russell
Waking Up: “Boogie Down” by Al Jarreau
Average Day: “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat And Tears
Buddy/Sidekick: “Moanin'” by Charles Mingus
First Date: “You Just May Be The One” by The Monkees
Falling In Love: “Nice And Easy” by Frank Sinatra
Love: “As” by Stevie Wonder
Fight: “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” by Spin Doctors
Breaking Up: “Unchain My Heart” by Joe Cocker
Getting Back Together: “Dance Me To The End Of Love” by Leonard Cohen
Secret Love: “Howlin’ For You” by The Black Keys
Life’s Okay: “Have A Talk With God” by Stevie Wonder
Mental Breakdown: “St. Matthew” by Michael Nesmith
Driving A Car: “Baba O’Riley” by The Who (“just because it’s a kickass song”)
Learning A Lesson: “The Ugly Duckling” by Danny Kaye
Deep Thought: “Let It Be” by The Beatles
Flashback: “Cherry Bomb” by John Mellencamp
Partying: “Mercedes Benz” by Janis Joplin (“I’d be singing it!”)
Happy Dance: “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing” by Scissor Sisters
Getting Shitfaced: “Let’s Go Get Stoned” by Joe Cocker
Regretfulness: “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” by Bob Dylan
Hitting Bottom: “God Bless The Child” by Ella Fitzgerald (“it’s got to be Ella’s version”)
Long Night Alone: “Black Coffee” by Rita Coolidge
Death: “Gone At Last” by Paul Simon and Phoebe Snow
Closing Credits: “The Weight” by The Band

I’ve known my friend Cindy since we were in grade 7, back when Lyndon Johnson was President. So we definitely share some musical tastes. Curious though that neither of us featured Jim Croce or Gordon Lightfoot or Gerry Rafferty in our lists.

Opening Credits: “Ode To Joy” by Ludwig van Beethoven
Waking Up: “Morning Has Broken” by Cat Stevens
Average Day: “Ordinary Day” by Great Big Sea
Buddy/Sidekick: “One Friend” by Dan Seals
First Date: “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles
Falling In Love: “Gone Too Far” by England Dan and John Ford Coley
Love: “By The Time This Night Is Over” by Kenny G
Fight: “No Surprise” by Daughtry
Breaking Up: “Almost There” by The Swift
Getting Back Together: “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” by Dan Seals
Secret Love: “To Love Somebody” by Blue Rodeo
Life’s Okay: “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” by George Winston
Mental Breakdown: “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M.
Driving A Car: “I Walk The Line” by Rodney Crowell
Learning A Lesson: “Forty Days And Forty Nights” by The Rankin Family
Deep Thought: “If Tomorrow Never Comes” by Garth Brooks
Flashback: “You Should Have Been There” by Marshall Crenshaw
Partying: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper
Happy Dance: “Hurts So Good” by John Mellencamp
Getting Shitfaced: “Me And The Moon” by Gaelic Storm
Regretfulness: “Mellow Doubt” by Teenage Fanclub
Hitting Bottom: “Drifter” by Decemberadio
Long Night Alone: “Far Away” by Nickelback
Death: “Fly Away” by John Denver and Olivia Newton-John
Closing Credits: “Looking For Space” by John Denver

My friend Ann gently nudged the categories, to good effect. She melded two of them together, and added the “Plucky Single Mom Scene.” She also suggested we turn these into playlists and post them on Spotify.

Opening Credits: “That Don’t Make It Junk” by Leonard Cohen
Waking Up: “Bright Light Of Day” by Anne McCue
Average Day: “The Best Day” by Atmosphere
Buddy/Sidekick: “Summer Of Drugs” by Victoria Williams
First Date: “Pressure Drop” by Toots and the Maytals
Falling In Love: “Fearless Heart” by Steve Earle
Love: “This Must Be The Place” by Talking Heads
Fight: “I Don’t Like You” by Stiff Little Fingers
Breaking Up: “Let Him Fly” by Patty Griffin
Getting Back Together: “Mineshaft 2” by Dessa
Secret Love: “Knapsack” by Amy Rigby
Plucky Single Mom: “Dreamer” by Atmosphere
Life’s Okay: “Brass In Pocket” by The Pretenders
Mental Breakdown/Hitting Bottom: “Lord, I Have Made You A Place In My Heart” by Greg Brown
Driving A Car: “Road Runner” by The Modern Lovers
Learning A Lesson: “Boys Will Be Boys” by Gear Daddies
Deep Thought: “Unsatisfied” by The Replacements
Flashback: “Yesterday (Circa Summer 80 Something)” by Cory Branan
Partying: “Let’s Take Some Drugs And Drive Around” by The Silos
Happy Dance: “Save It For Later” by The English Beat
Regretfulness: “For Shame Of Doing Wrong” by Richard and Linda Thompson
Long Night Alone: “Holocaust” by Big Star
Death: “Angel From Montgomery” by John Prine
Closing Credits: “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

I’ve invited other friends and family into my particular brand of geekery. I hope to include their lists in parts II, III, and so forth. Wanna play too? Drop me a line, send me your lists. (Don’t be listless.) I’ll post the ones I like. Note, though, that sending me a list indicates your permission to post it.


4 Comments on “The Soundtrack Of Your Life game, part I”

  1. […] blog Lucy’s Football. Somewhat more recently I invited genial blogger Amy to participate in the Soundtrack Of Your Life Game. She graciously declined. But today she tossed out a discussion topic, sort of a short-form of the […]

  2. […] from the words “part one” in the title, this will be a multi-part series. Similar to a couple of other musical discussions on this here blog. Six seems to be the going number for these […]

  3. […] these are the records that have gotten me through rough times, good times, desperate times. The Soundtrack Of My Life, you might even […]

  4. […] “For Everyman,” and “Late For The Sky” – were a huge part of the soundtrack of my life. I brought those LPs everywhere I went, and forced everyone to listen to them until one friend […]


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