iTunes Troubles

The problem with the i-tunes gift card is a strange one. All day I hear or remember songs that I love on the radio, on a commercial, etc, and I think, "Why don't I have that on my ipod?" 

Enter the i-tunes gift card: a simultaneously exciting and frustrating thing. It's like going into a bookstore or a library without a list (yes, a list for the library. Don't judge). Inevitably, as soon as I walk through the doors, the thing I want disappears from my mind. Author, title, gone. Sometimes the color of the bookcover remains, but you can't exactly search the catalog for "book with yellow cover." 

I just took a cataloging class, so sadly, I know this all too well.

I sat in front of my computer yesterday for two hours trying to pinpoint the songs I'd been wanting all year. Of course one gift card isn't going to cover everything, but I could definitely get the most important ones. I remembered that there was a Bob Dylan song that I loved when I heard it on the radio, but it was also one that I didn't already own. Problem: I can't remember which one. Was it "Positively 4th Street"? I never did remember. Same thing went with several other bands. 

I finally settled on "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (which I have on vinyl but not on my ipod), a couple Dr. Dog songs, and the Brothers album by The Black Keys. I'm happy with those, but next time I think I'll need to keep a list.

And I just realized that maybe it wasn't Bob Dylan I was searching for but Neil Young!!

Musical Memories

I've been listening to a lot of Pandora Radio ever since college (the undergrad years), and it's definitely gotten better over the years (complete with fewer commercials). My favorite station is the one I created based on the band She & Him; they end up playing a lot of Belle & Sebastian, Phoenix, Billie Holiday, Kate Nash, and a whole lot of Rilo Kiley. Today I've been hearing a good deal of Death Cab for Cutie: a band I haven't listened to for a few years. I loved them to pieces a few years ago, but then I got tired of the same songs playing over and over again through my ipod headphones.

But even after years of abstaining from Death Cab, whenever I hear certain songs of theirs, I am automatically transported to a strong memory. Sometimes this memory is just me walking home from work, feeling excited because I was going out with someone or a couple someones. Other times I suddenly remember being on a long train ride (probably to Altoona) on on a bus from Reno to Lake Tahoe. And I think how funny it is that one song can bring you back to that moment and the person that you were when you first heard those opening lyrics.