A Peek at my Music

Just something I thought I'd try.
Put your mp3 player on shuffle and write a little about the first ten songs for the duration of each song.

1. Lily's Eyes (The Secret Garden)
I used to love this song so much when I first heard it. I still love it, but I'm just as likely to skip it now as actually listen to it. It also would make a good song about Harry Potter ^_~ I mean, seriously, his mom's name is Lily, and everyone's always going on about how he has her eyes. But the question is, who would sing it? I mean, obviously Snape would be the Doctor, but who would be Archibald? Maybe an AU songfic where James didn't die? I don't know, but that thought always niggles at my brain when I listen to it. Also, I can only picture it as being sung by Mandy Patinkin (not any of his characters) and the Prince from Into the Woods (that's right, it's that same guy. If I had more time, I'd look up his name.)

2. The Floor Show/Rosetint My World (2001 Rocky Horror Show)
I can write a lot about this because it's over seven minutes long. I never wanted to watch the movie because I could never get beyond the huge freaky lips in the opening credits. In fact, I never did watch the movie until I caught it halfway through the middle (coming in around The Time Warp). After that, I got into the habit of watching it around Halloween. But I didn't check out this cast album until a little over a year ago, the same time I got a new car, and I drove around listening to this all over the time, so the songs remind me of October 2006, driving to Southern (where I was talking graduate classes), and blasting out Rocky Horror Show, and not realizing the character of Eddie was played by a woman until Dr. Scott showed up.
I really hate the "don't dream it, be it" section because it's slow and long. But I put up with it because I liked the next part, because at the time, I was writing a fantasy story with a bee character, so I liked to think of that part as her anthem. "I'm a wild and an untamed thing, I'm a bee with a deadly sting, etc." Not very creative, I guess, but it's fun anyway. Come to think of it 2006 was also when I got a colonoscopy as part of the ongoing process to diagnose my crohn's once and for all. I mention this only because my appointment was frickin' early in the morning, and since I had to take a laxative before it, I just stayed up all night, and RHPS was on VH-1 and they didn't show the lips part. I was annoyed.

3. Let Me Walk Among You (Bat Boy)
It took me years to get beyond the album art and actually listen to this show, but once I did, I ended up really liking it. I thought I saw info on the IMDB about a movie coming out in 2008 or 9, but I looked again recently, and it wasn't there. I really like the lyrics in this song, but sometimes I get a phantom lyric. Like I think the lyric should go one way, and it goes somewhere else. "Let me join your carpool. No! Let me drive the car!" I just love the delivery of that lyric. I wish I could keep the reprise of Joyful Noise after this track, but with shuffle, that's not possible. But it really makes the ending feel weird. Also, I'm a sorta Kerry Butler fan, and she's in this. Not this song, though.

4. There's a Fine, Fine Line (Avenue Q)
Is there anybody that doesn't love Avenue Q? Seriously? This is a song I have to be in the right mood for, otherwise I just skip it. Actually, that applies to most of the songs, when I think about it. It's weird how there are some shows that just don't work in a mix, no matter how much the songs may work when put together. I guess it's because the sound is so different. I really want to apply this song to more characters, but really, I don't go for those kinds of relationships. That doesn't make sense, but I'm out of time to explain it. Sorry. Number two spoiled me, I guess.

5. Loathing (Wicked)
I was in a class about how media is used to communicate, and for the class on music, we all brought in a CD and picked a song to play, and then the class would dissect it. Except we didn't go too deeply, since we only had so much time, and plenty of songs to go through. As you've guessed, the song I picked was Loathing. Later I felt I should have picked something else, but I was definitely going with Wicked, since I was absolutely in love with it at the time (you're noticing a trend, aren't you?). The only thing I remember from the class was the first comment was bascially, "I've never felt so good about hating someone." When I saw the show on Broadway, I was so disappointed that the choreography wasn't better. Or rather, like I'd imagined. I'd seen the other students moving as one mass, and everyone taking advantage of all the 'picking' in the background. I'm not sure how to describe it. The poking? Listen to the song and you'll know what I'm talking about.

6. This One Day (The Grass Harp)
The Grass Harp was a flop, but it has very lovely music. This is sung by the teenage nephew. I'm not sure why it's still in my playlist, though, since I don't really like it. But despite not liking it, it's pretty catchy. Which is why it isn't on my 'get rid of' list whenever I go through and cull stuff out. Plus it's pretty short. I should look up who plays the kid sometime. I like his other song better (Floozies).

7. If This is Love (Heartbeats)
I'm not sure if this was an actual show, or a concept album, but the reason this song is on my playlist is because I went back and rewatched Arabian Knight (aka The Thief and the Cobbler), and one of the songs reminded me of it so much that I had to take the CD out of the library again (as I do from time to time) just so I could listen to it again and see if I wasn't just making the whole thing up. But no, the two were way similar. Not so much that you'd think one copied the other.
This is a show that I know I'm the only one who has ever heard of, but it starred Amanda McBroom, who might be known to people. I don't know her from anything else, actually, but that's true of a lot of people that have actually done lots of things. I like a lot of other songs from it better than this one, but over the half the songs are take it or leave it for me. Yeah, I'm done, and now they are, too.

8. How a Garden Grows (The Secret Garden)
Another song from The Secret Garden? Here's some triva, then: you can see the marquee for the show in the movie of Noises Off! which is funny, so you should see it anyway. Besides, it has Mark Linn-Baker in it. This song is a lot of fun, but I don't really have anything to say about it, other than it always reminds me of walking home from High School in the winter time. I'm not sure why, but it makes me feel old now.

9. When You're In My Arms (They're Playing Our Song)
I always feel like singing along. And yes, another memory connected to this show: I had my wisdom teeth out around the time I was listening to it. Either that, or when I found that the library had a copy of the libretto, so I took out the CD with it, so I would read and listen (I used to be obsessed with this, until I tried to do it with Company, and found out, two songs in, that it didn't really work. That, and the same happening with Lost in the Stars, got me out of the habit). That and I used to singing Workin' it Out while mowing the lawn, so that I could sing the swears outloud without getting in trouble. I was young at the time, but not like twelve or anything. I never really had a thing for Marvin Hamlisch, but I do seem to like shows he's worked on. But I don't recognize him the way I might Sondheim or Rodgers and Hammerstein, y'know what I mean? I hope you do, because that's all I have time for.

10. The Money Song (Avenue Q)
Man, I was hoping for no repeated shows, and I got two. And where are my songs from Big? That's what prompted me to do this anyway. That's it, I'm doing a bonus song!
As for this song, I always wanted to play it in my Economics class, but I never got up the nerve, partly because of the Gary Coleman part. And part of me wants to use the middle bit for actual fundraising (like I were ever at one of those tables outside the grocery store).
Y'know, I said that there's no one who doesn't like Avenue Q, but I do know someone: my mom. Ever since she saw them perform "It Sucks to be me" on the Tony's (and then winning), she hasn't been that enthusiastic about it. She doesn't know I like the show (I feigned ignorance during the Tony's), but I'd really love to see it sometime. Once it goes on tour, maybe. I'd have to drag my guy to see it, but I bet he'd get a kick out of it.

11. Evening Star (cut from 110 in the Shade)
This is another one that I either like or don't like depending on my mood. It's a very plaintive song, so if I'm in a bouncy mood, I don't want to slow down. Keep up the momentum, you know. But sometimes it's just so pretty, I can't stand but listen to it. I've also decided to do fifteen songs instead of ten and one bonus because I'm just enjoying this so much. I made this song the main song a character of mine sings in a recital, but it's kind of weird to explain because she's an original character I made up to be the sister of a character that really gets the shaft developmentwise. But I still feel dumb for making something that's probably pretty darn close to a mary sue.

12. Better (A Class Act)
A Class Act is one of those shows I discovered by pure chance, just picking up the CD at Music For a Song, a store at an outlet center that doesn't exist anywhere, but I liked for having all kinds of things, like the CD soundtrack of Rock-a-doodle, which as the full version of all the songs. But again, I just picked up this CD without knowing a thing about it except it had Lonny Price, who, as I've mentioned, is on my list of People Who Should Do More Stuff. Fortunately for me, I loved almost all the songs. I was just listening to it yesterday, actually. I love this song especially, because I can use it for almost all my ensembles, which makes it more interesting for me. Figuring out who sings what line, and all that.
A Class Act is about Ed Kleban, who wrote the lyrics for A Chorus Line, but was never able to get any of his other songs into a show. So this show was made to tell his story using only the songs he wrote, which is pretty cool.

13. Munkie's Uncle (Ruthless! the Musical)
This is sung by Bernadette Peters. It's a lot of fun to sing, too, since it's a bunch of phrases and similes mixed up. "More than a bittle lit I love you, and I'll be shipped in dit you love me, too." Stuff like that. And short.

14. What Do I Know? (Your Own Thing)
Another musical I picked up without knowing a thing about it. I mainly grabbed it because it was in Suncoast, of all things. Another store that is no longer there, come to think of it. I miss it ;_; A musical version of Twelfth Night, set in the current times, which was the 60's at the time. I like it well enough, but it sounds really very different from anything else I have. So I go through cycles of whether I feel like listening to it or not. I'm really very fickle, I guess

15. All For You (Seussical the Musical)
Yet another show I absolutely fell in love with. I first heard of it when I saw it at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, but I didn't get the album until my birthday the following February. I especially loved The One-Feather Tail of Miss Gertrude McFuzz, Notice Me, Horton, and this song. Once you get to the meat of the song, it reminds me so much of Merlock Holmes from Flint the Time Detective (which gives you an idea of when I was listening to this. Or not) that I've never been able to associate it with another character. Mainly because the song lists the many calamities that befell Gertrude as she attempted to find and rescue Horton, and that's the kind of thing that happens to Merlock all the time. Even when there's no reason for it. Comic relief and all that. "And then came the hole where I caught my sole and I rolled downhill out of all control 'til I broke my fall on a jagged shoal, for you." Seriously, one time he was just standing up and he tripped on his cape and fell down an escalator.