Free for all!

So this week’s Twisted MixTape Tuesday theme is . . .

There is no theme.

It’s a free for all.

AAAAAAAAHHHHH!

I like structure. I tend to freak out when given complete freedom. I take comfort in having a model to work from. So when co-hostess Jen Kehl said this was to be a free for all, I got a little anxious. I found myself trying to come up with my own theme. “Fine,” I thought. “If Jen and Kristi aren’t going to boss me around, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. Bwahahaha!”

Unfortunately, I would pick a song, and then worry, “What if this song would be good for an upcoming theme? Then I will have wasted it during this free for all and never be able to take it back and fail at all future mix tape posts. AAAAAAHHHHH!”

After some more internal melodrama, I remembered this was supposed to be fun. I just let go and picked some songs. Any songs. Here are my five tunes. I offer them to you, free of charge. Free for all!

“Everything at Once” by Lenka

In some ways this song is completely out of place on my list. It is the newest song and hasn’t yet withstood the test of time. I’m also a bit embarrassed to confess that I first heard it used in the ad for Disney Studio All Access. However, the title captures the challenge I faced putting together this list. I wanted to sample a little bit of everything. My eclectic taste in music made it a challenge to narrow down my choices.

“Beg, Steal, or Borrow” by Ray LaMontagne

I heard this song on the radio back in August, and the phrase “howling at the moon like a slack jaw fool” has been stuck in my head ever since. I knew I needed to find a chance to include this song on a mix tape, or I just might go crazy. Plus, that’s funny: free for all versus beg, steal or borrow. Get it?
This is why I’m not a professional comedienne.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles

I initially headed to YouTube looking for “Something.” I got all kinds of distracted by the other video suggestions. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with The Beatles and ended up with this George Harrison rendition.

“Sweet Sunny South” performed by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman

Just as I struggled to choose a single Beatles tune, I had a hard time picking one Garcia and Grisman tune to include. I selected this one because I find myself struggling to reconcile the lively instrumental accompaniment with the sadness and loss of the lyrics:

But yet I return to the place of my birth
Where the children have played ‘round the door
Where they gathered wild blossoms that grew ‘round the path
Twill echo their footsteps no more

“Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac

I had a difficult time finding a version of this song that I could embed. Of course, like my experience with The Beatles and Garcia/Grisman, I was wonderfully distracted by the other Fleetwood Mac songs.

You know how you fall in love with a tune on an album, listen to it over and over and grow familiar with its nuances? And then hearing it performed in a different way, it’s disconcerting? Is that just me? Maybe it is, but I just didn’t like the live versions of “Tusk.” I finally settled on this video because, well, Stevie Nicks twirls a baton. Win!

It’s Day 5 of NaBloPoMo!

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