My College Soundtrack

(Dedicated to Manders)

This isn't necessarily the music I listened to in college (some of it, decidedly not), but more what music sums up my memories of the college experience. As such, this will really matter to only one of you.

(in no order)

1. "Beautiful Disaster" by 311--sung by Aaron Willis at an official OBU function, which makes me laugh every time. And it summed up my feelings about life sometimes...a lot of times. "Beautiful Disaster/flying down the street again..."

2. "White Wedding" by Billy Idol--my shining karaoke moment; I sang this to Toni and Jill two weeks before their weddings, and had several half-drunk barflies screaming for me toward the end there. You don't feel sexy until barflies are cheering... um, yeah.

3. "Goodbye" by Plankeye--the exact details of this memory include Trev, Tiffany, Shannon and I in Trev's jeep. Trevor sang this so loud and off key we all couldn't help laughing. But as graduation grew nearer, this song became more important, and I would love to hear Trev sing it again. Maybe I'll ask him while I'm there.

(The Roommate Anthems:)

4. "To Hell with the Devil" by Stryper--I haven't met a Stryper fan like Trev-dawg, and don't think I ever will. And he will break out in a Stryper song at the drop of a hat. It's frightening.

5. "Hit Me Baby (One more time)" by Britney Spears--I heard more of this song than I ever wanted to, when I lived with Daryl. Obsessed doesn't even begin to describe it.

6. "(Dirty) Pop" by N'Sync--Of course it's not as bad as living with a future boy band member. (If anyone could make it, Josh could.) So yeah, I had to learn to at least tolerate N'Sync and their Christian counterparts.

(Anyways...)

7. "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zepplin--I sat alone in a friend's apartment, listening to this classic on vinyl album, in a darkened room lit by a single blue candle. No I wasn't smoking out, but the experience was a bit trippy, even without stimulants.

8. "Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon" from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack--if I'm not mistaken, I got my first kiss during this song at the Dorland Awards After-party. A moment I won't forget, even if I'm fuzzy on what exactly was playing.

9. "What's My Age Again?" by Blink-182--this song will forever remind me of the Theatre guys (Mike, Lucas, Brandon, and Bree). I heard this song almost every time I was working on sets in the shop (along with their other song by Blink, which i can't write out here).

10. "Almost Home" by Chris Currier and yours truly--only publicly performed twice, to modest applause from close and too-kind friends. But definitely a memory for me--the first song I co-wrote. And the last, in all likelihood.

11. "Consuming Fire" by Third Day--the most spiritual experience I've ever had at a rock show. Third Day rocked this one out at OBU, and I was caught up in rapturous praise. Amazing. I was three feet from the wall of speakers, so it was easy to ignore the world for four minutes.

12. "Theme from Our Town" by Will Ledesma and myself--the only way to stay sane when the theme song to your show is uber-repetitive? Make up your own words. "Welcome to Our Town/It is not your town/It's so boring/We're all snoring/Welcome to Our Town."

13. "Round Here" by Counting Crows--my favorite musical memory of OBU. Ira Wilson was playing at Oregano's, and Marty gets up on the "stage" and talks for a minute or two about how you can't put your trust in an institution, because they will always turn on you and let you down (read: Boo OBU.). Then he starts singing "Round Here." Now, Marty doesn't have what you would call a pretty voice. But his honesty and emotion turn it into one of the most memorable performances in my lifetime.

14. "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds--Riss.