The Soundtrack of My Life

A year or so ago I talked to someone about the project I’d been thinking about for years, “The Soundtrack of My Life.”  I was finally given a straightforward challenge to go the hell out and do it.  So I went home on a Friday and started it, and I finished up on Sunday afternoon.

151 songs made the final cut:  down from probably 400 or so that I initially put onto the list.  My wife asked, “Why don’t you just make three discs?”  I replied, “Because just throwing it all on there isn’t challenging.  It’s the decisions, and why I choose one song over another, that really make it an interesting thought experiment.”

At about the 250-song mark it started to get really hard.  To finally get it all whittled down I had to officially compartmentalize my life into sections.  That way, I could look at all the songs I had in there for a period of my life.  Then I could pick and choose which, say, 10 of the 15 were more important to me at that time, or more symbolic of that time.  It was easier doing that than looking at the whole time period and trying to decide which songs to keep and trash out of the whole bunch.

Every song on this list has some meaning to me at that point in my life.  Some are somewhat superficial…”Soulful Terrain” just reminds me of happy times in my childhood.  Some are much deeper, and would require a paragraph, or more than one, to describe them.  I say, here it all is.  If you want an explanation for a song or songs, just ask me and I’m 99% likely to tell you.

Does the order have meaning?  Some.  I didn’t nitpick it too much, so you could change the order a bit and not be too far off…hell, it might make things better.  But I think this fairly accurately reflects different periods in my life.  For the amount of time I wanted to spend on it, it’s pretty good.

So here it is.  This is an interpretation of my life in music, circa 2006.  Sure, it could stand some updating, but for now I think it’s a fair representation.  So far, so good…

1974-1986
Alison Krauss – Down to the River to Pray
Stevie Nicks – Leather & Lace
Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son
Nickel Creek – Sweet Afton
Kenny Rogers – Love Will Turn You Around
Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Eric Johnson – Soulful Terrain
Night Ranger – Sister Christian
Foreigner – Waiting for a Girl Like You
The Police – Wrapped Around Your Finger
Survivor – The Search Is Over
Howard Jones – No One Is To Blame
George Michael – Father Figure
The Outfield – Your Love

1986-1991
Beastie Boys – Paul Revere
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Mandolin Rain
Motley Crue – Wild Side
AC/DC – Touch Too Much
Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train (Live)
Staind – Outside
Guns N’ Roses – Paradise City
Ozzy Osbourne – Goodbye to Romance (Live)
Van Halen – Summer Nights
Def Leppard – Love Bites
Anthrax – Antisocial
Megadeth – In My Darkest Hour
Tesla – Love Song
Van Halen – Feels So Good
Metallica – Fade to Black
Junkyard – Simple Man
Tonic – Mr. Golden Deal
Suicidal Tendencies – How Will I Laugh Tomorrow
King’s X – Summerland
Pantera – Hollow
Ozzy Osbourne – Diary of a Madman

1991-1996
Led Zeppelin – Over the Hills and Far Away
Steve Miller Band – The Joker
Iron Maiden – Wasted Years
Eric Johnson – Cliffs of Dover
Public Enemy – Can’t Trust It
Nirvana – Come As You Are
Pearl Jam – Black
Pantera – Regular People (Conceit)
Tool – Sober
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band – Mainstreet
Toad the Wet Sprocket – Walk on the Ocean
Opeth – To Bid You Farewell
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Pride & Joy
Skid Row – In A Darkened Room
Goo Goo Dolls – Name
Fight – Little Crazy
Live – Lightning Crashes
Dave Matthews Band – Crash Into Me
Dream Theater – Pull Me Under
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Christopher Parkening – Suite Espanola:  Canarios
Green Day – When I Come Around
Van Halen – 5150
Weezer – Say It Ain’t So
Kool & The Gang – Jungle Boogie
Travis Tritt – It’s a Great Day to Be Alive

1996-1998
Joe Satriani – Rubina’s Blue Sky Happiness
Oasis – Wonderwall
Bush – Machinehead
R. Kelly – Down Low (Live to Regret It Mix)
Eric Johnson – Forty Mile Town
Tonic – Mountain
Sade – Never As Good As The First Time
Candlebox – Cover Me
D’Angelo – Lady
Lenny Kravitz – Heaven Help
Soundgarden – Fell On Black Days
Days of the New – Touch, Peel, and Stand
Oasis – Champagne Supernova
Tonic – If You Could Only See
Tesla – What You Give
Sublime – Santeria
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Soul to Squeeze
Jim Croce – Lover’s Cross
Jonny Lang – Beautiful One
Fleetwood Mac – Landslide (Live)
Weather Report – A Remark You Made
The Wallflowers – 6th Avenue Heartache
Stevie Wonder – Superstition

1998-2000
Alison Krauss and Union Station – When You Say Nothing At All
Enya – Book of Days
Dave Matthews Band – Crush
Creed – My Own Prison
Fleetwood Mac – Silver Springs
Eric Clapton – Pilgrim
Jonny Lang – Second Guessing
The Red Hot Chili Peppers – Love Rollercoaster
A Perfect Circle – Orestes
Fuel – Hemorrhage (In My Hands)
Pantera – Hellbound
Days of the New – Whimsical
Edwin McCain – I’ll Be
Incubus – Drive
Robert Johnson – Sweet Home Chicago

2000-2002
The Allman Brothers Band – Little Martha
Tina & the B-Side Movement- Nobody to Me
Third Eye Blind – Jumper
Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff
Godsmack – Keep Away
Tool – H
Linkin Park – Papercut
Mother Love Bone – Crown of Thorns
Metallica – Bleeding Me
Slipknot – Iowa
Pantera – Suicide Note, Part 1
Pantera – Suicide Note, Part 2
Rob Zombie – Dragula
Tool – Pushit (Live)
In Flames – Whoracle

2002-2004
The Cox Family – I Am Weary, Let Me Rest
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Tuesday’s Gone
Nickel Creek – Reasons Why
Tonic – You Wanted More
Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name Of
Opeth – The Drapery Falls
Steve Vai – Sisters
Seether – Fine Again
The Allman Brothers Band – Blue Sky
Evanescence – Bring Me To Life
Trapt – Echo
Tool – The Grudge
Opeth – Windowpane
Damageplan – Save Me

2004-2006
BlackHawk – I Sure Can Smell the Rain
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Riviera Paradise
Thrice – Stare at the Sun
Opeth – Deliverance
Led Zeppelin – The Rain Song
Seether (with Amy Lee) – Broken
Shadows Fall – Act of Contrition
Thrice – The Artist in the Ambulance
Jonny Lang – Red Light
Alison Krauss & Union Station – If I Didn’t Know Any Better
Jeffrey Gaines – In Your Eyes
Jonny Lang – If We Try
Lamb of God – Laid to Rest
Damageplan – Breathing New Life
Tool – 46 & 2
Ocean Machine – Life
Sade – Love Is Stronger Than Pride
Audioslave – Out of Exile
Jack Johnson – Better Together
Eric Johnson – Good to Me
Sister Hazel – Change Your Mind

Coda
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Life by the Drop
The Stanley Brothers – Angel Band