I like music. I like almost all kinds of music. I sing opera for a living, but when I’m not on the job I don’t like listening to classical music. My iPod is mostly full of what one might hear on the radio. It gives me a nice break from whatever I’m working on. But my iPod is really full. Currently there are 20,907 tracks on it. That sometimes makes it hard to just flip through and find what I want to listen to, so I created a mix of the last 25 songs that have caught my ear. Whenever I add a new song, I delete the oldest one, so I always have a pretty fresh playlist of things I don’t have to go searching for. These are not the albums or artists I listen to non-stop necessarily, but rather the guilty pleasures, readily accessible for easy consumption. And now, so that you may properly scoff and judge me: the songs that are currently on my Latest 25 Mix.
1) Break Your Heart, by Taio Cruz (ft. Ludacris) – If I had to pick, I would probably say this is Simone’s favorite pop song of 2010, but I could be wrong.
2) Love Drunk, by Boys Like Girls – This song totally rocks when you are out jogging and are kind of pissed at someone.
3) Come on Get Higher, by Matt Nathanson – Some of these songs will have people groaning because they are overplayed on the radio, but I only listen to the radio like once a month, so I never have that problem.
4) Replay, by Sean Kingston – Every time this song comes on, Ruby says “Hey, I think the iPod put this song on because it is about iPods!”
5) Dream On, the Glee Cast Version – I already liked the song, but having Neil Patrick Harris sing it bumped it onto the mix.
6) Fallin’ and Flying, by Jeff Bridges – After I saw Crazy Heart I wanted to put all the songs on the Latest 25 Mix, but I try and limit each album to only one or two tracks on the mix. If I want to hear the whole album, I’ll just play the whole album, right?
7) California Gurls, by Katy Perry (ft. Snoop Dogg) – This was Ruby’s favorite song all summer, so it had to go on the mix. Every time we heard it anywhere she got so excited for the “bikini’s on top” song. Now that’s good parenting.
8) Second Go, by Lights – This has such a 80’s Madonna feel to it, but yet still sounds new and modern. I like it.
9) Your Love is My Drug, by Ke$ha – Ruby’s other favorite song of the summer, but lest you think I am once again a bad parent, she thinks the song is called “Get Out of My Truck.”
10) Romance (If I Can Get It), by The Nylons – I sang this in college and it took me forever to find the original. Once I did, I could not stop listening to it. What a fun song!
11) Billionaire, by Travie McCoy – I’m broke, so this is fun to sing.
12) Merry Happy, by Kate Nash – I first heard this song on an episode of Community, and was intrigued enough to download her whole album. It’s all good, but this one sticks with me.
13) Dynamite, by Taio Cruz – Whenever he sings “Dy-no-mite” I can’t help thinking of Jimmy Walker in Good Times. Anybody else have that problem?
14) Half of My Heart, by John Mayer (ft. Taylor Swift) – I’m still not sure why I like this song, but I kind of do.
15) If It’s Love, by Train – I hated this song when I first heard it, but somehow every time I hear it I hate it less. Eventually I hated it so little it got put on the mix.
16) Game On, by Felicia Day and the Guild – I love me some nerd rock. Especially Bollywood style.
17) Misery, by Maroon 5 – Ok, so they have never been as good as they were on “Songs About Jane,” but I want to keep giving them a chance, and nothing they put out is really bad so…..
18) Kissed It, by Macy Gray (ft. Velvet Revolver) – Was it Bravo, or Lifetime that was running the ads with this song in them? I forget, but the song got stuck in my head, and it’s still there.
19) Find My Way, by The Gabe Dixon Band – This, paired with the latest Owl City song (#21), was my theme song for the first month I was in New York. It speaks to both striking out in something new, as well as trying to get home again.
20) Stoned Soul Picnic, by The Fifth Dimension – The first time I ever heard this song was via a fantastic a cappella version by The Princeton University Katzenjammers. Having just discovered the original, I find that I actually prefer the Katzenjammers’ version, but either way, this is a song to chill out to.
21) To the Sky, by Owl City – Is it still cool to like Owl City? Because I pretty much love every song this guy has ever written, and his new one, from the Owls of Ga’Hool soundtrack, is no exception. This might be tied with “Hot Air Balloon” as my favorite Owl City song.
22) Everything’s Better With Muppets, by Spray – You can’t fault the logic of this song.
23) Toxic, the Glee Cast Version – I was so tired of Glee doing American Idol ripoffs, that when I heard this a cappella-ish track I was so excited that I rewarded it with a spot on the mix. Little did I know the joy I would be feeling a few weeks later.
24) A Little Opera Goes a Long Way, by Sky Sailing – This is basically more Owl City, but under a different name. Again, you can’t fault the logic, right?
25) Teenage Dream, the Glee Cast Version – Now THAT is some awesome a cappella singing. That’s what I’ve been missing in Glee all season. More episodes like that and maybe the show will be good again.
So there you have it. All the terrible (and wonderful) songs that I like, exposed for all to see. But don’t worry. If you hate these songs, they will be gone soon, replaced by something else catchy and mass produced. There’s a certain unprintable Cee Lo song that I can’t seem to stop singing tonight, so “Break Your Heart” better watch out!