Playlist Frenzy

I have several playlists that I have on my ipod at all times.  I have a Classic song playlist that has mostly old and amazing songs on it.  I have a pop mix with all of my favorite pop songs.  Most pop albums do not appeal to me in full.  I have a hard time with them, because most of them are over produced and many of the songs are just filler for the few projected "hit" songs on the record.  However, I do believe that there is such good thing as good pop, even great pop.  Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River for instance is one of the greatest produced pop songs ever.  All of the layering, synthesizing and vocal effects are perfectly executed on that song.  It will always be great, no matter how much time passes which cannot be said of most pop music.  Therefore, I have a full playlist of pop songs that I feel this way about.

Anyway, I digress...

The most important playlist I have is called XYZ.  It is a mish-mosh of songs that I love, love, love.  Perhaps these songs are from albums which had only one song on it that I adored but maybe I didn't connect with the rest of the album.  Or, they are just songs that mean magic to me.  Songs that I can't resist.  These tunes range from newer, contemporary artists to older, classic works.  They span most musical genre's from country, to rock.

The song that opens my all time favorite playlist is called 32 flavors and it is originally an Ani DiFranco song.  The version that I like is a cover by a small niche artist named Alana Davis.  She released the album Blame It On Me in 1997.  So... this is kind of an oldie now by today's standards.  I love her cover of 32 flavors much better than the original Ani version because occasionally Ani gets a little long winded.  I know, I know...  who dares to talk about the great Ani DiFranco this way?  Me!!!  That's who!!  She writes so much music that sometimes she just gets lost in it.  She has moments of sheer brilliance and then has these passing works of fumbling.  This song is amazing.  The lyrics are pure poetry at it's finest but she wrote too many verses.  They don't all add up and they turned on each other.  Alana Davis, must have understood that and so she edited the sloppy verse out.  The finished product is perfection and it haunts me.  Literally.

Sometimes I wake up singing it.  There are many situations in my life that bring the lyrics to this song slamming into me throughout the day.  I will do something that I haven't done yet...  I'll post the lyrics to the entire song for you all:

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster, I am 32 flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision so you might want to turn your head
'Cause someday you're going to get hungry and eat all of the words that you just said
I am what I am, I am 32 flavors and then some

God help you if you are an ugly girl
Course too pretty is also your doom
'Cause everyone harbors a secret hatred for the prettiest girl in the room
God help you if you are a phoenix and you dare to rise up from ash
A thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy while you are just flying past
I am what i am, I am 32 flavors and then some
I'm taking my chances as they come
I am 32 flavors and then some, I'm nobody but I am someone, someone...

I'd never try to give my life meaning by demeaning you
And I would like to state for the record...
I did everything that I could do
I am beyond your peripheral vision so you might want to turn your head
'Cause someday you're going to be starving and eating al the words that you just said

That you said
I am what I am, I am what I am
I am 32 flavors and then some
I'm taking my chances as they come
I am 32 flavors and then some
I'm looking for truth and there is none 

Why this topic today?  Well, I just switched computers which means I had to manually recreate my playlists on the new computer.  It excited me and made me fall in love with them all over again, which means that I have been listening to them all for several days.  I listened to XYZ and then wanted to hear 32 Flavors again so I started it over.  

Right now, as I write, I am watching Game Of Thrones.  It is a new HBO series that everyone should probably see.  Game of Thrones is set in a mythical land and  the setting is very medieval as well as bleak.  The story is fascinating though so tune in as soon as you can... although give it some concession...  it is HBO after all, so there will be a slight amount of gratuitous nudity.  The script and sets are very well executed, and the acting is top notch.  This storyline is fathoms deep and deserves our attention.