2008 soundtrack

It's rough . . . but I think I've finalized my playlist. This was clearly the year of The Spill Canvas . . . I hate repeating artists on a "best of" CD, but these three songs were a huge part of my 2008, and each reminds me of a different incredibly important person in my life . . . I couldn't cut any of them. So . . . here goes.

1. "The Fear You Won't Fall" - Joshua Radin. I feel like this was my theme song for 2008. "I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel this way. I miss you more than I should, than I thought I could, can't keep my mind off of you." It's reminded me of a couple of different people throughout the year, but no matter what, this beautiful song will always remind me of 2008.
   
2. "Say" - John Mayer. I've never quite recovered from my lessening opinion of John Mayer, but this song nearly revived my junior year of college love for him. It kind of hit home in January and February or so.
   
3. "Me Vs. Maradona Vs. Elvis" - Brand New. This has been one of my favorite Brand New songs for years . . . I never felt like I could relate to it until this year though.
   
4. "A Bad Dream" - Keane. At the beginning of the year, after watching The OC New Year's episode from Season 1 on New Year's Eve, I got on a huge kick of watching the DVDs and watched all four seasons over the course of about three weeks or so. Best show ever. But anyway, this song was playing in the Season 4 premiere, where Ryan and Julie are talking about going after Volchuck, and I fell completely in love with it, googled the lyrics, and discovered that I already had it on my itunes and had never listened to it. It very quickly shot up to one of my most played songs on iTunes . . . I absolutely love it.
   
5. "All Over You" - The Spill Canvas. I've loved The Spill Canvas for years, but this is the song that propelled them to one of my favorite bands. During my intercession mediation course, K-Rock was playing the same "you hear it first" song every night at 6pm for a week. This song was it that week and I heard it on my drive home every night - I was hooked from the first listen. "I'm all over you, I'm not over you . . . why can't you just love me back?" Love, love, love this song.
   
6. "No Air" - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown. I never heard this song until I happened to be over at Carle Place to watch Lost or The Office or something that they'd DVR'd, and then I saw through the American Idol results show with them while I waited for someone to drive me home. (It was the night the Australian guy that Becky loved got voted off! It may have been an Idol Gives Back episode?) Anyway, this song was performed, and I'd never heard it before, but I loved it immediately.
   
7. "Sandcastles in the Sand" - Robin Sparkles. How I Met Your Mother quite possibly was the most consistently awesome TV show in 2008 and it was definitely my favorite jump-on-the-bandwagon discovery. There was nothing not to love about the episode with the same name: Canada jokes; James Vander Beek; Robin and Barney doing it; and, of course, the second video and single from Robin Sparkles, featuring Alan Thicke, Tiffany, the build up to "come back please, I've changed my mind! Let's go all the way!" with the spoken whispers "I'm on the pill now!" I can't hear this song without cracking up. I didn't think "Let's Go To the Mall" could be topped, but hey, if I was a young Canadian girl in the early 90s (ha, I wish!), Robin Sparkles totally would have been my teen idol.
   
8. "Umbrella (Acoustic Version)" - Rihanna. I'm always several months behind in deciding I like Rihanna songs and this one was no exception. This version and the various cover versions I acquired throughout the year were definitely 2008 favorites.
   
9. "Himerus and Eros" - The Spill Canvas. Seriously, is it possible for The Spill Canvas to be a better band? Three songs on the 2008 mix, all from different albums . . . amazing. I can't quite explain why this song reminds me of who it reminds me of . . . I guess it reminds me of one night in particular that -- even though it wasn't really anything like this song -- definitely, at least subconsciously, stuck with me throughout the year and made me rethink some things that I didn't even think possible. One day my friends really will make "Team" t-shirts; this song definitely belongs to the team with the most supporters.
   
10. "Love Song" - Sara Bareilles. I saw Sara Bareilles open up for James Blunt with Mary in February (thank you, Keely) and really liked her; this song definitely pre-dated 2008, but my love of it was purely a February-April epiphany. This song makes me think of driving to Target with Mary, blasting the cd or the radio or wherever we were hearing it, and singing along. And as a lot of my 2008 songs do, this one reminds me of someone in particular - "i learned the hard way that they all say things you want to hear and my heavy heart sinks deep down under you and your twisted words, your help just hurts, you are not what I thought you were." Such good stuff.
    
11. "Stop and Stare" - OneRepublic. I forget where I was the first time I heard this song - I think it was Target. But I remember exactly where I was the second time I heard it - I was in a cab with Becky and Pomarico, stuck in traffic trying to meet up with Briton and Lainie at the next bar on Briton's birthday. I remember going crazy trying to figure out who sang it and nobody knew, but I texted Becky, Briton and Pomarico all to tell them to remind me the next day when I'd sobered up who sang it. They all, amazingly, followed through, and I discovered it was Onerepublic, and then I couldn't avoid the song after that, but it always reminds me of that night.
12. "Violet Hill" - Coldplay. My blog aggregator website had this song listed as the most downloaded/posted quite some time before Viva la Vida came out, and despite never really being a huge Coldplay fan, I loved this song from the opening instrumental. "If you love me, won't you let me know."
13. "The Time of My Life" - David Cook. I didn't watch any American Idol this year, but all season, I'd hear references to David Cook and how he kept singing some of my favorite songs. When I finally caught the second to last episode of the season, when he sang his final three songs and ended with "The World I Know" by Collective Soul, I was sold and I was a fan and he was the first potential idol that I ever voted for. I called and called until I got through, and the next night Becky came over to watch the season finale and I was just as excited as if I'd watched every episode when he won. This song remains one of my favorites of 2008; at that point in my year, even with a summer of bar review on the horizon, it really was the time of my life. And then afterwards, Becky and I went to Levittown and Plainview and got McDonalds ice cream sundaes. So I'll always have fond memories of David Cook.
14. "Paper Planes" - M.I.A. How can anyone's 2008 mix not include this song? Even though it was earlier in the year that I first loved it, every time I hear it now, I think of being at Brother Jimmy's with Shauna, Emily, Christine and Kerrin in November, and me pulling up the lyrics on my Blackberry so that Shauna, Emily and I could sing along with Shauna's ringtone . . . good times.
15. "The Night Will Go As Follows" - The Spill Canvas. Everything about this song reminds me of one night in particular this summer . . . I remember having the song come on my ipod a couple weeks after that night and actually listening to the lyrics for the first time, completely awestruck as to how well it fit. It was definitely one of the best nights of my year and I'll always love this song for reminding me of it. "To be completely honest, you're not like all the rest."
16. "Summertime" - New Kids on the Block. I remember being at Becky's when I heard this song for the first time - I went home that weekend and downloaded it and it made me one hundred times more excited to go see NKOTB in September. I went with Christine and Lauren to see them at Nassau Coliseum and it was hands down one of the best concerts I've ever been to - I only wish I'd had the chance to see them 18 years ago so I could compare the two! So much fun though, and this song always makes me smile.
17. "A Man's Gotta Do" - Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog. I developed a severe love for Nathan Fillion in 2008, and rekindled my old love of NPH . . . it was so hard to pick which song from Dr. Horrible would make the cut on my "soundtrack", but in the end, this one won out.
18. "Love Me, I'm A Liberal" - Kevin Devine. Kevin Devine released this on his MySpace a couple weeks before the election; a "2008" version of some older song. I didn't agree with every line in it, but how could I not love it anyway? Kevin Devine's liberal lyrics are one of the many things I love about him.
19. "I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz. Towards the last couple months of 2008, this song was unavoidable, but it was so friggin catchy that I couldn't even fault it for being everywhere. It's still one of my favorites of the year.
20. "Human" - The Killers. I think Day and Age is my favorite Killers album. This song/album will always remind me of Thanksgiving weekend . . . love it so much.
    

I almost feel like I should have ended this CD with "The Fear You Won't Fall" again . . . the year has kind of come full circle . . . but I figured that putting three songs by the Spill Canvas on the disc AND putting the same song twice would be pushing it ;) As always, if you want a copy, let me know.