Mix Tapes
Sometimes when someone has a crush on you, he'll make you a mix tape to give you a clue.
I'm in the middle of reading Love Is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield. I can't remember who first recommended it, but whoever you are, thank you. I love it.
I love it so much so that I stopped at the drugstore this morning and bought myself a walkman so I'll have some way to play the old mix tapes I dug out from three full shoeboxes on the top of my closet last night. Mix tapes by me, mix tapes by others. For some idiotic reason that escapes me and makes me want to go back in time and kick my own ass, many moves ago, I decided to trash all the cases with their carefully numbered side A and side B songlists and just keep the tapes. Many of whose labels have worn off, so I'm not even sure what a lot of them are. I remember many by the color of the sticker or the look of the tape even when the writing is long gone. I knew them all so well.
Sadly, I forgot to buy batteries. Walkmen take batteries. Oh yeah. So I picked some up on the way home from work, and here I lie on the couch. The first tape I have chosen was the mix Shelley made me when we graduated from high school. Side B was cued up and ready to go, so I started with that. I've made it through the first four songs so far:
1.) Give It Away by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
2.) These Are Days by 10,000 Maniacs.
3.) There Will Never Be Another Tonight by Bryan Adams. (AWESOME)
4.) The "Lloyd, Lloyd, All Null and Void" clip from Say Anything. (Scroll to about 2:35 in this clip to hear it.)
It is so wonderful to revisit these songs that I am laughing and crying at the same time. I haven't had a tape player in my car since the fall of 1999 or a working tape player in my house since God knows when, so I haven't heard these tapes in so long. Some of them date back to 1987-88. I labeled them with things like "Eliz.'s Fave Songs 88: DON'T ERASE!" with the bright blue fountain pen I got for Christmas. I cannot wait to find out what is on that one in particular.
In the shoebox was the first tape I ever bought: Madonna. The first Madonna. I was with Shelley and her dad when I bought that one, I think. Circa 1983. How is that even possible? How did I know about Madonna when I was 8 years old? I almost tossed it last night, but I noticed there is scotch tape over the little squares, tape I must have placed there in order to tape over Madonna. What's on that tape now? I have no clue. But I will find out soon.
5.) "Ghost" by the Indigo Girls. The cornerstone of hundreds of break-up tapes. Thousands. Millions.
6.) Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel by George Winston. Probably the hardest song I ever taught myself on the piano. I wore out this song trying to learn it, not realizing it wasn't the actual proper "Pachelbel's Canon in D." What is up with spelling it with a "K"? No idea.
I have mix tapes from my older brother and my sister. My little brother: born too late for mix tapes. I have mix tapes from my friend A., who always alternated songs by male and female artists, who always titled the tape with a line from one of the songs, who always typed her labels on the typewriter because her handwriting was so atrocious. I have mix tapes from my old friend J., which we exchanged like letters.
I wonder how many batteries playing all of these tapes is going to use up.
7.) Part of Me, Part of You by Glenn Frey. (From the Thelma and Louise soundtrack.) Whatever time may take away, it cannot change the way we feel today. Very big sentiment with the graduating sector as I recall.
8.) Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire (For Just a Moment) -- But you and I will never really end, we'll never love again like we did then. I think graduation must have made us cry a lot.
9.) You've Got a Friend by James Taylor. But of course.
10.) Pray for Me by Michael W. Smith. One of our songs from camp. I still think this is a very beautiful song, I have to say. It caused many hiccups and sobs at camp's end, that's for sure. Painted on our tapestry, we see the way it has to be, weaving through the laughter and the tears. But love will be tie that binds us to the time we leave behind us, memories will be our souvenirs. And I know that through it all the hardest part of love it letting go, but there's a greater love that holds us. That is pretty right there. Damn. End of side B.
And on to side A.
1.) Baby Got Back by Sir Mixx a Lot. Lovely.
2.) Broken Arrow by Rod Stewart. Junior year of high school, I bought this tape for Maryelizabeth because she expressly asked for it. She, Shelley, and Josh sat on my parents' couch as we exchanged gifts, and she opened this and said, "Rod STEWART? What was I on when I told you I wanted this?" Pan right to Josh. (I was videotaping.) He said disdainfully, "Who else is gonna give you a broken arrow? Who's gonna bring you a bottle of rain? What?!" And flipped his hair, full of hatred for Rod Stewart and possibly all of us. And we laughed about that for the next few, I don't know, years. And that is why this song is on this tape.
3.) Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams. Two songs by Bryan Adams! Wow. We were young and restless, I guess, and needed to unwind.
4.) Circle by Edie Brickell. This song is very depressing. (Sha la la la la la la la la.)
5.) Beat on the Brat by the Ramones. Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh oh. I am not sure why we loved this song so much; I still love it.
6.) Southland in the Springtime by the Indigo Girls. Still love this one, too. (Part of the song.)
7.) Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffett. Not sure what this is about; I think it was related to a spring break we took to Destin junior year when our friend's mom called us hussies and said when we gave our room number to the parasailing guy that we might as well have given him our panty sizes. I remember listening to this song on the way to that trip.
8.) Strongest Weakness by Wynonna. I'm not sure why this was on this graduation mix. I think we might have liked this as a break-up song. Shelley, do you have any memories of this?
9.) Born to Be My Baby by Bon Jovi. I think this song got put on here because I LOVED it. I always thought it was a very underrated Bon Jovi song, and I think I used to proclaim that a lot. All I can really say about it at this point is "light a candle, blow the world away / table for two on a TV tray." (Video.)
10.) Out of the Blue by Debbie Gibson. Wow! This one surprised me. I didn't remember this being on here at all. But I am very glad it is. This entire album was very big with us in seventh grade. I could not help myself and just sang it very loudly, and it scared Marley, and she propelled herself off the couch in flight, scratching my foot along the way. Damn you, Debbie Gibson. (P.S. Still love this song, as it turns out.) (Video.)
11.) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants. I don't know how this song entered our life, but thank God it did. (Video.)
12.) Romeo and Juliet by the Indigo Girls. Loved it then, love it now. I associate this song with daiquiries and cigarettes and singing loudly in cars -- many, many cars.
It was very traumatic when Maryelizabeth and I sent Shelley off to college. We spent the night together at Maryelizabeth's house the night before and sent her off in her Saturn. Maryelizabeth left later. We are still friends, through it all, now. We are scheduled for a three-way call tomorrow night. We are lucky.
I wonder if people still have the mix tapes I made for them.
I'm in the middle of reading Love Is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield. I can't remember who first recommended it, but whoever you are, thank you. I love it.
I love it so much so that I stopped at the drugstore this morning and bought myself a walkman so I'll have some way to play the old mix tapes I dug out from three full shoeboxes on the top of my closet last night. Mix tapes by me, mix tapes by others. For some idiotic reason that escapes me and makes me want to go back in time and kick my own ass, many moves ago, I decided to trash all the cases with their carefully numbered side A and side B songlists and just keep the tapes. Many of whose labels have worn off, so I'm not even sure what a lot of them are. I remember many by the color of the sticker or the look of the tape even when the writing is long gone. I knew them all so well.
Sadly, I forgot to buy batteries. Walkmen take batteries. Oh yeah. So I picked some up on the way home from work, and here I lie on the couch. The first tape I have chosen was the mix Shelley made me when we graduated from high school. Side B was cued up and ready to go, so I started with that. I've made it through the first four songs so far:
1.) Give It Away by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
2.) These Are Days by 10,000 Maniacs.
3.) There Will Never Be Another Tonight by Bryan Adams. (AWESOME)
4.) The "Lloyd, Lloyd, All Null and Void" clip from Say Anything. (Scroll to about 2:35 in this clip to hear it.)
It is so wonderful to revisit these songs that I am laughing and crying at the same time. I haven't had a tape player in my car since the fall of 1999 or a working tape player in my house since God knows when, so I haven't heard these tapes in so long. Some of them date back to 1987-88. I labeled them with things like "Eliz.'s Fave Songs 88: DON'T ERASE!" with the bright blue fountain pen I got for Christmas. I cannot wait to find out what is on that one in particular.
In the shoebox was the first tape I ever bought: Madonna. The first Madonna. I was with Shelley and her dad when I bought that one, I think. Circa 1983. How is that even possible? How did I know about Madonna when I was 8 years old? I almost tossed it last night, but I noticed there is scotch tape over the little squares, tape I must have placed there in order to tape over Madonna. What's on that tape now? I have no clue. But I will find out soon.
5.) "Ghost" by the Indigo Girls. The cornerstone of hundreds of break-up tapes. Thousands. Millions.
6.) Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel by George Winston. Probably the hardest song I ever taught myself on the piano. I wore out this song trying to learn it, not realizing it wasn't the actual proper "Pachelbel's Canon in D." What is up with spelling it with a "K"? No idea.
I have mix tapes from my older brother and my sister. My little brother: born too late for mix tapes. I have mix tapes from my friend A., who always alternated songs by male and female artists, who always titled the tape with a line from one of the songs, who always typed her labels on the typewriter because her handwriting was so atrocious. I have mix tapes from my old friend J., which we exchanged like letters.
I wonder how many batteries playing all of these tapes is going to use up.
7.) Part of Me, Part of You by Glenn Frey. (From the Thelma and Louise soundtrack.) Whatever time may take away, it cannot change the way we feel today. Very big sentiment with the graduating sector as I recall.
8.) Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire (For Just a Moment) -- But you and I will never really end, we'll never love again like we did then. I think graduation must have made us cry a lot.
9.) You've Got a Friend by James Taylor. But of course.
10.) Pray for Me by Michael W. Smith. One of our songs from camp. I still think this is a very beautiful song, I have to say. It caused many hiccups and sobs at camp's end, that's for sure. Painted on our tapestry, we see the way it has to be, weaving through the laughter and the tears. But love will be tie that binds us to the time we leave behind us, memories will be our souvenirs. And I know that through it all the hardest part of love it letting go, but there's a greater love that holds us. That is pretty right there. Damn. End of side B.
And on to side A.
1.) Baby Got Back by Sir Mixx a Lot. Lovely.
2.) Broken Arrow by Rod Stewart. Junior year of high school, I bought this tape for Maryelizabeth because she expressly asked for it. She, Shelley, and Josh sat on my parents' couch as we exchanged gifts, and she opened this and said, "Rod STEWART? What was I on when I told you I wanted this?" Pan right to Josh. (I was videotaping.) He said disdainfully, "Who else is gonna give you a broken arrow? Who's gonna bring you a bottle of rain? What?!" And flipped his hair, full of hatred for Rod Stewart and possibly all of us. And we laughed about that for the next few, I don't know, years. And that is why this song is on this tape.
3.) Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams. Two songs by Bryan Adams! Wow. We were young and restless, I guess, and needed to unwind.
4.) Circle by Edie Brickell. This song is very depressing. (Sha la la la la la la la la.)
5.) Beat on the Brat by the Ramones. Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh oh. I am not sure why we loved this song so much; I still love it.
6.) Southland in the Springtime by the Indigo Girls. Still love this one, too. (Part of the song.)
7.) Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffett. Not sure what this is about; I think it was related to a spring break we took to Destin junior year when our friend's mom called us hussies and said when we gave our room number to the parasailing guy that we might as well have given him our panty sizes. I remember listening to this song on the way to that trip.
8.) Strongest Weakness by Wynonna. I'm not sure why this was on this graduation mix. I think we might have liked this as a break-up song. Shelley, do you have any memories of this?
9.) Born to Be My Baby by Bon Jovi. I think this song got put on here because I LOVED it. I always thought it was a very underrated Bon Jovi song, and I think I used to proclaim that a lot. All I can really say about it at this point is "light a candle, blow the world away / table for two on a TV tray." (Video.)
10.) Out of the Blue by Debbie Gibson. Wow! This one surprised me. I didn't remember this being on here at all. But I am very glad it is. This entire album was very big with us in seventh grade. I could not help myself and just sang it very loudly, and it scared Marley, and she propelled herself off the couch in flight, scratching my foot along the way. Damn you, Debbie Gibson. (P.S. Still love this song, as it turns out.) (Video.)
11.) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants. I don't know how this song entered our life, but thank God it did. (Video.)
12.) Romeo and Juliet by the Indigo Girls. Loved it then, love it now. I associate this song with daiquiries and cigarettes and singing loudly in cars -- many, many cars.
It was very traumatic when Maryelizabeth and I sent Shelley off to college. We spent the night together at Maryelizabeth's house the night before and sent her off in her Saturn. Maryelizabeth left later. We are still friends, through it all, now. We are scheduled for a three-way call tomorrow night. We are lucky.
I wonder if people still have the mix tapes I made for them.
posted by eliza @ 6:36 PM
7 Comments:
Everyone of our generation had a mixed tape with two Bryan Adams' songs on it. Probably more.
Also? It was probably (or not) a Midwestern thing, but our mixed tapes included a lot of Chicago and REO Speedwagon.
You know out love was meant to beeee ... the kind of love that lasts forevah ...
Erin -- it's funny that you mention Chicago, because just recently I said to myself, "Self, you need to buy Chicago 17 as soon as possible."
I'm glad you love the book.. I thought your would! :)
michele! I thought it was you. You were so right. It was such a great read, and I am loving the mix tape trip back in time it's sent me spinning into.
Sounds like you rediscovered a lost treasure.
I've never come across anyone else who'd heard of Pray for Me ; ) My boyfriend and I were scheduled to sing it at my high school baccalaureate; we'd broken up after an 18-month relationship just two days before we had to perform the song, and I can still remember how everyone in the church was sobbing. It was Very Dramatic.
Yeah, I remember "Pray for Me," too. It was part of the soundtrack to many overwrought "youth nights" that we put on at church. We'd always pull out a real tearjerker song like that one for the slide show at the end of the evening.
I forgot all about that until reading this, and now I'm laughing at the memory. Thanks.
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