Five songs that define: RestrictionsApply

This assignment was simpler than I thought. Oh well, that’s what scrolling through an iPod does for you. Here I share my list of songs that define me.

*** Forever in my life, Prince – I’m not going to make a case for the genius and pure artistry of Prince here (we’ll save that for our next tequila & sushi night), but, like all things, there are two sides to every story. In Prince’s case, there’s more to his music than doing the nasty. Case in point: this song. Tucked away in the middle of Prince’s seminal double-album “Sign O’ The Times,” this track – mellow, folksy, dripping with painful soul – is a heartfelt ode to the meaning of love and finding the right person to be your co-pilot on your journey through life. It’s romantic, but not corny. Almost 20 years later, I now sing it to my daughter to help put her to sleep.

*** 1999, Prince – Prince, again! This particular song holds a special meaning for me because it was the first 45 (remember those?) I bought with my own allowance money. My parents had no idea what it was and were oblivious to all the sexuality and horniness associated with Prince at the time. How else could a 9 year-old get away with having this in the house? Over the years it’s been present whenever I’m having a good time and, most importantly, the message is clear and simple: live it now because who knows what tomorrow may bring.

**** Release Me, Pearl Jam – College always has a deep impact on people. Pearl Jam always has a deep impact on people. So what happens when the two happen together? Magic! Pearl Jam’s iconic album “Ten” hit the scene right smack in the middle of my college career. It was a time of deep reflection and serious soul-searching (What am I going to do with my life? Am I the person I thought I would be? What does it mean to be an adult? When do I start taking shit seriously?) and Pearl Jam was there with questions and issues that just fucked up everything even more. Though every song off that disc is strong enough to carry an entire album on its own, Release Me just struck a nerve. I don’t have the daddy issues that plague Eddie Vedder, but sometimes I do wonder if I fulfill my dad’s expectations of me. We have a wonderful relationship, but the pink elephant is always visible in the corner of my eye – Did I turn out OK in his eyes? This song is about that.

*** The Show, Doug. E. Fresh & Slick Rick – This is a regular old-school hip-hop summer block-party song. It has no special meaning, no deep message, no words to live by. It’s all about fun. So why do I include this? Because its marks the beginning of an era. The release of this song made official the popularization of inner-city youth culture among the masses. It acknowledged that hip-hop was here and nothing could hold it back. White people had to bow down and accept a little blackness in their lives. Also, it harks back to the days when rap and hip-hop were about fun, a time before braggadocio, before ostentatious bling, before arrogance, before self-destructive violence. Every time I need to lift a load off my shoulders, I just turn it up to 11 on this jam. And let’s not forget about beat-boxing at its best!

*** La Maleta, Willie Colon & Ruben Blades – The great thing about living in a big city is the multiculturalness of it all: you’re always in contact with people from all over the world. The problem? You’re always a stranger in a strange land, where the only place you can call home is the place you’re currently at. This classic Spanish-language salsa jam (the title translates to “The Suitcase”) tells the story of Latin American immigrants in New York who feel out-of-place both in Manhattan and in their respective countries. Tell me about it! On a personal note, this is the song my mom played when she taught me how to dance salsa when I was 13. Being a tweeny bopper, I though dancing was for pussies. Her words to convince me: “You’ll never get a girlfriend if you don’t know how to dance.” I haven’t taken off my dancing shoes since.

As an aside, I must express my embarrassment at not being able to identify an “our song” that tells the story of me and my wife. Is it wrong that we don’t have “a song?”