So she's going to be thoroughly sorry she asked me to write this because most of the songs I associate with 2013 come from my kids, who one way or another hear --and sing -- a ton of pop.
To alleviate the pain, then, I'm going to make two lists: One of songs I can't shake out of my head due to sheer exposure, and one of songs I love for their artistic merit. Some may argue that something has artistic merit if the listener can't get it out of her head, but I leave that for the comments...
TOP 5 SONGS MY KIDS FORCED INTO MY HEAD
1. I Knew You Were Trouble, Taylor Swift.
My older daughter P performed to this as part of her acrobatic gymnastics work. So it has sentimental value. Also, she doesn't know many of the lyrics so she makes them up, which is always hilarious.
2. Home, Phillip Phillips
I think P liked this because she knows it was associated with 2012's Fierce Five. Billboard says it peaked in January of 2013, so there we go.
3. Roar, Katy Perry
Their school mascot is a large wild mammal, so P's school principal made them learn and sing this at the grand opening of their new school library. What has public education come to? Please, could they sing a song about Common Core? I would like to hear that song.
4. The Fox, Ylvis
Well, now you've done it. There's no going back, Norway.
5. Palladio (Diamond music), Karl Jenkins, aka That Diamond Commercial, aka the Russian acro pair with the guy with the ponytail.
As new acrobatic gymnasts, one of my kids' favorite things to do is watch acro videos. They've learned to love dramatic music, which I'm thinking is my gateway to playing for them other kinds of music to which they've been woefully underexposed, like Western classical and jazz.
If you've seen the diamond commercials with the fake Vivaldi, you'll recognize the music from the acro video they refer to as "that Russian guy with the ponytail." I recommend giving it a watch; acro is amazing!
TOP 5 SONGS THAT HAD ACTUAL MEANING FOR ME
1. Heart of Gold, Neil Young
I'm sure I've heard this song at various times in my life. But the other day during a rare and wonderful moment in which I was writing alone at a cafe, I heard this song come on. All I needed to be enchanted was the key line, "I'm a miner for a heart of gold." There's enough visually and emotionally inspiring there to prompt me to write a story. But I didn't write about longing or love or mining; I dashed out a couple of pages about a woman and her sister opening a cafe and what the woman thought about the people who came there. But it was that song that nudged a story out of me. A song that can nudge (or coax or provoke) stories out of me belongs on this list.
2. Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys
Starting the new year at the inauguration and hearing Alicia Keys sing this song was a highlight of the year, no doubt. Besides the fact I was at the inauguration and hearing Alicia Keys live, I was grateful to just be at a live performance. I love all kinds of live performance and haven't had a chance to go for some years now. But now I'm starting to make time for it again--just at the point when my kids are about at the age where they're able to absorb, enjoy and even analyze live performances. We've made it to another milestone, at which there's a higher potential for fun than disaster in going to some performances together. So even though they enjoy mangling "Girl on Fire"--loudly--, this song reminds me how many good times we have in store.
3. Abraham's Daughter, Arcade Fire
This selection is less about keeping with the fire theme (though I love themes) and more about the lyrics, which I couldn't get out of my head. The line that stays with me is where the song's protagonist, when asked what her name is, says she has none. Among the many nightmarish ways of dehumanizing someone, stripping away their name is one of the most profound and effective. It's standard practice for dictators around the world to strip away a person's name before kidnapping, illegally imprisoning or executing them. Names can signify nationality, religion, personality and more. The way your boss, teacher, or judge says your name may feel different from how your partner, friend, or mother says it. Names are part of our humanity in this sense, and "Abraham's Daughter" expresses this powerfully.
4. Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Nirvana covering Leadbelly
Another highlight of the inauguration was meeting Krist Novoselic, bassist for Nirvana. It was the beginning of a year in which Nirvana happened to figure prominently for me, from the spotlight of 20th anniversary of In Utero to my rediscovery of the band's poetic, aching longing and betrayal conveyed in their cover of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night." Grunge was so good to me the first time around, and it was good to come home to it again.
5. Tracy Chapman, Fast Car
To really purge the dead-to-me lyrics of the Disney pop stars my kids expose me to, I need a good dose of Tracy Chapman. Nothing clears away the debris of bubblegum glitter pop like Chapman's lovely voice telling the story of Fast Car. Nothing quite breaks me every time like:
I know things will get betterYou'll find work and I'll get promotedWe'll move out of the shelterBuy a bigger house and live in the suburbsI remembering hearing that right after the Beatles' "Blackbird," and all right after one school shooting sometime in the past year, and it probably would have been a good idea to pull the car over and just cry and cry and cry.
There's a song to wrap up this list, a song and a video I come back to when I grieve as well as when I seek beauty. There's a video of super slow motion ballet set to Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place (gigasmesh discoteque remix)." I saw this a couple years ago and marveled at the precision and softness, the strength and ease. But the song comes back to haunt me. Remember when those children were murdered by their nanny in New York City? "Everything In Its Right Place" sounded like a prayer that could not be answered.
Perhaps if there's a thread running through these songs, it's a thread of humanity--what it is to be human, what it is to share a life. There are many ways to remember and celebrate that, and maybe these are the songs that will help me do it.