Spiral Bound Journal

That rhythmic sway

a.k.a. a chat with my characters

Tell me the first song that comes into your head. You cannot think about this song. Once you hear a song, walk me through what kind of connection you have to it.


Felicia : "Stompa" by Serena Ryder - I swear Adrian blares this song every time I go into workaholic mode. In other words, I hear this at minimum on a weekly basis. Blergh. It's a bit slower in tempo than what I've been favoring lately, which I suppose is part of the point. It's designed to make you slow down and pay attention. Sometimes I'll sing along to the background vocals but often do it at a higher pitch. For many years (thanks to vocal chord soreness brought about by singing soprano parts in my first musical) I thought I could not sing high notes. After finding some videos on YouTube to get my rough range it turns out I can actually get into mezzo soprano territory. I've also noticed that my speaking voice is more sing song than autistic monotone. Fascinating. So yeah. I'll go up an octave for a challenge, a challenge I can easily do.

Adrian : "Real Love" by Mary J. Blige - The album this song was part of went on sale on Amazon about a decade ago. It's not my normal fare (as I lean a bit toward rock music), but I figured I could go for something different. I've heard a couple other songs by Mary J. and feel like this number is rather optimistic despite itself. There aren't any real hard edges to it even with a melancholy undercurrent. I think I'll stick with this album for that reason. I'm not sure I necessarily want anything rougher from her in my collection.

Marlon : "Canta Conmigo" by The Blue Man Group - My parents took my brother and me to Vegas when I was 13. Since my brother was 10, we steered more on the family friendly side of evening entertainment. My mom wanted to go to a Cirque du Solei show, but the rest of us were all "No". So we ended up going to see the Blue Man Group. Since it was a bit more rhythm than song, it wasn't too bad. I actually didn't mind it that much, as at that age it probably would have held my interest more than Cirque would have. And either would have been far better than listening to Celine Dion. We're not gonna talk about that right now.

Garrett : "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys - I had met someone really special when I was 18. His name was Adam. He was a grad student in psychology looking to concentrate on autism. He had an autistic cousin who wasn't always treated well, and he was driven to find a way to make things better for those on the spectrum. We actually met at a lecture held by Michael Apple. I thought it was a different speaker but stuck around because Adam and I had gotten to chatting before the lecture. While we got along like a house on fire, our priorities at that point were so different, and our respective course loads made meeting up rather difficult. The relationship only lasted four months, but I was still sad when it was over. We did end up becoming friends a couple years later, and I think it's better that way.

Angie : "Now's the Time" by Charlie Parker - While I've made an effort to listen to more Black musicians to counter my white bread Midwestern upbringing, it took me a surprisingly long time to find Charlie Parker. I was in band but played clarinet. Thus, I didn't get exposed to a lot of jazz. Thus, I do have Felicia to thank for this. She first heard the song in high school thanks to a bandmate playing it for a special performance. She shared this tune with

Marcus : "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey - I'm pretty sure Angie would give me endless crap if she knew I like this song. I usually blast it when she's out shopping or running some other errand. No, I don't sing along. Usually I'll play it when reading over Felicia's blog or browsing her photos. Not that Felicia has anything to do with liking this song. But while I talk a lot about how I like The Beatles and other British music (even a little Genesis to keep Felicia from complaining) I did listen to a lot of American music growing up. I public admit to really liking "Return of the Mack" (Because who doesn't like that song?), but this one? I better keep that under wraps.

Walter : "The Lost Lady Found" by Percy Grainger - This actually came up as a prompt for a writing contest I participated in once. It was a bit hard to write about it, mostly because I had a pretty neutral opinion of the song at first. I had to listen a few times to realize they were singing in a distinct Lincolnshire accent. You don't hear a lot of American music sung with regional accents (bad country attempts aside). I feel like that would make music in the US a bit more interesting.

Raymond : "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John - I have to admit I'm not a fan of this song. One time at ballroom practice our instructor had us dance to this, mostly to have us practice dancing to songs where the beat is not very easy to find. We danced a slow foxtrot to this song, and everyone was frustrated by it. My partner at the time (Ginny) and I found ourselves whining about it during a water break. Any time I hear this song in public I just cringe. Repeatedly.

Stephanie : "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies - The verses of this song moves faster than rap, in my opinion. When I first heard it at a restaurant as a kid, I was rather confused. I looked at my parents and brother, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to it. So I figured I was definitely the weird one. I heard it at a couple parties I attended in college, and I actually ended up talking to a couple hipster looking guys about it. We were all a bit drunk at the time, but yeah. It sounded like bubblegum rap to me, or at least partly.

Jonathan : "Praise You" by Fatboy Slimm - Some people I've worked with over the years have played this song for me to celebrate my ascent to the mayor's office. I'm of the opinion that it should be the other way around. There are so many people that started in the Activist Roundtables that have moved into even more challenging roles than what I've taken. Stephanie, for example, has tackled public safety while representing the new and more wildly diverse Ward 3, which combines some of the richest downtown residents, college students, and an increasing POCI population. This area has been somewhat immune to redlining, but it has really started to mix up the demographics in the last few years. Uniting all those different voices is no small feat, but Stephanie has definitely come through.

Oliver : "Prayer for the Dying" by Seal - My dad died during the pandemic. It wasn't COVID that killed him. He'd been battling thyroid cancer for a while prior to all this. It was so hard watching him go through that. He put on a brave face, but it was no comfort. We had to wait for months to have anything resembling a memorial service. That made it more difficult to cope, and it reminded me that my dad would not get to meet his second grandchild. The kid was born into an ultimately unhappy family. I just couldn't quite fully get myself to welcome my kid into the world mere months after my dad's death. It's likely contributed to the very brittle state of my marriage.

Entry 9 in "The Bard's Hall Contest"