Arranging Your Records Autobiographically...

There is a great scene in my favorite move, High Fidelity, in which Dick comes over to Rob's apartment and finds him depressed and sorting his records. Dick asks Rob if he is sorting them chronologically or alphabetically. Rob's response is that he is doing neither, he is sorting them autobiographically; if he wants to find Fleetwood Mac Rumors he has to remember that it is in the fall of '74 pile and that he bought it for someone else but kept it for personal reasons. Dick's response is a very appropriate: "No fucking way!"

The other day I was think about this because I am about to sort my album collection. This task takes no less than six to eight hours. I was also thinking about my top five favorite songs and what they are. I realized that my top five favorite songs, whatever they are at the moment, are so because they are extremely important autobiographically. These songs may not be the best or most representative, but they take me someplace long gone. Music maybe aurally stimulating, but some songs bring back all senses to a specific time and place. So, without further ado, here are my All Time Top Five Songs for Autobiographical Reasons:

5. Pearl Jam - Black - Year: 1994 - Memory: This was my first real girlfriend's favorite song. I was a young kid with long black hair in braids. We listen to it on headphones we were sharing on a bus to Old Indiana Amusement Park.

4. Phish - Sample in a Jar - Year: 1996 - Memory: I had been listening to a tape of the song I had made from Tim James and was really digging it. I some how managed to score tickets to see them at Deer Creek that summer. It was an amazing show and they encored with this song. I was a huge fan ever since. Over 52 shows later, that one is still my favorite.

3. Pharcyde - She Keeps Passin Me By - Year: 1996 - Memory: This is a story for another time. Trust me it's a good one. Sprunger, you where there...

2. Big Head Todd and the Monsters - Bittersweet - Year: 1997 - Memory: The band I was in at the time, At Random, or to some of the Proximity girls, The Bearded Seals, played this song all the time. I think it is a great song and it is a lot of fun to play.

1. Tori Amos - Winter - Year: 1995 - Memory: A girl that I had a huge crush on and was my best friend at the time introduced me to this song. She could play piano and sing very well and would play this all the time. I still get chills.

What are your top songs for autobiographical reasons? B.