King Arthur Movie Tristan

This one comes from my fifteenth anniversary. A little different in that it didn't involve quiet listening of MP3's, this is more what I hope the new feature will be like. Current addendums to the list would include Bon Jovi's Seat Next To Me, Kid Rock's Blue Jeans and a Rosary, Bob Seger and Martina McBride's Chances Are (from the movie Hope Floats) and for fun, Delbert McClinton's One of the Fortunate Few:

Sunday, April 30, 2006
This Week on my i-pod #8 - To Dance

This week I am doing this a little different as it is my 15th anniversary. I have tried to express in this feature how music is an important, vital part if my life. This holds true in my marriage as well. My wife is a great music lover and has said my passion for it is one of the things that attracted her to me in the first place. A couple of years ago on her birthday, my wife's one request was a dance on the patio: it's romantic or something. So this year for our anniversary, I offer the following dance on our virtual patio.

Any talk of anniversary music must begin with our first dance. We struggled to come up with the perfect song, and were having no luck. Then we saw an episode of the Wonder Years, where Kevin and Winnie have there first kiss, and they played an Elton John song called Seasons, from his album the soundtrack from the movie Friends:

For our world, the circle turns again
Throughout the year we've seen the seasons change
It's meant a lot to me to start anew
Oh the winter's cold but I'm so warm with you

Out there there's not a sound to be heard
And the seasons seem to sleep upon their words
As the waters freeze up with the summer's end

Oh it's funny how young lovers start as friends
Yes it's funny how young lovers start as friends

It was perfect and we went to some trouble to make it work perfectly, editing the orchestral section for brevity, even finding the song took some work. Nobody cared, nobody listened but it was without question a special song to us. We still have the cassette with the edited version on it, and have played it for our kids, to great yawning indifference.

But through the years other songs have taken prominence, probably too many to mention here. But the last few years when she has a yearning for some romance and asks me to dance on the deck, always the music is my part of the responsibility. What the neighbor's think when they look outside their kitchen window and see us fools dancing I have never heard, nor do I really care. But for our anniversary, if she wants a dance, this is my choice of music:

Shania Twain - You're Still The One. Not the old Orleans song, but the far more modern Shania song. I'm not a big country fan, and neither is she, but Shania Twain isn't bad. Our daughter is a fan so we have her Greatest Hits around, and I always think of my wife when I hear this song:

Looks like we made it
look how far we've come my baby.
We might have took the long way,
We knew we'd get there some day
They said, I bet, they'll never make it
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong.

Still the One
Still the one I run too
The one that I belong too
Still the one I want for Life
Still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
Still the one I kiss goodnight

Ain't nothin' better
we beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
look at what we'd be missin'

Can you beat those lyrics to sing to your lady or man? Especially when they are true. And for my wife let me say, you are Still the one.

Next up is some Dave Matthews Band from his latest album Stand Up. There's a few lines on the song Dream Girl that are so appropriate:

You’re my best friend
And after a good, good drunk
You and me wake up and make love after a deep sleep
Where I was Dreamin’, I was Dreamin’ of a
Dreamgirl, Dreamgirl, Dreamgirl, Dreamgirl

I was feelin’ like a creep
As I watched you asleep
Face down in the grass,
in the park, in the middle
of a hot afternoon
Your top was untied
And I thought how nice
It’d be to follow the sweat down your spine

But that's not the song of choice here. For this dance, I choose Steady as We Go.

I'll walk halfway around the world
Just to sit down by your side
And I would do most anything, girl
To be the apple of your eye
Well troubles, they may come and go
But good times, they're the gold
And if the road gets rocky, girl
Just steady as we go

Any place you wanna go
Know I'll be next to you
If it's treasure, baby, you're looking for
I'll search the whole world through
I know troubles, they may come and go
But good times, they're the gold
So if the road gets rocky, girl
Just steady as we go

So if your heart wrings dry, my love
I will fill your cup
And if your load gets heavy, girl
I will lift you up
Well troubles, they may come and go
But good times be the gold
So if the road gets rocky, girl
Just steady as we go

The sentiment is syrupy, but true. After all, how do you survive 15 years of marriage? Steady As We Go.

When the storm comes down you shelter me
When I don't say a word and you know exactly what i mean
In the darkest times, oh, you shine on me
You set me free and keep me steady as we go

It's simple sentiment, but honest. If not Steady As We Go, I would replace it with John Hiatt's Have A Little Faith in Me, the Delbert McCLinton version:

When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark
And have a little faith in me

And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try
And have a little faith in me
And

And when your back’s against the wall
Just turn around and you will see
I will catch, I will catch your fall baby
Just have a little faith in me

That's what we have done all these years, have faith in each other and it has never let us down. This one would usually be higher on this list, except it's old to us, so down she goes.

Finally, I offer The Temptations Sugar Pie Honey Bunch because it's an anniversary, not a funeral, and what's wrong with having a little fun on our anniversary?

Oooooooooooooooh!
Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch
You know that I love you
I can't help myself
I love you and nobody else...

'Cause, Sugar Pie Honey Bunch
I'm weaker than a man should be
I can't help myself
I'm a fool in love 'ya see

Besides, she married me, and fell in love with me, when there was more playful child than man ready to take on the challenges of family life about me. Doesn't she deserve that guy once in a while?

So there it is. If my neighbours read this wonder no more, we are dancing. And sometime this week, next week or next month we will no doubt be doing so again. I'm sure you'll find the soundtrack familiar.