Personal Anthems
Sep. 23rd, 2005 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lurkittyI've been trying to figure this out for awhile. Ever since a conversation I had with a good friend about a song he played me called "Sensitive New-age Guys" by Christine Lavin. It's a really cute folksong that's just as the title advertises. After a bit of good natured ribbing, he confessed that it had become his personal anthem. He really is a sensitive new-age guy. It got me thinking about personal anthems.
Exactly what qualities would a song have to have to become my personal anthem, I thought. Sure, there are plenty of songs I enjoy, some enough to play several times a day. But enjoyment isn't enough. An anthem should be positive, so that rules a few out (okay, so I have a darkside that is attracted to dark music). Next, it should have a message. For awhile, I thought Holly Cole's "Make it Go Away" was the song, but that message was wrong. It wasn't about empowering me, it was about getting someone else to fix things. So that was out.
The Moody Blues "Fly my Seesaw" was a bit too childlike -- not quite there yet. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", hmmm, here I confess I prefer the Cyndy Lauper cover, but, still, not quite the right message to send the world about me. I don't want to go around saying I screw up all the time. I do, but why should I remind everybody?
After a great deal of such deliberation, I finally arrived at a song that meets my current anthemy needs. It has a taste of whimsy and lifts my spirits when I hear it. It conveys the lemons to lemonade message I need nowadays. I'll take "Wig in a Box" by Polyphonic Spree as my personal anthem for now. You might recognize it from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
So, What's yours?
Exactly what qualities would a song have to have to become my personal anthem, I thought. Sure, there are plenty of songs I enjoy, some enough to play several times a day. But enjoyment isn't enough. An anthem should be positive, so that rules a few out (okay, so I have a darkside that is attracted to dark music). Next, it should have a message. For awhile, I thought Holly Cole's "Make it Go Away" was the song, but that message was wrong. It wasn't about empowering me, it was about getting someone else to fix things. So that was out.
The Moody Blues "Fly my Seesaw" was a bit too childlike -- not quite there yet. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", hmmm, here I confess I prefer the Cyndy Lauper cover, but, still, not quite the right message to send the world about me. I don't want to go around saying I screw up all the time. I do, but why should I remind everybody?
After a great deal of such deliberation, I finally arrived at a song that meets my current anthemy needs. It has a taste of whimsy and lifts my spirits when I hear it. It conveys the lemons to lemonade message I need nowadays. I'll take "Wig in a Box" by Polyphonic Spree as my personal anthem for now. You might recognize it from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
So, What's yours?
