MY gift to you

i have updated the playlist a little earlier than usual, since i will be taking off tomorrow and will have very limited access to the outside world.

and this week's playlist is a little different than previous ones.

as far back as i can remember, there has been a tape in my family called the 'child's play' tape. it was a mix tape that my dad made during his music piracy years. he had a friend with a state of the art sound system, so they would buy records record two copies and take them back (i think i've got that story straight). as a result, there was always a lot of music in my house, and i grew up on an extremely eclectic group of artists and bands. his taste crosssed decades and genres, and one could never be sure what would be blasting through those headphones of his.

so it's no wonder that when he created this mix tape, it reflected that same diversity. as far as i know, there isn't a lot of rhyme or reason as to why these songs were selected, but it has always been fairly irrelevant. this was the road trip tape. whenever we would make the seven hour drive to grandma's, this was the music of choice. we came to know the songs backwards and forewards. we learned the harmonies and the melodies and picked our 'parts.' and then we would wait for the high note or for our turn in the round and sing with glee.

truth is, not much has changed. and since i am off tomorrow to make that same seven hour trek we've made every year since i could breathe (barring my unmentionable utah years), i thought it fitting to share the experience with you. i can't share waterskiing, but this i can share.

love it or hate it, i recognize the strangeness of it, but to me it somehow all makes sense.

p.s. i need to also mention that there is some contention in my family about whether 'happiness runs' should be included, since it was a late addition and not on the original tape (which was played so much it warped and had to be remade). but i like it, so include it.