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My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.

– Martin Luther

Music: All-Time Favorites

Asking me to name my favorite songs is like asking a mother to say which of her children are her favorites—I just can’t choose! I’ve got 1400+ songs in my music library, and more than half are top-rated. Trying to narrow that down to a list of less than twenty was—and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here—reminiscent of Sophie’s Choice. God forgive me for the choices I had to make... *sniff*

“Black Acres” –  Elysian Fields

Thank heaven for free MP3s—if I hadn’t come across this song on Epitonic, I’d probably never have heard it at all. I live for creepy tunes, and equally-creepy lyrics are always a bonus. This song plays like a devil’s waltz, with soft vocals and an instrumental interlude that’s perfect for dancing.

“Dragula” –  Rob Zombie

Sure, the lyrics are bizarre at best and incomprehensible at worst—but who cares? With this beat, you don’t need to understand anything; you just turn it up, bang to the beat, and scream at the top of your lungs. Crank this up when you’re in the car; it’ll make your daily commute so much angrier!

“The Graceful Ghost Rag” –  William Bolcom

I first heard this very late at night on the radio; I lay in bed motionless, goosebumped, not daring to even breathe—that is how beautiful this piece is. It sounds exactly like the title: a graceful, haunting (no pun intended) dance for a ghost. Ignore the faster, peppier versions; this song is best played slow and sad. I heard somewhere that the composer wrote it after his father died; if so, it’s a beautiful tribute indeed.

“Hallelujah” –  Jeff Buckley

Just a man and a guitar, together making the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard. Jeff Buckley’s vocals are pure, simple, and incredibly touching—much better than the original Leonard Cohen version, in my opinion. This is, hands down, my absolute favorite song.

“Josephine” –  Tori Amos

Tori Amos tends to annoy me—she usually comes off as pretentiously avant-garde, and I hate her whole cute-little-girl-singing-bad-words image. But all complaints are suspended when I listen to this song. It’s a gentle, haunting ballad about the passionate but troubled relationship between Napoleon Bonaparte and his first wife, Josephine. The lyrics and music are both dreamlike and disjointed, but held together by two common themes: military musings and romantic angst. It sounds weird when I describe it, but it works so well.

“Masochism Tango” –  Tom Lehrer

A brilliantly wicked send-up of passionate tango tunes, this song has to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. Tom Lehrer sings it with hilarious abandon, complete with well-timed comic touches. My heart is in my hand... yecch! After you hear this, you’ll never see ballroom dancing the same way again...

“O Mio Babbino Caro” (from Rigoletto) –  Kiri te Kanawa

Although Rigoletto isn't my favorite opera, this is my all-time favorite aria.

“Original Sin” –  Elton John

Elton John is generally known for his more upbeat songs, but here he gets serious—and with touching effect. This is one of the most beautiful love songs I’ve ever heard, both lyrically and melodically. My only complaint is that it has too wide a range for me to sing it properly—I always have to switch keys in the middle.

“The Scientist” –  Coldplay

Chris Martins may not have the best contemporary voice, but he writes the best contemporary songs, and he sings them with an unembarrassed devotion that makes up for any vocal flaws. In this song, his unpretentious vocals combine with the throbbing, piano-driven tune and painfully passionate lyrics to make up a song so beautiful, it’s sure to pluck at your heartstrings. This is the one song that I put on all my CD mixes.

“Sugar Daddy” –  Hedwig and the Angry Inch

I haven’t yet got around to viewing the movie Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but if this song is any indication of the movie’s quality, it’s gotta be hella good. I forget where I first came across this, but the minute I heard the catchy country tune, I was hooked—and then I heard the lyrics! The whole song is a cheeky demand to a rich lover for money, expensive gifts, and other “luxuries of the modern age”. “Sugar Daddy” is right up there with Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch” as a top bitch anthem—and this song is sung by a man!

“Superman (It’s Not Easy)” –  Five For Fighting

I’m very careful when it comes to buying CDs—as a general rule, I have to have heard and liked at least 25% of the songs on any given album before I can shell out the dough without feeling like a spendthrift. But when I heard this song, it was love at first listen. Within a few weeks, I caved—I went out and bought the album, without having heard any other Five For Fighting songs. The album was okay, but this song made the purchase totally worth it.

“Sway” –  The Perishers

I’d just downloaded iTunes, and this was the first Free Download of the Week that I snagged. I think it was this song, even more so than the cool software, that made me an iTunes addict; “Hell,” I thought, “give me a freebie like this every week, and I’m a user for life!”

“Wires” –  Athlete

The lyrics don’t really make sense, but there’s something terribly poignant about them nonetheless—the lines Running down corridors, through automatic doors / Got to get to you, got to see this through always get me, for some reason. Such a beautiful tune, as well; I love the way it starts out so softly, then swells into that romantic orchestration.

“You Look So Fine” –  Garbage

A haunting tune, a throbbing beat, lovelorn lyrics, and Shirley Manson’s hushed vocals really make this song stick in your mind. This somehow winds up in all my playlists.

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