The Marci Rating System

Monday through Friday 6:30 alarm:

Eternal Flame, by The Bangles

This 1988 power ballad is a POWER BALLAD and has featured extensively in the 'music my brain plays in the background all the time' this month. I would say it's my favorite song from 1988, except that it's also the only song I'm at all confident might be from 1988, and I'm not sure if I'm feeling lucky today.

Tuesday and Wednesday 5:30 alarm:

Summer's Coming, by Clint Black

Ugh, it's going to be Very Hot on Tuesday and Wednesday, and also I'm getting up early to drive to the office for work. So I went with the first summer song that came to mind.

I'm generally very bad at identifying songs and singers, probably due to a combination of 1) I've never needed to do that, 2) I'm usually not paying much attention, and 3) auditory processing is REALLY not my best strength when it comes to memory.

BUT! This week I had a very funny experience that went basically like this:

me, listening to the radio: hmm, this song has a catchy chorus

me, a minute later, realizing the chorus was back on: but all the other words are a mumbled jumble

me, listening to the chorus more closely: wait, this seems kinda mean-spirited? in a very distinctive way?

me, suspicion slowly growing: IS THIS NOAH KAHAN???

(It was.)

Where "it" means I now have a title for my November writing project! I heard Rubber Band Man (Mumford & Sons, Hozier) on the radio, and there was this:

You’re a world away
But you’re still the same

I know you by your heart
And I will call you by your name

And then I rotated that in my head while I went for a walk, and finally came up with:

SANCTUARY CODE (not all in caps, though, it just seemed appropriate to shout it this time)

Benefits to this title:

*it's cool!

*it means nothing!

Music rec from tumblr (tumbl I can't relocate saying this was a classic Murderbot song):

Change My Life, Ben Thornewill

So stand as tall as you can
And if you’re scared
That’s okay, it just means that you care
It just means that you care

Okay, so I LOVE having the radio on, just, all the time. BACKGROUND MUSIC FOR MY LIFE, YES PLEASE. (Unnecessary backstory cut for time.)

My go-to station is WXRV THE RIVER, heck yeah! But it's gone to at least 50% static the last few weeks, and I haven't bothered to try moving my radio around to see if I can improve the reception. (I know, so old school: an actual radio!) And then we lost the power for a few minutes over the weekend, and I had to reset the radio station anyway, so I just picked one nearby to WXRV that came in well.

I think it might be the local university station? I don't think I've recognized a single song, which is genuinely great, although there have also definitely been times when I've walked into the room and thought 'WHAT in the world is this music???' In the cinematic experience of my life, this sure is a thematic shift!

Saw this mentioned on tumblr the other day, and this song is a BOP. Like, if anyone was ever like 'hey, what did the kids mean back in ancient times when they said a song was a bop?' this would be the song that would be played as an example.

Cut To The Feeling, Carly Rae Jepsen

I had a dream, or was it real?
We crossed the line and it was on

*I saw the turkey flock out the front windows this morning, and some geese on the river out the back windows; a good day indeed

*I've had the MacGyver* theme song playing intermittently in my head for over a week now (*the original MacGyver); allow me to share this joy

*Work sure is something, isn't it?

Hold On Tight, Amos Lee

All we have is each other
All we have in this long cold night
All we have is each other
Hold on tight

Last night I dreamed about a new Christmas song called "Microwave Christmas." It was one of those 'internet artist songs gone moderately viral,' and I had seen it recommended multiple times.

In this dream, I was back at work after the holiday (in that weird dream amalgamation of 'this is nothing like my workplace yet I KNOW that's what's happening here) and I opened up the song to watch & listen. (Excellent, even my dream self is making good use of on the clock hours!)

And the first two lines of the song went like this:

This is gonna be a microwave Christmas
Where could my Untamed gift be

Sadly, I couldn't hear the rest of it because of various dream-related chaos (including someone getting very excited about miso paste, which is not a food item I've considered for many years). But in the way of dreams, I knew that this was a fun song about celebrating the things we love (including fandom!), and appreciating that the experience of Christmas can be whatever you make it.

(Also that we spend a lot more time watching for delivery trucks than reindeer.) So way to go, brain! That was fun! Love it! Musical interlude part 2 took a fun and fantastical twist!

(NOTE: I did a quick internet search to make sure there isn't ACTUALLY a moderately viral internet song called 'Microwave Christmas' that my brain was picking up on. As far as I can tell, there is not, but maybe someday!)

I was thinking about Christmas music this week (as one does), and listening to one of my all-time faves (We Need A Little Christmas, Johnny Mathis), and I thought 'didn't I first hear this song in a muppet movie???'

I managed to come up with the following recollections:
*a Sunday night tv movie???
*Whoopi Goldberg as God???
*the theater was being shut down, maybe???

None of these things really seemed to make sense, but lo! The internet has provided an answer. There was INDEED a made-for-tv muppets movie released in 2002, just before Disney swooped in:

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

It was "loosely" based on "It's a Wonderful Life," which probably explains why I didn't think it was very fun to watch. But the wiki article is an interesting read, AND it was a fun excuse to go listen to Christmas music again!