OK then. I was requested by Alice K. Park (Freshman Class President) to list five of my favorite songs. I think the actual prompt was a little more severe-- it was desired that I would list my five absolute most favoritist songs ever, but for me that's an impossibility. And not just because "favoritist" isn't a word.

So here, in no particular order, are five songs that I really really like a whole lot.

1. Song: Rhapsody in Blue
Who wrote it?: George Gershwin
Who performed it?: A symphony orchestra near you.

What's so great about it?: It's just so... glorious! Christina Lee also had this on her list, and I left a comment saying that it might be the best American song ever written. Then again, I know next to nothing about music theory. I just know that hearing that song thrills me. There's majesty in it.

2. Song: Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone
Who wrote it?: Jeff Mangum
Who performed it?: Neutral Milk Hotel

What's so great about it?: Really two songs in one (as the title implies), Gardenhead does a hell of a lot in a short 3:14. Beginning with a driving beat and powerful guitar chords, and weaving its way into a melodious (nearly heartbreaking) second movement, this is one of the few songs that ever made me audibly exclaim the first time I listened to it. I was alone, in the car, and actually yelled out "YEAH!" at one point. Song lyrics, separated from the song itself, so rarely translate well. But I think the lyrics to this particular song do. For instance, the portion that made me yell was:
"We ride roller-coasters into the ocean
We feel no emotion as we spiral down to the world
And I guess it's worth your time, 'cause there's some lives you live
And some you leave behind.
It gets hard to explain."

The man is a poet, pure and simple and responsible for what I can say without hesitation is my most favoritist album ever (right now), In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

3. Song: Undone - The Sweater Song
Who wrote it?: Rivers Cuomo
Who performed it?: Weezer

What's so great about it?: Exquisite blend of form and content, the guitars on "Undone" are played in a weaving pattern. That way, when the song breaks down and the guitar pattern begins to fall apart, the woven song is coming undone just like the sweater in the song. The song breaks itself down while breaking its subject down. Just. Effing. Brilliant. Plus it simply rocks hard.

4. Song: O Ignis Spiritus Paracliti
Who wrote it?: Hildegard von Bingen
Who performed it?: Sequentia (and a whole lot of nuns over the past millennium)

What's so great about it?: We've been over this.

5. Song: Hand in My Pocket
Who wrote it?: Alanis Morisette
Who performed it?: She did

You're kidding me right?: Nope.
For real?: For real.
What the hell, Dave?: I have argued that this is the defining song of my generation. Some people try to play the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" card, but I think that doesn't... really... work. I think Tori's cover of "Teen Spirit" is closer than Nirvana's original (not to detract from the excellence of that song... it may be anthemic, it's just not defining, as I see things). We don't need to harp on it, but Nirvana's song is sort of making fun of us. "Hand in My Pocket" is a celebration of how contradicted we (I, I guess) feel about almost everything. She lists contradictions, and it ends with an "Oh, well. What the hell are we going to do about it but get on with our lives?" If protest songs defined much of my parents' generation (or if that's what they claim in retrospect, at any rate), I feel like a song that celebrates acceptance of confusion sort of nails it for us. It's a shame it got played to the point where it became cheesy. I don't think it is though. If you haven't listened to it in a while, it might be time for another listen.

So there you have it. A very bizarre mix.