Manic Monday #8: Branch (and Gumby's song meme)

Before anything, let me thank Gumby for calling me his favorite Filipina blogger (maybe because I'm his only Filipina blog pal). This sweet guy was my first gay blog buddy, and he remains a good buddy to this day. So I'm passing Gumby's meme on to Marc (but Daddy Papersurfer can do this too, if he wants), Houseband00, Odat, Ian, Mimi, Ghostrose, and ZeroImpact. If you guys are doing this, remember that you're supposed to cite seven songs/CDs you've listened to recently and to tag seven others to do the meme. Oh, and mad, mad applause and a virtual ticker tape parade for the first one who can figure out how this post relates to Morgen's Manic Monday theme this week: the word "branch" (or any other form of the word, e.g. branched, branching, etc.).

Random musings of mine come from poetry sometimes, from poets such as Pablo Neruda. Poetry readings from the CD Il Postino give me the shivers, such as Ralph Fiennes' narration of Neruda's Ode to the Sea. Give us this day our daily fish. If I can't have the sea every day, let me have my poetry fix.

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Almost everyone can probably relate to this song's title: Life is Short, by Butterfly Boucher. Well, it is, isn't it? Except when you're standing in line for something.

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Now it just occurred to me that James Blunt and I share the same birthday, although he's about a gazillion years younger (and inestimably more famous) than I am. I like most of the songs in his album Back to Bedlam, including Tears and Rain. Because I'm just a big crybaby who also happens to love the rain.

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Cry, by Alex Parks, sure hits the spot when I'm in an emo mood (which is often). Now I'm getting all teary-eyed listening to this song again. I cry at almost everything -- including this song -- even when I don't have my period.

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Here is another clip from the Il Postino CD: this time it's Madonna reading Neruda's poem If You Forget Me. I think this is a poignant poem, beautiful yet perhaps full of false bravado. But... maybe Madonna should forget oral interpretation of poetry and stick to singing and dancing. :-)

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Every once in a while I learn about a musician whose songs I'd never heard before. But when I hear the song(s) I feel a connection. Case in point: a dear friend introduced me recently to an utterly beautiful but sad song by Maria Mena. I loved it, so I looked up some of her other songs. I found myself very much liking quite a few of them, including Just Hold Me. I think this one's a simple song that nevertheless has a level of thought-provoking complexity. Or maybe that's just me.

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So... last but not the least, we come to the song that ends my version of this meme. I like Coldplay's Yellow because prior to hearing this song, I had never before associated the color yellow with love and courage. I had always thought that yellow denoted cowardice. But maybe this song, when taken in the yellow-is-for-coward context, suits me, because I can be so chickenshit even when I'm double-, triple-, or quadruple-dared.

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