Give me a C! A Bouncy C!

I've been thinking on adding a soundtrack to my life.

Most people have one, you know....in the days of my youth, they were called "Walkman", or is it "Walkmans?" "Walkmen?" Anyway, people would put on their headsets and off to the races they would go.

In the early days, it was fun watching people with them on. They had no real awareness of how loud they would talk with their headphones on. And they would sing along, unaware that the general public around them could not hear the music. Endless hours of fun.

We have the 21st Century equivalent in the the MP3 player. I have one. I put my complete music library on it. It's still only half full. But I can carry my whole library in my pocket. Or in my car. And people are still fun to watch; not as fun as the people with cel phones, but still.....

The soundtrack of a life is, of course, very personal. It should, and does, say something about you in the silences between the times you ACTUALLY saying something about you.

I would hope that there is a kind of majesterial quality to the soundtrack of my life; orchestrations, like HENRY V, or GLORY.

Or, a kind of modern heroic, like HOOSIERS.

Folk music slips in: Stan Rogers, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Harry Chapin, Bruce Cockburn, Joe Henry. Usually in my "down to earth" periods.

It is, of course, filled with music from my youth; The Band, Skynyrd, The Beatles, the Stones, Dylan, the Eagles. Sometimes, a little 80's drops in, in the form of Buffett, or Huey Lewis and the News, or Bruce Hornsby and the Range. Mostly, that music is for the flashback episodes that come from the occasional calcium deposit shifting in my cranium, bringing up some moment with HD clarity.

I have no delusions, though. I'm pretty sure that the actual soundtrack of my life contains more slidewhistles and rimshots than it does majestic horn sections. Perhaps I should get a recording of the Barnum and Bailey Band to help me out.

I've always been curious about the music people choose for their memorial service, if they have the opportunity to put in their two cents. Peter Sellers requested IN THE MOOD, because it was a song he hated more than anything. My old friend Krisi Nissen put in TOMORROW. And of course, in the BIG CHILL, there was the Stones on the organ.

I once told my friend Regina (this was quite some time ago, Reg, so if you're reading this, I don't hold you to the memory) of a list of music I would like played at my funeral. I can't remember the entire list, but there was one song in particular, from Don Henley. Among the lyrics were....

Like every young man,
I had some things that I wanted to say;
Ere I could begin..
You know the world got in my way.

We spend so much time
Weeping, and wailing, and shaking our fists;
Creating enemies
That really don't exist.

Oh, Lila:
The fields lie fallow;
And ere you sow, so shall ye reap.
Oh, Lila:
The ground we hallowed
Was ours to tend but not to keep.

But I think, in the long run, I would be better suited if somebody played Spike Jones' COCKTAILS FOR TWO.

Boom Shakalakalaka, Boom Shakalakalaka, Boom Shakalakalaka, BOOM!