Saturday, May 25, 2013

Please Don’t Stop the Music

I haven’t done a whole lotta music listening during my time here. I mean, for sure, I get an overdose of deafening dangdut, bus musicians, the singing of Islamic prayers, and the cycling of the five American pop songs people like to listen to here, but choosing to sit and listen to music I like is something I didn’t realize I hadn't done in awhile. 

Songs remind.  They bring up emotions. They connect. It’s easy to get caught up listening to tunes and find yourself at a 1am bedtime when the call to prayer/rooster wake-up call is 4:30am. It’s possible I unconsciously avoided listening to music I like so as to sidestep the reminiscing to focus on new experiences.

However, a couple of weekends ago, I was letting Ms. Olif listen to my ipod as we were travelling. She got a dose of Clash, Radiohead, Thermals, Wilco, and Rilo Kiley. The ear bud conveniently slipped from beneath her jilbab by the fifth song. Hmm. Anyway, as she dozed off, I found a playlist called “Friends and Family” on my ipod. I forgot I made this more than 2 years ago, and I finally allowed myself to indulge in a listen. It was soothing to travel by bus along these Indonesian scenes that have grown so familiar and ordinary to me - and have the songs and thoughts of my family and friends from home with me as my new life passed by. Bringing it all together. A nice preparation for my transition.


1 week left in my village. This is incomprehensible to me.


Folks from home:  So, below is the list if you want to take a gander to find the song(s) that remind me of you. This is by no means a complete list and certainly won’t win any music compilation awards. It’s about the memories, people.  

 “Thriller” – MJ
“Let’s Hang On” – Barry Manilow
“Adventure” – Be Your Own Pet
"Just Can’t Get Enough" – Depeche Mode
"Encrypted" – The Dirtbombs
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" – Elton John
"She Don’t Use Jelly" – The Flaming Lips
"One Time" – Justin Bieber
"Peaches" – Kristen Hall
"Gloria" – Laura Branigan
"Float On" – Modest Mouse
"It Takes Two" – Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock
"Lights Out" – Santigold
"I Got You" – Split Endz
"Pearl Harbor Sucks" – TEAM America
"Psycho Killer" – Talking Heads
"Big Pimpin" – Jay Z
"Everything in Its Right Place" – Radiohead
"Leave It All to Me" – Miranda Cosgrove
"Australia" – Shins
"America" – Neil Diamond
"Come Go With Me" – The Dell Vikings

"I Gotta Feeling" – Black Eyed Peas
"Country House" – Blur
"Lua" – Bright Eyes
"Mockingbird" – James Taylor, Carly Simon
"I Need All the Friends I Can Get" – Camera Obscura
"No Quiero" – Davila 666
"Hounds of Love" – The Futureheads
"Constructive Summer" – The Hold Steady
"You Can Do It" – Ice Cube
"Head to Toe" – Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
"Party in the USA" – Miley Cyrus
"Question" – Old 97s
"Freight Elevator" – The Roger Sisters
"Girlfriend in a Coma" – The Smiths
"Gimme No Crack" – Shinehead
"Outtasite (Outta Mind)" – Wilco
"Here’s Your Future" – Thermals
"El Scorcho" – Weezer
"Slideshow" – Travis
"All These Things That I’ve Done" – Killers
"Born to Run" – Bruce Springsteen
 "Train in Vain" – Clash
"Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)" – Cobra Starship
"The Boys Are Back" - Zac Effron
"We Used to Be Friends" – The Dandy Warhols
"Free Love Freeway" – David Brent
The Night Court Theme Song
"NYC" – Interpol
"Sante Fe" – Christian Bale (as Jack Kelly)
"SOS" – Jonas Brothers
"Rebellion (Lies)" – The Arcade Fire
"This Dirty Old Town" – The Pogues
"Since You Been Gone" – Kelly Clarkson
"Man in the Mirror" – MJ
"Start a War" – The National
"Cool It Now" – New Edition
"Oh What a World" – Rufus Wainright
"KRS One" – Sublime
"Modern Girl" – Sleater Kinney
"Hey" - Pixies
"I Feel Home" – OAR
"Good to Be on the Road Back Home" – Cornershop



Graduation
Also, below are photos of how we didn't stop the music at graduation this past week. 


The opening choir. 

The girls jumped up in excitement when the boys started performing hadroh (Islamic singing with drums) as it might be the closest they get to a boy band. 


 Until our other boy band took the stage. 

Mufid and I sang "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz because it was the only song Abadi knew how to play that I knew ten words to. Should video ever surface of this performance, you will see those ten words are pretty much all I remembered. Poor guys. 


Much to my surprise and enjoyment, a dance party broke out during the karaoke portion. 

 My girl, Nisa, belting one out. 

Other photo fun: 




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