5 Fandom Friday (10)

5 Fandom Friday is a geek-blogger community building project started and hosted by The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick. Every Friday, post a top 5 list based on a predetermined topic that can be found on this master post - you can also find more info on the project there. Participate as frequently or infrequently as you like, and if a topic doesn't especially appeal to you, feel free to put your own twist on it.

Don't forget to link up at SuperSpaceChick's post for the week.


This week's theme: Songs That Changed My Life

I love music, but I'm really not one of those people where I can say "this song has changed my life" in any other way than I guess the usual associations music has for people about times, places, or events. So I'll play around a little bit with this week's theme.

1) Soundtrack of my adolescence: 90s-00s Pop - particularly the sounds of the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys, and Britney Spears.

I will always love these songs, and goodness knows when I am old and gray, I will still know all the words to all the BSB songs, because these were the songs of my youth. These songs will always remind me of my friends (because they brought some of us together) and all the weird things we got up to - not to mention awkward middle school dances. And I will say that the shared love of this music is what brought me to some of my closest friends. Mutual love of the Backstreet Boys gave us an idea in middle school that 'hey, you seem like a cool person. At least, I like your taste in music.'

I mean, even now, I've bonded with people over mutual love for late 90s/early 00s boy bands, hah.

(From the Backstreet Boys' tour 2013: Acoustic version of 10,000 Promises)

A video posted by alice (@akangaru) on Sep 5, 2013 at 8:16pm PDT

2) Jason Mraz

At the Filmore in SF circa 2008

One of the few singers I will see every time he is in town because his live singing always, always outshines anything he does in studio. There's just something about his voice, his stage presence, and the energy of the audience that makes every show a delight. And I love his music for its positive, uplifting messages, for its playfulness and delight, and for its wordplay. I have too many favorites but No Doubling Back, Burning Bridges, You & I, 93 Million Miles, Details in the Fabric, Long Drive.


3) Moulin Rouge! soundtrack

This is probably kind of cheating, but Moulin Rouge! was such a huge part of my high school years and remains my favorite movie to this day. Since it's a musical and therefore music played a large role in the film, I think it's safe to say the songs used were important to me, if not life-changing. Of course, most of the sung songs in Moulin Rouge! were pop songs not original to the film, but the catalogue of already famous songs mixed in with the meta nature of the film basically speaks to the type of pop culture junkie and geek girl I am. It's kind of fitting that I loved the movie and its music so much.

Not to mention, Moulin Rouge! was about beauty, freedom, truth, and above all things, love - themes that will always resonate with me, like the music. :)


4) Hozier

It's not often I fall in insta-love with a singer or a song, but it happened with Hozier. I saw his show last year in May or June without having listened to anything (like I might have heard Take Me to Church once or twice a long while ago & therefore couldn't remember what it sounded like), and his music completely hooked me. Not only is his voice just amazing, but his lyrics are gorgeous. It's been a while since I've been romanced by the words in songs. Needless to say, I'm seeing him when he's next in town, which is February!

And while I don't know if I'd say any of this is life-changing, a few of his songs are certainly mood-inspiration for some of my current WIPs: In A Week, Work Song, Like Real People Do

5) Winter Song - Sarah Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson

Not a song that has changed my life, but I do really like it and I was going to include it in the 5 Fandom Friday post for holiday songs but opted for a few cheerier numbers. But this one is wistful, melancholy, and beautiful and it kind of perfectly captures a feeling from one of my WIPs. It's inspiration fuel, so it gets included here.

Q4U: What are the songs that have changed your life or inspired you?

P.S. One week left on this giveaway of 6 wonderful YA books!