Not Your Friend

I made some new friends this weekend. You may even know them, or know of them: Natalie Merchant, Sophie B. Hawkins, and Ani DiFranco. Yep, they’re my friends now. My MySpace friends. Now, don’t be jealous. I can’t help it if they wanted to be my friend and not yours. Heck, Sophie even thanked me for all of my support. What a good friend she’s going to be. I can tell.

So for today’s shuffle, I decided to limit it to my new friends. These are the songs they sang to me today. They love me already, I can feel it. They’re sending me little mental hugs right now.

1. Only Love – Sophie B. from Whaler. I just love Sophie. And she can jam on some drums, too! This is a good, mellow song. Some of her stuff is wild, but this is one of her more mainstream songs.

2. Trouble Me – 10,000 Maniacs from MTV Unplugged. I felt a very strong connection to this song for a long time. As many folks know, TJ has a long history of major depression. During bad bouts, she would just shut down. It was during one of these periods that this song came out. I just wanted her to talk to me so I could help. So I could make it all better.

3. Gold Rush Brides – 10,000 Maniacs from MTV Unplugged. Jesus – I love this woman’s voice. It just takes my breath away. I have to pull myself back to earth. She could be singing a grocery list and it wouldn’t matter one bit. The fact that most of the lyrics to 10,000 Maniacs or her solo stuff are moving is an added bonus.

4. Asking Too Much – Ani DiFranco from Not a Pretty Girl. This was my first Ani CD. This is one of the harder rocking songs, not the hardest, but not one of the calm, mellow, ones. She’s letting us know what she’s looking for in a partner. It’s a lot – but not too much.

5. Mysteries We Understand – Sophie B. from Tongues and Tails. Funky song. Upbeat with some funk guitar and horns. Not sure what to say about this one. It’s a good song but the music is what stands out to me. The lyrics didn’t really grab me.