Music with Tim

John-Thomas did a post in which he posted on the first five songs to randomly shuffle from his music collection, so I thought I'd do the same. My collection is a bit different than his, although it does have some classical, none of which happened to come up during the shuffling period (it all seemed to play earlier today, oddly enough).

Purified (Michael W. Smith): This is my favorite song from the first Worship CD from MWS. It is a studio recording (unlike all but one of the other songs), but that isn't the treat. It's words make me think — am I really ready to stand in cleansing fires?

I will open up my heart Search me in the deepest part
And I will stand in cleansing fire
By You, purified
By You, I'm purified

Us (Sixpence None the Richer): This is a new song in my library from the Best of Sixpence None the Richer. I have all of Sixpence's CD's, but the Best of collection includes three unreleased tracks, of which this is one, plus a lot of the songs they contributed to other CD's, such as some of the multi-artist worship CD's. It is catchy, in fact, it has been stuck in my head. Hopefully the sentiment of it will fit my situation some day, God willing.

Let the River Flow (WoW Worship Blue): This comes from a CD that my church pawned off on unsuspecting members walking through the building one Sunday. It has a few good songs, but there was a reason why the youth group was so desperate to unload these on the innocent people heading to the coffee pot. I'll admit I don't usually by the stuff the youth are selling, so maybe this was poetic justice. It isn't very good as a whole. This song is way too slow. The first time I heard the first disc of the two CD set, I had to turn it off to avoid falling asleep.

I Will Remember You (Sarah McLachlan): This is a new purchase of mine off of iTMS. It isn't my favorite McLachlan song, but it has stuck in my head a few times over the years (from hearing it on the radio). I wish there was a studio recording of it.

Run for it (Leigh Nash/Delerium): This track had good timing, I just mentioned this song the other night. Like “Us,” this has been stuck in my head; clearly my iPod is thinking like I am. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I'll try. It is a fusion of Leigh Nash's always stunning vocals (from Sixpence None the Richer) and a sound that reminds me of Enigma to some extent. Nash actually penned the words, I understand, and she did a good job. I purchased this off of iTMS, you should go and do likewise for just $0.99.

Curious to see the trends in my shuffling? Some interesting ones occur tonight, and some other favorites appeared in the next ten songs, which I shall now proceed to list.

Cantico (Andrea Bocelli): This is a nice, soothing piece from Bocelli. He is a very talented gentleman, although I probably prefer Josh Groban's style a bit better. This particular song has a bit of a mysterious sound to it, I think, which is something I always like.

Please Only You (Steven Curtis Chapman): Like the rest All Things New this is a great song. How good it would be if I focused on only pleasing God… unfortunately, I'm not good at staying that focused.

Arms Open Wide (David Phelps): This is only the second time I believe I have heard this song. It is from the Dove Awards 2004 CD, a disc I was given awhile back, but have not listened to all the way through yet. I like it. It is not the most original, in fact, it reminds me of something that the adult contemporary stations have been playing lately which I cannot conjure at the moment, but I'm not necessarily complaining.

See the Glory (Steven Curtis Chapman): Odd. First the iPod played two songs with Leigh Nash in the first set of five, now we have two SCC songs in the second block. It isn't surprising that SCC would come up twice within ten songs, though; he is the third largest “contributor” to my music library (70 songs), behind Sixpence None the Richer (87) and Michael W. Smith (79). He leads Twila Paris who has 66. At any rate, I especially like this song since I saw him perform it live, but it is a generally good wake up call reminding us not to miss the glory of God.

Open the Eyes of My Heart (John Tesh and others): This is a very good rendition of an oft recovered song, like most of the songs that were done by Tesh for his worship CD's. He's a talented CCM artist, which really surprised me at first about the former Entertainment Tonight host and PBS new age music pledge drive special star. I recommend “A Deeper Faith,” the album this song comes from, if you'd like to give Tesh a listen. It won't put you to sleep, unlike the WoW Worship Blue Disc.

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Please Carry Me Home (Jesse Colter & Shooter Jennings): This song is OK. It comes from “Songs Inspired by the Passion of Christ,” a disc personally assembled by Mel Gibson last year. The disc, as a whole, is excellent, and this is really one of my least favorite songs on it. It is a bit too much like old style Gospel music for me.

The Riker Manuever (Jerry Goldsmith): From Star Trek: Insurrection, it shows off the mastery of the late Goldsmith. John Williams may be “the” composer for soundtracks and special events over the past few decades, but Jerry Goldsmith could more than hold his own. He will be missed.

The Waiting Room (Sixpence None the Richer): Sixpence's self titled CD can be divided into problem and resolution sections, this is the third song in the first section. It fits nicely with the previous song (“Anything”), which has a very good bridge leading into this one. It really fits my mood when I'm waiting for something — when will it finally happen? That the “problem” for Sixpence was they couldn't concentrate on writing music, due to an unfortunate legal battle with their old record label, makes this CD a good choice when doing creative work (I believe Kevin agrees with me on this). It's all about the struggle to be creative, after all.

The Change (Steven Curtis Chapman): Chapman, not to be surpassed by Nash, comes up next to level it out to 3-3 for a tie on who has the most songs that have played thus far in this shuffle cycle. Normally the iPod seems to pick some other CD's as its favorites, for instance, I've heard Shapoopi from the Music Man probably five times in the last two weeks. At any rate, this is an excellent, convicting song: sure I have the t-shirts with the Christian sayings and all the other stuff Christians now have, but what about the heart of the matter: “what about the change/what about the grace/what about the difference?”

Who Is Crying (V. Keith Mason): This is from Borderlands, a neat CD that did a fairly “new age” rendition of many folk songs from around the world. This one is from Latvia. It is an entirely instrumental CD. As you might have guessed when I used the term “new age” above with John Tesh, I use this in the musical sense, not the religious sense. This CD isn't one I'd listen to all the way through without shuffling, but I'm glad to have it in the mix.