As part of our way of saying “thank you” to everyone who came out to our wedding, Jennifer put together a bunch of gift bags for all of the guests and had the hotel front desk hand them out when they arrived. Among the items we included were a beach bag, suntan lotion, a small bottle of rum, and other items. One of the most personal items we put in was a music CD, filled with songs that we felt represented us and our lives together. I wanted to go ahead and list out and give an explanation for each of tracks… not just for the guests but for everyone who might be interested. :-)
- The Cure – “Lovesong”
Early in our relationship, Jennifer wanted to have a song that was specifically “our song”. After thinking about it for a bit, we both decided this song was the one that fit us most, both in terms of the lyrics and because we were both children of the 80’s. :-) - Bruno Mars – “Just the Way You Are”
After we had been dating for a few months, Jennifer heard this song on the radio while driving to work, and she gave me a call so that I could hear it. In particular, there was a line that caught her attention that said, “Yeah, I know, I know, when I compliment her she won’t believe me.” That, to her, made it a song about me because she never would believe me when I gave her compliments. :-) - Kansas – “Carry On Wayward Son”
A year or so after we started dating, we were looking at concerts and were deciding between two shows: Tom Petty for $70-80, or Kansas/Foreigner/Styx for $10. As you might imagine, we went with the latter. The three bands put on a hell of a show and it’s a particular favorite memory of ours, especially considering this hilarious exchange near the beginning of the concert…Jennifer: “What band is this?”
Scott: “That’s Kansas.”
Jennifer: “OH! I just thought they were an opening band covering a Kansas song…” - The Beatles – “All You Need is Love”
When we were working with the wedding planner, she gave us a list of music that the musician (who played both saxophone and flute) could play during the service. This was one of the songs that was on the list, as we felt it would make a wonderful choice as the recessional music. - Real Life – “Send Me an Angel (1989 Extended Dance Mix)”
Three months after we started dating, Jennifer arranged a wonderful birthday party for me, with dinner at Strack’s and dancing/karaoke at Drink Houston. It was the first birthday party I had had in nearly thirty years, and I had the time of my life. The night ended with me and Chris closing out Drink Houston by singing this song in the karaoke room. :-) - The Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feeling”
We seriously considered using this song in our wedding service, but we kind of changed our minds when we realized it wouldn’t work out too well when played by a sax or flute. Still, it’s become something of our theme when we go out and do fun stuff. - Daft Punk – “Tron Legacy (End Credits)”
Shortly before its sequel came out, Jennifer and I watched Tron. To say she was not impressed was something of an understatement, as she felt the pacing was way too slow. So, when Tron: Legacy came out, she went to see it much more for my benefit than for her own. To her surprise, she really enjoyed the film, to the point where nearly a month later, she asked me one Friday night if we could go see it again. This is her favorite track off of the movie soundtrack. - Murray Gold – “Doctor Who Theme (Album Version)”
We’re both Doctor Who fans. In fact, when the series is on, we make sure to make time to watch it. Granted, I’m more of a fan than she is (she thinks the original series is way too slow), but we both like it. This song also represents the fact that we both love British TV; in fact, one of the things that drew her to me was the fact that I stated how much I love British TV in my Match.com profile. ;-) - Bear McCreary, featuring Bt3 – “All Along the Watchtower”
The CD’s label only had the song titles and not the artists, so I’m sure more than one person listening to the CD expected to hear the Jimi Hendrix version. This song actually comes from Battlestar Galactica; I introduced Jennifer to it shortly after we started dating, and she was immediately hooked. In fact, she hadn’t been so hooked on a series since Lost. In short order, her Netflix queue was filled with all of the series discs, and she went through it as fast as she could. :-) - Orbital – “Halcyon + On + On”
As part of a meme on Facebook, I did a list of songs that I felt would make a good soundtrack for my life. Instead of basing the tracks on events, I based the tracks on people. I was trying to find a song for Jennifer that had a technical/geeky yet feminine sound. After a bit of thinking, I realized this song would be perfect for her on it. These days, I use a clip from it as her ringtone on my phone. - Depeche Mode – “Somebody”
The first concert Jennifer and I went to was a Depeche Mode concert. While this song was not played, it was her favorite Depeche Mode song when she was in junior high and high school. In the end, I’m honored to become the “somebody” this song spoke of for her. :-) - Foreigner – “Waiting For a Girl Like You”
Last year, Chris had a karaoke party for his birthday. I went up on stage many times to sing different songs from all sorts of different genres. At one point, I got up and sang this song to Jennifer, as everyone in the audience oohed and ahhed. I think I made her quite a bit self-conscious that evening. :-) - Michael Bublé – “You and I”
This is another one of Jennifer’s favorite songs, and one she always wanted at her wedding. While the original song was done by Stevie Wonder, I personally prefer Michael Bublé’s version. The song was not in the musician’s list of known songs, so we asked our wedding planner if she could ask him if he could do the song. He agreed, and played it while we were signing the official wedding documents. - Peter Frampton – “Baby, I Love Your Way”
One Saturday night, Jennifer and I were flipping through channels when we came across a concert from the late 70’s or early 80’s showing on PBS. It was close to the end of the concert, and Frampton was singing this song. We both decided then that when we did this CD, we’d include this song as it just seemed appropriate for both of us. It’s more the mood the song evokes than anything else, but we just love this song. :-) - Jason Mraz – “I’m Yours”
Admittedly Jennifer is much more of a Jason Mraz fan than I am, but we both like this song and the beachy island feel of the song is very fitting, considering the fact that we had our wedding and spent our honeymoon in the Bahamas. More, since we got together, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with the water and enjoy going to the beach a lot more. :-) - Foreigner – “Juke Box Hero”
This song, like the Kansas song listed earlier, reminds us of the concert we went to last year. Not only that, it’s always good for a bit of humor. Whenever Jennifer has a song stuck in her head, all I have to do to get it out is to whisper in her ear, “Juke. Box. Hero.” Of course, those words (and the accompanying notes) immediately take the song’s place in her head, so she tends to get even more annoyed at that point… - Original Broadway Cast for The Who’s Tommy – “Pinball Wizard”
Of course, this song makes reference to the fact that I love playing arcade and pinball games, and Jennifer has always been supportive towards me in that part, as she accompanies me to places like Dave and Buster’s, Joystix, and the Houston Arcade Expo. This song also refers to how she and I love to go to stage productions in the Theatre District. She and I went to Hobby Center to see a performance of The Who’s Tommy one evening; when we got there, we were relatively surprised to see so many teenagers there. It wasn’t until right before the show started that we realized we were seeing a performance put on by a local performing arts high school. :-) (They put on a damn good show, by the way.)