Sunday, November 11, 2007
sunday confessional: thou shalt not secretly appreciate overly sentimental drivel
I have a secret.
It's rather embarrassing.
It involves Bonnie Tyler.

See, on my iPod I keep a hidden, secret playlist. I've titled it "for singing" and that is exactly its purpose. I play it only in my car and only when alone and only when I'm in the mood to sing very loudly, very poorly and with my eyes closed. Practically every track is a song that - under ordinary, non-confessional situations - I would never, ever admit to liking unless I did so in a sarcastic, scoffing manner.

But the truth is that I do like them. Sincerely. Passionately. Completely unironically.

And unfortunately, I have nothing better to say this evening, and so I'm choosing to bare it all and share my secret, shameful playlist with you. So, *eyes lowered* here she is:

"Eternal Flame" - The Bangles
"Love Child" - The Supremes
"Son of a Preacher Man" - Dusty Springfield
"Don't Let Go" - En Vogue
"I Want to Know What Love is" - Foreigner
"Santa Fe" - RENT Soundtrack
"Bernadette" - The Four Tops
"Kissing a Fool" - George Michael
"Supersonic" - Oasis
"True" - Spandau Ballet
"Part-Time Lover" - Stevie Wonder
"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" - The Temptations
"Africa" - Toto
"Faithfully" - Journey
"Blue" - Patsy Cline
"Islands in the Stream" - Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
"We Belong" - Pat Benatar
And this last one, well, it's the pièce de résistance...



Now, the truth. You like me a quite a bit less now, don't you?


(P.S. - you really should watch that video in its entirety because there are ninjas, an army of flying choir boys with glowing blue eyes, robot football players, and seven other types of awesome. Really.)

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14 Comments:

Blogger Gregg said...

Hi, I found your page over at NaBloPoMo, and it led me here.

Some friends and I were just talking about musical guilty pleasures, and Bonnie Tyler's name came up. So apparently she makes the grade with many.

Gotta love that raspy voice.

(I may or may not have mentioned the name Barry Manilow in our conversation. I admit to nothing.)

Great blog! You're a lot of fun to read.

Blogger Jamie said...

I think that's totally AWESOME! What a fun idea. You know, one of the reasons that I never talk music with people is because it inevitably becomes all judgmental and people's inner 14-year-old comes out saying, "You like that? You're such a loser!" We like what we like and it's all good!

Blogger Shannon said...

I love that you shared this! I have a tape (cassette) kicking around somewhere of a similiar idea and the songs are just nuts... from Kate Bush to Big Chief it's crazy.

What's important is that *you* enjoy it.

Blogger cornshake said...

your guilty pleasures sound like my "normal" ;) seriously. oh, i can talk about the "cool, indie" stuff till the cows come home, but it's oh so much easier to just say--this is what i listen to: DEAL. Which is i think one way I landed D, music snob of yore.
{patsy cline, stevie wonder aint got NOTHIN to apologize for!!}

Blogger Abs said...

Unlike Ms. Cornshake, I cannot talk indie at all hours, and I am unashamed of my musical tastes; sure, liking Depeche Mode and Metallica in grade school kept me on the right side of the bullies, but I will listen to Belinda Carlisle, Divas of Dance, and showtunes on tape or CD in the car and freely admit to it; I might even do it in front of you.
In fact, I have been wanting both "It's Raining Men" and "I Need a Hero" in some fashion for my car for months.

Blogger Nathan said...

"Mrs White", you have had many stunning karaoke performances but by far the most awe inspiring was your rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with your brother on back up vocals chiming on the "Turn around, bright eyes" parts. I can still here the bar patrons clapping.

Blogger Mrs. White said...

Aww, thanks guys! Your comments make me feel less bad about myself, which is almost like feeling good. :)

Blogger Mary said...

I like your song list, personally. And I find it refreshing that you sing in the car. But it might be a good idea if you're driving to keep your eyes open. ;)
Me, I'm a car dancer.

Blogger TWORIVERSWALRUS said...

I don't even know you. And I think more of you already!

(I came there from Gregg's blog)

Blogger Gregg said...

After reading some of the comments, I have to revisit this post, and add another two cents.

It's been my experience, when talking about musical guilty pleasures, that more often than not, when you talk about guys like Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, John Denver, or others...you find more people saying, "Hey! I like them, too!" rather than "You like that??"

As has been stated above...it's all about what you like. If you like it, it's good. Period.

However, there are a few exceptions, of course, and sometimes it's fun to lay into people a little bit for it.

Allow me to offer one of those exceptions here. And don't hold back. I'm a big boy...I can take it.

Does anyone remember the, um, Christian metal (I guess) group from the '80s, called Stryper? They wore black- and yellow-striped spandex, preached the Word of God and banged on their electric guitars. I own their greatest hits, but I swear it's only for one song..."Honestly."

I know I shouldn't like it, and I have a tremendous amount of guilt about that pleasure...but I do. Just listened to it today, in fact.

Oh god...a Stryper song speaks to me!

I'm so ashamed.

Blogger Mrs. White said...

Oh yes. I went to a tiny Catholic school in rural Ohio in the late 80s'. I remember Stryper.

Dude, that took some guts to admit. Good on you, Gregg. :)

Blogger Gregg said...

Thanks for not kicking me off your blog. :O)

Blogger Nathan said...

Gregg, Don't fret about Barry Manilow. He writes the songs the whole world sings. His "Ultimate Collection" is aces!

Blogger JMW said...

"Total Eclipse" is greatness. This is a nice list. My own would be at least as embarrassing, but might just include some lower-registered voices (though I'm not afraid to break out the falsetto when necessary -- Beck's "Debra" might make my list).

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