Repeat the Sounding Joy

Greetings be to you, dear ones! Happy Holidays and Challah-Days (eight, to be exact!) and deck the halls and what have you.

It's time for an annual list! I already published it on The Facebook, but until we all get Google Plus and everything's in one place, I'm just going to have to cover all my social media bases. Remember when we all had Xanga and life was so simple?!

This list is going to be all about music, so let's start off with a Christmas tune. Now that I'm older than I used to be and I actually understand lyrics (though I never know what Joanna Newsom is talking about), sacred Christmas music is so exciting to me because it's so meaningful. I've been really into "O Holy Night" for the past few years, for obvious reasons. (If the reasons are not obvious, read the lyrics and get back to me.)

This year, "Joy to the World" is really buttering my biscuits. "While fields and floods, rocks, fields, and plains repeat the sounding joy" is pure poetry, and "heaven and nature sing" gives me a downright peaceful image of woodland creatures singing to the sky.

But the verse that really gets me is this:

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

What beautiful words.

I once got a wonderful email from my Irish friend signed, "I bid you adieu with well-wishes and the wonders of His love," and it was delightful unto my soul.

My favorite version is Sufjan's, duh, and you should give it a good listen if you haven't in a while:



Now, onto the Best Music of 2011, from someone who mostly listens to Dolly Parton and Justin Bieber!

Most magical concert experience: Beirut, Rams Head Live
Concert most likely to see me dancing so hard that I was sore for three days: Tune-Yards, Black Cat

Most nostalgic concert at most beautiful venue: Bright Eyes with M. Ward, Wolf Trap

Luckiest concert opportunity in 2nd most beautiful venue: Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, 2640 Space

Most likely to be the best concert of my life: Josh Ritter on 12/31, Amherst MA
Favorite song by a Baltimore band: Civilian, Wye Oak

Most accurate and informative depiction of love: Poison & Wine, The Civil Wars

Happiest sad song: Bedroom Eyes, Dum Dum Girls

Best Impression of Simon & Garfunkel: Born With a Broken Heart, David Wax Museum

2nd Best Impression of Simon & Garfunkel: Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes

Sweetest description of first love: Towers, Bon Iver

Most incredible voice e’er to be recorded on a dance song: Powa, Tune-Yards

Most likely to make me LOL: Threw It On the Ground, The Lonely Island

Most empowering hip-hop song: She’s Enough, Atmosphere

Best use of electric guitar: Cruel, St. Vincent

Most likely to make me feel like everything will be just fine: Ours, Taylor Swift

Most likely to be quoted by me at office holiday parties: Whisky is My Drink, Limbotheque

Favorite music video: Take It As It Comes, Vivian Girls

Most danceable love song: Velcro, Bell X1

Most Likely to be played on rainy days: One and Only, Adele

Best cover of classic song: I Want You Back, The Civil Wars

2nd Best cover of a classic song: Moon River, Josh Ritter

3rd Best cover of a classic song: Bein’ Green, Andrew Bird

Best cover of contemporary song: Pursuit of Happiness, Lissie

Best cover of her own song: Littlest Birds, Jolie Holland

Best use of harmonica: A Change of Days, Smith’s Cloud

Most likely to bring out my inner Sasha Fierce: Set Fire to the Rain, Adele

Most likely to make me cry: If I Had a Boat, James Vincent McMorrow

Most likely to accompany me during a post-Hurricane-Irene walk: Holocene, Bon Iver

Most relatable love song: Time Spent in Los Angeles, Dawes

Catchiest song by a Chicago band: Weekend, Smith Westerns

Catchiest song by a middle schooler: Friday, Rebecca Black

Best country song by a soul singer: Don’t You Remember, Adele

Most Bright-Eyes-esque new Bright Eyes song: Jejune Stars, Bright Eyes

Most beautiful love song: And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop, James Vincent McMorrow

Most likely to be sung by me to anyone who will or won’t listen: I’m His Girl, Friends

Best song that makes me want to be dead: Video Games, Lana del Rey

Best hijack of Irish pub song melody: Rox in the Box, The Decemberists

Most likely to make me challenge the nearest person to a dance-off: Love on Top, Beyonce

Most likely to make me feel like I just lost of the love of my life: Someone Like You, Adele

Most likely to be stuck in my head for 3 months: Countdown, Beyonce

Best use of Motown: Otis feat. Otis Redding, Kanye West and JAY Z

Most likely to accompany me during cooking adventures: Yes, Maria, Yes; David Wax Museum

Dreamiest rock song: Beginner’s Mind, Bright Eyes

2nd favorite Vanessa Carlton song about California: Dear California, Vanessa Carlton

Most forgivable grammatical error in a song title: If This Was a Movie, Taylor Swift

Most surprisingly popular song that made me feel inordinately proud of my vaguely personal connection to this band: We Are Young, Fun.

Most likely to be played on repeat at work: I Love You But I Don’t Know What to Say, Ryan Adams

Most likely to be played while driving to West Virgina: My Father’s Father, The Civil Wars

Most likely to make me miss home (Seattle): Coeur D’Alene, The Head and the Heart

Most likely to make me miss home (Chicago): Chicago, Smith’s Cloud

Most likely to be played by me non-stop all December: Mistletoe, Justin Bieber

Most likely to have been inspired by contemporary evangelical worship songs: Shake It Out, Florence + The Machine

Most likely to make me want to change my life: We Don’t Eat, James Vincent McMorrow

Most likely to make me feel like I'm in a Sofia Coppola movie: Mariah, Cass McCombs

Most likely to make me feel understood and not alone: Down in the Valley, The Head and the Heart

Most likely to make me want to slow-dance: A Case of You, James Blake

Best Americana song: Scarlet Town, Gillian Welch (not on Spotify--sad face!)

Best old-timey gospel-influenced a cappella song: Bright Morning Stars, Abigail Washburn

Most likely to be analyzed for Lenten themes: Don’t Carry It All, The Decemberists

Most likely to be analyzed for Advent themes: Winter Song, The Head and the Heart

Most likely to bring back happiest memories of 2011 (and most beautiful song of all time?): East Harlem, Beirut


Looking forward to music of 2012, mostly because there will be a new Taylor Swift album involved!