Monday Meme

I'm stuck upstairs finishing the financial catch-up from last week's computer meltdown and finalizing our tax paperwork (may the IRS catch a really itchy virus, and a pox on its house). And OF COURSE my money program is working as fast as an 85 year-old church organist; thus, I'm doing the Monday Meme while the computer wheezes its way closer to oblivion.

Make a mini-playlist for Spring. Five songs about Spring, that sound like Spring to you, make you think of Spring, or are good to listen to in Spring.

1. "The Color Green" by Rich Mullins. "Look down upon this winter wheat / and be glad that You have made / Blue for the sky, and the color green / that fills these fields with praise." The song that first made me love Rich's music.

2. "The Parting Glass" - various artists have recorded this over the years. Possibly the quintessential Irish drinking song; it was the tune playing behind the final scene of the movie Waking Ned Devine. "But since it falls unto my lot / that I should rise and you should not / I'll softly rise and gently call, / 'Good night, and joy be with you all.'"

3. "The Hills of Connemara" by the Wild Clover Band. Just a fun little ditty that my friend Aaron & his mates recorded on their last album. The hills of Connemara are famous for hiding the stills of "mountain dew" from the English.

4. "Weave the Yarn" by Mary Knickle. A fun, hard-driving tune about a lass who is to be married and how she got that way. I suppose it's traditionally more of a summer song, but I've listened to it often this spring.

5. "Captain Kidd" by Great Big Sea. Heard this one months ago on Marc's Irish podcast and loved it from the start. Accoustic maritime rock, with a marching snare lick thrown in over the top - what's not to like?

Now I know this is mostly Irish music - even Rich's song is heavily Irish-influenced. Well, spring makes me think of Ireland, I guess, especially since I had the opportunity to spend a week there in March 1996. Can it really be ten years already? Anyway, spring and Ireland go hand in hand in my mind - thus the music does as well.

Consider yourself tagged if you're reading. Happy Monday!