Melissa invaded my dms and said do this so I'm doing it. The more things change, the more things stay the same :))

I've been wanting to make a fresh start with a fresh random book and so maybe this will be my last post in here, after allllllllllll... I started off this random book with the 20 songs tag.

Poetical parallels and tying up the old archives with a bow and all that.

*flourishes* Welp, I love my music so let's get going.

1. The Assassin in White | The Black Piper, "Kaladin"

https://youtu.be/odziDYUwdp4

Assassin in White, lovely title, has a knack for getting me in a writing headspace. The subtle orchestral harmonies are good for focus, the aura of mystery and pervasive tension makes me want to create stories. The entire Kaladin soundtrack is also a piece of compositional genius that reflects the book it's based off with thrilling accuracy, so if you've read the Stormlight Archive series, this is your cue to go listen. (Except you probably found it two years ago and I am old news.)

2. Canaan Bound | Andrew Peterson, "Love and Thunder"

https://youtu.be/tX7IWizTiQM

For a song that's mostly about Abraham and Sarah and the physical Canaan, this one did a lot to nurture in me a longing for heaven that I'd not owned in as personal a way before last winter.

Where westward sails the golden sun
And Hebron's hills are amber crowned

...

So come to Canaan, come.

3. Return, O Lord | Simon Khorolskiy

https://youtu.be/46josiZ0onI

The instrumentals make me feel calm and happy and the soloist who sings the refrain sounds exactly like Laufeia Kenhelm. Not to quote my ten-year-old self's default marketing appeal, but, "What more could you ask for?"

(Ten-year-old me wrote a catalog for my store called Cool Crafts. It had paper dolls, paper toothbrushes, paper educational materials, and paper dental floss. What more could you ask for?)

4. Photograph | Cody Fry

https://youtu.be/KoG7O1fwoAc

This song is on my Morthira (Mordred and Lethira) playlist. It breaks my heart. It expresses the heart of a young, just-married Mordred, the intensity with which he feels the small, precious moments that pass so quickly, his eagerness for kids and the simultaneous wonder-panic that comes from realizing "we're no longer two/when us means more than me and you".

5. The Magic Hour | Andrew Peterson, "Counting Stars"

https://youtu.be/fWB8eRg2wSY

I'm not sorry about my Andrew Peterson dump. This is my song for mature Morthira. Mordred wants to sit with his wifey and soak in all the sunshiny evenings and all the kids running around and just marvel in philosophical ecstasy that so much beauty exists and he actually gets to experience it.

It also breaks my heart, but like, in a more mature way.

6. Medieval bardcore cover of Surface Pressure from "Encanto" | Jessica Darrow

https://youtu.be/d5fF6L29W_M

*Jedi mind trick* You will listen to this medieval-instrument cover of Surface Pressure.

I played this about fifty times straight around the time I moved back out of my rental to my parents house. So I was really into Encanto, so sue me. I still love Encanto and this cover.

7. All of Our Tomorrows | Sovereign Grace Music

https://youtu.be/isxS9Oxhx_I

I listened to this a few months ago while visiting one of my best friends I haven't been able to see much in years. It holds the tenderness of that shared moment, of being a song she chose to share with me, and of a shared passion for good music and good poetry. In their own right, the lyrics are beautiful, and the soloist is talented; and the truth it declares enhances all those qualities to something even purer.

8. Waiting on a Miracle | Lin-Manuel Miranda, Stephanie Beatriz, "Encanto"

https://youtu.be/kFnJV62_u8Y

This is my favorite song from Encanto. Sure, I bond with Luisa's "carry it all" stress, but this right here, this is the heart of the movie. It reveals Mirabel's longing and her zealous, compassionate personality in an aching admission and appeal that the audience has been cued to anticipate for the first quarter of the movie, and it works so well. Luisa and Isabel are also trapped in their own ways, but Mirabel is the protagonist of Encanto because unlike Luisa, she does not simply acknowledge her trapped state and move on, and unlike Isabel, her pain cannot be assuaged by voicing her true feelings. She gives a voice to the pain because it has become too much, and she demands an end to it. Her song is the impetus, the tingling tension of a loaded gun. When it ends, we know exactly what the movie is about, and why we need to care.

9. When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder | arrangement by Simon Khorolskiy

https://youtu.be/DhXpK1d8Usg

Listen, if you haven't watched five girls and a guy belting out an old gospel tune in flawlessly harmonized Russian, and specifically watched Simon Khorolskiy skipping down a country road from 0:53 to 1:31 in full-blown Cowboy Look, what are you actually doing with your life?

10. Psalm 46 | arrangement by NKJVScriptureSongs, sung by sister of the same

https://youtu.be/ugqgtGi70iw

It's hard to find words for a song you lived your childhood in. The pride of hearing your teenage friend's voice gliding out over the CD speakers, of your adored piano teacher's musical talent beaming out in both the instrumental accompaniment and the composition she'd written. The urge to skip to this song, fourth track out of ten, because something about it was more beautiful, made you shiver inside with the beauty. The way the music served the words, translating into a powerful, even overwhelming sense of security: of being gently, unassailably sheltered.

My former piano teacher is actually extremely talented, and I'm so pleased that she finally uploaded some of her Psalm musical arrangements to YouTube, because now I can inflict their sub-professional recording quality and stunning melodies on WHOMSOEVER I CHOOSE.

11. Hobbit Drinking Medley | Peter Hollens/Hank Green

https://youtu.be/iUKjJn0rOec

The bass in this medley is everything. Also I love songs where clearly the creators are just enthusiastic about the entire project and having a blast with it, which this video is a prime example of.

12. Walk On | Seth Jernigan

https://youtu.be/0upWaBLYwSE

It took me a while to warm up to this guy's voice but I fell in love with the song itself INSTANTLY.

For I, your God, am before you
And I will give you strength

...

O trust him
Even in your darkest season
And know that he is Lord

13. Audition (The Fools Who Dream) | Justin Hurwitz, Emma Stone, "La La Land"

https://youtu.be/XCf_kdmmVNE

This song is a poignant tribute to the calling of an artist, and its place in the movie is so emotionally rewarding.

14. Speechless | Naomi Scott, "Aladdin" (2019)

https://youtu.be/BaSf-ddZxB8

I love her voice. The lyric video version is my favorite because of the way it represents the words with visuals from the movie, even when they're not thematically related to the song itself. It makes my brain happy.

I try to sing this song periodically and lament my rusty vocal range every time. Alas for the days when I was in a singing ensemble.

15. Willow's Song | Emily Hayse, Cheyenne van Langevelde, "Seventh City"

https://youtu.be/LGBUg6Ew90Y

CelticWarriorQueen17 makes beautiful songs from my favorite books. Listen to this and realize how much you want to read a story about a determined thirteen-year-old out to save her brother, and slow nights on the trail under starlit skies, and the tentative warmth between humans who love each other but don't know it yet.

16. Guardian | Lindsey Stirling

https://youtu.be/VgzTfdzj_Ho

This song also sparks writing vibes on occasion.

17. Come, Lord Jesus | Andrew Peterson, "Carried Along"

https://youtu.be/cQ1iWdEHvsw

This is my "I have a calling and I want to make a difference and I want God to sanctify me right now so I can fulfill my calling even better" song.

18. My Land | Celtic Thunder, Brendan Graham, "Mythology"

https://youtu.be/VBW4bZTRE4M

Soothing tune, lovely harmonies, impeccably trained singers, and from certain angles Emmet Cahill looks like Derek Kenhelm so that's fun

19. Into the Open Air | Julie Fowlis, "Brave"

https://youtu.be/KxdbiKxsprI

I almost shared a more instrumental track from the movie, but then my glance fell fortuitously on Into the Open Air and my decision was made for me. This song is so gentle and appealing.

20. Countryside Rigadoon (String Orchestra Version) | Alex LaMotte

https://youtu.be/8Rmj8y7j_t4

To start with, I automatically adore upbeat classical string orchestra music. Haydn is one of my favorite composers for the joy that bursts out of his music, and this piece by Alex LaMotte evokes similar urges to break out into smiles.

Throw in the fact that it was introduced to me by a friend who associated it with the wedding at the end of the Ceristen Series, and suddenly there are no words to encompass how much I love Countryside Rigadoon. It is perfection.

Bonus: the instrumental climax piece from Brave I said I wasn't going to share.

https://youtu.be/Eq7_3pddtZ8

Bonus 2: A soloist whose eyebrows make me think of Captain Finley Rhodes singing in Gaelic about seaweed.

https://youtu.be/3iRfI1ezYjA

In terms of comparison:

- My February 2020 collection was very carefully curated for variety's sake (though still focused on my recent highlights/preferences), August 2022's more directly centered on what songs I've been defaulting to/what's uppermost in my mind (though still somewhat curated).

- I have expanded my repertoire gradually but I still listen to the same types of stuff.

- I like to think my tastes are somewhat eclectic but I have an undeniable preference for choral/a capella harmony and string orchestra.

Thanks for stopping for a little glimpse of my brain. It do be an up-and-down place these days, but the music is pretty *tips hat*

Aggressively tagging some people because I want to hear from y'all AHHHH I MISS YOU

GadSul

Illeandir

GerithorDunedain

NamingSystemIsStupid

KatJEnersen95

wonderfilledeyes

Stars_Alight