nuzzaci - an online journal

About 14 years ago I got a stereo from my uncle in Italy. It was a top-of-the-line stereo, and one, at the time, quite unusual feature it had was a wake up function.

So from then on (for a few years) I always woke up to the the Forrest Gump Suite by Alan Silvestri from the Forrest Gump soundtrack. It’s a very soft and pleasant wake up. Then when I did my military service the song changed, and for an unknown reason, it ended up being Rattlesnake by Live from Secret Samadhi. Rattlesnake is a very bad song to wake up to. So not by any means a recommendation. Just a fact.

After my military service ended, the habit of waking up to music ceased and got replaced by the mobile-phone alarm clock. Very romantic.

It isn’t until earlier this year, when Willow and I bought an alarm clock with an iPod dock, that I again began each day to the sound of music.

Unlike before, this time I have a playlist and not just one song to wake up to. Every morning that “alarm” picks up where the previous morning ended. We didn’t strategically choose what songs to go in the playlist. We just quickly browsed through our iTunes and picked a few that passed our mouse pointer.

So that’s why I’m writing this post, really. I’m so surprised that the playlist we literally just threw together is an extremely good wake up playlist. So good that I like to share it with you.

In alphabetic order (by track name), Volume 1 of the 2007 wake up playlist:

1. Be Good or Be Gone by Fionn Regan, from The End of History
2. Carolina by Ben Gibbard, from Home: Volume V
3. Comfort of Strangers by Beth Orton, from Comfort of Strangers
4. Fly by Nick Drake, from Bryter Layter
5. Half Acre by Hem, from Rabbit Songs
6. Hand in My Pocket by Alanis Morissette, from Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
7. I Was Just Thinking by Teitur, from Poetry & Aeroplanes
8. My Tiger My Heart by The Boy Least Likely To, from The Best Party Ever
9. Naked As We Came by Iron and Wine, from Our Endless Numbered Days
10. Twilight by Elliott Smith, from From A Basement On The Hill
11. You and I Both by Jason Mraz, from an unknown live album

Since the beginning of last week I have been in heavy tooth pain, which has resulted in low enthusiasm about most events and an inability to sleep well.

So even before Fionn got on stage, I wanted to go home. The warm up acts had killed the small amount of joy I had left in my body for the day.

You could say that everything about the evening worked against the odds of me appreciating Fionn Regan’s performance.
If I had left the venue last Tuesday being very disappointed, I wouldn’t have written this post. It would have been unfair against Fionn: he was swimming upstream against my toothache.

So the only reason I am writing this is because Fionn pulled it off. He was amazing. He has the special thing a singer/songwriter needs that most singer/songwriters lack. I don’t know what The Thing is, but he has it. The songs also grew when they were preformed live. The meaning behind the lyrics came through in a way they don’t on his album.

So, if you’re anything like me, view the amazing video Be Good or Be Gone on YouTube, buy the album The End of History on iTunes Music Store or order it from Amazon and stay tuned on Official website for Fionn Regan for upcomming gigs.