Also known as: The requisite 12-12-12 post
Can also be called: My 2012 soundtrack
I am a sucker for dates like this, so I cannot let 12-12-12 pass by without posting something at exactly 12:12. ((if it’s exact by the second, I do not know, because WordPress doesn’t have that by the second setting. So let’s just assume that it was posted at exactly 12:12:12)) I was thinking of something inane to post, something random like my Leap Day post, and then I realized that I should probably start my 2012 recaps early because who knows how busy I will be by year-end?
I’m gonna go all hipster and make my 12-12-12 post a mixed-tape / my 2012 soundtrack post. But a side note first: You know I never really made mixed-tapes when I was younger? :D I made mixed CDs, yes, but I never made mixed-tapes. I did, however, record shows and songs from the radio especially when I liked the songs — I remember this time when I recorded Backstreet Boys’ version of I’ll Never Find Someone Like You and listened to it over and over and over and over again.
But I digress. I’m far from a musical person, really, and I only sing when I am forced to/bored/really feeling the song. However, I am almost, always listening to something when I am free. It may be a defense mechanism so I won’t have to talk to anyone when I’m outside, but more often than not, I listen to songs so keep my mind from wandering everywhere. I have yet to learn keeping my mind still in the silence, but for now, let me have my music.
Also, warning: lots of ~feelings~ in these songs. Haha. :P You were warned!
1. There is a Reason by Caedmon’s Call (Overdressed)
[youtube uK8VyNB3_mg]
For the lonely nights and broken hearts
The widow’s mite in the rich man’s hand
And the continent whose blood becomes a traitor
For the child afraid to close their eyes
The prayers that seem unanswered
There is a reason, there is a reason
If I made a similar post last year, this song would be on that list, too. This song reminds me that…well, there is a reason for everything, and God makes all things good.
2. Stories to Tell by Dave Barnes (Stories to Tell)
[youtube 713BP6kEmD4]
There’s life to be lived and stories to tell
Lessons to learn, we don’t know yet
Nothing to lack looking back
Knowing that we have lived it well
With stories to tell
I cannot not have a Dave Barnes song knowing how much I love him. <3 This is my favorite from his latest album, and it just reminds me of how everyone of us has stories, and all these stories matter. :)
3. Overboard by Ingrid Michaelson (Girls and Boys)
[youtube udo0nzhw9mU]
I watch the ships go sailing by
I play the girl will you play the guy.
And I never thought I’d be the type
to fall, to fall, to fall, to fall to fall.
To fall over, fall over, fall overboard, overboard.
Fall overboard just so you can catch me.
I discovered Ingrid Michaelson this year when I was looking for songs to give for one of our book discussion activities. I realized that I have never heard any of her songs before even if my friends seem to love her, so I listened to some samples and eventually got her entire discography. This song is just…sweet. And hopeful. And just really lovely. :)
4. Even the Winter by Audrey Assad (Heart)
[youtube 4VHHDWc-SzE]
What if the spring comes soon
and we’re surprised?
What if the seasons help us realize,
some things are only proven over time?
You know
I wrote an entire post about this song because it really just struck me when I finally discerned what the song meant. This song got me through several interesting phases in my life this year, and it continues to give me hope for those “winter” moments. This is also one of the songs that made me want to listen to everything that Audrey Assad ever sang.
5. Maybe It’s Over by Jon McLaughlin feat. Xenia (Forever If Ever)
[youtube wNVqA24ZaAU]
Maybe it’s over
But I don’t feel it
If we wanted forever
Baby, we gotta steal it
I’ll hold the last straw with my back against the wall
Singing maybe it’s over but I don’t feel it at all
Oh, all the feels. You know those moments when your player is on shuffle, and then the songs that play one after the other seem to fit exactly what you are going through? This was one of the songs I discovered one afternoon. I listened to this song on repeat for several weeks, all melancholic and stuff, and I loved the version where Jon sings with Xenia because the female parts of the song just kill me.
6. Run Forward by Audrey Assad (The House You’re Building)
[youtube DY1yL9C94Mc]
You made me afraid
Thank you I’ve gotta thank you
Cause now I know His strength
Thank you, Oh God I thank You
So please don’t run away, no, don’t go
And even more ~feels~. This song came up randomly when I was listening to Audrey’s first album on repeat. It was one of those unknown songs in the album, until one afternoon in September and the song’s lyrics just slammed into me and made its way into my heart. Oh my heart. While the impact has sort of lessened, this song still tugs at the heart. Just a little bit, oh just a little bit, just a little. :)
7. Suspension by Mae (The Everglow)
[youtube HDYGj5CWdXQ]
I don’t need to know right now
all I know is I believe
in the very thing that got us here
and now I can’t leave.
Say anything, but say what you mean,
Cause I’m caught in suspension.
I’ve been listening to Mae for years now and I love Suspension, but I never really took the time to really listen to it. Listen, listen. I guess sometimes I think Mae’s lyrics are just really too deep. Or maybe it just comes to me at a certain point in my life and then I go, “Oh, so that’s what it means!” Or at least, what it means to me. I have this entry draft here about suspension, and it was kind of a sad entry, and but it’s a good thing I never posted it because I realized that the song I based it on wasn’t really a sad song. Rather, it’s a song to describe a specific stage in my life — an exciting (and sometimes scary stage) that has caught me in suspension. No idea what happens when it’s done, but I don’t mind. :)
8. Ligaw by Moonstar88 (This Year)
[youtube Z0-mnlvaiUc]
Hindi makapaniwala, kasama kita ngayon at walang hadlang.
Hindi makapaniwala, ang sarap maligaw sa ating kwentuhan.
I rediscovered my fondness for Moonstar88 after I heard them open for James Morrison’s concert last October. They sang this song from their latest album, and I couldn’t get the lyrics off my mind after that. I actually really like everything in their newest album, but this is a favorite. :) The video above doesn’t have Chito Miranda on it, and I’m really more partial to the one with him. :D But the video is too cute not to post. :”>
9. Jet Lag by Simple Plan feat. Natasha Bedingfield (Get Your Heart On!)
[youtube ntSBKPkk4m4]
And my heart, heart, heart is so jetlagged…
I never thought I’d listen to Simple Plan because they are not my type of music. At all. But this song is just so catchy that I catch myself randomly singing it every now and then after hearing it from a restaurant’s playlist one day. Come on, listen to it and tell me if it doesn’t leave you with a case of the last song syndrome. :P
10. Looks Like Love by NEEDTOBREATHE (The Heat)
[youtube ta5MB13-ZlQ]
The breeze can only be
When she overcomes the heat
Our hearts can only shake
When there’s risk that they could break
I discovered NEEDTOBREATHE from the artists I follow on Twitter, so I asked around for recommendations from friends and they told me to get their The Heat album. My first favorite song from them is Again, with all its angst and broken-hearted woes, but this song jumped at me one day just recently and I realized how this basically stood for what I am learning about love and my heart.
11. Steady My Heart by Kari Jobe (Where I Find You)
[youtube T0ip40j82ws]
But You’re here
You’re real
I know I can trust You
One of the things I prayed for a lot the past year is to have a still heart. I kept on praying for it, because my heart just seemed to like running around everywhere and making a mess out of everything. I discovered Kari Jobe while I was looking for more Audrey Assad songs in iTunes, and then I listened to this song based on the title. Now this has become one of my prayers — steady my heart, Lord.
12. All Those Pretty Lights by Andrew Belle (All Those Pretty Lights EP)
[youtube qtaviTwKIdY]
And I wanna remember this night
And how my words never came out right
It’s just my patience that keeps me alive
Just like all those pretty lights
Just like all the pretty lights in the sky
Andrew Belle is my latest discovery, after watching October Baby movie and getting its soundtrack. I heard several songs from Andrew, and he sounded a lot like Ben Rector (who I also love), so I set out to look for his other songs. I fell in love with All Those Pretty Lights right from the start. This is one of those songs that I cannot stop listening to from his EPs. It’s the kind of song that you’d want to be playing during your favorite scene if your life was made into a movie. :)
* * *
I thought of putting “bonus tracks”, but that would be cheating, so let’s stick to 12. :D If you know me in real life, feel free to laugh at some of my song choices because…well, if you know me in real life, then you just know. Haha. More songs I listen to in the past year (or half a year, anyway) can be found by stalking checking my last.fm profile! ((If you have an account there, let’s be friends! I promise to not to judge whatever you listen to if you promise to do the same. :D))
So, what are some songs you would use to describe your 2012? Share them with me in the comments section? :) Happy 12-12-12 12:12 everyone! :)
2 thoughts to “2012 Mixtape”