Soundtrack/Battle of the Bands ~ I'm In

Today is the 15th and my Soundtrack post is once again aligning (quite nicely) with my Battle of the Bands post.

First, the story.

Still my sophomore year of college, for those of you only loosely keeping up with my Soundtrack feature. And this one features a boy. A different boy than the last Battle. I still have to tell you the story of how that one turned out (this year). Next post. I promise.

We're gonna call this boy J2. Yep, another "J" name. I told you they were prevalent. Not the same "J" name for the curious.

Anyway, it's spring semester and I can't remember exactly how I met J2, though I'm almost positive it was at a party at his house. Yep, he lived in a "party" house. Not an every weekend party house, but an occasional party house. Anyway, I really liked him and vice versa.

Our first date was something of a disaster, though. It was in the middle of pledging. I know I was very caught up in sorority stuff. And everyone in my pledge class and sorority were planning on going to this annual party the night of our date (it was a Saturday) called The Wild Irish Rose (maybe it was around St. Patrick's Day... that would make sense). Anyway, I really wanted to go to this party.

Even though our date was the same day as the party, I thought "no problem," because the date began early in the afternoon. We were meeting up with some friends of his. Turns out it was to play volleyball. I suck at all sports, including volleyball. I always stove my thumb. So, after I stove my thumb I opted out in favor of drinking. Yeah, it was drinking and volleyball. I thought I was a pro at drinking. Not so much. As you might imagine, I was wasted by five o'clock. Or somewhere around there. I'm pretty sure a dinner was involved, but it's all rather hazy on account of the "being wasted" I mentioned earlier.

As it approached eight o'clock and we were still nowhere near campus, I started to worry about The Wild Irish Rose. I'm sure I expressed this anxiety repeatedly. I was drunk, remember? However, that didn't hurry things along. We arrived at The Wild Irish Rose around 1:30 AM. I can't tell you what we were doing all that time. We were drinking. I remember that much. At least I was drinking. I think he was fairly sober, which makes me feel a bit sorry for the guy as I type this... he was really a decent fellow. And getting more decent by the moment.

The party was nearly empty and everyone still there was as drunk as I, if not more so. They served punch with Everclear in it. I'd been looking forward to this day for weeks, if not months, so you know I had some.... on top of everything else in my system. Frankly, I'm thankful at this moment that I didn't die that night. (an injection of humor, there)

Around 2:00 we venture back to his place. Not sure what he had in mind, but that wasn't what happened. He went inside while I stood out on the porch to "get some air." The next thing I know I'm throwing up from the porch into his bushes. Yep. Projectile vomiting. That's when he comes out to find me killing his bushes, (poor sucker) and then he holds my hair. Yeah, I know... so sweet. As I retched for the umpteenth time I was thinking, "Well, this is going to be one and done."

Turns out, he liked me enough to overlook that horrifying incident and we actually dated. So, J2 turned out to be my first boyfriend. In spite of vomit (which is a definitive buzzkill), he was still in... and so was I.

These are pictures of us at an annual dance called Fantasia. It was at this fancy hotel. I think you can tell I really, really liked him. I was so scared of the "L" word at this point that I think a person would've had to rip my fingernails off to get me to say it, but just because you don't say something doesn't mean you don't feel it. I was so in.

scanned photo

photos of a photo in my scrapbook

The song for today is I'm In. It was first written and recorded by Radney Foster. I've been a big fan of his for a long time. He's an excellent songwriter (and under-rated, I think). His singing career never really got off the ground. I think he was not country enough to get play on country radio, and not pop enough to get play on any other radio station. He gets an assist from Abra Moore. 





The second version is by The Kinleys. Radney Foster was a producer for the album this song appeared on, which is quite possibly why they chose it.





We've got so many new Battle of the Bands players that I'm having difficulty keeping up. (We post a new battle on the 1st and 15th of each month.) For those who've been following this feature/blog for a while now, can you believe that once upon a time -- for a long time-- there were only five of us??? Well, now the list grows each battle. So, if your name is not on here and you're participating, please leave me a message in the comments. Thanks for your patience!

 Also, please vote for the version of this song you prefer. If you want to get into the Ins and Outs of why you like one better than the other... I LOVE long comments!

For more Battle of the Bands fun, check out the other BOTB bloggers to vote on their battles:

• Far Away Series 
• Stephen T. McCarthy's Battle of the Bands Blog
• Tossing it Out
• DiscConnected (temporarily disconnected from BoTB)
• This Belle Rocks
• Mike's Ramblings
• Curious as a Cathy 
• Book Lover
• The Sound of One Hand Typing
• dcrelief ~ Battle of the Bands 
• Cherdo on the Flipside 
• Angels Bark 
• THE DOGLADY'S DEN 
• Jingle Jangle Jungle 
• WOMEN: We Shall Overcome 
• NovelBrews
• J.A. Scott

The Soundtrack of My Life, I Know You

In the last Soundtrack post, I told you about the best friend that wasn't. In this post, I'm going to tell you about the friends that were. (so much happier)

Do you remember way back at the beginning of this thing when I told you about meeting Jennifer the First in junior high school? She was the first person upon initial meeting that made me feel like I'd known her forever. I came to call this feeling The Connect. It's only happened a few times in my life, but it happened with three different people my sophomore year.

One was J1. I'll talk about that later because he has his own song.

Another was one of the girls across the hall: Jennifer the Second. The third was a girl I'd meet during this year's sorority rush: Sagittarius (not her name, but her birth sign). Jennifer the Second is/was a funny, funny person. In some ways (but definitely not all), I think of her as the female version of Stephen T. McCarthy. Why is that? Mostly because she was always fast on the draw with nicknames (I'm terrible at nicknames) and witty comebacks.

Jennifer on left, me in middle, roomie on right

Sagittarius was more serious, which sounds strange for those who know that Sags are the "Happy Go Lucky" sign of the zodiac. And she was that, too, but she was also someone you could have a really deep conversation with and then go out for beers. Or someone you had a really deep conversation with while drinking beers. Whatever.

Sag is second from left

Jennifer the Second belonged to a different sorority than Sagittarius, and I'm pretty sure she wanted me to join her sorority. But, I knew that Jennifer the Second and I would be friends no matter what. So, I joined Sag's sorority, which was a really good move for me. I didn't pick it because they were the most popular or the most cool. In fact, they were the smallest, most diverse bunch of people you'd meet on campus. Turns out that appealed to me enormously. Instead of trying to blend and fit in, I was embracing my individuality. And drinking too much. (Remember, I warned you that was a huge hole that I just kept falling into again and again.)

This was a big year for me. So much bad going on, but so much GOOD, too. It would be many years before I'd feel The Connect again. These people are special.





Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare

This is where the rubber meets the road
This is where the cream is gonna rise
This is what you really didn't know
This is where the truth don't lie

{Chorus}
You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

Everybody wants to slap your back
wants to shake your hand
when you're up on top of that mountain
But let one of those rocks give way then you slide back down look up
and see who's around then

This ain't where the road comes to an end
This ain't where the bandwagon stops
This is just one of those times when
A lot of folks jump off

{Chorus}

When the water's high
When the weather's not so fair
When the well runs dry
Who's gonna be there?

{Chorus}

You find out who your friends are
(yeah, yeah)
You find out who your friends are

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
(Well man, I've been there)
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare
(Man, I've been there)

Man, I've been there
Oooh yeah.


Have you experienced The Connect? Have you ever hit the skids and found out who your friends were?


If you're enjoying these posts, feel free to share your own Soundtrack. This isn't a hop. No requirements at all, but a suggestion to do it one song at a time. (If you participated in the hop several years ago, you can still do this. Just post them one song at a time, with the freedom to add more songs if you'd like.) I'll link to all participants at the bottom of each of these posts:

StMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Cherdo on the Flipside 

Holli's Hoots and Hollers

The Soundtrack of My Life, Up A Lazy River

On my Battle of the Bands post, I promised to do some 'splaining about what happened at the end of freshman year that impacted sophomore year. We are finally to that point.

I was good friends (I was sure "besties") with this girl we'll call Erika, since that's her name and the chances of her reading this blog are nil. Anyway, Erika and I hung out all the time end of freshman year. She was one of those people who was liked by everyone. A whole lot of fun to be around.

I mean check out this face. This looks like a super nice person, right?

At the end of the year, you decide on who you want to room with the following year. We decided to be roomies. In the meantime, I turned down a whole bunch of other opportunities for roommates. In fact, I hooked two of the people up who asked me to room with them. Thus, when Erika backed out on rooming together at the last minute, because it might strain our friendship, it could've put me in a real pickle. Turns out, one of my "party" friends still needed a roommate, and we decided to give it a go.

Moving back into sophomore year, things with the actual roommate were working out very well AND things with Erika were also going very well. She and I still were "besties." Check out this sweet card she made for me in September:

click to enlarge

I also became much closer with the girl with whom I actually roomed. Our party friendship turned into a real one.

This person is actually a nice person:

me on left, roomie on right

Erika and I decided to roadtrip to New York for the fall break in October (she lived there). And then I was going to visit a high school friend of mine who was going to school at Westminster Choir College (it's close to Princeton).

Anyway, during the course of this trip, I made the mistake of sharing with Erika all of the "crazy" I felt about my parents divorcing. That's what best friends are for, right? Turns out we weren't best friends. In fact, after that trip, and my over-sharing of my feelings about my parents' divorce, we weren't friends at all. She couldn't handle my brand of crazy as evidenced by this note she wrote me right after we returned:

click to enlarge

That hurt for a long time, and that little bit of distance turned into an ocean. But, never doubt that there is a Bigger Plan at work, and she wasn't in mine.  Besides, if you can't handle someone's fears about their parents' marriage going up in flames, you aren't going to handle the tougher stuff that comes later. She was a shallow pond instead of a pool. It's always best to find that out sooner than later. Can you imagine getting that letter and still having to room with that person for the rest of the year? I was so thankful that Erika pulled the plug on the roomies thing in the spring. Otherwise, sophomore year would have been an endless nightmare.

This song, though, sums up how I felt about that relationship tanking when I needed it most.





With a sampled heartbeat and a stolen soul
I sold my songs to have my fortune told
And it said
You should know that love will never die
But see how it kills you in the blink of an eye

I know love is a hot white light
It knocks you down and then leaves you dry
Oh how can it be sweet mama tell me why
Why all love's disciples have to wither and die

Please sister, help me come on do what you should
Please give me something I’m not doing so good
I’m gone, done wrong is there nothing you can say
Please sister help me I’m not feeling ok

Give me belief that my time will come
And a toll free helpline if I find someone
But she said
You gave away what you never really had
And now your purse is empty I can see why you’re sad

Please sister, help me come on do what you should
Please give me something I’m not doing so good
I’m gone, done wrong is there nothing you can say
Please sister help me
Can you make me feel ok

So if it’s true, that love will never die
Then why do the lovers work so hard
To stay alive

Please sister, help me
Please give me something oh
Please sister, you know I do what I can
Oh sweet mama, please descent me a man
Cause I’m gone, gone
Is there nothing you can get
Please sister help me I just need some love
To live
Just a little love to live 

Have you ever mistaken a shallow pond for a deep pool? Been disappointed when someone you thought was a friend walked away?


If you're enjoying these posts, feel free to share your own Soundtrack. This isn't a hop. No requirements at all, but a suggestion to do it one song at a time. (If you participated in the hop several years ago, you can still do this. Just post them one song at a time, with the freedom to add more songs if you'd like.) I'll link to all participants at the bottom of each of these posts:

StMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Cherdo on the Flipside 

Holli's Hoots and Hollers