Your love is a song...

After about 2 weeks of shameless flirting, my now fiance and I had our first date at the Florida State Fair. Neither of us had been before, but it turned out that we were both suckers for greasy food, people watching and making sarcastic observations (I knew it was something great when he shared my excitement at the Elvis impersonator world championship). Some of the first conversations we had were about music, bands we had seen, wanted to see, or simply couldn't stand. Asked early on by a mutual friend what our deal breakers were, I am pretty sure we both responded simultaneously with "listens to Nickleback".
Prior to dating James, I was going through a pretty awful music phase. Let's just say there was plenty of angry girl music involved. But seeing as he shared my love for Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, had also seen Travis in concert, and shared my belief that Pet Sounds is the best Beach Boys album (who would disagree?!?) I was willing to ignore him turning his nose up at my owning a Lady Gaga album (I bought it before she was as famous in my defense).
There are so many awesome memories I have in regards to music and "us". He still teases me because when he picked me up for our first date (the same date that my parents dog jumped out the door and attacked him but that's another story!) he was listening to Ray LaMontagne.
Well, his car stereo was scrolling "Ray LaMo" in my defense...So I ask "Oh, Is this Ray LaMo you are listening to?"

I am shocked I made it to a second date I was so embarrassed! (Although part of that was due to the fact that an English bulldog chomped on his hand and drew blood at my house)

Ray "LaMo" is now one of my favorite artists, and as I go through iTunes to help work on our wedding playlist, I look forward to hearing "You are the best thing" that evening, as it has made it's way on to a few mix tapes of ours.

We decided against a DJ for the wedding not just because it is going to be a rather small intimate event on the beach, or because I am a control freak (maybe a little?), but because there are so many songs that have meaning to us that making our own playlist just makes sense.

There is the song on the mixtape he gave me before we started dating and I had the biggest schoolgirl crush on him (obvious to EVERYONE in our church group I think) - Kyle Andrews, Sushi

The songs from the movie we watched that kind of made us think "This is it!". We went to see The Swell Season as our first concert together. - Swell Season, Falling Slowly

Then there are the songs that I can't even begin to explain...

The album Our Endless Numbered Days, Iron & Wine
Air, Venus
Travis, Flowers in the Window
Peter Bjorn and John, Paris 2004

After we had been dating for about a month we had an "iParty" and swapped mp3s on our computers.
About 45 gigs of music was exchanged between the two of us. For a month or so we were doing an "album of the day". James would pick an album he gave me and we would both listen to it on the way to work and discuss it. There are the bands we have seen in concert, do we include them? (Swell Season, Crowded House, The National, Sufjan Stevens)

I have "my songs" too. The ones that make me go "Awwww". Do I include those?
Josh Ritter, Change of Time
Damien Rice, Blower's Daughter
She & Him, I'm gonna make it better (Yes, I can be a bit eager to please)

Music has had such an important role in our relationship. From the fake "all-star group" we created when stuck in traffic to the songs that define our relationship and who we are as a couple, there is no way to break that down into a 3 hour playlist.

There is no doubt that I am an emotional person. I listen to music 90% of my waking hours and keep a pair of spare headphones in my desk at work. I heard the old hymn "Come Thou Fount" twice in two different settings over the past 2 days and at church this morning I almost started crying.
This Spring when I gave my testimony at church and spoke at 3 services, it was the song that was played as I left the "stage".
Music ties us to our emotions and can be amazingly powerful at times. I think of the impact that these 45 gigs have had over the past 10 months since I met James and I just don't think the chicken dance would be able to explain what an amazing adventure this has been.


<3
Emi