Back in December of 2011, I discovered iTunes on my Mac. This service has really helped me to reconnect with my love of music. One of the things that I really like about music is that so often a given song has a strong association with a time or with a moment in my life. So, I thought that I would share my latest five downloads and a bit about my thoughts on each song.
- Stranger in Moscow - Michael Jackson (1996) - The gloved one ceased to be relevant musically for me after his album Dangerous in 1991. However, this song from his History album overflows with his pain and hopelessness, written in the aftermath of his legal troubles in the early 1990s.
- Ghost - Michael Jackson (1997) - Perhaps the last MJ song that I liked. Snappy, irreverant, charging, and fully energetic. The video is a carbon copy of several others that he put out in the 1990s.
- Clear Blue Skies - Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (1988) - From the wonderful album American Dream, which is consistently strong from top to bottom. This one will set all the tree huggers a-noddin'. This album came out just as I entered graduate school and has a strong association with that period.
- Hand on Heart - Queensrÿche (1990) - A hard-charging number about the length, width, and breadth of a promise. From the very strong album Empire.
- Whatever We Started - Richard Marx (2014) - Marx won my heart with his songs Endless Summer Nights and Keep Coming Back, which I consider nearly perfect soulful pop tunes. This song from his most recent album is in that same vein, but touches more deeply when you understand it holds his reminiscences about his recent divorce.
