handle with care.

day 32. handle with care. by traveling wilburys / jenny lewis & friends.

so i don't even know how i can deal with either of these renditions.

GEORGE HARRISON, bob dylan, roy orbison, and tom petty together.

JENNY LEWIS, m.ward, ben gibbard, and conor oberst together.

if i could choose an emoticon to show how i feel about either of these things it would be the one with hearts for eyes. i'm picky about covers, but jenny lewis is an angel and i have no issue with her covering my favorite Beatle. TROOP BEVERLY HILLS WHAT.

The song is definitely in my Top 10 songs EVER, and I can't even write anymore because I want to lay in bed, close my eyes and listen to them both on repeat for hours. swoon.

get busy.

day 31. get busy. sean paul.

i'm not even going to pretend like this is a good song, okay? it's just that i'm in new jersey. i'm thinking about my glory days, and i'm reflecting on people and times that were important then, but so so far out of my life now. so my mind of course goes to Sean Paul. what. why.

i'm not going to try to explain it. i feel like i'm really putting myself out there, by even admitting this to the general public of the world. i'm sure that this will someday come back to haunt me. writing about a new song every day has me being extremely self-conscious that I have more guilty pleasures than most normal people.

die young.

day 30. die young. by ke$ha.

i just want to be perfectly clear about something. i am not into ke$ha. I am just really into this song. it just makes me want to dance. in fact, after listening to this song about 20 times in a row, i tried to learn all the steps to the Charleston, which is way more intense then I could have ever imagined. and I have to be honest - i gave up after about 10 minutes. okay 2 minutes.

i like to put this song on at work and encourage everyone to stop what they are doing and dance. i like to run to this song. i like to listen to it when i am having a bad day. i like to listen to it when i am having a great day. it's just a great reminder that sometimes you just. have. to. let. loose.

for me, it took a lot to admit that I was into a song by ke$ha. that in itself was letting loose. so it's a reminder to have fun and surprise yourself every once in awhile.

side note, i recently discovered that nate ruess wrote this song, and I suddenly went from 99% to 100% okay with being into it.

late night drama queen.

day 29. late night drama queen. by drew holcomb & the neighbors.

drew holcomb & the neighbors is a band that i discovered by accident a few years ago when they were opening up for another band. and yes, it was love at first listen. i don't know if it is because they were just that amazing live or if i had the biggest girl crush on ellie. whatever the reason, they had me mesmerized after the first song.

so i'm at the concert with my friends and drew & ellie play "late night drama queen." my friend mark taps me on the arm and says "umm, that sounds just like you." and I would have been offended except I was thinking the exact same thing. but also in my head i was thinking do I really want to be known to my male friends as a drama queen? and is this what my mom meant when she said that I need to tone it down sometimes? and is this why my other friend told me he thought i should present myself at "10% ashley" if i ever wanted to find a boyfriend?

and then i thought whatever, because it's all or none. or as i like to say "you either love me or you hate me, there's no in between with me."

actually I don't say that. ever. but it was on an episode of Real Housewives once when my roommate was watching, and for a few days I thought about making it my motto.

okay i believe you, but my tommy gun don't.

day 28. okay, i believe you, but my tommy gun don't. by brand new.

i think for my entire life this will always be in my top 10 songs. i have no story to accompany it, and no great life moment that it makes me think of - other than the fact that it has carried me through 10 years of my life and has never once gotten old.

i listened to this song on repeat the entire way to new jersey for my senior trip, and since I am heading to the exact same location 10 years later with the same people, but this time for a bachelorette party, I thought it was fitting. it takes me back to the days long before jesse lacey broke my heart by using his angelic voice to scream rather than sing. also back to the days when i had enough money to buy myself two Burberry bathing suits to strut down the beach in. what... where did I get all that dough back then? so a lot has changed over 10 years, but I still adore this song, and I'm still gaga over all things plaid.

something i've realized through my life is that I tend to like people who know about Brand New just a tad more than people who don't. and then even more if they are also into plaid.

o children.

day 27. o children. by nick cave and the bad seeds.

if you know me well enough to be reading this, then you have to know about me being really into Harry Potter. I reread and reread each book, and despite the fact that I know exactly what is going to happen, I always lose my mind each new time I read. when reading intense scenes my heart beat goes crazy, I start to sweat, I cry, and generally just end up being emotionally drained. and typically when I read “The Battle of Hogwarts” chapter, I have to take a two hour nap afterwards because I’m just exhausted. and I wish I was kidding.

etc etc etc.. I could keep talking about it, but I’d rather not showcase myself as an insane person.

anytime I hear this song, played during Deathly Hallows Part 1, I automatically feel transported to a tent in an English forest, with a horcrux around my neck. actually anytime I feel down, I’m prone to say “I feel like I have a horcrux around my neck.” to which I get one of 3 responses:

1) Most Likely – “what the hell are you talking about? Is this some sort of wizard thing again?”

2) 2^nd Most Likely – eye roll and polite smile

3) Least Likely – “aghhh, I know just what you mean”

skinny love.

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day 26. skinny love. by bon iver.

 

something I don’t understand is why people get so broken up over the way “bon iver” is pronounced. I mean, I consider myself to be pretty on the up when it comes to music, I enjoy some bon iver when the mood strikes, and I essentially have a Master’s degree in knowing how to read – but I’m still pretty sure I pronounce it a new way of wrong each time I try.

and really what’s the big deal? if I’ve never seen a live performance, then it’s like, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW IT IS PRONOUNCED? I’m not fluent in French. I’m trained to break down every single word I read by it’s syllables & vowel sounds, digraphs & phonemes, and bon iver just does not fit any of the word patterns that I’m aware of. again, probably because I don’t even have as much as a pinky finger’s grasp on the French language. but yet people keep on making me feel incompetent each time I try unsuccessfully to pronounce those two little words. you win, Justin Vernon, you win.

I adore this song anyway.