Music is My Imaginary Friend

Day 433: Vancouver, Canada

Yay I am back at home in Canada! Well kind of, I am in Vancouver at a travel conference but I don’t want to bore you with the details.

Instead I wanted to share the music I have been listening to the last 14 months. I didn’t start using iTunes on my netbook until my first travel day so I could look back at the journey in music. Below are the ten most played songs from Latin America.

For the record, the title of this post is a reference to an iTunes ad. I don’t have any imaginary friends, although I do talk to myself all the time. Need to work on that….

Brandi Carlile – The Story

I saw Brandi live in Toronto before I left and I love the live version of this version. The first time I heard this song the opening lyrics drew me in: All of these lines across my face tell you the story of who I am. So many stories of where I’ve been and how I got to where I am.

Enrique Iglesias and Juan Luis Guerra – Cuendo Me Enamoro

Okay yes I know Enrique is really cheesy in English but his lyrics are so simple they are really good for learning Spanish and all excuses aside I really like this song.

Metric – Collect Call

I was surprised to see that although I consider Live it Out to be this journey’s theme song, I listen to Collect Call much more, but really I love everything they do. Emily Haines, the lead singer wrote the album in Buenos Aires, I guess Latin America is a source of inspiration for everyone.

Bob Marley – Three Little Birds

I haven’t listened to much Bob Marley in my 30s but this song always cheers me up when I am wondering what the hell I am doing with my life – which by the amount of times its been played seems often.

Jarabe de Palo – La Flaca

Flaca means skinny and the singer is talking about a girl. It’s from Spain but I have only heard this song in Cusco where every night there would be live bands and inevitably it would be played and everyone would scream the words.

Angus and Julia Stone – I’m not yours

No special significance to this song. An Aussie introduced me to this duo in Nicaragua and I listen to them a lot on buses.

Ricardo Arjona – Mojado

Although he is from Guatemala and very famous, I did not discover him until Nicaragua with the Balmacedas.

Mojado means wet and it’s about people leaving their country to survive as an illegal immigrant in the United States although it has been referenced with immigration and human rights in general.

The Black Keys – Everlasting Light

I discovered this on the road but from a friend at home and love the entire CD.

Ray LaMontagne – You are the best thing

If I were really into music I’d say LaMontagne felt like some kind of bluesy, Springsteen throwback but I don’t want to embarrass myself by trying to pretend I know about music all I know I like a lot of his music, especially Meg White.

Luis Enrique – Yo no se mañana

It seems that everyone in Latin America knows this song and it may be the only song that plays on the radio in every country. It literally means I don’t know tomorrow but is about being in the moment for that night and not thinking about what will happen the next day.

So there it is, I’ve flung my music choices out into the world for you to love, laugh, judge and make fun of. Have a look at your iTunes list and be brave enough to tell me what your Top 10 are.