Friday 3:05PM
"Dog Songs"
In case you are wondering, no I have not plummeted off the face of the earth. I have merely fumbled for a while, but back to that later. Important things have taken place in my month absence, it seems I am no longer seventeen. This is a dreadful thing. Being seventeen is wonderful and I do not regret to say so far in my young life it has been my favorite age (I am not too young but not too old, it's a perfect age if you battle being a mature and sporadically immature person, like I did). My birthday came and went and honestly, I got some books so, yes, it was a wonderful eighteenth birthday! But again, on to other things.
One of the books I was privileged enough to receive and also the very first I read as an eighteen-year-old is entitled, "Dog Songs" by: (the lovely) Mary Oliver. I confess I am quite in love with it as dogs, poetry and Mary Oliver just so happen to be some of my very most favorite things! I even wrote all about it:
"...it makes me laugh to remember the awkward turn of the lips and following question, 'Why would you want a book about dogs?' that seems to appear from everyone's lips when I mention the book ("Dog Songs"). But I don't care. I love that book with my whole life. I've never known such eclectic poetry about dogs to be so stirring and so thought-provoking. Oliver truly is the greatest contemporary poet and the fact that she can turn thoughts of her dogs into cavernous and ardent poetry only further denotes my point. She gets it. Very few people on this earth get it, but I'll tell you if anyone does, it's Mary Oliver."
But after I finished that lovely book with lovely illustrations, my thoughts began turning. I felt like Violet Baudelaire, in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" when the gears within her head begin to turn and the ribbon entangles itself inside her hair, giving away that she has an idea. My idea was simple: What if 'Dog Songs' weren't just poetry and gorgeous essays, but something of my own, a title I give all the songs that make me feel perpetually alive and ones I love dearly. I thought about this and then concluded I was in love with the simple idea. Thus, on Friday, March 6,2015 the compiled list of Kiersten Benson's "Dog Songs" was born! But before you read it, I think it would be beneficial to know my exact definition of a 'dog song'. "Dog Songs" are songs that are personal, typically causing an emotional 'stir'. Dog Songs are usually heavily, placidly familiar or nostalgic to the listener. They are, in a way, you calling (at least in the form of music)."
And now without further ado:
Dog Songs
(in progress)
- "Over the Rainbow" by: Harry Nilsson
- "Clair de Lune" by: Claude Debussy
- "That's All" by: Michael Bublé
- "Unchained Melody" by: The Righteous Brothers (2:56)
- "Can't Help Falling in Love" by: Elvis Presley
- "La vie en Rose" by: Edith Piaf
- "Creature Fear" by: Bon Iver
- "Ribs" by: Lorde (Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor)
- "Hoppípolla" by: Sigur Rós
- "Into the West" by: various artists (pref. The Warsaw Symphony Orchestra "Die Warschauer Sinfonlker")
- "The Grey Havens" by: Howard Shore
- "Dancing in the Moonlight" by: King Harvest
- "May it Be" by: Enya
- "A Mother's Prayer" by: Susan Boyle & Jackie Evancho
- "Marianelli: Dawn" by: Marianelli, Jean Yves Thibaudet
- "Courage and Wisdom" by: Howard Shore
- "Farewell and Goodnight" by: Birdy
- "Weep You No More, Sad Fountains of Youth" by: various artists (pref. Patrick Doyle, Jane Eaglen)
- "Family Theme Waltz" by: Sondre Lerche
- "Atlas Hands" by: Benjamin Francis Leftwich
- "Bird's Eye" by: The National Parks
There you have it folks! My Dog Songs are still in progress, meaning there are most definitely more to come. If you are interested in Mary Oliver's brilliant book, see below!
