2/17/2011 - five free songs on iTunes. . .

In junior high, I had a best gal pal named Parker.  She was the first friend I had who I later would come to understand as my fag hag, though I was not an active fag at the time, and she was no hag.  Among all the other things we did, we would listen to a radio station's countdown of the top 10 most requested songs of the day every evening together on the phone.  For weeks on end, Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" would be at the top.  We would talk and wait patiently until 7:55 PM, when the DJ would get to the number one song, and once it started, we would interject with an 'I love this song!' before listening in silence, sometimes singing along if the mood hit us.  After it was over and we got our shmaltzy ya-yas out, we'd hang up.

Every weeknight, this happened.  For months.  After Boyz II Men, it was Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."  It didn't matter that we both had the tapes and could listen to them whenever we wanted.  There was something about the experience of waiting for it on the radio.

Later, I had the brilliant idea to listen with a blank cassette in the tray, waiting for whatever song I was obsessed about at the moment to come on.  As soon as it did, I would press [REC] and essentially create my own mix tape.  This was obviously before iTunes and having my own money to spend on tapes and CDs.

Cut to today, where practically any song imaginable can be had for 99 cents and in a 20-second download time.  In a way, the serendipity is gone, the "Oh my God, I love this song!" moment when it finally comes on the radio after waiting all afternoon to hear it.  The other day, I downloaded Johnny Rivers' "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancing)" and remembered back when I first heard and loved the song in eighth grade (a couple decades late, I know), how I recorded hour after hour of the radio just so I might have a chance at catching it on tape.  I wore down that spot on the cassette clean through when I finally did. 

It's been nice to hear it again, have a cleaned up digital version, and I still love the song.  But the ease of procurement kind of lessened the thrill of it a little bit.  What I realized I love most about the song now is the reminder of how much I had once loved it and the extent I was willing to go to in order to have a copy of it (short of just going to the store and buying the tape).

Last week, I activated my American Express card on this website so I could get five free songs on iTunes as part of a promotion (anyone with an AmEx can do it).  I have downloaded countless songs off of iTunes before, but all of a sudden, this offer made me feel like I got the keys to the chocolate factory.  Well, kind of.  I had been given access to this massive library of songs, but I could only choose five.  Not that I couldn't buy more if I wanted to, but these five felt significant.  Like I lucked into them or something, like the songs I taped off of the radio, the feeling of great fortune when I finally got a hold of them after a day's worth of waiting and recording.

It's silly, I know, but these five songs have got to be special.  I'll be spending much more time than I should trying to determine which five they will be.