Music Mondays: Birthday Edition

I was 12 when I stopped wanting to celebrate my birthdays. (Celebrate in the sense of a party, that is. Presents were always welcome.) We'd just moved to Phoenix and spent two weeks living in a hotel while I'd started a new school. I had classroom friends, but no one I spent time with outside of school. As such, trying to have a party seemed a non sequitur.

I was also getting more and more uncomfortable with being the center of attention. (Which is one of the reasons I didn't have a wedding and why I was, in fact, a little peeved that I had to go through with vow recitation in front of the County Clerk and our parents, when I'm certain the marriage process could be simplified to very few words and the swish of the pen.)

For most people birthdays seem to be just one more occasion that offer an excuse to have a party. And that's fine. But me? I've never been a big party-person. I'm a total introvert. I like socializing well enough, but parties always seem like too much work to bother with. Plus there's the ever present neurotic question of "What if no one comes?" And who needs that? There are enough stressors in life; I don't see the need to add to them with continued social failures.

And now I think I'm being a bit too honest, so - ah - let me just get back to the music.

The #1 song in the U.S. on the day of my birth was "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson. (Who also happens to be the first musician whose album I owned. On cassette.)

Here are the songs I've got a mind to play for my 29th year marker. (And yes, this is the first time I've turned 29.) I'm feeling a little nostalgic.

"B is for Birthday"
(Yes, I'm cheating a little; varying from my plan. But I've had a hard weekend.)

1. Forever Young - Alphaville
2. Underground - David Bowie (Labyrinth OST)
3. Sunny Came Home - Shawn Colvin
4. Bitch - Meredith Brooks
5. Loved By the Sun - Jon Anderson (Legend OST)

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