It’s back:  a ninth edition of the High Fidelity mixes.  And this one is a rather special one.  This one is inspired by my favourite classy bitch, and the rest of the posse in the land of Tori tourage.

The song selections are based on meeting one or more of the following criteria:

1. They speak of travelling/getting out on the open road.
2. They make specific reference to my adventures with the awesome Ashley during our tour stalkings of Tori Amos and The Dresden Dolls.
3. They remind me of time with good friends in general and sounds nice to drive to.

For those who’ve never set out on the open road to follow a concert tour, I couldn’t even begin to properly explain the experience.  Beyond the concerts, which are always a blast for any music junkie, there is the experience of the road itself:  the crazy road signs, the strange billboards, the even stranger sights (groups of men pissing together on the side of the road, anyone?  a badminton game at 1am in a gas station parking lot?), the local foods and touristy moments…   and the friendship.  If there is anything that both builds a friendship and tests its durability, it is cramming into a car for a week and hauling ass from state to state (and sometimes, country to country).

I feel like a bad beer commercial, but for all you do, all we have done and shared, this one would be for you Ashley, most of all.  Special thanks to the other lovelies who have La-La’ed the Jetta, screamed at the Big Fuck Me Trucks, witnessed the Homeland Security, beheld the Technicolour Dreamcoat Tori, and laughed with us at Titler.  You all know who you are.

Complete mix – RAR file

Sassy Music For Classy Bitches:  The Nostalgic Roadtrip Edition of High Fidelity

1.  Cruz – Christina Aguilera:  In addition to getting Ashley hooked on the Stripped album during the 2003 roadtrip, it’s also a fantastic song about picking up and leaving…

“Slowly drifting into a peaceful breeze
Tongue-tied and twisted are all my memories…
I’m leaving today
Living it, leaving it to change…”

2.  Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson:  Ashley and I like Kelly.  Oh yes we do.  And this song fits the theme!

“I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly
I’ll do what it takes ’til I touch the sky
And I make a wish, take a chance, make a change
and break away
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won’t forget all the ones that I love…”

3.  June Gloom – The Like:  The Like opened for Tori in 2005, and I can’t speak for Ashley, but I fell in love with this song immediately.

“Sunsets lost in
Skies of hazy greys
June gloom sets in
Puts me in a daze…
Winter’s coming
Still we’re soaked in sun…”

4.  My My Metrocard – Le Tigre:  Part of the invasion of Brad’s iPod during the 2005 trip.  It was a tough call… I mean La-La and Ultimate were classic moments in roadtrip history!

” Off the pillow and into the air
I’m ready cause it’s my day
Situation: it’s all possible
Everything is going my way

My My Metrocard
My My Metrocard
My My Metrocard
Think I’ll go a little but then I go far….”

5.  Song For The Dumped – Ben Folds Five:  Ashley and I sang this about Megan.  A lot.  We were even going to get Ben to play it on purpose at Orlando ’03…  But then, Ashley got her money back.

“Give my money back
Give me money back, you bitch
I want my money back
And don’t forget to give me back my black t-shirt…”

6.  Who Am I? – Lily Frost:  One of my favourite films is Crazy/Beautiful, and towards the beginning, Kirsten Dunst hops into the car with her BFF and they cruise down the highway to this song…

“Today like any day
Rolled out of bed, talked on the telephone
Went to the doctor, she said ‘you’re okay’
Still I wonder, who am I?
Today, in the air, on the water
Ships pass you by…”

7.  With Arms Outstretched – Rilo Kiley:  Ashley got me into RK and Jenny Lewis, and this song was one of the first I loved, playing it as we drove down the highway.

“It’s 16 miles to the promised land
And I’ll promise you, I’m doing the best I can
Now don’t fool yourself in thinking you’re more than a man
’cause you’ll probably end up dead
I visit these mountains with frequency
And I stand here with my arms up
Now some days, they last longer than others
But this day by the lake went too fast….”

8.  1979 – Smashing Pumpkins:  This one is sort of a classic ‘driving’ song, lyrically and sonically, but there’s also the fact that in Grand Rapids ’03, Ashley let me borrow her blanket/quilt made of old band t-shirts, one of them being a SP tee.  And thus began the bond that makes us the Classy Bitches.

“Junebug skipping like a stone
Headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we’d never see an end to it all
And I don’t even care
To shake these zipper blues
And we don’t know just where our bones will rest – to dust, I guess….”

9.  Santa Fe – Rent cast:   Another fantastic thing Ashley got me into…  Rent!

“Let’s open up a restaurant in Santa Fe
Sunny Santa Fe would be nice
We’ll open up a restaurant in Sante Fe
And leave this to the roaches and mice…”

10.  Get Out The Map (live) – Indigo Girls:  If ever there was a roadtrip song…  This one’s a favourite of mine by the Indigo Girls.  It’s just fun and light…

“ And me I’m still trying to live half a live on the road
Seems I’m heavier by the year and heavier by the load
Why do we hurtle ourselves through every inch of time and space
I must say around some corner I can sense a resting place
With every lesson learned a line upon your beautiful face
We’ll amuse ourselves one day with these memories we’ll trace
Get out the map get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down
We’ll leave the figuring to those we pass on our way out of town
Don’t drink the water there seems to be something ailing everyone
I’m gonna clear my head
I’m gonna drink the sun…”

11.  Another Girl’s Paradise – Tori Amos:  One of Ashley’s favourites, and mine too.   On the SW map, it cuts through Jacksonville,  which makes it all the more perfect.  Dear Tori:  please play this on this tour, with us present.  Thanks.

“When all said, said and done
Who can love you and still be standing?
There’s Mary calling up a storm
How can I take from you and not keep taking?”

12.  Florida – Patty Griffin:  I think, of all the songs on this mix, that this one reminds me most of my roadtripping…  Oh, and Ashley got me into Patty.  I really ought to thank her for her musical influence.  She and Mary have seriously made my collection wonderful.

“Couple of young girls went sailing down A1A
To the arms of Florida
Sailing down a highway
Singing their heads off
Protected by the holy ghost
Flying in from the ocean
Driving with their eyes closed…”

13.  Summer Skin – Death Cab For Cutie:  One of those ‘summer was great and now it’s ending’ songs…

“I don’t recall a single care
Just greenery and human hair
Then labour day came and went
And we shed what was left of our summer skin…”

14.  Used To Be Alright – I Mother Earth:  This song was actually written about the experience of a band on the road and touring.  It’s the perfect roadtrip song!

“It’s pretty good – the wine
The way that we look at ten to eight in the morning
Yeah just talking, still awake at dawn…
Then you long for the days
Trippin’ down a long road
Just reading the signs that show you the way
To a higher place
You meditate to feel the quiet of the earth…”

15.  Ray of Light – Madonna:  A mix for Ashley without Madonna?  As if!  Plus, the road is like a home, and whenever we first pile into the car, this happy little “Yay!  I’m back!” feeling washes over me…

“Faster than the speed of light, she’s flying
Trying to remember where it all began
She’s got herself a little peace of heaven
Waiting for the time when earth shall be as one
And I feel like I just got home…”

16.  Virus of the Mind – Heather Nova:  This is a fun, playful song… but lyrically, it’s all about ‘screw what people think of your atypical lifestyle’, which also suits us, because let’s face it:  some people think we’re nucking futs for doing what we do.

“ It’s in the deep of your soul, it’s on the tip of your tongue
It’s the feeling you get, when you feel young
It’s in the sound of a beat, it’s in the base of your spine
It’s in your gut reaction, yeah every time
But they tell you what you should have, they tell you who you should be
It’s in the pictures and ads and in the magazines
I’m kicking it off like a bug in the breeze…”

17.  Waltz (Better Than Fine) – Fiona Apple:  I was trying hard to find a happy Fiona song.  Few options.  But this one ties nicely to the theme of Virus of the Mind…

“ If you don’t have a date
Celebrate
Go out and sit on the lawn
And do nothing
‘Cause it’s just what you must do
Nobody does it anymore

No I don’t believe in the wasting of time
But I don’t believe that I’m wasting mine…”

18.  Nocturn – Kate Bush:  Yes, another one Ashley got me into.  This song makes me want to run away to the beach and ditch life and bills and responsibility….  Kinda like when I hit the road…

“ We tire of the city
We tire of it all
We long for just that something more

Could be in a dream
Our clothes are on the beach
These prints of our feet
Lead right up to the sea
No one, no one is here
No one, no one is here
We stand in the Atlantic
We become panoramic

The stars are caught in our hair
The stars are on our fingers
A veil of diamond dust
Just reach up and touch it…”

19.  Sing – The Dresden Dolls:  Really, these trips are all about the music in the end.  It’s what brought us together in the first place.

“Life is no cabaret
We’re inviting you anyway…”

20.  The Song of Purple Summer – Spring Awakening cast:  Ashley and I are fangirls for SA.  It’s true!  We’re going to marry Gallagher and Groff!  Even if they’re gay!

” And all shall fade
the flowers of spring
the world and all the sorrows
at the heart of everything

but still it stays
the butterfly sings
and opens purple summer
with a flutter of its wings…

And all shall know the wonder
of purple summer…”

Comment if you take, and enjoy!  If you really, really, REALLY want me to up some of the files individually as opposed to the RAR, ask nicely and I’ll do my best.