Another long delayed request mix, one of a sadder nature, but one that was difficult only because of the sheer number of songs I can think of to listen to at such a time.

When things feel so shaky that the jagged edge of a cliff seems more secure…  When the fetal position isn’t a tight enough ball to disappear into… When you at once want someone to pick you up off the floor and carry you home and scream when anyone tries to move you from the safest place you could find to land…  When it’s time to break down, utterly and completely…  Here are a few of the songs that play when I need to find the strength to cry it out, dust myself off, and pick myself up once again.

With love for L.

High Fidelity 17:  Broken Glass – A Mix To Help Pick Up The Pieces

1.  Strange Days – Matthew Good Band
“Good morning – don’t cop out
You crawled from the cancer to land on your feet
Are you crazy to want this, even for a while?”

2.  Little Suicides – Golden Palominos
“It happens in the smallest ways
It happens all the time
And if you’ve never had your sight,
What’s it mean to be blind?”

3.  Wise Up – Aimee Mann
“Prepare a list of what you need
Before you sign away the deed
‘Cause it’s not going to stop
‘Til you wise up…”

4.  The Living – Natalie Merchant
“I’ll go off and make myself scarce
Come tomorrow you won’t find me there
‘Cause I don’t care to stay among the living…”

5.  Broken Glass – The Gathering
“Drop yourself in the grass
Breathe the air…
Hold on tight, don’t fall down
Breathe the air through the water…”

6.  Mad World – The Red Paintings
“I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It’s a very very mad world…”

7.  Imaginary Friend – Chantal Kreviazuk
“Smelling dead flowers and listening to the walls again
I’m drinking from a leaky faucet
And writing with this dried up pen
Wish I still had my imaginary friend…”

8.  Forestfire – David Usher
“I’m falling, faster than the waterfall
Opened up and after all
Can’t you see I’m drowning
Right here in the open air?”

9.  Bleed – Cold
“You can stop the world, but you won’t change me
I need music
To set me free
To let me bleed…”

10.  Recoil – Ani Difranco
“Little flashing zero on my answering machine
Rats scratching at my brain…
I’m going outside to watch the house burn down across the street…”

11.  This Woman’s Work – Kate Bush
“I know you have a little life in you yet
I know you have a lot of strength left
I should be crying, but I just can’t let it show…”

12.  A Long December – Counting Crows
“I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower
Makes you talk a little lower
About the things you could not show her…
Maybe this year will be better than the last…”

13.  Crayon and Ink – Allison Crowe
“In crayon and ink, what I understood least
Were these words not spoken out of fear of the law or self-sacrifice
And I never thought that confirmation would come into play…”

14.  Barcelona – Jewel
“But if you could hear the voice in my heart, it would tell you
I’m tired of being this way
Won’t you please hold me, release me,
Show me the meaning of mercy…”

15.  LA Song – Beth Hart
“It’s all I love, it’s all I hate
It’s all too much for me to take…
I’m out of my pain, so I’m going back to LA…”

16.  Upside Down – Tori Amos
“I found the secret to life
I’m okay when everything is not okay…”

17.  Counting The Stars – Andrea Florian
“These things do stick to me like glue
When the words won’t come I’m no longer confused…
The unheard sirens that fall not from my mouth
They fall from my heart…”

18.  God of Wine – Third Eye Blind
“She takes a drink and then she waits
The alcohol, it permeates…
I can’t keep it all together…”

19.  Out Here At Sea – Karen Kosowski
“Close the door, let no one in
You’re empty but you’re home
There’s nobody here
I wish you were near…”