Top Five Tuesday :: The Bangles

Writing and remembering about The Bangles album Different Light has had me on a bit of a Bangles kick on my commute to and from work. Because of this I decided to dedicate this week’s Top Five Tuesday to The Bangles, and share my top five favorites.

5. Hazy Shade of Winter

“Time, time, time,
see what’s become of me.”

One of those rare covers that I enjoy immensely more than the original, Hazy Shade of Winter had to be on this list. This is a turn up loud and sing-a-long even louder every single time kind of song, and one that immediately reminds me of my oldest friend and I driving to Hollywood, on our way to various clubs or parties, sharing a pack of cloves or her candy colored Sherman cigarettes, cooler than we had ever been, playing it the necessary loudness and singing-a-long, even louder.

This is also a song that is part of the soundtrack to one of my favorite movies, Less Than Zero. The movie fitting right in with the memory recall image of the two of us in the midst of our own crazy, Los Angeles story.

4. Following

“But I was a good girl, yeah,
till you taught me what it means to be true.”

I wrote in some detail how much this song means to me in my favorite album entry, and how much I relate to it. This is one of those songs that belong on a playlist of songs that tell a story about me, as I have lived parts of this song in painful ways. I have been this girl in so many ways.

3. Dover Beach

“If I had the time,
I would run away with you.”

There is a boy that this song immediately reminds me of, and of how I used to wish for the time and opportunity to run away with him, if only for a little while.

2. James

“I knew it’d turn out like this,
I’m keeping one foot on the train.
And, I must be a masochist,
to ever take up with you, James.”

I had an on-again, off-again romance with a boy named James who was constantly coming and going, letting me down along the way. He was always a disappointment, always. Yet, for awhile, he had the kind of charm it took to keep winning me back, well, until I could not take his shit any longer. This song is exactly how it felt to be with him, and without him.

1. If She Knew What She Wants

“Some have a style that they work hard to refine,
so they walk a crooked line.
But she won’t understand,
why anyone would have to try,
to walk a line when they could fly.”

My favorite forever, and another song that belongs on the songs that tell a story about me playlist. The journey to sort out who I am and what I actually want, well, some days I feel as if I have it all figured out, but most of the time I realize I have no real clue. For that reason I think that I can be challenging to get to know well, and often hard to hang on to, though I do not necessarily mean to be either.

Those wings of mine, though, they are ever itching to fly.