Calming the Rachel.

Hey you! And you! And you over there!!

I hope things have been stupendous with you!  Things have been a bit on the crazy side for me - as usual.  Oh well.  C'est la vie, non?

So, I hope you guys aren't getting sick of my lists yet.  They appear to be one of my favorite things to write about.  I hope to get to do some other fun things in the future, but first things have to calm down in my life.  It's hard to be consistent when one is barely home.  There are about 3 hours on Mondays and Thursdays that I have an open window when I am done with work  that I would be able to write.  Only thing is I have to eat supper, run any errands with Husband that may come up, do any cleaning, and RELAX before I go to bed for the night.  So, I squeeze you - my lovely readers - in when I have a bit of extra time.  Hopefully that can change sometime soon! :)

Today, however, I have decided to share s musical post!  I am going to share songs that I just absolutely love with you!  Just like my post with books, these aren't my favorite, since it is really hard to pinpoint my FAVORITES down, these songs are ones that I listen to when I need to calm myself.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  Who knows, maybe I will do a somewhat regular post of the songs that I have been listening to the most that week. :)

Here we go!

Love Will Take You by Angus and Julia Stone
This is such a beautiful song. I love the horns, the words, everything about it.

Take a look at the lyrics if  you are into lyrics as much as I am.  This song is on a CD that I am ashamed to admit that I own.  Yes, it's on the Breaking Dawn soundtrack.  Don't judge me.  I just like the music.  And NO it's not like when guys say they read Playboy magazine because of the "articles."  It's so calming and I like to listen to it when I am driving home from work.  It's so peaceful if you skip past the faster tempo songs. I am such a high strung person; I really need calming music to decompress when driving home.  Also, with the pretty scenery on the highway I drive on, it seems absolutely perfect!

Let It Be Me by Ray LaMontagne
This song.  Oh my goodness, this song.  This song is another that instantly calms me down.  I love this man's voice.  For some reason, there is just a soothing quality to it for me.  It may not be for everybody, but give a read to these lyrics.  What person wouldn't want a significant other to sing or say that to them?  It always makes me think of Husband, because I am super spoiled and landed myself a pretty amazing guy.  I have amazing friends that help me when I get really pissed off.  I'm looking at you here, Lady S and Lady A!  :)  They totally rock at making me laugh when I really need it and have promised me that they'd help me hide the bodies. You know, like in that one song (DISCLAIMER: I, Lady A, nor Lady S have ever murdered anyone and then hid the bodies).  But, there are just some things that will just need that special hug or sweet words from Husband to fix.  *I apologize for mushiness, but I am still a newlywed, it's expected.*

Be My Honeypie by the Weepies (You will see these on A LOT of their songs on my lists. They are my FAVORITE band)
This song is so sweet.  I think that everyone should see the music video at least once.  The swing dancers get a tad annoying after awhile, but I LOVE that they include REAL couples of all ages, sizes, colors and sexes.  Well, couples that look like the ones you see out on the street anyway, not people who look like models.  The fact that they include same sex couples is just one more reason they are awesome.  Not enough people understand that same sex couples are just like the hetero ones, just with different parts.  I just adore this band.  The singer-guitarists are husband and wife and they are just freaking adorable.  I was lucky enough to see them in concert a year or two ago, and they blew me away.  They sounded exactly the same as they do on their cds!  There's nothing worse than having a favorite band and discovering that they are actually HORRIBLE in person.  :(  But anyways, have a looksie at the lyrics.  Aren't they just so sweet?

Thousand Years by Christina Perri IGNORE THE TWILIGHT SCENES!!
Isn't it PRETTTTYYY????  I really don't understand why I love this song as much as I do.  It's just so damn pretty.  The lyrics make me think of an epic romantic fairy tale.  Sigh...

Sleeping At Last by Turning Pages
This is once again a song from the Breaking Dawn soundtrack, but it's a really lovely song.  Here are some lyrics if you like to read along while the song is going on because, you know, you're a total weirdo like me and like to do that.

Sunset Soon Forgotten by Iron and Wine
...Or just about any other song from this guy.  I think this might be my second favorite band.  I love a lot of the stuff he does.  Some of the stuff he does is more upbeat, but I love that there aren't any super harsh transitions when you listen to one of his albums.  The lyrics are a bit on the strange side, but that's okay with me.  Sometimes, it's nice to just kind of...flow with the music. I am sure that to Samuel Beam, these lyrics might have some deep meaning, but to me they just don't make very much sense.

Prepare yourself now for some awesome instrumental music, if you aren't a fan.  I really don't understand how people CAN'T like it, but to each their own.  I guess.  Here are some of my favorites!

The Last Man by Clint Mansell
This song has it all, if you ask me.  It's beautiful and haunting all at the same time.  Last year in my dance class, this is one of the songs we would listen to while stretching.  It's a song from the movie The Fountain. I have yet to see the whole movie, but that is something I am planning on changing this very weekend!  Yay for movie time!

If you like instrumental versions of your favorite songs, then you will love this band, The Vitamin String Quartet.  If you go to that website, prepare yourself for Adele to be played.  I am personally a fan, but am getting to the point where I am getting a TAD sick of her.  At least the songs that I keep hearing over and over and over on the radio, anyway.  I know of a few people who for whatever reason, just CANNOT stand her.  Anyway, I like quite a few of their songs (they have A LOT), but Husband and I used this song for our wedding party's walk down the aisle.  It gives me the chills each time that I listen to it. I can still picture everyone walking down with the sun shining through the trees.  I can remember exactly how nervous I was that I would trip down the stairs and knock my dad and step-dad over, how freaking excited I was to FINALLY become Mrs. Husband, and how hard I was struggling not to cry or burst into my snorting laughter when I noticed that my niece, K, was carrying the flower girl basket backwards, so the feathery doodad was against her instead of visible to everybody.  I can remember every emotion and every thought that was running through my head while I listen to that song.  One little song can invoke so many different parts of a memory from all of the senses.  What a cool idea for another blog post!  Too bad I don't have a ton more readers, because I would love to read all the comments made on THAT post!  Or this one too!  Feel free to share if you have any good tunes you listen to when you need to calm down.  :)

Seriously, if you are getting married anytime soon and need a good processional/recessional song check these guys out.  They have a huge variety of stuff, from Dr. Dre to Elton John.

Okay, since I am feeling super sappy now, I will share with you one last song that means quite a bit to me.  It's not an instrumental, so I guess I only had two songs.  Oops.  Sorry readers.  My bad.  I will try and do another post ASAP to make up for it.  This last song is the song that I danced to with Husband as our first dance.

Gotta Have You by The Weepies
Here are the lyrics!  Enjoy!