Soundtrack to the Motion Picture

As recognized by Nick Hornby in High Fidelity (which worked better as a movie than as a book, in my opinion), every rock or pop song serves a purpose in this universe, and there is a perfect track for every moment and a perfect mix--or iTunes playlist, as the Americans say--for every event, whether real or imagined. Running outside on a hot, late summer afternoon around Memorial Park in Houston? You're going to need "One Big Holiday" by My Morning Jacket, and definitely "Boys of Summer" by Don Henley for that one. Driving in an old Saab through rural Virginia on a cloudy, wet Saturday morning? It's not going to work without Van Morrison singing "And It Stoned Me" though those tinny speakers, or without "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" fingerpicked and quacked by Dylan. Taking apart an expensive rice cooker, only to realize that there's no way in hell you're going to be able to put it back together again? That's an easy one. "Life in a Northern Town" by Dream Academy and "Abraham, Martin and John" as performed by Dion. Dancing around your bedroom naked, stuffing your junk between your legs as you put on make-up, and preparing to skin the daughter of a congresswoman?  Only one song will do: "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus.*  Done and done! Events of this world just soundtrack themselves, I guess.

This blog is going to have a lot of this kind of stuff. Don't say I didn't warn you (and by "you," I mean "me").

*Interesting tidbit: Q Lazzarus is an African-American woman who had once been a NYC taxi driver.