Per the rules of the Savvy Six, we play the first six tracks that play on random/shuffle and talk about the song, what it means to us, when we first heard it, etc. So it begins:

Speechwriters LLC – CHBB

Her name was Jess. It was a disaster and a bad idea from the start. Unfortunately that did not stop us. This song’s about the crash and burn that is a relationship and, thus, will forever be associated with her. I also like that it’s not a particularly complex or well-written song and that all she’ll get from me is a mediocre song.

And there were walks in the dark,
There were kisses in the park,
And proverbial sparks
That always precede failure.

BellX1 – One Stringed Harp

You know those perfect moments of life that you get? This song is the soundtrack to one of mine. It was a beautiful Spring morning, I had just – by all metrics – aced an interview with the District Attorney, and I was getting ready for a leisurely drive back to my apartment. And then this song came up and what was already fabulous moved over to the “perfect” categorization.

(I’ll be working with the DA this fall.)

Ani DiFranco – Little Plastic Castle

I once dated a girl who didn’t like Ani DiFranco. I’m not saying that it was the sole reason we broke up, but it really didn’t help her case because the truth is: I’m a closet lover of all things Ani. The first song I ever heard of hers was back in 9th or 10th grade when Pearl Jam had a pirate radio thing and played her. I fell in love with her voice, her attitude, her use of horns in her music, her politics, and her honesty. She opened my eyes to the fact that it’s one thing to be different, but it’s entirely something else to embrace that and to wear it proudly.

The National – About Today

Here’s the thing I don’t get about relationships: before it all falls apart, before the breakup, before the hurt and resentment, and the million slights…there must be a moment where one party decides to stop trying, to stop caring, to stop being part of the team. I mean, right? If you stretch out the flipping of a light switch over weeks or months…it’s slow but there’s a moment where the circuit, once open, is now closed. Right?

I think this song is about that very moment:

Today you were far away
and I didn’t ask you why.

John Mayer – New Deep


New Deep – John Mayer

Because I feel!

I’m a new man
I wear a new cologne
And you wouldn’t know me if your eyes were closed.
I know what you say, “This won’t longer than the rest of the day,”
But you’re wrong this time. You’re wrong.

Sublime – The Wrong Way


Wrong Way – Sublime

9/10th grade. Because an album about prostitution, cursing in Spanish and English, killing, drug use, sexual abuse, and riots are just what a 14 year-old boy should be listening to. I still know all the words to Santeria, Caress Me Down, April 26 1992, and What I Got.