Monday, July 12, 2010

musical sweet spot

Like all the stereotypical birth plan clasping mommies-to-be, I also brought with me to the hospital an mp3 player filled with songs to provide a soundtrack to my birth. It is a near-perfect blend of songs, if I do say so myself. The nurses and doula liked it, too, for what that's worth. The plan didn't do me much good, but the same player is now perched in my son's room and the playlist has become the soundtrack to his good night routine.

I don't play it every night. Most times it's a book or three or four, my endearing (sugar coat code for "off-key, but with love") rendition of a few songs, then it's into the crib for mi calabaza. I usually cue up the music when he's especially squirmy. There are 80+ songs and he doesn't like them all. Some can make him cry, like Feist's The Water or Beth Nielsen Chapman's Ave Maria, so I skip those. (It's sweet, but a little heartbreaking that he's affected that way.)

After many many listenings, I've determined the sweet spot smack dab in the middle of the mix:
41. 9 Crimes by Damien Rice (and Lisa Hannigan)
42. I'll Fly Away performed by Alison Krauss and Gilian Welch
43. Empty by Ray Lamontagne

I think it's the stark piano in 9 Crimes that nabs him. Then the bounce and joy of I'll Fly Away. The roll and strum of Empty carry him off. The kid doesn't stand a chance.

No comments: