wedding songs
Coming up on my 1st year anniversary, and preparing to attend a wedding of another friend, the subject of wedding songs has been occupying my mind recently.
Not just wedding songs that I don’t want played (like those really lame ones on the “do not play” list such as Funky Chicken, Macarena, Hokey Pokey, Mony Mony, etc. that I’ve threatened the DJ with). But I mean the all-important 1st dance wedding song that is forever designated as “your song” whenever it comes up in conversation or you happen to hear it over the radio.
My first question: is it all that important? I mean, maybe a lot of gentlemen don’t care about what their song is, or wouldn’t even be able to tell you what song was played at their wedding. But the thing is, if I hadn’t helped in choosing it, I would have ended up with something from Clay Aiken and it would have ruined my entire evening. So I almost had to care.
Besides, I admit that I’ve given it some thought over the years, and I always thought I wanted a song that was different from everyone else’s, that held meaning for us as a couple, and that I personally liked. Well, these criteria help to narrow the list down considerably. Which brings me to…
My second question: is the subject of the song a deal-breaker? I’ve always liked slow songs that had relatively melancholy topics or an air of eeriness about them rather than love, for the sake of love. For instance, I tend to gravitate towards songs like
Tomorrow, Wendy
Here You Me
Champaign High
all songs of which are about loss. Then there’s my other favorite kind of slow tune like
Quicksand Jesus
Home Sweet Home
Sanitarium
which are metal-ballads and don’t fall completely in-line with the category of “sweet and melodic.”
Another way to go would be to go with Barry Manilo which some people would immediately cringe at, either because they think his music is lame or because 20 years ago people everywhere used “Weekend in New England” as their song, and it’s just too done already. I admit to having a Barry Manilo in between my Metallica and Tool CD’s, right next to my Abba, so it’s not that I’d be totally displeased with such a selection. But I think I should be a little more original than that. Choosing “Faithfully” from Journey is just so junior high…
Or I could have just thrown caution to the wind and said, “Hey, I happen to really enjoy this song and I don’t care what people say, we’re going to dance to ‘Stinkfist!’”
So to recap, when choosing a wedding song: should the guy care? If so, should he care about the song’s melodic quality? The subject matter? Should he be thinking about originality? Does anyone besides me even remember what wedding song I ultimately chose? Aren't you just dying to know? :)
Not just wedding songs that I don’t want played (like those really lame ones on the “do not play” list such as Funky Chicken, Macarena, Hokey Pokey, Mony Mony, etc. that I’ve threatened the DJ with). But I mean the all-important 1st dance wedding song that is forever designated as “your song” whenever it comes up in conversation or you happen to hear it over the radio.
My first question: is it all that important? I mean, maybe a lot of gentlemen don’t care about what their song is, or wouldn’t even be able to tell you what song was played at their wedding. But the thing is, if I hadn’t helped in choosing it, I would have ended up with something from Clay Aiken and it would have ruined my entire evening. So I almost had to care.
Besides, I admit that I’ve given it some thought over the years, and I always thought I wanted a song that was different from everyone else’s, that held meaning for us as a couple, and that I personally liked. Well, these criteria help to narrow the list down considerably. Which brings me to…
My second question: is the subject of the song a deal-breaker? I’ve always liked slow songs that had relatively melancholy topics or an air of eeriness about them rather than love, for the sake of love. For instance, I tend to gravitate towards songs like
Tomorrow, Wendy
Here You Me
Champaign High
all songs of which are about loss. Then there’s my other favorite kind of slow tune like
Quicksand Jesus
Home Sweet Home
Sanitarium
which are metal-ballads and don’t fall completely in-line with the category of “sweet and melodic.”
Another way to go would be to go with Barry Manilo which some people would immediately cringe at, either because they think his music is lame or because 20 years ago people everywhere used “Weekend in New England” as their song, and it’s just too done already. I admit to having a Barry Manilo in between my Metallica and Tool CD’s, right next to my Abba, so it’s not that I’d be totally displeased with such a selection. But I think I should be a little more original than that. Choosing “Faithfully” from Journey is just so junior high…
Or I could have just thrown caution to the wind and said, “Hey, I happen to really enjoy this song and I don’t care what people say, we’re going to dance to ‘Stinkfist!’”
So to recap, when choosing a wedding song: should the guy care? If so, should he care about the song’s melodic quality? The subject matter? Should he be thinking about originality? Does anyone besides me even remember what wedding song I ultimately chose? Aren't you just dying to know? :)
posted by shelton brett | 12:39 PM
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