twelve states of being

someone told me that you could actually tell a thing or two about the state a person is in by the songs currently on their mp3 player. so to ascertain this hypothesis, i thought i’d share twelve songs on my current playlist.

• blessid union of souls – i believe
• bon jovi – these days
• dave mathews band – the space between
• death cab for cutie – marching bands of manhattan
• dire straits – brothers in arms
• green day – 21 guns
• journey – faithfully
• linkin park – shadow of the day
• nirvana – smells like teen spirit
• pixie lott – use somebody
• the script – the man that can’t be moved
• tracy chapman – fast car

so what can you tell about me from this list?

use somebody ~ kings of leon

i’ve been roaming around, was looking down at all i see
painted faces fill the places i can’t reach
you know that I could use somebody

someone like you and all you know and how you speak
countless lovers under cover of the street
you know that i could use somebody

someone like you

off in the night while you live it up, i’m off to sleep
waging wars to shake the poet and the beat
i hope it’s gonna make you notice

someone like me

i’m ready now

someone like you

i’ve been roaming around, i was looking down at all i see

fast car ~ tracy chapman

you got a fast car and i want a ticket to anywhere
maybe we make a deal, maybe together we can get somewhere

any place is better, starting from zero got nothing to lose
maybe we’ll make something but me myself i got nothing to prove

you got a fast car and i got a plan to get us out of here
been working at the convenience store, managed to save just a little bit of money

we won’t have to drive too far just cross the border and into the city
you and i can both get jobs and finally see what it means to be living

you see my old man’s got a problem
he lived with the bottle that’s the way it is

he says his body’s too old for working
his body’s too young to look like his

my mama went off and left him
she wanted more from life than he could give

i said somebody’s got to take care of him
so i quit school and that’s what i did

you got a fast car but is it fast enough so we can fly away?
we gotta make a decision – we leave tonight or live and die this way

i remember we were driving, driving in your car
the speed so fast i felt like i was drunk

city lights lay out before us
and your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulder

and i had a feeling that i belonged
and i had a feeling i could be someone, be someone, be someone

you got a fast car and we go cruising to entertain ourselves
you still ain’t got a job and i work in a market as a checkout girl

i know things will get better, you’ll find work and i’ll get promoted
we’ll move out of the shelter, buy a big house and live in the suburbs

you got a fast car and i got a job that pays all our bills
you stay out drinking late at the bar

see more of your friends
than you do of your kids

i’d always hoped for better
thought maybe together you and me would find it

i got no plans and i ain’t going nowhere
so take your fast car and keep on driving

never say never ~ the fray

some things we don’t talk about
better do without, just hold a smile

we’re falling in and out of love
the same damn problem, together all the while

you can never say never when we don’t know why
time and time again, younger now then we were before

don’t let me go, don’t let me go
don’t let me go, don’t let me go

picture, you’re the queen of everything
as far as the i can see, under your command

i will be your guardian when all is crumbling
steady your hand

we’re falling apart and coming together again and again
we’re coming apart but we hold it together

hold it together
together again

21 guns ~ green day

do you know what’s worth fighting for?
when it’s not worth dying for?
does it take your breath away
and you feel yourself suffocating?

does the pain weigh out the pride?
and you look for a place to hide?
did someone break your heart inside?
you’re in ruins

one, 21 guns
lay down your arms, give up the fight
one, 21 guns
throw up your arms into the sky, you and i

when you’re at the end of the road
and you lost all sense of control
and your thoughts have taken their toll
when your mind breaks the spirit of your soul

your faith walks on broken glass
and the hangover doesn’t pass
nothing’s ever built to last
you’re in ruins

did you try to live on your own
when you burned down the house and home?
did you stand too close to the fire
like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone?

when it’s time to live and let die
and you can’t get another try
something inside this heart has died
you’re in ruins

saya anak malaysia ~ sudirman / dr sam

1953 bulan 5 aku dilahirkan
di sebuah negeri yang diberi nama negeri sembilan

selepas itu aku dibesarkan di negeri kelantan
aku belajar di sekolah orang putih dekat dengan pasir puteh

saya anak malaysia, saya anak malaysia
saya anak malaysia, saya anak malaysia

lepas sekolah aku merayau, negeri mat saleh aku merantau
tempat orang indah sekali, tapi malaysia dekat di hati

saya anak malaysia, saya anak malaysia
saya anak malaysia, saya anak malaysia

sampai masa aku pun balik, tapi makwe ku nampak pelik
dia kata nak jadi apa, aku kata itu tuhan punya kuasa

saya anak malaysia, saya anak malaysia
saya anak malaysia, saya anak malaysia

lemah lembut sopan santun sudah menjadi darah dagingku
walaupun aku nampaknya kutu, aku hormat orang tuaku

saya anak malaysia, saya anak malaysia
saya anak malaysia, saya anak malaysia

come together ~ the beatles

here come old flattop, he come grooving up slowly
he got joo-joo eyeball, he one holy roller
he got hair down to his knee
got to be a joker he just do what he please

he wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football
he got monkey finger, he shoot coca-cola
he say “i know you, you know me”
one thing i can tell you is you got to be free
come together right now over me

he bag production, he got walrus gumboot
he got ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker
he got feet down below his knee
hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease
come together right now over me

he roller-coaster, he got early warning
he got muddy water, he one mojo filter
he say, “one and one and one is three”
got to be good-looking ’cause he’s so hard to see
come together right now over me

titik kenai ujan

the call came at 4am on sunday and MN set off immediately. i only found out later that morning, uchau bilong just passed away.

the name may be unfamilliar to most of us. but among sape players, he is known as among the greatest. i have had the privilege of only a brief encounter with uchau about a year ago. and i got his CD in my car.

i attended his funeral on monday. while his descendents are into tribal stuff, neither of them took on their father’s sape skills. as his casket travelled to the local cemetary, it was asang lawai (another sape legend) and his son uynes, who played uchau’s signature tune “titik kenai ujan” at the back of mathew ngau’s truck.

uchau is buried near the grave of another great sape player, tusau padan, who died just a few years ago.

sudah tak ramai yang pandai main sape rancak dengan bunga, asang tells me.

thank you for the music

i am proud to have lived in the same generation as the thriller that is michael jackson. this man is, and forever shall be, a definitive part of my childhood.

your sudden departure is a tragic loss to a world in desperate need of genuine originality as you epitomise.

thank you for the music and rest in peace.

wonderwall ~ oasis

today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you
by now you should’ve somehow realized what you gotta do
i don’t believe that anybody feels the way i do about you now

backbeat the word was on the street that the fire in your heart is out
i’m sure you’ve heard it all before but you never really had a doubt
i don’t believe that anybody feels the way i do about you now

and all the roads we have to walk along are winding
and all the lights that lead us there are blinding
there are many things that i would like to say to you

but i don’t know how
because maybe you’re gonna be the one who saves me
and after all, you’re my wonderwall

today was gonna be the day but they’ll never throw it back to you
by now you should’ve somehow realized what you’re not to do
i don’t believe that anybody feels the way i do about you now