Not long ago, I formed a list of songs that were dear to me. The list had long been there in my mind: songs that had — somewhere between the music, the lyrics, and the mood they invoked — inspired me. Some were irrevocably tied to memories. Some had evoked images, or even characters for stories. All of them had a certain underlying drama that gave them life.

I carefully arranged the songs into a CD. It’s something of a soundtrack for myself.

  1. The Refreshments — Mekong
  2. Seven Mary Three — Cumbersome
  3. Bush — Machinehead
  4. Queensrÿche — Another Rainy Night Without You
  5. Stavesacre — Rivers Underneath
  6. Stabbing Westward — What Do I Have to Do?
  7. Evanescence — Bring Me to Life
  8. Skillet — The Thirst is Taking Over
  9. Loreena McKennitt — Dante’s Prayer
  10. System of a Down — Aerials
  11. P.O.D. — Satellite
  12. Five Iron Frenzy — Every New Day
  13. The O.C. Supertones — So Great a Salvation
  14. Jennifer Knapp — Faithful to Me (Reprise)
  15. [11.11 second silence]
  16. Joe Satriani — Mind Storm
  17. Bad Religion — Sorrow
  18. Five Iron Frenzy — Farsighted