Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

The instructions said, "The rules: Take out your iPod or other musical device. Put it in 'random' mode. Hit 'play.' Write down the first ten tracks that come up--and no fair putting in ones you think will make you look cool, or omitting ones that make you look like a total dork." So here goes:

1. Derek Bell, Lift Your Heart In Strength
2. Derek Bell, Parade
3. Heather Alexander, "Close Your Eyes"
4. The Homespun Ceilidh Band, Edna Michael's Waltz
5. Romanovsky & Phillips, "Womb Envy"
6. Romanovsky & Phillips, "Oh No ... I'm In Love (With My Therapist)"
7. (Speaking of Faith (talk radio); not counting this.)
8. The Homespun Ceilidh Band, Jock Wilson's Ball/The Armed Ghost/Lexie McAskill
9. Derek Bell, Daughter of Bran
10. Peat & Barley, Bonnie at Morn
11. Peat & Barley, Holborn March/Mairi's Wedding

The catch is that so far I've only got a hundred and eleven tracks copied to the iPod, and eight of those are sections of an audiobook and another three are recorded radio talk programs. So this "shuffle" is only shuffling through a tiny portion of my music collection. I'll have to remember to do this again in a few months, when I've got more of my CDs transferred to the device.

Then again, it did pull out a song that's so very me but that I hadn't listened to in months, "Womb Envy". There are bits of it that don't fit me, such as not wanting to wear a dress or "trade equipment", but the core idea -- wishing I could bear a child -- is something that definitely applies to me. Sometimes it's just one of those background things; other times it's an acute and painful longing. Or noticing that I feel envy at the same time as joy for friends who are pregnant. So if the point of doing the meme was to provide a seed for writing something more personal than a list of tunes, I guess it worked... For folks not already familiar with the work of Romaovsky & Phillips (and you really should be), here are the lyrics to "Womb Envy":

When I was a youngster
Playing house was all the rage
And I always played the mommy
And they all thought it was just a stage
But as I grew older
Still I wished to be a lady
Not so I could have a man
But so I could have a baby!

Chorus:
Womb envy
I know it's kinda strange
Womb envy
But please let me explain
Womb envy
I know it's kinda crazy
I got womb envy
I wanna have a baby

Now I like my equpiment
I wouldn't trade it for the world
But I might trade it for nine months
If I could only be a girl
I don't wanna wear a dress
Or be somebody's wife
I just wanna have a chance
To feel the miracle of life!

(Chorus)

I'd do it naturally
No Playtex formulas for me
I'd study LaMaze and read Dr. Spock
If I could just be blessed with pregnancy
Well maybe someday science
Will make it a reality
If it's been done in test tubes
Then why not inside of me?
I'm every bit as loving
And gentle as can be
Lord, give me a chance to prove
My maternity!

(Chorus)