30 Day Song Challenge - Week 10

Welcome to Week Ten of the 30 Day Song Challenge! This week's topic is "A Song From Your Favorite Album."

Like the challenge in Week One, I had some trouble coming up with my favorite album. Thankfully, the list of entire albums that I enjoy is a lot shorter than the list of potential favorite songs. Still, there are quite a few that I listen to regularly and even after I narrowed it down to two, it was still a last-second judgement.

I pulled out both Nirvana Unplugged in New York (one of the best live recordings, ever) and Goldfinger's self-titled album. Both of these were among my most prized possessions back in high school. Goldfinger won out, partly because of the super happy times I associate with it, and partly because I'm really missing my east coast family right now, especially my little sister.



I have a long history with Goldfinger. If you know Goldfinger at all, it's probably because of their one big radio hit, "Here in Your Bedroom." I was 14 the first time I saw them in concert, at Bogart's, the small and dumpy concert hall in Clifton. It was the summer of 1996, which I've already mentioned goes down in history as the best summer of my adolescent life. I went to the show with my BFFs Ivy, Meaghan, and Michelle. Bogart's was standing-room-only and barely air-conditioned - we were packed in there like sardines, sweaty, sticky, and reeking of cigarette smoke.



But it was the best show, ever, so we went to see them again later that year. And again, the summer after. And the summer after that. And on and on, in differing company, until the summer of 2001, when I took my little sister to HER first Goldfinger show. Yes, Katie has some punk rock roots, too. In fact, she loved Goldfinger so much that she won my CD away from me by accepting the challenge of eating a raw onion. That was before the days of MP3 swapping. (Sadly, that was the last time I've caught a live show. They're back on tour now, but swinging mostly through Europe and the west coast.)

The entire album is pretty great. There isn't a song on there that I don't enjoy. "Miles Away" even has a special spot on the back end of my running playlist.

One of my favorite Goldfinger traditions is the awesomeness that is Mable. It's my absolute favorite Goldfinger song, and when they play it at live shows, they get every girl in the first few rows up on stage to sing and dance along with them. Every time I've seen them live, I've managed to push my way to the front of the crowd so that I could guarantee myself a spot onstage. Getting to share that with my sister is one of my favorite memories, ever.

So here's my favorite song off of the Goldfinger album - Mable.






In honor of graduation season, next week's topic will be "A Song from the Year you Graduated High School." Use this link to get a list of the top 100 songs from your graduation year. Or pick another one, if you don't like any of the options.