Auf Wiedersehen

Auf Wiedersehen

This is a list of 10 of my favorite songs. However, this is not my 10 favorite songs, because that list would change moment by moment, and it did many times as I tried to choose this list of the songs. Briefly, the first song I chose was my earliest favorite song, before I was school aged. In fact, one of my very earliest memories was the babysitter playing Wipeout on his drums, he gave my brother and I both a pair of drumsticks and we tried to follow along banging away on the arm of the couch. The second song long cool woman in a black dress by the Hollies was very popular when I was about six years old and for my birthday I asked for that record. I was completely unaware that you couldn't buy a song I wasn't on the charts any longer. However, I was given a used copy which suited me just fine. Because the Night; sung by the Patty Smith Group became my favorite when I was 16 years old because of its hard rocking style. It really stirred my emotions. 19 is the title of a song by Paul Hardcastle that attempts to document the fact that the average age of a Vietnam vet was 19 years old. This can be a very moving song for a young man who has seen men return from war with missing limbs and is now facing facing the newly installed draft registration requirements. We Will Rock You by Queen really needs no further explanation everyone knows it, everyone loves. During the first Gulf War it took on new meaning as theme song for the 4200 th Provisional Bomb Wing. The Pink Panther theme by Henry Mancini was of course part of my repertoire as a child, even with no musical talents I could sound it out. But the real reason I chose this song was an awakening that I experienced much later in life when I heard it played for its classical music value. I was instantly I convert to classical music and have been ever since. Driver’s Seat by Sniff and the Tears just captivated me musically, and it stuck with me all these years. Fire and Roses by Mimi Goese is a song that must be experienced. Mimi as an incredibly strong voice that can quite literally crush the diaphragm microphone and her talents are put to use as she drives her voice over in through the instrumentation and yet it still remains clear and heartfelt. 220 Volts by Tangerine Dream is just one song by a group that's been making music for more than 50 years and has released dozens of CDs and movie soundtracks.

1. Wipeout by the Safaris
2. Long Cool Woman in Black Dress by the Hollies
3. Because the Night by Patty Smith
4. 19 by Paul Hardcastle
5. Auf Wiedersehen by Cheap Trick
6. We Will Rock You by Queen
7. Pink Panther by Henry Mancini
8. Drivers Seat by Sniff and the Tears
9. Fire and Roses by Mimi Goese
10. 220 Volts by Tangerine Dream
(Tangerine Dream released hundreds of songs, I have dozens of favorites.)





By the time I was 19 years old I had dropped out of High School twice ran away from home and had become chronically depressed and suicidal. The economy was as bad or worse than is presently with no hope of finding a job I joined the military to once again run away from home. I had considered this a last-ditch effort on preserving my life. Since joining the Air Force my thoughts of suicide seemed so far in the past as if just part of the dream.
I first heard the song Auf Wiedersehen while listening to a Cheap Trick album at the Recreation Center of Sheppard Air Force Base. At first, I was drawn in by the pounding sound of the drums and the strum of the electric guitar, then the guttural lyrics took over pulling me in. Many of the words are difficult to discern the first time but not the word suicide that was repeated four times at the end. I was drawn in I didn't know whether to stay and listen or cut and run. I liked the song musically I even liked the lyrics up until it advocated suicide. I listen to the rest of the songs on the album but I couldn't get that one out of my head. So I played it over and over and listened intently to try to understand it better. Soon I began to analyze why felt where did when I heard. I knew I'd no longer had suicidal intentions so I could listen to an open-mindedly. But in some ways I felt it was taunting me and other ways I felt like I now had the upper hand and wasn't going to let my life be ruled by thoughts of suicide each and every time I heard the word. It seemed the more I played the song the stronger my resolve. The song almost seemed like a dare or a game of chicken but now I was no longer caught in the trap of proving to anyone but I wasn't afraid to kill myself. This song also made me stop and think that perhaps I really was incapable of committing suicide to begin with. It was words like hari kari that gave me a clear visual understanding that running myself through with a knife wasn't for me. Perhaps I thought I was a chicken. The song was like my own counselor providing me the advice I needed to battle my demons.