The soundtrack of my life

If there is one song guaranteed to get me on a dance floor, it’s Run to Paradise by The Choirboys (if you don’t know it, shame on you and please click here).

This song’s power over me was most famously displayed on a ‘quiet’ weeknight out in London when I’d gone to the Temple Walkabout to watch the State of Origin and grab dinner with mates.

I was on my way out the door (at a reasonable hour and sober) when the opening notes began to play.

The Choirboys had barely reached the end of the first line—“Baby, you were always gonna be the one”—when I dropped my bags and was seen running for the dance floor.

Three hours and way too many vodka/Red Bulls later, I stumbled onto the tube to go home. Only to make it just one stop.

This was only a problem in that I actually lived 13 stops away. And I was not in good shape.

Thankfully my mate Susan was also catching the tube home (although she left about half an hour after I did) and when the carriage doors on her tube opened she saw me sitting lying across a chair with a bunch of flowers in my arms and my bag in my lap.

Kudos to her, she actually managed to get me to her house in one piece and left me to sleep off the heart palpitations on her couch.

The reason I mention this is because I recently received a wedding invitation in which the RSVP card asked guests to include the name of a song that will get them on the dance floor.

It is a concept which I have always loved and what better way to put together your ultimate party playlist than to ask everyone who is coming to nominate a song.

At least you know they will hit the dance floor at least once (while madly waving their arms in the air screaming ‘It’s my song, it’s my song!’).

For me, it was a no brainer—Run to Paradise is ALWAYS gonna be the one—but the request got me thinking about what songs I’d include on the soundtrack to my life.

In one of my earlier blog posts, I mentioned that All My Loving by the Beatles is the song that always reminds me of my dad.

Mum also has her own song, I Just Called To Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder (complete with my awesome interpretive dance hand actions).

Oh What a Night by The Four Seasons and Daryl Braithwaite’s The Horses remind me of my brother while Murder on the Dancefloor was playing the day I met best friend, Marysia.

Amy Winehouse’s Valerie reminds me of my days at Harrods and the snow trip that followed (there may have been an incident where I was seen running from the bathroom to the dance floor while still doing up my jeans because I was so excited).

Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive makes the cut after a bad karaoke session at City Rowers in my early days of clubbing and also because it was my song of choice for a lip-sync off at my work gala last year (I totally impressed the event’s MC Bondi Vet Chris Brown).

Sweet Caroline is one of my all-time favourite songs having been played on a family holiday to Fiji, sang at karaoke in Florence and basically featured on high rotation on my iPod.

Although, it’s probably no longer the favourite song of the ex who received a three-minute long voicemail of me singing it. Drunk. Having said that, I now hate Superstitious (his favourite song) so I figure we’re even.

And then there are the songs that remind me of the men I’ve loved, lusted after or loathed:

You’ve Got The Love – Florence and the Machine
Flame Trees – Cold Chisel
La Traviata – Libiamo Ne’ Lieti Calici
We Are Young – Fun
Sunsets – Powderfinger
Turn Me On – Kevin Lyttle
F*ck You – Cee Lo Green (you know it’s THE BEST break up song)

And finally, I’d wrap it all up with the theme song to The Muppets, because it’s impossible to listen to the song without smiling (or singing along).

For those who are a little more time poor than I am, WikiHow have put together a list of how to find out the soundtrack of your life in eight easy steps (although it’s more like one step, repeated).

Simply open your iTunes to all songs and hit shuffle.

Then write down the songs in the order they play on the list below (I’ve included my answers):

Opening credits: Dumpweed – Blink182
Waking up: Eyes Open – Snow Patrol
First day of school: Another Day in Paradise – Phil Collins
Falling in love: Trouble – Pink
Fighting: Missing – Expatriate
Breaking up: Where is Your Heart – Kelly Clarkson (I don’t think I have EVER heard this song before)
Prom: Stay – Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs (hello Dirty Dancing)
Life: Easy Lover – Phil Collins
Mental breakdown: Leave a Light On – Belinda Carlisle
Driving: If I Can’t Find the Words – Ronan Keating
Flashback: Some Kind of Bliss – Kylie Minogue
Making up: Have I Told You Lately – Van Morrison
Wedding: Uptown Girl – Billy Joel
Birth of child: Lean on Me – Bill Withers
Final battle: La Traviata – Libiamo Ne’ Lieti Calici (Opera rocks … especially from Pretty Woman)
Death scene: SOS – Abba
Closing credits: Future Sex Love Sound – Justin Timberlake

Which songs would you include on the soundtrack to your life?