The hour that changed my life

The title above came from a regular feature that Manila's Pulp magazine used to have, in which musicians listed down the songs most special to them. Yes, albums are just half the story of our lives in music. Many great songs just weren't contained in great albums (best example: most Motown artists and most Filipino artists). And more than artistic creations, songs are time capsules that will always take us back to those moments that changed our lives, or at least made us appreciate our lives more.

Okay, that paragraph was waaay cornier that I expected it would be. Here are 20 of those songs in order of preference. They're here either because they're just simply great, or they make me emotional, or they remind me of specific really happy times, or all of the above. I'm surprised that most of them are Filipino songs; maybe they just mean more to me than the best of Dylan and Lennon-McCartney.


1. The Hustle - Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
2. Sa Ugoy ng Duyan - Lea Salonga
3. Manila - Hotdog
4. Heaven Give Me Words - Propaganda
5. Perfect - True Faith
6. Cry For Help - Rick Astley
7. Magsimula Ka - Leo Valdez
8. S'werte S'werte Lang - Joel Navarro
9. Gold (12-inch mix) - Spandau Ballet
10. Borderline - Madonna
11. Comfort In Your Strangeness - Cynthia Alexander (I die a little every time)
12. Pure Imagination - Gene Wilder (from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory")
13. Bongga Ka 'Day - Hotdog
14. Nais Ko - Basil Valdez
15. God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
16. Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen
17. Torpedo - Eraserheads
18. With A Smile - Eraserheads
19. Blue Jeans - Apo Hiking Society
20. Kahimanawari - Pinikpikan


The next hour

As - Stevie Wonder
Batang-Bata - Apo Hiking Society
Concrete Jungle - The Wailers
Daughter - Pearl Jam
Friend of Mine - Odette Quesada
Happiness - from "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown!"
Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles
High School - Sharon Cuneta
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika - Hajji Alejandro
Kuwentong Looban - Binky Lampano
Mad Mathematical World - The Jerks
Manggagawa - Rody Vera
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye
Nessun Dorma (1990) - Luciano Pavarotti
Ngayon at Kailanman - Basil Valdez
A Samba Song - Bong Peñera
Think - Aretha Franklin
'Wag Mo Na Sanang Isipin - Gary Valenciano


I'm pretty sure that's more than an hour (Kashmir, hello?)