THE WORDS & MEMORIES ORBIT

A life, on the record.

Songs that bring you back. People who stay with you. Wander through Nick’s writing, one memory at a time.

9 storiesNEWEST MEMORIES FIRST

54 to 54Dec 18, 2019DAY 3

Wonderwall

Not sure how this song squeaked past and didn’t make it into previous countdowns, but here it is today: Wonderwall by Oasis, a decade-defining masterclass in pop rock. Music changed so drastically so fast…

54 to 54Nov 9, 2019DAY 41

Runaway

Irish sibling band the Corrs brought a unique sound to the nineties and even had a pretty big hit with Breathless, but the song of theirs that I love is Runaway. To me it sounds like romance, with the…

53 to 53Dec 3, 2018DAY 18

Good Riddance Time Of Your Life

Later into the nineties, amid the absolute worst moment in my small, predictable life, I found comfort in a guitar-and-strings ballad by an alt-punk band whose sound was usually crass and boisterous. It was…

51 to 51Dec 21, 2016DAY 0

Merry Christmas Darling

To end a countdown of 51 songs to 51, when the one in question is born 4 days before Christmas, seems incomplete without a bonus song that only gets played this time of year, but is hands-down my favorite…

51 to 51Dec 20, 2016DAY 1

Those You’ve Known

With one day left to my birthday, I decided to save this song from Spring Awakening as my penultimate. Obviously, unless you’ve seen the show you won’t know the song or what events led up to Jonathan…

51 to 51Nov 29, 2016DAY 22

Mary’s Prayer

Another relatively obscure one for the list, this is Mary’s Prayer by a Scottish band called Danny Wilson. In the early days of VH1, which at the time was showcasing more adult-contemporary types of hits,…

51 to 51Nov 5, 2016DAY 46

Drive / If You Could Only See / Closing Time

Today I present three songs, so I’ll label this as some songs that still resonate from a really terrible year. Dichotomy much? There’s something about me that finds comfort in the music that played around…

50 to 50Dec 21, 2015DAY 0

Finale [In The Heights]

Of all the music in all the genres from all the time eras, it’s been REALLY difficult to cull down 50-ish songs as favorites. I love music. Music is joy and sorrow, an outlet and a hope chest. Songs…

50 to 50Nov 27, 2015DAY 24

As Long As You Love Me / You Will Be In My Heart

Anyone who knows me knows that 1997 was the most horrific year of my life. It was the year I lost faith in God and watched as two beautiful, small children had to move forward in the world without the most…