How to convert a 10 favorite songs CD into a convoluted exercise- The soundtrack of my life I - Golden Brown

One thing you get used to when living in Zurich is farewell parties. For one reason or the other, people come and go all the time. But, not all farewell parties are born the same... A few months back, a dear friend threw a memorable see you all soon party, that was not exactly the usual Swiss apero. Together with the invitation, there was a request: bring along a CD with your favorite songs. "Only 10?" I replied in shock and horror. "Yes, only 10. Whatever you like, but only 10".

How could I possibly decide on just 10 songs? Should I pull eighties songs to remind myself how happy and gay these times were? Or, chose whatever two songs for decade, for experience sake? Maybe delegate on Itunes the decision and burn a CD with the 10 more played songs? I couldn't help remember another of these exercises, done sometime during the late 90ies. But, we sort of cheated a little, and instead of a 10 favorite songs lists, we ended up with several lists, ranging from songs we like for sentimental reasons, to feel good songs, passing to pub and clubsongs and memories of vacations categories. Much to my dismay, the lists seems have been lost in time and cyberspace... And, anyway, this poetic license would be stretching it too much.

After a few weeks struggling with several ideas and lists, it soon became clear that it was com-ple-te-ly-im-po-ssi-ble to create a 10 favorite songs list. I cowardly showed up at the party with a _gasp_ Best of the 80's compilation and a big smile. It was not the spirit of the thing, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances... At least, it was a directionally correct effort - the compilation had a good part of the soundtrack of my life. Songs like Tears for Fears' Shout, The Cars' Drive or The Boomtown Rats' Tell Why I Don't Like Mondays, that I used to listen on the radio, and had always been there, but never owned.

In a way, I still owe my friend that CD. And in a totally different way, it would be probably better to keep these lists and songs at a safe place, before they are washed away. As the Chinese say, an used pencil lasts longer than a good memory.

In the very early eighties, I used to come back from school and listen to the Radio. TV was not open 24h a day, and even if it were, there would be only RTP1 and RTP2. Not much of a choice, really... But Radio, that was something else. There seemed to be unmissable programs going on, even if there were only an handful of FM stations. I mostly kept it tuned with Radio Comercial, one of the public radio stations (It was named Comercial because it had advertisements and sponsors, as opposed to the other stations, who had no ads at all). After lunch, I would listen to programs like TNT (All at the Top), the more mainstream program, or O Som da Frente (The Sounds of the Front), what we would call indie music, or Rock em Stock (Rock in Stock).

My soundtrack had songs like Foram Cardos, Foram Prosas (It Were Thistles, It Were Proses) by Manuela Moura Guedes, Amor (Love) by Herois do Mar, by Herois do Mar (Heroes of the Sea, that happens to be the opening lines of the Portuguese National Anthem), Planet Earth by Duran Duran, Just Can't Enough by Depeche Mode or Tainted Love by Softcell (in no particular order). Some of these songs traveled through time better than others, I have to add. But, if I had to choose one single song from these days, it would be The Strangler's Golden Brown: