cast away

Among music afficianados of my ilk - ginger-locked, left-handed Libras - there is a certain construct that often gets bandied about.  To wit: the "desert island record."  And though I've used the phrase on more than one occasion, I've never been quite comfortable with it.  If I knew I was to be stranded on a desert island, I'd want that CD which describes how to build a raft and spear a grouper.  I'm sure I'd pick up those skills eventually, but a little guidance would speed up the learning curve.  I'm guessing that most people that use this phrase aren't imagining a scenario where their music could aid in their survival in a harsh environment, but rather the music - the only recorded music - they might ever get to hear for the rest of their lives.

This certainly isn't a list of the best CD's I own, and I wouldn't even call it a list of my favorite CD's.  (Though there is some overlap here with that second category.)  I've had this mental list going for several years now, but this is the first time I've written it down.  Some discs are firmly ensconced and have been for years.  One was added just this morning, when I realized I listed to it approximately seven hundred times or so in 2007 and still have yet to grow tired of it.  So tough titties, Steve McQue- Lyle Lovett.  Maybe if you'd omitted that stupid song about how great it is to be from Texas, you wouldn't have gotten bumped.