Four of My Favorite Songs
Nights in White Satin - The Moody Blues
Reason: associated with Wiseguy, the first (and probably most impressive) American drama series I ever saw, starring Ken Wahl, Ray Sharkey, and Kevin Spacey. I was a high school student and fell in love with the unconventional and unconditional ‘brotherhood’ between Vinnie Terranova (Wahl), an undercover FBI agent, and Sonny Steelgrave (Sharkey), the leader of Atlantic City Mafia. The song is infinitely strong and heartbreaking as the background music throughout the scene where Sonny committed suicide after telling Vinnie, “I loved you, man.”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9muzyOd4Lh8
Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
Reason: associated with my undergraduate years at Peking University. I shared a small dorm room with 5 girls, and my bed was up in the air against the window. While my books for 'reading before sleep' varied, this particular song accompanied me almost every night into dreamland. It also intensified my fondness for English lyrics.
Goodbye to you, my trusted friend.
We've known each other since we're nine or ten.
Together we climbed hills or trees.
Learned of love and ABC's,
skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.
Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die,
when all the birds are singing in the sky,
Now that the spring is in the air.
Pretty girls are everywhere.
When you see them I'll be there.
We've known each other since we're nine or ten.
Together we climbed hills or trees.
Learned of love and ABC's,
skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.
Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die,
when all the birds are singing in the sky,
Now that the spring is in the air.
Pretty girls are everywhere.
When you see them I'll be there.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd_Fdly3rX8
Speak Softly Love - The Godfather
Reason: associated with my first year in Germany. At night I sometimes longed for home and those who thought of me from afar. Then I listened to this song in complete darkness:
Speak softly, love
And hold me warm against your heart
I feel your words
The tender trembling moments start
We're in a world, our very own
Sharing a love that only few have ever known
And hold me warm against your heart
I feel your words
The tender trembling moments start
We're in a world, our very own
Sharing a love that only few have ever known
It always brought me to tears.
And I was cured. 
Vincent (Starry Starry Night) - Don McLean
Reason: associated with my first Christmas at Yale. I received 3 Powerpoint files via email from a German friend in Korea, a Swedish friend in Prague, and a Chinese friend in New Zealand.
Curiously, they were one and the same: Starry Starry Night
Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now
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