As I travel from Tucson, AZ to Tallahassee, FL I realize that summer is frequently the time for me to leave places and people behind—because of this I have two conflicting sides:
Sad-girl Side:
1. Lupita Palomera – “Perfidia” (as heard in Casablanca)
2. Waylon Jennings – “Anita, You’re Dreaming”
3. Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald – “Dream a Little Dream of Me”
4. Frank Sinatra – “Summer Wind”
5. Bob Dylan – “Tomorrow is a Long Time”
6. Dolly Parton – “Jolene”
7. Stevie Wonder – “My Cherie Amour”
8. Sonic Youth – “Superstar”
9. Gram Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers – “Do Right Woman” (if you like country, you’ll love this)
10. Cat Power – “Nude as the News”
11. The Black Keys – “Lies”
12. She & Him – “You Really Got a Hold on Me” (not better than Smokey’s but I love any song with whistling)
13. Patsy Cline – “Lovesick Blues” (great version of a Hank Williams classic)
Tough-girl Side:
1. Magnetic Fields – “I Don’t Believe You” (melodrama is IN)
2. Velvet Underground – “I Found a Reason” (Cat Power also has a great adaptation of this song)
3. Roy Orbison – “You Got It”
4. The Pixies – “All Over the World”
5. Fleetwood Mac – “Monday Morning”
6. Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass”
7. The Rolling Stones – “19th Nervous Breakdown” (I can really dance to this one)
8. Dirty Dozen Brass Band – “It’s All Over Now” (great cover of RS)
9. Telenovela – “A Mood of Julie” (a no-longer-together band from Athens, Georgia)
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Warrior”
11. Lou Reed – “Vicious” (mantra)
12. Blondie – “Rapture”
13. Beyonce – “Run the World (Girls)” (not my fav Queen B, but love the message
Kelly Scherwitzki is a visual artist and an MFA student in poetry at the University of Arizona. She is a Poetry Editor for the Sonora Review.