TINA | “How to Follow Your Heart” + The Great Tina Playlist
It’s hard to capture the relationship Tina and I had in a few paragraphs. We met in high school and quickly became very close. Tina was worldly in a way few fifteen year olds are. She’d been to and returned from rehab, she was into Velvet Underground and Al Jolson and had a vinyl collection of everything inbetween, occupying 20 milk crates or more. And she had loads of bookshelves filled with journals and poetry that she regularly destroyed to make room for the new words buzzing around in her mind. I loved her and envied her ability to constantly recreate herself when I held so tightly to everything, afraid to lose any piece of me.
We hung out in her mom’s basement. We were allowed to smoke and basically do what we wanted and that’s exactly what we did. Although, what we wanted was not to do drugs and be high school assholes, but instead, play music, read poetry, and paint the walls. It was a beautiful time in my life and I remember it all very warmly. It was a time when I began to find myself and sowed the seeds of who I am today. Tina was instrumental in that.
Having overcome trials and numerous reiterations, Tina and I stayed friends. We don’t see each other that often and talk on the phone every few months (for hours though), but I know her and she knows me and we get each other. Perhaps her strongest gift has always been the ability to follow her heart. While others have made decisions that they’ve been compelled to stand by or afraid to turn their backs on, Tina has always remembered to move on, never get stuck, grow, reinvent: live. Sebastian, I’m thrilled for you to know that lesson and I count myself lucky to have had a friend like her in my life.
Tina had once compiled several mixtapes for her much younger half sister. The tracks covered the great music of all time and moved elegantly from genre to genre. I begged her to make one for you and (while the whole playlist is on my iTunes for you to listen to) here it is again, with select links.
- Rock & Roll – Velvet Underground
- Gold Soundz – Pavement
- You and I – Wilco with Feist
- Into the Mystic – Van Morrison
- Keep on Pushing – The Impressions
- Love Is a Losing Game – Amy Winehouse
- Suburban War – Arcade Fire
- 50 Ways – Telekinesis
- Looking Through – Nada Surf
- This Must Be the Place – Talking Heads
- Don’t Do Me Like That – Tom Petty
- Slow Motion – The Flaming Lips
- Gone Daddy Gone – Violent Femmes
- I Never Learn – Lykke Li
- Revival – Deerhunter
- Soul Love – David Bowie
- Out of Reaches – Steve Malkmus
- The Rules – Ben Kweller
- Blue Moon – Beck
- Your Heart Is An Empty Room – Death Cab for Cutie
- Back In Your Head – Tegan and Sara
- Certain People I Know – Morrisey
- Simple Twist of Fate – Bob Dylan
- Every Little Bit Hurts – Brenda Holloway
- Freedom of ’76 – Ween
- Which Way Your Heart Will Go – Mason Jennings
- Disappearer – Sonic Youth
- Hell is Around the Corner – Tricky
- The Bad In Each Other – Feist
- Break Me – Lemonheads
- The Wagon – Dinosaur Jr.
- Too Young – Pheonix
- Mother of Pearl – Roxy Music
- Into My Arms – Nick Cave
- Vicious Traditions – The Veils
- Follow Through – Hotel Lights
- We All Lose One Another – Jason Collette
- Saint Catherine St. – Sea Wolf
- Don’t Worry Baby – The Beach Boys
- You’re All I Need to Get By – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
- Grace – Jeff Buckley
- Several Shades of Why – J Mascis
- Sweet Sweet – Smashing Pumpkins
- Non- Believer – La Rocca
- Mystify – INXS
- Walk On By – Isaac Hayes
- Weekend Wars – MGMT
- First Day of My Life – Bright Eyes
- Men In Black – Frank Black
- Unsatisfied – The Replacements
- Sorry Somehow – Husker Du
- Cause = Time – Broken Social Scene
- Eyes Off You – Bombay Bicycle Club
- Boys Don’t Cry – Grant Lee Philips
- From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea – The Cure
- Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
- Slow Show – The National
- Place to Be – Nick Drake
- Re: Stacks – Bon Iver
- Away – Kathleen Edwards
- Old Man – Neil Young
- Home by Saturday – Hayden
- Wise Up – Aimee Mann
- Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles
- Everlong – Foo Fighters
- Cigarettes In A Theatre – Two Door Cinema Club
- Wolf Like Me – TV on the Radio
- Summertime Rolls – Jane’s Addiction
- Into Dust – Mazzy Star
- Pale Shelter – Tears For Fears
- Playground Love – Air
- Wild Horses – Rolling Stones
- Heaven – Psychedelic Furs
- This Charming Man – The Smiths
- Alive and Kicking – Simple Minds
- Bridge to Nowhere – Sam Roberts
- Dead Sound – Ravonettes
- What I’d Say – Ray Charles
- Know that I Know – Devendra Banhart
- Beat the Drum Slowly – Timber Timbre