On-deck.

I'm sure each of us has wondered at some point what song we would choose if there was a massive, omnipresent stereo that played said song when we walked into a room. It's the same thought you have while at a baseball game listening to the players choices while they're stepping up to bat. In the last few weeks I've been intrigued by this as I've discovered that on Myspace, you can upload a song to play when somebody clicks on your profile (which can be annoying if you're like me and already listening to something while browsing). So I got to thinking about what song I would choose if, in fact, I had a Myspace account.

I spent (literally) several hours of meticulously plowing through my iTunes and making an shortlist that exceeds the limit of being an actual shortlist during the last day and night. Bear in mind that I considered a number of objective factors such as lyrical eloquence, genre of music that most people would identify with me, political messages, and strength of electric guitars. I also had to decide whether I want my song to have a strong hook at the beginning (ie: 'The Mexican' by Babe Ruth), be a 'fun' song ('Coin Operated Boy' by the Dresden Dolls), or be nice listening while reading my probably lengthy profile ('Glósóli' by Sigur Rós). With all of this at stake, I think I've settled on it:

'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane.

In the end I rejected those three options and went with a classic late-60s San Francisco Sound, a song that builds and builds to an irreversable climax with lyrical brilliance and unmistakable drug influence. That it was a favorite of Mr. Hunter S. Thompson may have also played a subconscious role in this decision.

Others on my "shortlist" were 'Not an Addict' by K's Choice; 'Lorca's Novena' by the Pogues; 'In the Sun' by Joseph Arthur; 'Hallelujah' by Jeff Buckley; 'French Disko' and 'Bullets' by the Editors; 'Obstacle 1', 'Obstacle 2', and 'C'mere' by Interpol; 'Thunder Road' by Bruce Springsteen; 'Positively 4th Street' by Mr. Bob Dylan ('Like a Rolling Stone' shall never be debased by gratuitous Internet playing); 'Diamonds on the Face of Evil' by Ugly Casanova; 'Abilene' and 'Crazy and Losin' It' by Abileen; 'Contact' by Citizen Cope; 'Pass the Ammo' by Mac Lethal; 'I'm a Playa' by Tech N9ne; 'Going the Distance' by Cake; 'Golden Age of Radio' by Josh Ritter; 'Just Like Honey' by the Jesus & Mary Chain; 'The Last Great Punk Rock Song' by Say Anything; 'It Ended On an Oily Stage' by British Sea Power; 'The Seed (2.0)' by The Roots and Cody Chestnutt; 'Hell + High Water' by Rainer Maria; 'Set You Free' by the Black Keys; and 'Lebanese Blonde' by Thievery Corporation. That's about 1/3 of the list, but I think you got the point of the exercise.