I’ve been trying to come up with the proper words for a fatherhood post. There are things I would like to say about it, but at the same time I am a fairly private person and don’t wish to have everyone that reads this know exactly how I feel. So I will be brief. If all this gushiness confuses you and you don’t know what this project is about, go here.

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It is amazing how you know that something is coming because you wait 40 weeks for it, but then that thing is here and it is a person. An actual person is suddenly there, and that person has been growing for a while but you can’t fathom that because it hasn’t actually been there in front of you. Something from nothing that you just immediately love. And how do you love this person, so intensely, right away when it normally takes so much time to learn to love someone? Then you think that this was perfect genetic timing because if she had been created at any other time it wouldn’t be this exact person that you already love so much even though you haven’t known her for more than a day. And could you even imagine life, even after mere minutes, without this exact human being a part of your life? Life is incredibly fickle, but at moments such as child birth it can be perfect. And that is all I have to write about that.

75. My Morning Jacket – I Will Sing You Songs (mp3) from It Still Moves (9:16) [Time Remaining: 689:27]

When thinking of a song that my mother and I could dance to at my wedding, this song was always near the top of my choices. I’ve interpreted the lyrics to be that of a parent singing to his/her child in an effort to smooth over a rough patch because of something bad that has transpired. I know firsthand, and I’m sure nearly everyone does, that to child events that matter little in the long run can be devastating in the present. I envision myself being the type of parent who will always want my children to know that things can and will get better. Not to shield them from everything and prevent the bad, though I will try my darnedest, but to try to accentuate the positive and that things will always change and get better. If your parents can’t do that for you, who will?

76. Animal Collective – My Girls (mp3) from Merriweather Post Pavilion (5:40) [Time Remaining: 683:47]

“There isn’t much that I feel I need
A solid soul and the blood I bleed
But with a little girl, and by my spouse,
I only want a proper house”

Perhaps it’s early for this particular song to be included in this project, but I don’t believe so. I had this song on repeat way back at the beginning of the year even before I knew my wife was pregnant. Once I found out she was with child, the song took on a completely different meaning for me. Then, when I found out two weeks ago that it was actually a girl that had been hiding in there for so long, this song became indispensable. I fucking love it. It says the things you can’t imagine not feeling as a father.

For today’s installment of the 1000 minutes project I was tempted to include 1901 from Phoenix, strictly due to the number of times I’ve listened to the song since it was put out. I think I’ll wait however and see if the song holds up after my initial infatuation subsides. In sticking to songs that have withstood the test of time, here is the third edition of my 1000 Minutes Adventure.

5. My Morning Jacket – The Way That He Sings (mp3) from At Dawn (5:36) [Time Remaining: 975:24]

I have several songs authored by My Morning Jacket that may or may not eventually be listed as a part of this, but this was the first song from the band that I absolutely loved. I saw the band live back in the Fall of 2002 well before they hit it big. They were one of the openers for a Doves show at Water Street. All I can remember is hearing this incredibly melodic and soulful music from a bunch of dudes who looked like they belonged in a death metal band. They were leaning forward banging their heads with their long hair and beards waving all about in time to music that didn’t fit their looks. I was hooked right from the beginning.

6. Idlewild – Mistake Pageant (mp3) from 100 Broken Windows (2:49) [Time Remaining: 972:35]

When all is said and done with these 1000 minutes I’m sure there will be several other songs taken from this particular Idlewild album as well as a few songs from the band’s later efforts. They are still one of my all time favorite bands and this song is pretty close to perfect in my opinion.

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