Slowly Going Bald

"Is She Really Going Out With Him?", Joe Jackson — I bought it just so I can wind up dating a beautiful woman, have her leave me, and then set this as the ringtone for whenever she wants to call and talk about the problems she's having with her new boyfriend.

"He'll Have to Go," Jim Reeves — This is a song that's been in my head since I was a kid, thanks to my dad. It's a sad drunk calling his girl from the bar and asking her to pretend they're still in love, and to send her new man away for just a minute so they can talk. It's great.

"Confessions, Pt. II," Usher — Hey, this time it's the guy that cheated! This song will always take me back to senior year of college, mainly/especially because a buddy threw it on a mix tape he made me for my journey to SoCal.

"Way Down in the Hole," The Blind Boys of Alabama — I bought the soundtrack to "The Wire" a couple days later at Amoeba, but I wanted this track just so I could set it as The Sis' ringtone, since she's one of the many who encouraged me to watch the show, and she's the one who bought me the first season. (And I'm not done with the show yet, so no spoilers.)

"Suds in the Bucket," Sara Evans — This is totally dumb, really slick pop-country, and I bought it because my roommate and I got hooked on the song when we realized we could watch the music video on demand via Time Warner, which we did for like three straight days. Plus she's cute.

When the Summers Lasted Long, Jon Nolan — I liked the guy when I heard him on my Old 97's Pandora channel, and the album was worth the $8 or whatever it shook out to be.