My iPod is Trying to Make Me Insane

I listen to my iPod at work for two reasons:  One, it keeps me from hearing the monologue of a redneck's life from the woman in the department next to mine.  Two, if I listen to audio books or movies (we can listen to movies, we just can't watch them) then I lose track of what I'm working on.  While I can't say what it is that I do, I can say that it is one of the most tedious things I've ever done in my life - and I worked in a plastics factory one summer.

A few weeks ago ABBA's "Gold" was playing on my iPod.  "Waterloo" finished playing and then it went into "Honey, Honey".  Around thirty seconds or so into the song I realized I was no longer listening to "Gold" but instead was hearing the beginning of the soundtrack of "Mamma Mia!", the movie version.  There were several songs after "Honey, Honey" that I skipped.  There's only so much ABBA you can listen to in one sitting. 

In answer to your questions, I have ABBA "Gold" for the simple reason that I like it.  Name me one person who doesn't sing along when they hear "Waterloo", "Mama Mia" or "Dancing Queen" and you've found someone who hasn't listened to a radio or movie soundtrack in the last thirty years.  Either that or they're a big fat liar. 

The movie soundtrack for "Mamma Mia!" is a different story.  Over a year ago, I purchased the movie since all of our friends were raving about it.  We had seen the stage production and really liked it.  Three things about the movie versus the stage version:  Meryl Streep is an awful actress.  She over-acts way beyond belief which can sort of be excused once I found out that the three women who created the stage production were the ones responsible for the movie.  Pierce Brosnan makes my ears bleed everytime I hear him sing, which is the kindest thing I can say.  Understand that I've had a "crush" on him since he appeared in "The Manions of America" on TV in the 1981.  He just should not be allowed to sing.  And last the scenery is absolutely gorgeous.  We have found though that the more we watch the movie the easier it is to bear.  Plus Riley really gets into it which means that we have watched it dozens of times.

That's how I ended up with the movie soundtrack.  We thought it might be better for Riley to hear that version in the car since she is so familiar with the movie.  (There are songs in the movie that are not on "Gold".)  Big mistake.  Take away the dialogue, the scenery and the other actors and you get the stripped down version of how awful Brosnan and Streep as singers truly are.  For the most part Streep is a capable singer.  But I also think she's performing like she's doing musical theater and trying to emote every single word to the back row.

As to how it got on my iPod, I downloaded the soundtrack to my play list before listening to it.  The first time I heard it was the next morning at work.  I sent Robbie a text message saying how bad it was and he replied the he knew.  He and Riley had listened to it on the way to daycare.  A month or so later I'm still fast forwarding past anything that Brosnan is singing on... and hoping that the two albums never play back to back again.