Speaker 1: 0:43

Welcome back to another Super Awesome Mix. My name is Matt Zidholm, alongside my co-host and co-founder of Super Awesome Mix, sam Abusalbi. Sam, how are we doing this week?

Speaker 2: 0:53

Doing really well. We've got spring in the air, coming around the corner, which is actually a funny thing to say, I think, as you have experience living in the northeast, because I feel like spring doesn't actually arrive till like may you know.

Speaker 1: 1:05

But yeah, it's still really cold up there for like another month. It's like when you talk to people about their spring break, if they're in a northern state, it's like, uh, let's see, I think it's around april that we're having spring break. I'm like we're going next week. Okay, it's 75 degrees outside down here.

Speaker 2: 1:24

Yeah, we're, we're in the 50s now which, honestly, after this pretty brutal winter feel, feels like spring, it's like it's really nice.

Speaker 1: 1:31

Yeah, I remember it if it got to 50 degrees and the sun was out, everyone was wearing shorts right, yeah, great yeah no doubt, no doubt, but yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:39

So, speaking of spring, we thought it would be cool to put together a mix about kind of spring cleaning yes, yeah, we've done some spring break mixes in the past and we thought, you know what, why not take a different view of spring, which is a great time to kind of clear things out, start anew? You know, take a cue from great time to kind of clear things out, start anew. You know, take a cue from nature, just kind of brush things up. And you know so. We did a mix of, of course, 12 songs. We are doing it as an A-side, b-side, so Matt's songs are going to be the first six, so I will intro each one and then mine will be tracks seven through 12. And, yeah, you, you know I'm curious about your theme and I'll let you talk about it. But each of us, kind of like, took a stab at putting together a theme to help us, um, kind of spring clean this year yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1: 2:28

I think, um, we haven't done the side a, side b thing in a while, but I think it works here because I think we went in you know, kind of different directions with this maybe not dramatically different directions, but I think it, uh, I think it works uh either way, but yeah, no, I this turned out to be a really good mix. I was a little dubious of it at first, but then I was like no, I think this works. I really like a lot of the songs on here.

Speaker 2: 2:52

I do too. Yeah, I enjoyed listening to this one a lot, so with that, let's kick it. Track number one on the A side is Ride Like the Wind by Christopher Cross.

Speaker 1: 3:02

Okay. So back in season one we had Tony Smith of the band Sleeper Agent on the show and he shared with us and I think this may have been an off-air conversation, I don't remember if it made air or not, I didn't go back and listen to that episode but he talked about like, growing up, when his mom was cleaning the house, she would start to play this song and she would like wake everybody up and get everyone going with this song. And since then and it's been over four years, right, like I can't get this song out of my head. When I think about like I'm going to start cleaning, and if you listen to it, it's really like, first of all, it's such a fantastic song, it's like it gets you going, so like just from the start, like that's there, so just musically, it'll be there for you, right.

Speaker 1: 3:50

But then you start to listen to the lyrics and it's like it is the night, my body's weak, I'm on the run, no time to sleep, which, if you're a parent of young children and you get them to bed, that is absolutely what you're thinking, because you're looking around, your house is a mess. You got to get that thing cleaned up, but it's late and you're tired, but you don't have time to sleep, so I love it. The song is actually about a criminal trying to make a break from Mexico. Someone on the run, christopher Cross, gets help from Michael McDonald vocally, but apparently he also had help from LSD in writing this song. He talks about that being being an inspiration, which I think is hilarious, because this is the least like drugged out drug inspired song you'll ever hear it's pretty tame, right, yeah?

Speaker 1: 4:46

like his visions or hallucinations were pretty mild, given. Uh, I mean, I guess there's a little paranoia here, but I don't know anyway, but that's why I started with ride like the wind I I love all of that.

Speaker 2: 4:58

I was curious why this was on there. I had not remembered that story, but I do remember him telling us that, which I really enjoyed, so that's great. I do also really love the fact that he wrote the lyrics while on acid. But then what really makes me laugh is that he specifically was driving through Texas between Houston to Austin. That's not a very long trip, you know, like that's. That's like two and a half hours with no traffic.

Speaker 1: 5:22

Yeah, you hit that at the right time. That's a really easy drive, especially like what part of Houston are you in?

Speaker 2: 5:28

Right, right.

Speaker 1: 5:28

Never been to Houston. It is so sprawling, yes, and so like, if you start in like Katy right, which is fairly west of houston, I mean it might be two hours and you're on the outskirts of austin exactly.

Speaker 2: 5:40

Yeah, you get on the 10 and you're just, you're golden, like so I. I just think that's especially impressive. You know that you could take acid drive to between houston and austin and knock out a song that becomes a classic that we all love many, many years later.

Speaker 1: 5:58

So kudos to Christopher. I'm such a dork. I was like wait a minute. Was he driving while he was on acid and writing this song Like how unsafe was that highway?

Speaker 2: 6:08

That does sound very unsafe. Do not do that, listeners, please. All right, well, let's move on to track number two. This is Car Wash by Rose Royce.

Speaker 1: 6:20

All right, I'm going to guess you've never heard of the 1976 movie called Car Wash. Is that accurate, sam?

Speaker 2: 6:28

That's correct. I have not.

Speaker 1: 6:29

Yeah, so it was written by Joel Schumacher, right, who's a fairly big name in Hollywood. It featured, among others, comedians George Carlin and Richard Pryor. It was about one day at a car wash. That was the movie. It was actually nominated for a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, nice which may or may not be a true fact, but it was out there on the internet and I was like wow. I was like that's interesting. I've only seen parts of this because it was like kind of a comedy, if you will, but this is the title track from that movie. So it's specifically written.

Speaker 1: 7:04

And this was back when you'd make a movie and then ask someone to write a song and the song was the title of the movie. Right, there was quite a few of those in the 70s and 80s, even into the 90s, but yeah, so it's just about working at a car wash. And I thought, from a cleaning standpoint, like hey, get out there. And, sam, this is not relatable because you're in New York City. All right, it may not be, not everyone has cars up there, but down here in Texas, like we got our cars in the driveway and, you know, not a bad exercise to get out there after you've cleaned inside the house and clean your car up a little bit, and it's a good feeling to clean your car.

Speaker 2: 7:43

Yeah, I used to love actually washing my cars whenever I lived in Texas. That was like a fun afternoon thing to do, you know, get the hose out, get the soap and the buckets and just kind of like clean everything. I took it very seriously. I was obsessed with my car as manyplane which is a very silly movie that I'm sure you've seen but I think whenever they're getting the plane prepped to take off, there's a guy literally doing the squeegee of the window.

Speaker 1: 8:17

Oh, yes, I think there is. They give a snippet of this song.

Speaker 2: 8:21

Yeah, I think he's listening to this song when that's happening. So that's where my brain goes when I hear this song. So so it just puts me in a happy place. But yeah, I like it. I agree with you, you know. Include the car and the spring cleaning. That's going to make you feel really good.

Speaker 1: 8:33

No doubt, no doubt.

Speaker 2: 8:35

All right, this one. I'm really curious about how it made its way onto the list, because the others seem to fit this one.

Speaker 1: 8:49

I to hear the story. It is Demons by Imagine Dragons. Okay, so you've now like you've gotten up, you've picked up around your place a little bit, you got outside, you wash the car. Why not take a moment and think about yourself for a second?

Speaker 2: 8:56

okay, okay yeah, all right.

Speaker 1: 8:57

What's going on internally Because, like, sometimes that cleaning may need to be inside, right. So think about whatever demons you've got going on, whatever's inside of you, and like, what can you reasonably, you know, address? Okay, like we talked about our friend Teddy swims leaving therapy as a last resort a couple weeks ago, let's not leave therapy as a last resort. Maybe that's an appropriate route for you, map out a plan there. But yeah, I just thought you know a little bit of internal cleaning as well might be appropriate.

Speaker 2: 9:27

Yeah, some internal demons. You see, I think that's great. I also would recommend that if you've got some actual demons in your house, to go ahead and exercise them as well. You know, just get them out.

Speaker 1: 9:37

That's a great point. If you watch Gremlins like, those guys are not like neat freaks at all.

Speaker 2: 9:42

No, exactly they're not going to help you clean. You know Exactly, they're not going to help you clean Poltergeist, any of the paranormal activity films, any of those. It's pretty clear that a demon is not a good house guest, so you're going to want to get them out.

Speaker 1: 9:54

That might be a good bit to get an anal retentive demon or ghost right Right To where it's like they're not smashing things.

Speaker 2: 10:07

It's actually like wow, why is my bed made, you know, and they're constantly reorganizing your cabinets, you know why is everything alphabetized now?

Speaker 1: 10:13

I mean, I like it, but who did this right? Do we have a helpful ghost in the house like that's I love that um, but no, I really like the song.

Speaker 2: 10:25

I I agree with you. I think you know again, spring is a good time to throw out what you don't need, and so I love the idea of, both internally and externally, let go of those things that are holding you back. I agree with that. All right, so I'm guessing once you're done with all of that, you're going to want to go to your windows is where we're going here. So this is Cleaning Windows by Van Morrison.

Speaker 1: 10:47

All right. So musically, kind of like Ride Like the Wind, this song just cooks right Like. This is just a great song. So now it's like you've taken a moment of reflection. You got to get back in the groove and clean up a little bit. And here comes Van Morrison. I mean this is a little bit of a deep cut. It's a very autobiographical song, kind of describes his life in Ireland in the early 60s. But yeah, just get back to cleaning, get back to physically cleaning and if you want, while you're doing that, think about your life, think about things you're thankful for, or simpler time or whatever it may be. I mean this whole experience could put a smile on your face, could put you in a really good mood.

Speaker 2: 11:28

Yeah, I really, really like this track. For that I mean, I wrote here. It's just a very happy, light vibe of a track. You know it. Just it feels, you feel good putting this on and listening to it. So I think this one is right on the nose for a good cleaning mix. I really enjoyed this track a lot. All right, another one. That was such a throwback. I had not heard this song in ages and I was so happy to to include it. I can't imagine any other scenario where we would include a song by hillary duff and it is come clean um, yeah, this was the theme song to uh.

Speaker 1: 12:02

The mtv shows laguna beach and newport harbor like 20 years ago.

Speaker 1: 12:06

So good I'm sure a lot of listeners out there it's right in their wheelhouse. In the theme there you really just get a snippet of the song. But like listening to the whole thing, like revisiting this, I'm like this is a pretty good pop song. Yeah, like this is really. I mean this is very listenable, beginning to end and I think listening to just if you just hear the theme part you might've it might've gotten overdone because they play it in the commercials and stuff when those shows were pretty popular 20 years ago. But if you just listen to this whole song beginning to end, it's really good and again kind of serves two purposes Like you could think about. You know relationships you have that you've got to kind of clean up, like situations you got to clean up sort of personally. But again it's also just a good track to just sort of get you in a groove and keep cleaning it.

Speaker 2: 13:03

You know, belt it out like. I think, like cleaning mix is really fun to have music that you want to sing along to, because that's going to kind of distract you from some of the more mundane tasks, uh, that cleaning often has. And so this one, like the chorus, is just, it's a perfect kind of karaoke song in that way you you can just belt it out alongside her well, and definitely a great karaoke song because, like, everybody's going to come in on that chorus, right?

Speaker 2: 13:27

Yes, exactly, yeah, all right, so to round outside a your last pick, such a good one to another throwback that I hadn't listened to any long time. This is Hard Knock Life Ghetto. Anthem by Jay-Z.

Speaker 1: 13:48

Okay. So I was actually originally thinking of the song Hard Knock Life from Annie, because if you've seen that musical or movie, that is the scene where they are all cleaning up the orphanage and singing this it's a hard knock life, right. So I was like, well, that's perfect, right. But then I was like I don't want to listen to that song from Annie, I'd rather listen to Jay-Z. So sort of thematically it fits the cleaning part right. Because if you're sitting there cleaning up, I mean it's a hard knock life, obviously the scene in Annie. But then this has just got a better beat. You got the Jay-Z lyrics over it. I mean this was a monster hit for Jay-Z, but definitely one worth going back and listening to again and I think a great one for when you're working around the house and cleaning things up I think we got to do another, like sampled tracks mix I.

Speaker 2: 14:33

I know we did one a couple years ago and I loved it. And because I agree, there's certain songs now where I can't hear the original without hearing, like, the rap on top of it yeah um, and this is definitely one of those because I agree with you like, if I'm just listening to the annie song, I want to hear jay-z's voice on top of it yes, that's right.

Speaker 2: 14:53

That's right, yeah and there's many, many tracks like that where I feel the same way. So maybe that's a mix in the making, but, um, I also, you know, kudos to them. You know, for the producers of this track to be like to use a musical theater song and turn it into just an amazing hip hop track right, like that's not an easy thing to do on paper, but it really works very well here. So I like your pick and I just love this song. I think it's a great way to round out the mix.

Speaker 1: 15:19

Nice, all right. Now, before we flip the tape over to side B, okay, I want to talk about why you're spring cleaning. Okay, take a break. Make yourself a nice drink with syrups from our friends at skinny mixescom. Okay, you get mixers for your coffee, tea water, snow cones or even your favorite adult beverages, and they're all sugar-free. Right now, you can save 10% with the promo code Super awesome. Okay, so start your spring cleaning. Refresh yourself with a beverage enhanced by skinny mixescom promo code Super awesome. All right, we got the tape back in the deck. It's on side B. We're going to listen to Samer's six picks and we're going to start with Make a Mess by Matt and Kim.

Speaker 2: 16:01

Yeah, so my theme here is also kind of the journey of spring cleaning. So the first step usually for cleaning is you first have to kind of make a bit of a mess right. Like we recently redid our kitchen, my wife and I were like we got to reorganize. This is getting a little unwieldy, and the first step of course is just kind of like emptying everything out and you make a huge royal mess of things.

Speaker 2: 16:23

So I think, just embrace that step. You know you often like don't want to do these deep cleaning exercises because of that, but you know what Make a mess. So I think that's why I wanted to start this track with, or start this mix with, this track, Because it's also serving the purpose of it just being a really fun upbeat. You know high energy pop song and I think that you kind of need that when you're getting going. You need something to motivate you to just start the process at all.

Speaker 2: 16:50

So yeah make a mess. You know, enjoy, enjoy the process, and so that's why I started with this song.

Speaker 1: 16:58

I love it. Yeah, I was gonna. That was the first note I had. It's like if you don't have a mess, then you have nothing to clean, right. So no, this is like a perfect starting point, and I love like this is kind of fun in the vein of like they might be giants or bare naked ladies, where you know they're clearly good musicians and they're doing some good stuff lyrically, but it's also just kind of a fun song yes, exactly yeah all right, your second pick.

Speaker 2: 17:22

This is objects of my affection by peter, bjorn and john yeah, this is one that came into my life again recently, like it. Just it popped up on like a radio, one of my personalized radio stations. I was like I really love this song. So I've been listening to it a lot and I realized that it could actually work here.

Speaker 2: 17:40

Because this one is really just kind of the sense of, you know, letting go of things.

Speaker 2: 17:45

Basically, you know things that might have been important at one point might not be important anymore, and so you know, objects of my affection, like things in your life might have had your affection at some point, but it might be time to kind of Marie Kondo your life, you know, check in with yourself, realize that you are a different person. Maybe you're in a better place, hopefully, and you can let go of some of these things in your past. And you know, one of the best ways to keep a place clean is to declutter. You know you just have less things to organize, to clean, and so it's just a lot easier to maintain that. So that's why I picked this song, because it's, you know, still keeping that energy high, just musically. But then lyrically it's that kind of reminder to check in and ask yourself like are you better today than you were then, and what, as a result, can you get rid of in your life to kind of help you maintain that, that peace and joy. So that's why this is track number two.

Speaker 1: 18:38

I love it, yeah, and like I mean, I just moved last year and that was exactly kind of part of it was just going through a bunch of stuff that I've had for years and years and just being like I don't think I need this anymore, you know, but at one time it kind of held some meaning. So, uh, I really related to this song. Um, I also love the lyric just because something starts differently doesn't mean it's worth less, right?

Speaker 1: 19:01

Like so many times we try to equate things just based on the result and and maybe, like I don't know, it's, it's really kind of interesting. Um, yeah, I just thought that was just thought that was a great way of putting it. But yeah, I really enjoyed the song and really got me thinking about things that maybe you hold on to. But I was like, no, this is a perfect spring cleaning song.

Speaker 2: 19:22

That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 19:24

Now this next one I'm going to need a little help with OK, so I'm not sure why this one's here, but I'd love to hear the explanation. I do love this song. It is Goodbye Stranger. By Supertramp.

Speaker 2: 19:34

I also love this song and you know it's been like five years. I don't think we've ever talked about it. No, we've never talked about it. So, yeah, you'll have to allow me a little bit of wiggle room to put it here. But my thought process was that as you're going through the objects of your affection, you know you're just going to have to let them go and say goodbye to them um, yeah and so you know, especially the lyric, like I really have enjoyed my stay, but I must be moving on.

Speaker 2: 19:59

Um, you know a lot of people. There's like a grand debate on the internet if this was a song about a one-night stand or about any other you know situation where you just need to move on. I think, as we've talked about in the show, it is whatever you know speaks to you right, like the lyrics are, however you are going to interpret them and how it's important in your life. So I think in that regard, I'm viewing it as that kind of yes, you know this, this might have been good for me at some point, but it's time to say goodbye and it's time to be moving on. So that's why I put it on here. But in general, I love, love, love this song and I think it's just got this high energy, you know, kind of build up, and I'm also always reminded of Michael Scott singing this to Toby.

Speaker 2: 20:41

So bonus points there for bringing me a little extra joy, because it's the happiest you'll ever see Michael Scott is whenever he's telling Toby goodbye.

Speaker 1: 20:50

Yes, I do, I do think of that scene. You're right, great energy. So if you're just trying to get going while you're yes, I do, I do think of that scene. You're right, great energy. So if you're just trying to get going while you're cleaning, I think this is perfect. But yeah, I mean, I do think, letting go of things. I think this is a good song for that, because maybe that stranger is like a former version of you that you don't recognize anymore, and that person needed one of these things that you have, but you don't need that anymore, so you can say goodbye to it. Um no, I mean I'm just glad to see this song. I mean, I had no issues listening to it, but I was trying to figure out the theme, but I think that works that's awesome um, now your next pick.

Speaker 1: 21:22

I think this one's a little bit more straightforward. We've talked about this one, I think, on the show in a previous mix. Um, but this is work. Bitch by britney.

Speaker 2: 21:31

Yes, we have talked about it. It's very on the nose here. It's also back in my mind space because SNL 50, they've been doing all these specials. They had a concert special with Will and Anna singing this song and it was just so, so funny to have them just like belt it out on stage. It's like living rent free in my head on repeat. So that kind of brought it back to the forefront. But I think at this point in the clean you know like you're gonna probably want to quit, because that happens a lot.

Speaker 2: 22:03

Like you're you're, you're redoing a room, you're you know you're cleaning all this stuff out. You're trying to let go of stuff, you're organizing whatever you you're probably going to be like this was too much. I don't. I don't want to do this anymore. So this is a reminder that if you want good things, you know, if you want that nice, clean, tidy Marie Kondo style house you got to put in the work, um, so this is just that arc in the in the journey to kind of like tough it out, put it in the work, it's going to all be worth it very soon. So that's just that little reminder, hopefully the little motivation you need to keep going.

Speaker 1: 22:38

Yeah, no, this one, you know pretty straightforward why it's here. You definitely have to work to get these things done. And I've also appreciated this song because it's just the straightforward message, right Like there's really no way around it, it's just a matter of getting the work done. So, yeah, well done, well done, no way around it, it's just just a matter of getting the work done. So, yeah, well done, well done. Um, track 11, another one I'm not too surprised is on here. Um, this is so fresh, so clean by Outkast.

Speaker 2: 23:02

Yeah. So now you're at the part where you know things are starting to look really good and come together, um, and you're just kind of feeling so fresh and so clean, clean, right, um, so this one is definitely just on the nose. Uh, you don't it's not a stretch here to figure out why it's on the mix, but great outcast track. You know we, we love outcast.

Speaker 2: 23:21

We've talked a lot about their songs, um, so it's always fun to put them on a mix and, yeah, this one, you know, not a lot of deep analysis needed here, just a great little moment to be like, yes, I'm feeling so fresh, so clean, the apartment's looking good or the house is looking good, your space is looking good and, as a result, like you feel good. We definitely can be a reflection of the things around us, and so if everything's kind of messy and cluttered around us, we can internally definitely feel like messy and cluttered. So sometimes some of the best ways to jumpstart changing your life is to first change your space. Um, so that's, uh, that's what this song is kind of a reminder of for me.

Speaker 1: 23:58

Yeah, that's kind of where I went. There is sort of a mental aspect to this where it kind of pumps up your ego a little bit while you're thinking about cleaning, which I think, uh, is really good. I don't think people necessarily make that association, like you just said, where it's like your surroundings, kind of can affect your mood. So no, I thought it was really good because it's like, as you've laid out this progression of cleaning, now you're to the point where it's like you're starting to feel good about what you've accomplished. So, yeah, great pick, great pick. And that takes us to your final pick, track 12,.

Speaker 2: 24:30

Track six on side B this is Paradise by coldplay yeah, so just wanted to end it on a on a high vibe, you know high energy song, um, a favorite of mine and just a reminder now, or it's kind of this you arrive at the destination of, you've got your own little paradise, um, this song is, of course, someone, someone dreaming of paradise and escaping to a fantasy world and hopefully you don't need to escape anymore, you can escape to just your own space and it's no longer a fantasy that you've got a clean, organized, decluttered room, but instead you can live it and wake up in it and enjoy that and kind of like we talked about, start the day with that mental clarity to be able to go and tackle other problems and other challenges you may face.

Speaker 2: 25:16

So this is just, you know, to round out the mix of you're feeling good, you've done the work, you've cleaned, you've let go of things, donated them, recycled them, etc. And now you're living in paradise, hopefully, and enjoying the fruits of your labor. So that's why I wanted to end it here with this track.

Speaker 1: 25:34

Yeah, this one's great because it could have been your first pick, or your last pick, right, you could have started with just sort of dreaming of something better when you're looking around.

Speaker 2: 25:44

Yes.

Speaker 1: 25:46

But I think it also works as the last pick, which is like you put in all this work and now you sort of created this for yourself and that's probably a more positive message to go out on. So I think that's a better route to go. But, yeah, just a great song. It's very anthemic and so it'll kind of carry you through those last steps of your spring cleaning. But they're also incredible live, like I don't know if I've talked about that before, but just an incredible live show by Coldplay. Incredible live, like I don't know if I've talked about that before, but just an incredible live show by coldplay. So, um, yeah, you know, probably worth looking up some videos there of this song because that'll get you into it as well. But, yeah, great one to go out on. Amazing, all right. Well, there you have it.

Speaker 1: 26:25

Okay, a little side a side b, you could take your pick or listen to both. Okay, there's probably multiple spring cleaning days ahead of you, but but something to get through the declutter and sort of the reset as we change seasons. If we miss something, reach out to us at superawesommix on social media. Sam and I have got plenty of other mixes to get to, so we'll get to work on that. So, for Sam, this is Matt, and we'll see you next time.