Top 5 Breathing Songs of All Time, Solarize West Hartford and Yale Scholars

Good morning, West Hartford! Today is Monday, Oct. 28, 2013; there are 64 days left in the year.

People talk all the time about things they can’t live without. Chocolate. Their spouse. iPhone. Hair gel, according to my wife, though she doesn’t wear it and I have no idea where that came from.

Anyway, you know what people really can’t live without? Air. Seriously. Everybody does it. Can’t live without the sweet combination of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and neon, with a little methane thrown in for taste.

So, in homage to the atmosphere, I’m giving you my top 5 songs involving breathing of all time (yeah, it’s a stretch, but after two years of writing this stuff, I need themes, kids):

5. Breathe (Faith Hill, 2000) - This is an awful song that I feel compelled to include on the list simply because of Faith Hill’s advice. Just breathe. Yep. Good one. Thank goodness Faith Hill went into music instead of medicine. Many people would have died.

4. One Last Breath (Creed, 2002) - You know who admits to liking Creed? No one. And while I won’t go so far as to admitting liking the band’s catalog (I don’t), I’ll cop to really enjoying this song, overwrought as it is and Scott Stapp’s messianic complex notwithstanding.

3. Every Breath You Take (The Police, 1983) - Best stalking song of all time. Prove me wrong.

2. Breathe (Pink Floyd, 1973) - Ah, The Dark Side of the Moon. If you didn’t own a copy of this album in high school or college, then chances are you didn’t go to high school or college. And Breathe is perhaps the most underrated track on Pink Floyd’s seminal album with the theme of that which drives us all mad. Like Faith Hill songs.

1. Just Breathe (Pearl Jam, 2008) - Yes, I admonished Faith Hill a few songs ago for proffering the advice to just breath. But we all can agree that Faith Hill is awful. I acknowledge that Pearl Jam evokes a visceral response from people, both positive and negative. For me, few songs evoke peace more than this one. Sue me.

Here’s five things going on (or not) in the area this week:

1. Halloween is this Thursday. I just want to let you all know that I am a journalist of the highest integrity. Integrity, that is, until you ply me with 100 Grand Bars. Then all bets are off and I’ll write anything you want.

2. No Town Council or Board of Education meetings this week - the municipal election is Nov. 5.

3. Yale’s world affairs scholars will speak at the West Hartford Public Library on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

4. Join Sedgwick Middle School and Student Council in making a pledge to stop bullying in our schools at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 30.