We asked our dear friend Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz to prepare a poem celebrating our marriage. Words are art. And Cristin crafted a fifty-line semi-cento poem from song lyrics. Each song has some significance to our relationship. We heard many together at concerts. Others were part of playlists that Aaron made for Bridget while we dated. Each of the fifty songs is a piece of art that stands alone — lovingly, hilariously, or quite seriously. Together, as assembled lines in Cristin’s semi-cento, they beautifully describe our relationship and our love.
Cristin read this poem at our wedding on Saturday, April 9, 2016. We were humbled and honored by her work. And we cherish her years of friendship and love. Thanks, Cristin! Video and text of the poem follow. Playlists are available on Apple Music and Spotify.
Bridget And Aaron: A Playlist Love Poem In Six Parts
50 Songs Provided by Bridget Coyne and Aaron Myers
Semi-Cento Constructed by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
I. Aaron Before Bridget
I’ve been ramblin’ / I’m just driftin’ / Looking outi
I know, I know my time is passed / I’m not so young, I’m not so fastii
Sometimes the bad guys come out on top / Sometimes the good guys loseiii
All of my friends are getting marriediv
It finally hit mev
I want love / To walk right up and bite me / Grab a hold of me and fight me/ Leave me dying on the groundvi
We’re slow to acknowledge the knots in our laces / Heart, it racesvii
II. Bridget Meets Aaron
Come over hereviii
I’d like to get to know you/ I’d like to make you mine/ I’ve been waiting, sitting here so patiently / For you to come over /And have this dance with me ix
I wanna know the whole story over / Where you came from, where you going / However long it takes to know youx
I really want to go outside and stop to see your day.xi
No more hoping and wishing / I’m about to take my key and stick it in the ignitionxii
III. Aaron Meets Bridget
Fell in love with a girl / Fell in love once and almost completely / She’s in love with the world / But sometimes these feelings / Can be so misleading/ She turns and says are you alright? / I said I must be fine cause my heart’s still beatingxiii
Girl is on my mind / Girl is on my mind / Try to ignore it I try to unwind / But she is on my mindxiv
She’s got what all men are trying to findxv
She’s got everything she needsxvi
make it right / Make it right! / Child of Light / Bright white, blinding light;xvii
IV. Dating, Music, Dancing
Take me out, babyxviii
I’ll go I’ll go I’ll go I I’ll go I’ll go I’ll go I I’ll go I’ll go I’ll go I I’ll go I’ll go I’ll go I I’ll go I’ll go I’ll go I I’ll go I’ll go I’ll go I I’ll go I’ll go I’ll go I I’ll go I’ll go I’ll go Ixix
So call me / Call me in the morning / Call me in the night / So call me Call me anytime you like / My phone’s on vibrate for youxx
No matter what you do / I’ll be there with you / I ,I wanna be your man / I’ll do all I can / I wanna be your manxxi
I meant what I said, all I want is to be one of the bestxxii
You gotta hold on… You gotta hold on… You gotta hold on… You gotta hold on…xxiii
And when you’re holding me / We make a pair of parentheses / There’s plenty space to encase / Whatever weird way my mind goesxxiv
I bet you get this rightxxv
In your arms our sound was lightxxvi
V. Love, Life, Travel, And Home
No one knows what they are after / And you just want a reason to come running homexxvii
I can’t wait for you to get homexxviii
don’t care who knowsxxix
Do you know why? / It’s because the sun’s shining / It’s a beautiful day / And I get to spend it together with youxxx
Your future’s with us/ You don’t need to changexxxi
Not a moment I regret xxxii
Cus with the best of you / And with the best of me / We could start a fire / Without gasolinexxxiii
I’m the suitcase in your hallway / I’m the footsteps on your floor / When I’m looking down on you / I feel like I know what my life is forxxxiv
I remember all them lonely days / I traveled out on my own / Then you brought me everything / You made my house a homexxxv
Home- is where I want to be / But I guess I’m already therexxxvi
VI. Marriage
Just like yesterday / I told you I would stayxxxvii
I could stay here / Become someone betterxxxviii
You’re not my dream girl / You’re not my reality girl / You’re my dreams-come-true-girlxxxix
You suddenly complete mexl
My love grows stronger every day / Sugar dumpling, I love you in every wayxli
No i can’t love anymore than i do todayxlii
I promise / I promisexliii
I’ll take it anywhere you let it goxliv
Wild colors of my destinyxlv
my sweet beginningxlvi
Make a wish and let it go forever / Say we’ll always be togetherxlvii
I never knew that I would find / With this old jaded heart of mine / Someone so sweet and fine / I could be with for a lifetimexlviii
You are here and so am I / Maybe millions of people go by / But they all disappear from view / And I only have eyes for youxlix
I do, I do.l
What a goddamn celebration of love, music, celebration & #BridgetAndAaron! We love you @aaronemyers & @bcoyne!❤️ pic.twitter.com/NjtVZje4zA
— Cristin O. Aptowicz (@coaptowicz) April 10, 2016
Song Sources
i “Come to the City” by The War on Drugs. We saw this band in concert on 10/4/2012.
ii “They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!” by Sufjan Stevens. We saw this band in concert on 5/5/2015.
iii “Ohm” by Yo La Tengo. We saw this band in concert on 12/5/2014.
iv “Times to Die” by Car Seat Headrest. We saw this band in concert on 12/7/2015.
v “The Voyager” by Jenny Lewis. We saw this band in concert on 6/7/2014.
vi “Love Interruption” by Jack White. We saw this band at a festival on 10/6/2012.
vii “Heart It Races” by Architecture in Helsinki. We saw this band in concert on 3/14/2014.
viii “Tall Man Skinny Lady” by Ty Segall. We saw this band in concert on 1/31/2013.
ix “Beechwood 4-56789” by The Marvelettes. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
x “Cavalier” by Shovels & Ropes. We saw this band in concert on 8/22/2012.
xi “Go Outside” by Cults. We saw this band in concert on 10/29/2013.
xii “Ignition (Remix)” by R Kelly. Among Bridget’s favorites.
xiii “Fell In Love With a Girl” by The White Stripes. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xiv “Girl is On My Mind” by The Black Keys. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xv “Ton of Joy” by Otis Redding. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xvi “She Belongs to Me” by Bob Dylan. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in August 2015.
xvii “Bright Light” by Mount Moriah. We saw this band in concert on 3/27/2013.
xviii “Cape Dory” by Tennis. We saw this band in concert on 3/5/2012.
xix “1957” by Milo Greene
xx “Vibrate” by Rufus Wainwright. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in February 2015.
xxi “Your Man” by Guards. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in February 2015.
xxii “I Don’t Do Crowds” by Camera Obscura. We saw this band in concert on 7/18/2014.
xxiii “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xxiv “Parentheses” by The Blow. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xxv “Greenleaf” by Generationals. We saw this band in concert on 10/11/2014.
xxvi “My Young Man” by Esme Patterson. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in February 2015.
xxvii “Horrow Show” by Howler. We saw this band in concert on 4/13/2012.
xxviii “Crazy for You” by Best Coast
xxix “My Baby Just Cares For Me” by Nina Simone. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in August 2015.
xxx “Magical Colors” by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. We saw this band in concert on 10/5/2012.
xxxi “Your English is Good” by Tokyo Police Club. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xxxii “Don’t Stop Loving Me Now” by Floating Action. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in February 2015.
xxxiii “Gasoline” by Dave Monks. We saw this band in concert on 6/15/2015.
xxxiv “Good to See You” by Neil Young. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xxxv “I Found You” by Alabama Shakes. We saw this band in concert on 4/25/2014.
xxxvi “This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)” by the Lumineers. This cover version of a Talking Heads song impressed us during a Colorado mountain drive.
xxxvii “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear. We saw this band in concert on 9/21/2012.
xxxviii “Colors and the Kids” by Cat Power. We saw this band in concert on 11/13/2015.
xxxix “Dreams Come True Girl” by Cass McCombs. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xl “Hysteric” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xli “Sugar Dumpling” by Sam Cooke. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in February 2015.
xlii “Chugjug” by Family of the Year. We saw this band in concert on 4/28/2012.
xliii “I Promise” by Generationals. We saw this band in concert on 10/20/2012.
xliv “Something To Look Forward To” by Spoon. This song was included on a playlist Aaron shared with Bridget in December 2012.
xlv “Cape Canceveral” by Conor Oberst. We saw this band in concert on 11/15/2012.
xlvi “What You Know” by Two Door Cinema Club
xlvii “Lysandre” by Christopher Owens. We saw this band in concert on 1/27/2013.
xlviii “Finally Falling” by Mayer Hawthorne. We saw this band in concert on 4/17/2012.
xlix “I Only Have Eyes for You” by The Flamingos. This song is part of a Doug Aitken artwork that we saw during an early date in March 2012. A line from the song is engraved in Bridget’s engagement ring and Aaron’s wedding ring.
l “Not Sick” by Tokyo Police Club. We saw this band in concert on 5/13/2014.
