My first time

The date was March 11th, 2005, and I, no doubt, was sitting in front of the TV, scooping popcorn into my mouth and feeling unfulfilled. I usually watched the late night shows with my mother, but on this night, she had gone up to bed, so I was watching alone. Conan O'Brien introduced an artist I had never heard of before, Regina Spektor, and told the audience that her new album was called Soviet Kitsch. I was intrigued.

The first thing I noticed was her gorgeous bright red Baldwin piano. I'd never before seen such an exquisite instrument. As she began to sing, I realized that her voice was an even more remarkable instrument than the piano.

She was playing Us. The chorus came, and I revelled in the glorious lyrics. We're living in a den of thieves. God, she was so beautiful. Rummaging for answers in the pages. I didn't even try to understand the words at this stage; just listened and basked. And it's contagious. I was thinking, this girl is fantastic. And it's conta-giou-uh-uh-uh-ous. Did she just hiccup? At first, I thought, "What a pity she had to ruin such a beautiful song with that little noise," but as the enchanting music continued, I realized: society had conditioned me to mentally rebel against anything less than a neat and tidy, "normal" sound. By the time Conan had walked over to shake Regina's hand, I was at the computer, feverishly googling with all my might.

Within days, I could be found belting along to Poor Little Rich Boy in my room, trying to write a storytelling song like Chemo Limo, and dancing in front of my mirror to Your Honor. I was in love. I couldn't stop.

Six months later, I posted a recording of myself playing Ode to Divorce in the iheartregina LJ community. Little did I know that this little cover would lead to my meeting up with Jonn Dailey, founder of this website and my co-writer on this blog. We've now known each other for almost two years and continue to be great friends (and, now, business partners!). Just goes to show that Regina can bring people together on a cosmic level.

Watch the video of the first time I ever saw Regina:


Tell me about the first time you experienced the Spektor miracle!