Ever hear a song and it instantly takes you back to a particular moment in your life? That happens to me. A lot. As I'm sure it does to lots of other people, too. It happens even more because of my ipod. Probably because my ipod has almost 3,000 songs on it. The songs range anywhere from Lori McKenna to Usher to Amos Lee to Toni Toni Tone. Yes, not lying. What?! Don't deny that you didn't love some Anniversary by TTT. :)
Music is so amazing, so healing really...for me, a simple song can flood my whole body with such good feelings. It can turn a bad day right around, that is if it's the right song. And by the right song, I mean one that leads me back to a place where I can remember being so happy at the time. I can remember where I was, the time of day, the weather or maybe if I'm lucky, I can even remember what I was wearing. Lately it seems as though I've been feeling this way alot with the songs that have come across my random playlist.
"Think about it, there must be higher love. Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above..." My brothers may poke fun but this song takes me right back to childhood. Even more so it takes me back to riding to the East Rockingham pool in the summer in our station wagon. It reminds me of the absolute storybook childhood that my brothers & I had. No worries that the song came out in 1986 (by Steve Winwood) and yes, it is on my ipod. I mean, why wouldn't it be considering I loved it?!
"The hot July moon, saw everything. My first taste of love, whoa bittersweet. But green on the vine..." I had the most amazing group of girl friends in middle & high school and we spent many a nights at the Childress residence in Barren Ridge listening to Deana Carter on the jambox. Oh to be 14 again...
"You don't have to call me Waylon Jennings. And you don't have to call me Charrrrrrlie Prrrride..." The year was 1999. I was 16 so therefore allowed to "car date". David Allen Coe takes me back to Eric's red Explorer and the many nights of him jamming out to it & forcing me to love it, too.
"Hey pretty baby are you ready for me, It's your good rockin' daddy down from Tennessee..." I'm a sophomore, Abe is a senior. Every morning he would drive me to school in his Camry and he would make me roll down the windows (no matter what time of year) and he would turn up Steve Earle's Guitar Town as loud as it would go. At the time I would act like I was sooo embarrassed but when I look back at it now, I loved it. I loved feeling so cool riding with Abe; my big bro, the nice guy, the quarterback, the senior.
"Anywhere I go, a fly girl will please me. East to west college girls are easy..." Silly lyrics, silly times. Ahhh Beastie Boys and Katie Harmon. Takes me back to high school, driving around in the "Woody" doing what we did best, stalking people...whether it be the country roads of Fort Defiance or the city streets of Staunton...we did a lot of stalking and we admit it.
"Andele Andele mami E I E I. Uh oh! What's poppin' tonight..." Senior year - FD basketball season before EVERY game we would listen to EI by Nelly. We thought we were the coolest. Wow. It isn't until I think that about it now that I realize we surely were not. :)
"Cadillac girlls Cadillac bills, check out the oil my Cadallic spills..." On repeat. High school senior beach week. Kids cruising down the strip (windows down) in South Myrtle Beach in front of the Freaky Tiki. Hahaha. Enough said. Thank you, Ludacris!
"Sweep me off my feet. Singin ain't this life so sweet..." This Year's Love by David Gray. The wedding of Valeda Michael & Wes Blank. First time I had ever been to a wedding and witnessed the couple dance their first dance in front of a huge group where no one spoke a word, but just watched the couple dance. Having been to a lot of weddings, the silence from the guests & the focus on the couple made this the best song, dance, and moment I've ever witnessed during a first dance.
And let me just say, there are so many songs that grace the ipod that remind me of many, many, many nights in downtown Blacksburg. Hey Ya! Milkshake! Shake ya Tailfeather! Hot in Herre! Air Force Ones! Gold Digger! Ignition! If we were downtown, you can bet money on the fact that me along with my 36ers, Betsy, 1401 CC, FD alumni, Radford crew, Wharton St, Priscilla or whomever else I was out with that particular night...were on the dance floor.
"Back, back, back to where we lasted..." 3 people: Me, Ash & Moose. 2 trips: To Roanoke and then on to Buena Vista. 1 car: Celica. Memory by Sugarcult. It never fails, if this song comes on the ipod then I shoot right back to that extremely fun wedding weekend in 2005.
"She's just a pretty girl. Who comes around here, to make you smile..." My boyfriend at the time, hubby now, sent me those lyrics when we first started dating. Pretty Girl by No Address. My name for our first 6 months of dating was not Molly, it was PG. He would even sing this song to me. And best of all, I have a Pretty Girl t-shirt he bought me when he saw them in concert. Makes me giddy everytime.
"And this love, is like nothing I have ever known. Take my hand love. I'm taking you home..." 4.26.2008 - Best day of my life. Muah RAH. Love 80's music. Love Don Henley.
Hearing certain songs pop up every now & again on my ipod makes me smile, it makes me reminisce. It takes me back to an exact moment. It makes me feel blessed for all the amazing memories I have made over the years. Whether it be with family, high school girlfriends, ex boyfriends, VT roommates & buddies, co-workers, or my husband...it doesn't matter, what matters is that it's a memory, a treasured memory, a memory that I will take with me forever...and this is all thanks to just a bunch of words, put to a melody.
I really don't know what I would do without music in my life. One thing is for sure, I wouldn't have as many reasons to look back on some wonderful times in my life...
...and feel truly blessed.
LOL!!! This is too funny b/c as I was going through your song list I was HOPING Shake Ya Tailfeather would be one of your songs! My friends and I always blasted that song in our car after a BC f'ball win. We would drive around B'water jammin' away to it. Ignition was one of ours as well- we would drive to H-SC and that would be top of our play list. (matt and Susan gaunce would invite us there for their greek week)
ReplyDeleteLOVE this post!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to look up the songs you listed that I'm not familiar with.
Music is essential, and such a remarkable link to the memories of our past.
For me, music can be a reminder of not only the happy but also the sad times. And I appreciate that too, because every memory is a reminder of why I have become who I am today.
The week after my wedding in 2008, my mother-in-law passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. I don't think that's something that we will ever truly recover from. And sometimes it makes me angry because my husband and I were cheated out of the dream of having that perfect wedding memory that so many couples are able to experience. Luckily, it is only our processional music that overwhelms us with such tremendous sorrow that we were forced to remove it from our playlists.
One final thought... I love the scene in "Elizabethtown" where she orchestrates his road trip, complete with a soundtrack.
For those of us that love music, and the memories it pulls to the forefront of our thoughts, we are fortunate to have created our own life's soundtrack.
Thanks for the posts ladies! The songs I mentioned aren't all "quality" :) but they do all take me back to a good place. I know what you mean, Katie, when you say some songs remind you of not so happy times. I definitely have some of those, too and maybe I will save those for another post. But I decided this one would just reflect on the good! I'm so sorry about your mother in law but you are right in saying it has made you who you are. And my guess is it made your bond with your new husband even more amazing. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteYes...."Higher Love". All of the sudden I'm back playing Baseball/Handball with Abe and Matt in the shallow end at ERRA.
ReplyDeleteNext up, some stick hockey and fun dip....maybe a Zero bar or Charleston Chew. Tough Call.
Nothing better than the smell of Chlorine, French Fries and Suntan Lotion all together.