Musical Memories

Some types of music or specific songs remind us of people, places, or times in our lives. We finally invested in an MP3 player this week and went through our CDs to transfer them on over. Many of these CDs are pretty much never used anymore. I will admit that my car has a 6-disk CD changer that has 5 (yes FIVE) Disney CDs in it at all times (the most awesome set of CDs ever--40 years of Disney songs). I love these CDs myself and they are also great for kids. Because of this, the only slot that ever changes is that #6 spot, which may vary depending on the mood of the driver and length of the drive. That said, it was interesting to go through the CDs that have been neglected for a while. Many of these songs made me smile, a few made me laugh out loud, and yes, a few even made me sad. I am pretending that the sad ones don't exist and would like to share some of the happy ones and the memories they bring to me. These are in no specific order whatsoever.

The "Brian Wilson" song...ORANGE ROLLING!! To anyone out there that has any true understanding of what orange rolling is--you know what I'm talking about. To Bugs specifically--remember whose name we substituted in there and how great we thought it was to drive past his house with the song blaring, the windows down, and oranges waiting to be rolled?

Simon and Garfunkel...Yes, they were technically around before my day, but their music reminds me of Paul's Dad, Sid. Sid loved these guys and I think the only reason I even know this is because we borrowed his truck over spring break to go camping out on the desert and this was what we listened to over and over again. This was right when I first met Sid--when Paul and I had not been dating very long. These songs have forever been frozen into my mind as Sid's songs and also remind me of that camping trip (which I know some of you hated, but I had a GREAT time).

Canon in D...Speaking of dads, this one reminds me of Dad. All you siblings of mine know what I mean. While we are talking about Dad, "The Morning Breaks and Daddy Squeaks" and was a good one too. The song "Butterfly Kisses" also reminds me of my dad because I never liked that song at all (despised it is a better word) until the day before my wedding when it came on the radio and I just started bawling. I was always daddy's "Beano Baby" and I suddenly had this moment of realization of how my dad must really be feeling about me getting married. I have liked this song ever since.

Christmas music...My mom loves Christmas music and plays it from Thanksgiving until at least New Year's Day pretty much nonstop. The great thing is that when I hear some Christmas songs my brain automatically remembers the versions on Mom's cassette tapes, which were recorded from records. These versions included skips from the records and therefore my little kid brain memorized them with some of the lines completely cut out. Sometimes hearing these songs without the skips seems strange.

"Where Can I Turn for Peace?"...while I am on family members, this one reminds me of Grandma (and her good friend Emma Lou Thayne, of course--she wrote the lyrics to this song and spoke at Grandma's funeral, which is, honestly, the only reason I ever knew they were friends or associated this song with my grandmother).

"You're the Inspiration" by Chicago...A few years back I decided to do a 14 days of Valentine's Day surprise for Paul. I made different small gifts for him each day and every day I set his radio to play this song when he turned on the car. I still don't know how he didn't catch me at it, but somehow he was surprised every day.

"All your weight" by Collective Soul...I actually had to look up the title of this one. The reason it is on the list is because I can't help but think of my brother, Kevin when I hear it. He used to turn up the volume as loud as it would go and play this song. He loved the first part of it sounding on one side and then the other and I remember hearing it very vividly from down the hallway over and over again just because he thought it was so cool. It's on the MP3 player, just because of you, Kev!

"Everything I do, I do it for You"...This was Jennifer's favorite song at one point in life and she would listen to this one over and over and over, therefore we all became well acquainted with it (I know I had my songs that I would do the same thing with).

"Barbie Girl"...Horrible song, but for some unknown reason my high school soccer team listened to it way too many times and then some more. There are more normal songs that also remind me of soccer, but this one is definitely unique!

TMBG...If you know what this stands for, you probably remember driving around doing nothing and having a great time of it! We sure did a lot of driving and listening to music in my high school days!

The entire U2 collection I dedicate to Bonnie who was officially addicted!!

"So Close" from the Enchanted movie...Austin!! That's weird. I know. He and I spent a lot of time listening to this song when I was WAY pregnant and in pain and he would just snuggle with me and we would sing it together. So sweet!

If you actually made it through this whole list (I am sure there are plenty more, these ones are just the ones that come to mind at the moment), then the challenge to you is to think of some others and post them in your comments. Rock on friends!!