Growing up, I guess my family was pretty music-oriented. My mom was the church organist, my sister and I both played the piano and were in various choruses, choirs and bands, and my dad ... well... okay, he couldn't play or sing, but he did like to listen to music. It is because of him that I love Dick Biondi. The man has a talent. I mean, he can Name That Tune in 3 notes, tell you who sang it, what year it was popular and where he was the first time he heard it. It should come as no surprise to me, then, that music has been so intertwined in my life. I can be driving along, hear a song on the radio and instantly be transported to another time or place.
I know there are songs that remind you of certain people, places or things. But I am talking -- you hear the first few notes and you are immediately there. All of the sounds, smells and feelings come rushing back and you. Are. There.
What songs transport you, and where do they take you?
Friday, November 16, 2007
I've Got the Music in Me
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Hook by Blues Traveler
When we were in college and my husband's house threw a party, sometimes the only way to get people out at the end of the night was to play music that they didn't like. For some reason, nobody at the time was a big Blues Traveler fan. So, he and another one of his friends would pop in Blues Traveler. When I hear Hook, I am immediately back in the house at 2:00 in the morning, dancing and singing like a lunatic. And the smell... oh, lord, the smell. Just ask my mother-in-law about that. (On second thought, don't. I'm sure she's blocked it by now.) Ah, the memories.
"swingin'" by john anderson...
my dad used to work on various projects out in our garage when i was growing up. he would always have this little radio plugged into the wall and "swingin'" would play through its tiny speakers. i would stand out there with my dad and we would sing our hearts out! i remember the chilliness of the concrete floor, the smell of sawdust, and the sounds of our voices belting out 2 part harmony. those were definitely the days...
The whole Hysteria album from Def Leppard... it's impossible to pick just one song because they all blend together in my mind. It's the sensation where one song ends and I already know which one is coming up next to the point where I' like "Hey, wait a minute." if I hear the song somewhere else and it's not followed by its trusty album companion. (I say album b/c it wasn't a cd - oh no - it was a cassette. Heck yeah!) My mom used to blare that baby as she cleaned our house, back in the day when we had no neighbors. I remember being outside on sunny days, not a sound around me, riding my bike up and down our dead end street. I'd suddenly hear the first chords strike up, followed by the vacuum cleaner and her singing. Not exactly the conventional way to raise a child (Sesame Street had nothing on hair bands), but it takes me back to my childhood every time.
Fun blog. Ok, a song for me is "This is how we do it" by Montell Jordan. It was popular back when I was in college, and it was one of those fun summertime songs that me and my girlfriends would be riding around in the car with the windows down, playing it loud and "car dancing" in our seats. It was summer, I was young, and had no real responsibilities...sigh. Ah, car dancing. When was the last time you really did that?
There are so many songs that can transport me to any given time and place...the one I always come back to is "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. As soon as I hear those first few beats I am 17, walking into a club on Jacksonville Beach with my two best friends from high school, Sharon and Kassie. We just graduated from high school and decided to take a car trip to Florida before we started college. We walked into this club - Einstein-a-Go-Go's - and this song was playing. I can see the people, smell the sea air, feel the sand on my feet, and see the ocean waves hit the shore. I remember the guy in the Navy I met that night - David; I swear he looked just like Val Kilmer in Top Gun. The whole song just reminds me of the end of one part of my life and the beginning of the next. Brings a smile to my face every time!
Itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie yellow polkadot bikini...takes me back to my childhood in NY. ANY Beatles song takes me back to the Indiana State Fair and sitting in the bleachers SCREAMING!!! Windy takes me back to Jack n' Jill Amusement Park in high school where my boyfriend and I went to listen to bands--Lovin' Spoonful for one. Just an Old Fashioned Love Song takes me back to falling in love with my hubby. Ode to Joy takes me back to my wedding. Happy Birthday takes me back to singing to Matt in the car when he was an infant--anything to get this kid to sleep!!! All God's Creatures Got a Place in the Choir takes me back to when my kids were in grade school. Back Street Boys reminds me of my teenie-bopper Beth. and Metallica reminds me of attending a Metallica concert in Freedom Hall with Matt. I could name more, but this lengthy list is giving away just how ancient I am. Evan's Grandma
Guns n' Roses: Any song from Use Your Illusion I or II takes me back to playing Sonic The Hedgehog on Sega Genesis.
Korn: 1st CD takes me right to "Car Dancing" in Colorado. (I never heard it called that, but whatever you call it, it's probably not safe).
Oh, too many to count. Here's a few:
* "Here I go again" by Whitesnake: Always takes me to the school dances we had in high school in the gym. I can almost smell the fake rubber floor and sweaty, stale air every time I hear this...
* "Love Street" by The Doors: When I was studying in Germany, The Doors were huge with my friends and me. This song always takes me back to a small hole-in-the-wall pub called Im Stock, where I could usually be found sipping a "Wodka-Zitrone" and talking about eating grass...
* "Take me back" by Erasure: This song always reminds me of my school's "Summer Weekend 1994", one of the best weekends of my life. I can picture sitting in my room at the fraternity house, singing along to this with my future wife...
* "Birth of words" by The Samples: Shortly after graduation, I took a federal government job in Milwaukee, which did its best to turn me into a paranoid neurotic. During the year I lived alone in Milwaukee before I got married, I listened to The Samples almost constantly to decompress after working. This song always takes me back to spending my afternoons after work sitting along a dune in a city park in South Milwaukee overlooking Lake Michigan...
Funny, "Always" by Erasure reminds me of Summer Weekend '94! "Take Me Back" does a bit, too, but "Always" is the one that really, well, takes me back. I also seem to remember that future DH could hit the high notes better than I could. :)
Here are some more:
* "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" by Chicago - reminds me of being in Mississippi with my friend, Jenn, my sis, and her friend, Sandy. We listened to this tape over and over and cracked up every time it came on. "Girl..."
* "I Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon. In high school, someone made a tape for one of my best friends that had this song on it, and he also recorded himself talking to her. Somehow, the tape made its way into the wrong hands and it ended up being played REALLY LOUDLY on one of our weekend bus trips, really late at night. If I remember correctly, she was sitting with his brother at the time...
* "Mysterious Ways" by U2 - reminds me of the first time I saw Morrissey in concert. I was with my HS boyfriend and some other friends. When I hear this, I can totally picture driving through downtown Chicago with all of the lights whipping by the car and the music blaring in the background.
* "Cha Cha Slide" - This takes me back to my own living room, circa June 2001. super jane, Erin and I have tasty beverages in hand and have shoved all of the furniture aside as we split a gut, trying to follow the moves. "What the hell is a Charlie Brown??" Ha! I'm almost in tears just thinking about it.
* "Irreplaceable" by Beyonce. This song was on the radio all the time last spring. My parents were down in Mississippi for one last visit to the condo before they sold it, and my dad ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. My sister and I flew down there to help my mom drive home. Every time I hear that first "To the left," I am immediately riding through the streets of New Orleans, late at night, on my way to the condo one last time.
Baracuda-by Heart reminds me of freshman year at Illinois State rocking out with my friends Sheila, Marla, and all the girls at AC Dorm.
I Will Follow-by U2 also reminds me of freshman year at ISTate, I think it was the first song my new boyfriend played for me(I ended up marrying him it will be 22 years next month)
Free Falling- by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers reminds me of my son and daughter swinging on their swings in the backyard singing that song in their very cute 5 and 6 year old voices.
Roxanne-by the Police reminds me of all the times I have seen the Police and Sting and how my husband surprised me last summer with tickets to see them at Wrigley field-it was AWESOME!!!!
Jungle Boogie by Kool & The Gang
When I was a mere 20 yr. old and could not buy beer legally, my friends and I would con some sucker into buying us alcohol. We would then go to my friend Jamie's house (her mom was always gone)and get liquored up on Boon's Farm and cheap beer (those were the days, baby). Mid way through the night, we'd start a soul train line and take turns dancing down the middle of it while the others clapped for you. Whenever I hear this song, I think of those days and can taste the Strawberry Hills Boon Farms Wine ($1.99 a bottle)and smell the cigarette smoke wafting through the air. :)
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