The sounds of young love. Nothing expresses those three little words louder than the perfect song. Admit it. You have a few mix tapes hiding among the skeletons in your love closet, complete with the songs that defined your first forays into romance. With the first few chords, you're transported back to the butterflies of young love and the memories of the first person that you wished could be your special someone, as well as the first person who really was .
They're the songs that still stir a reaction inside you when you hear them. You press play and hear the slow, awkward warblings that remind you of that unforgettable first crush. The person that made you sit up and take notice... and then run to the radio and desperately press record every time you heard the song that captured the essence of your (sometimes unrequited) love. The chorus rings out and you're transported right back to the awkwardness of your first journey down that rocky relationship road. Maybe your dream guy or gal doesn't look so dreamy in retrospect, but the songs stay the same.
Fast forward a bit, and you arrive at the songs that take you back to your first taste of true love. Crush, no more... this is the real deal. These are the melodies with meaning that, despite your best attempts, still tug at your heart strings with each note. Sure, the tape may close with a bittersweet song of love gone bad, but this isn't a tale of heartbreak. You're young and in love once again, staring wide-eyed in wonder at the first person who ever made you feel like you were part of something amazing. Even years later, a little part of you reawakens with the opening chords of these songs and you remember, if only for a brief moment, the innocent bliss of your first love.
Yes, we all have them. The songs that define the highs and lows, happiness and heartbreak of our first crushes and first loves. Make a mix tape of these memorable first experiences all over again. What's on it?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
More Than Words
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6 feet, wanting to reach 130, braces with an expander, and my complexion could have been better. I wasn't even confident enough to say the word "confidence" to a girl. In fact the only thing I ever said to "girls" at school was "thank you" to the lunch lady and "bonjour" to my French teacher. Despite my painfully shy nature, there was one girl that made me want to explode out of my shell and say... "Hi, Heidi." Yes, her name was Heidi... Like the orphan... Daddy Warbucks... FDR. Or is that Annie? Anyway, Heidi was "it". She had "it". She often did that thing that girls should never do to boys of my age... she smiled at me... and frequently. I never knew what to do. I never knew what to say. I would constantly play and replay the what-ifs throughout the day. *What if I'm getting a drink at the drinking fountain and when I turn around she's right there... in line behind me... But she's not there for a drink... She's there for me.* The smiles kept coming but I always kept my distance.
There was one song that I listened to that helped me "cope" with the misery... November Rain - G n' R. Not sure why... The lyrics weren't perfect but the mood that the melody set was. And the video... Perhaps if I could've played my guitar, sleeveless, next to a church in the middle of nowhere I would have found the peace necessary to move on.
Damn you Heidi.
Oh my, does this dredge up some memories. You name a slow song of the late 80's/early 90's and it probably reminds me of someone. It seemed I always "liked" someone, but as far as the actual all-out, full-blown crush variety... well, I'll just give you the run-down.
"Honestly" by Stryper - Darrin. (Yeah, I said Stryper.) Actually, I dare you to try and find a song of that era that *doesn't* remind me of him. Go ahead, try.
"Should Have Known Better" by Richard Marx - Jack. The song says it all.
"Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS - Joe(as in First-Dance-Story-Joe).
"The Flame" by Cheap Trick - Mark. A guy that was a few years older than me and whom my mom refused to let me date. (Smart woman. I should really thank her one of these days.) This was my first full-fledged broken-hearted, melt-down-sobbing crush. I was all of 14.
"Love Song" by The Cure - Dan. And now we've moved into full-fledged first-love territory. I was the ripe old age of 15 when we met and 18 when we broke up (well, for the last time, anyway). There are a million other songs I could list here, but I think this one was the official "our song" song.
"Forever Young" by Alphaville - Andy. We thought we would conquer the world together and do it all while staying Forever Young. Thirteen years and two kids later, we realize how delusional we were. ;) Well, we've conquered poopy diapers, sleepless nights and endless medical bills together... we may just get to the rest of the world yet.
"Heaven" by Bryan Adams - reminds me of both my grade school crush Rob, and my high school crush Eric. Obviously the lyrics don't pertain to either of them; neither even knew I existed. But I would play it over and over on my stereo dreaming about how they secretly loved me...
"Love Song" by The Cure - David (in the Navy, David.)
Any Phil Collins song - Jason. Man, he loved Phil Collins. We saw him in concert and listened to him all the time. ...over and over and over...When he broke up with me it crushed me. Then a few years later we were inseparable as friends...and were still listening to Phil Collins...
"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel - Jeff.
The whole "Cloudcukooland" album by The Lightning Seeds and "Hey Jealousy" by the Gin Blossoms - Brian. My first love...he broke my heart.
"By Heart" by Jim Brickman - Scott. We saw him in concert; the entire time we were dating was long distance; we danced to this song at our wedding. The lyrics say it all. My true love.
My entire teenage love life is a random mix of the strangest songs ever. Kind of appropriate, since the characters involved were pretty strange themselves.
I'll Be Missing You by Puff Daddy - Mario. Yep. I liked a guy named Mario. He had a bowl cut and the fliest dance moves in our 8th grade class. I was smitten but too shy, awkward and blessed with braces to ever make my feelings known.
She Talks to Angels - Dan. My first "long distance" crush, making him elusive and mysterious since he went to a school a whopping nine miles down the road. A road that he traveled in an old orange Chevy truck that played Dixie when he honked the horn. Yee haw.
Please Remember Me - Scotty. Another boy from another school who captured my heart on the sly while he kept his "real" girlfriend on his arm. We shared many late night talks in my backyard and over ICQ (oh yeah, this was pre-AIM, kids.) He was the first bad boy in my life but sadly not the last.
REO Speedwagon - Anthony. My first real foray into a relationship and all the joy and heartbreak it brings. I'll never forget when I saw him that first time at Inman's (a bowling alley, how classy) and knew then I was headed for heartbreak like I'd never known before. Any REO song instantly brings to the smile that melted my 15 yr old heart that night... and broke it more times than one. Jerk. (I'm over it. I swear.)
Dave. I can't even give a song to Dave. Good, bad, in between... there are just too many. All of which still sting a little more than I'd like to admit. I've had to work too hard to get past those feelings to surrender to them right now (and thankfully my hard work has paid off). More than that, he doesn't deserve the energy necessary to take that trip down memory lane.
How Do You Talk to an Angel - Skyler. This was the first of many "our" songs for us. First real boyfriend and first love. We took the mix cd thing to a whole new level. Amazed, Yellow, Crazy for this Girl, Angel... there were so many. And best of all, none of them make me cringe anymore... except for the ones that are just plain bad by themselves, memories or not :)
Here's a few titles and memories, in chronological order:
* "La Isla Bonita", by Madonna: Favorite song of the aforementioned Emily (see previous post). I don't know how I know this, though, since we barely ever talked...
* "Lady in Red", by Chris DeBurgh: I danced with Sara, a girl for whom I pined from afar for most of high school, for the first time to this song.
* "Yo, Sweetness!", by MC Hammer: I dated Michele during my Hip-hop/Rap stage in high school, and she loved this song (no, I never actually sang this to her...)
* "Halo", by Depeche Mode: Susan was a big Depeche Mode fan, and I remember listening to this song for the first time with her...
* "The Sign", by Ace of Base: The day I broke up with Amy, I came back to my fraternity house where a party was going on, and this was playing. I felt so good at that moment in my life...
* "Forever Young", by Alphaville; and,
* "One More Time", by The Cure: Both songs were two of my favorites on the first mixed tape Tara gave me. I still love listening to the tape and recognizing how happy I am today because of her...
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