Songs of Remembering

I have songs for just about every significant memory I have. I can be a million miles away from a point in my past and then a certain song will come on the radio or my iPod and suddenly I’m transported back in time as if it had just happened yesterday.

Men at Work and Heart take me back to elementary school. Depeche Mode warps me back to middle school. “Love Shack,” “Forever Young” and early Indigo Girls take me back to the camp I went to all the way through high school. Old school Metallica takes me back to a girlfriend I had in late middle school/early high school and us learning together how to be rebels and push boundaries.

My old friend DS introduced me to Sarah McLachlan and Utah Saints and I will forever find myself riding shotgun in his white pickup truck when I hear anything by either one. H brought me to Low, Kristin Hirsch and The Verve Pipe. One listen to any of them and I’m in my happy car, his vintage Mustang.

“Brown Eyed Girl,” “American Pie” and “Cherry Bomb” puts me in J’s maroon Subaru sitting outside of the pool hall, smoking cigarettes and talking into the wee hours of the morning. Anything off of Pretty Hate Machine takes me to the bedroom of my first high school crush, having my mind blown by this new band and the simple fact of being granted the wish of seeing the inside of JK’s room.

Live and Jane’s Addiction take me to my first love. Pearl Jam, The Cranberries and The Counting Crows take me to Mackinac Island.

Dave Matthews’ “Crash” reminds me of saying every time it came on the jukebox at the bar “This song makes me want to fall in love.” And the first dance at my wedding.

This is such a short list. Music has been such a defining element in my life. Helping me suss out the mood in any given situation or permanently etching a moment into my memory. Songs can just as easily bring a giggle as tears to me no matter my present situation. It’s a bittersweet tie to my past.