more music memories

My sister Melissa asked about my life soundtrack, and I am more than happy to oblige with this one. It's one of my favorite things to think about, and I'd already been contemplating a post on this again anyway. I wrote once about it, when I started gathering songs on Playlist.com and I told the stories of some songs I added to my list - and I'm planning on reposting that one (soon). But here are some things I didn't include there.

First, my childhood was filled with the music of my parents - The Beatles, Anne Murray, Judy Collins, John Denver, Peter Paul and Mary are some of the big ones that stick out in my head.

More specifically, my older sister and I would "borrow" my parents' Beatles albums and play them on our Fisher-Price record player (I cringe to think now about how many albums I'm sure we scratched and ruined) and pretend to be backup-singers and dancers for them. We played this a lot in our elementary school days. I was Paul's "girl", she was always John's. Thinking back on this cracks me up to no end.

I also have a specific memory of making up a puppet play (ala Sound of Music) with my stuffed animals and Cabbage Patch kids to John Denver's "Calypso." I was probably about 9 or 10.

And then there was the dance my sister and I made up to "The Pied Piper" by ABBA, along with our neighbor friends (2 sisters we played with a lot). We were going to perform it for our elementary school talent show, but I guess we chickened out, because it never happened. It involved a lot of skipping. Unfortunately that's all I remember of the dance. ;)

So, although there are many groups or bands that remind me of certain eras of my life, or people or general time periods, there are just a few other albums that remind me of very specific memory moments. It is funny to me how deeply ingrained the memories are in some of these, because the memories themselves aren't necessarily that memorable. But the music and the moment were somehow wound up very tightly together in the same neural pathway and they still remain. Here are some of the ones that have struck me as I've listened to them in recent years (with approximate timeline):

1. 1988 - REM, Document - lying on my living room floor by our big family stereo speakers, reading Redwall by Brian Jacques. Every time I hear a song from this album, I get flashes of the plot from this book. It's kind of crazy.

2. 1989 - Beatles, Help - summertime, cleaning the kitchen, and trying to recover from heartache and a certain boy. For some reason, this album helped. Esp. the song "You're gonna lose that girl." That song made me feel better. haha! ;) I had to console myself with the thought that there might be someone out there thinking this . . .

"If you don't treat her right, my friend
You're gonna find her gone (You're gonna find her gone)

And I will treat her right, and then
You'll be the lonely one (You're not the only one)
You're gonna lose that girl (Yes, yes, you're gonna lose that girl)
You're gonna lo-o-ose that girl (Yes, yes, you're gonna lose that girl)
You're gonna lo-o-ose... (Yes, yes, you're gonna lose that girl)"

3. 1990 - Enigma, MCMXC a.D - on the way to an Oakton Stake youth dance, slouching down in the backseat of the car (I do remember whose, but I'm going to just leave that part out), I just remember closing my eyes, listening to this music (which was playing very loud), and trying not to think too much . . . (no simple task, I'm sure).

4. 1989-90? - Me and The Farmer by The Housemartins - skipping in circles around the couch at Alyssa's house to this song. Yes, skipping. :)

5. 1991 - Cocteau Twins, Heaven or Las Vegas - There had been a bad car crash where 4 popular students from my high school were killed. At school the next day, the entire school was silent. It was so surreal. No one was saying a word. We would walk into class and no one would speak. The teachers weren't even teaching. Finally a decision was made to let everyone go home early. I couldn't find a ride home with any of my friends (as I usually would) so I rode the bus alone. Got home to an empty house. And I cried myself to sleep listening to this album.

6. 1992 or 93? - Brahms, Concerto for Violin Cello and Orchestra in A Minor, and Piano Quartet in C Minor - studying for my finals. I think I listened to this every day during finals week (esp Math and Chem, if I remember correctly). It was just right, for some reason. Just enough tension for some grueling mental overwork, but still keep my mind on task. They soon became 2 of my favorite all-time pieces, and I am reminded of cramming for finals every time I hear them (minus the stress - now I enjoy it even more, I'm sure).

7. 1993 - 10,000 Maniacs, Our Time in Eden - packing for college. Specifically I remember Alyssa coming over and helping me organize my suitcases. This album was the soundtrack for those days (esp These Are Days and Stockton Gala Days - so fitting)

"these are days
you'll remember
never before and never since,
I promise,
will the whole world be warm as this"

So anyway - there are some memorable music moments from my life, for whatever odd random reason. I've written before how I sort of mostly stopped listening to much music in college and, really, up until Zac and I moved into our first house (that would be here) and I felt free again from the constraints of apartment neighbors (I really hated hearing other peoples' music, and somehow felt overly conscientious about bothering them with mine - and earphones didn't really work for me at the time, I guess). Anyway - so I don't have much to account for my music life during most of those years, sadly.

And I think sometime soon I will write some about the music I listen to these days - just because I've been thinking about it somewhat, for awhile now.

So there's that.

What's one of your favorite (or most memorable) music memories?