Memories Set to Music

I was thinking about how much I love music and how it’s a shame that schools are not putting such a high priority on the arts anymore.  Music is such a wonderful thing, it can completely change your mood when you need a lift, it can bring back memories, and it can just be there with you when you need to escape from all the annoying everyday noises you hear.  I cant imagine not liking music and going a day without hearing it.  But I was thinking about how it can evoke such specific memories and thought I would share some of the artists & songs that do that to me. 

 

Songs (in order of earliest to most current memory)

 

Van Halen – Jump:  I feel like I remember this but I don’t really know if I do or if I just remember us talking about it.  But I know that me, Lisa & Mom would dance and jump to this song when we were younger.

 

David Lee Roth – California Girls:  I just remember watching this video on TV when I was younger with Lisa and that we really liked the song.  So no specific super awesome memory, just remember its one I always liked.

 

Wilson Phillips – Hold On:  Grandma Lach’s house, the spare bedroom.  Me, Lisa & Kim trying to be our own form of Wilson Philips and singing this song together while all sitting together on the bed.  Lisa of course wanted all the main parts so Kim and I were left with the “oohs” and “ahhs” :)  But such great memories of our time spent in Chicago.

 

The Beatles – All songs:  Lisa, Mom & I would sit around the bedroom or we would do this on our trips from Brandon to Miami.  We would play “guess the Beatle” where Lisa & I had to guess who was singing.  It seems so funny now cause its so easy to tell, but it was so much fun.  We do it now to Shawn & Ian and laugh when they get it wrong.  So Mom, thanks for not laughing at us cause we were wrong a lot!

 

Garth Brooks – All of his songs:  6^th grade, the last year we lived in Florida.  I just remember sitting in my bedroom in the apartment (after we had moved out of our home) and listening to his music and just singing as loud as I could, or just laying in bed and taking it all in.  This was my introduction to country music, which I still like, but don’t primarily listen to. 

 

Ty Herndon – Living in A Moment:  I want to say this was actually during our drive from Florida to Indiana (during the move) but I might not be 100% correct on that. If it wasn’t that exact drive it was certainly around the time of the move.  But I remember sitting in the backseat listening to it on my walkman and just staring out the windows and being so sad about leaving.  But that song always made me a little happier so I listened to it a lot in hopes that it would lift my spirits.

 

Pachelbel – Canon in D:  This might not fall exactly in place in my timeline, but its pretty close.  It was 1991 (I googled that), it was from the movie “Father of the Bride”.  Dad took Lisa & I to see it and I just fell in love with weddings and specifically the song.  In the movie she used the song for all her entire wedding party to enter with, and that is also what I did at my wedding.  If any of my brides ever ask me for ceremony song recommendations I tell them to just use Canon in D for the entire processional.  The funny thing is that Julie (my co-worker) and I joke about how often we hear it and that we want it to be played at our funerals (which I have mentioned before, so seriously people, someone better do that for me), but no matter how much we hear it and say we don’t like it, its clear we do because you will always see us swaying to it and it always tends to calm me down a bit (even though at that point of the day its pretty crazy). 

 

Lonestar - Come Crying to Me:  This was the song that Lisa & I shared a love for (one of many but that’s not really the point).  This song we would play in the festiva when Lisa would drive me around (so she had her license, I didn’t yet), we would put in the cassette and roll the windows down (since there was no AC) and just sing it at the top of our lungs.  I still play it if I am having a rough day, and I still sing the chorus at the top of my lungs, but I make sure my windows are up and nobody is watching me :)  I guess I care more now about what people think than I did back then!

 

Papa Vegas – Bombshell:  Spring of senior year (so 1999), sitting up way too late one night trying to start a paper that was due the next morning and I just couldn’t focus on it.  I had so much other stuff on my mind (things of course that didn’t matter but you know how those thoughts are the hardest ones to escape from).  I have never really heard that song again, but if I did, I would probably completely check out from whatever I was doing and be transported back home to my old purple bedroom that was sooo messy sitting at my little desk in the nook :)   As a side note, I did google it today and watched it on youtube, so I guess now I have heard it again!

 

Everclear – Father of Mine:  Senior year again, on my way to take my SATs with TJ, we heard it in the car and I just couldn’t get it out of my head for the rest of the day!  I remember too that during the test I looked up and saw my shadow on the wall and my ears just looked HUGE to me (I had a my hair in a ponytail), for the rest of the test all I could think about was did my ears really look that big in person.  I think I actually stopped wearing ponytails for a few weeks after that!

 

Pearl Jam – Daughter:  This reminds me once again of high school, except this reminds me of two people.  I used to sing this song with Mark Davis, so it really reminds me more of him than anyone else, but it also reminds me so much of TJ due to his infatuation with all things pearl jam.  Funny thing about pearl jam is that I cant listen to them at all now.  There were a few songs of theirs I really did like, but I just cant do it now.

 

Metallica – Garage Inc (album):  Yet another senior year, I would go to TJs house and we would do our math homework (his dad would often help us) and we would listen to this album as we sat in his kitchen.  I vividly remember one day when he started making himself dinner and was cutting up a raw chicken breast on a wooden cutting board and just being freaked out by that, I just don’t think wood is a good cutting board material, still don’t, you will never see me use a wooden cutting board.

 

Fuel – Sunburn: This brings me to my summer either before or after my sophomore year of college, it was a rough year for me and one particular day I got some news that I just didn’t need and I was already close to tears and I played this song in the car and just cried my eyes out.  Then I went and found mom (who was at MC Elementary) and just told her everything cause at that point I just needed my mom.  I always liked that song, and I suppose I still do, but again, just cant listen to it as much cause it tends to remind me of that day and it just wasn’t a great one.  But as low as that day was I think it was the day that I made up my mind to make a change and it was a great change that made a huge impact on my life.  It made me move to Bloomington where I spent more time with Lisa & Chandler, got Annie, met Ian, went back to school, started down this career path (which I now question) and got me to where I am now. 

 

Vanessa Carlton “A Thousand Miles” & Michelle Branch “The Spirit Room”:  These two albums remind me of when Ian & I were dating.  He made some cds for us to listen to as we would take our little road trips, and so many of the songs were for me (as you can imagine Ian’s not the biggest fan of Vanessa Carlton & Michelle Branch).  I just remember us driving around in his little black truck and taking trips around B-Town.

 

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Over The Rainbow:  This was very early in my wedding years, this is when I was still attending IU and working with Cathy Teeters (a local florist/wedding coordinator).  It was probably one of the 1^st weddings I ever helped with (I think it was the 2^nd) and it was at the Courtyard Marriott in B-Town.  I had come back at the end of the night to help teardown the wedding and they had this song playing as their last dance, and again, I just knew that I wanted to work with weddings in some aspect, it just made me happy and gave me some internal peace (even though it was like 1am!)

 

Jessica Andrews – Who I Am:  Internship in Florida in spring 2005.  This was just such a grown up point in my life at that time.  I was living alone in Florida, about ready to graduate from college, about ready to get married, knowing that I was most likely going to be moving to Florida to start my career.  Anyway, this song just kinda encompassed what I felt was in store for me, it was a time where I was happy with all my decisions and felt like a lot of stuff was gonna be coming my way and I was proud of myself.

 

Peter Cetera – Glory of Love:  Yes, this is a kick ass song from the Karate Kid 2 Soundtrack!!  I listened to this all the time during my internship as well, I wanted this to be the 1^st dance song at the wedding but Ian did not want it (but man did I try).  Anyway, I just listened to it all the time during those 4 months :)

 

Andrea Boceilli – Con Te Partio:  I heard this song for the 1^st time (that I can at least remember) while working one of my 1^st weddings at Hyatt Coconut Point.  I was standing in the smaller ballroom (sad but I cant remember the name) and it was before the wedding started but the entire room was ready.  I was in the room with Noreen (one of the coolest banquet captains ever) and the DJ was doing a sound check and turned on this song.  I stopped what I was doing and just stood in the middle of the floor and listened to it, at one point I started dancing (or more like swaying).   When it was over I asked him the name and immediately called Ian and told him to find it for our wedding.

 

Linkin Park – Minutes to Midnight Album:  I listened to this the entire 20 hour drive from Naples to Austin when I was moving. I was driving Ian’s truck, with my left food up on the seat, and on my way to Texas and a new experience.  I think it was the 1^st time I ever took a trip like that alone, and again, I was a bit proud of myself and all I had done, and looking forward again to all that was ahead of me!

 

KD Lang – Hallelujah:  She sang this at the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  I had heard the song before, and they play it in one episode of “The West Wing” that always makes me cry, but she just did such an amazing job and I love the Olympics and love the opening ceremonies, I just sat at the screen in awe covered in goosebumps.  It also makes me think about a picture that Ian took of my during this time, I was pregnant with Logan and everyone always wanted to see belly shots, so we took one that night just to send to mom, and she of course emailed it to a few other people, and Dad commented on how appropriate it was that you could see the Olympics on it the background, and how that was so me.  That picture was taken later in the week, it wasn’t during the opening ceremonies, just incase you cared :)

 

Eminem – Stan:  I like Eminem, I listen to him and enjoy some of his songs (not them all) but I had never had a reaction to one like a particular day when I was on my way home from work.  It was dark (so either late or just winter time), I was pregnant with Logan, and I was sitting at the Y at Oak Hill (shocker I know to anyone from Austin).  I had been listening to my iPod and this song came on, but this time I found myself crying.  That’s right, crying to an Eminem song!!!  I blame the hormones, but still, when I think about this it always makes me chuckle a bit.

 

Plumb – In Your Arms:  I’ve actually blogged about this one before (actually it was in the last post I did 2 months ago).  This was a song that I got from Lisa and it came one my iPod one night on my way home from a wedding on a Saturday night.  I am always a little run down after wedding days, plus its usually around midnight, and since Ive had Logan I hate those days cause I really go an entire day without seeing him.  I was already exhausted and feeling bad about not being around all day and then this song came on.  It is a beautiful song but to a mother with a  young child (or really perhaps any mother), it really touches your heart.  I ended up crying almost the entire way home, mainly because I kept listening to it :)  Such a great song, I still turn it on when I am feeling down, probably shouldn’t since it makes me feel worse, but oh well, I know Im a little odd sometimes

 

Michael Franti & Spearhead – Say Hey (I Love You):  Again, I have blogged about this one too.  I was doing dishes and loading them into the dishwasher and Logan was in his adorable white doggie onesie with brown doggie overalls (a clearance purchase from Target) sitting in his bouncy seat right to the dishwasher.  This song was playing on my iPod and I was singing it to Logan and he was kicking his feet and laughing and it just made me melt.