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Songs hold memories.
I am sure that it is the same way for you – when I hear a song that I loved or heard first in High School, it brings me back. It’s amazing to me the way that these songs can elicit the same old high school feelings. My chest gets tight with emotion as I sing along. My mind swirls, my eyes teary. I can’t help it, soon I’m a sobbing, hot mess at a red light on my way to work.
- “The Freshman” brings to mind a boy I loved playing guitar on a wide blue-carpeted step in our high school choral room.
- Dispatch, in particular their live cd, makes me remember the passion of learning how to care about the world, and politics.
- “Irish Drinking Song” reminds me of Thursday Poker Nights with my friends, he-said/she-said drama and laying on the grass, staring at the stars, talking about the world and feeling so mature, yet knowing so little.
- Joss Stone’s first two albums remind me of a “wild” summer with two friends from college and my last camping trip, driving too fast down winding mountain roads, oblivious of our fallibility.
- “Smile”, Nat King Cole. We did an amazing, beautiful a capella version of this song in our select choir and this song became an instant favorite for me. The Glee Cast does a great version too, which I love equally.
- Any song from Damn Yankees (Broadway show) reminds me of my Sophomore year, playing my first major role on stage, and having some of the best experiences of my life.
- Jimmy Eat World, anything on their self-titled album, reminds me of my friend Mike. We used to park in front of the bowling alley, put the seats down and just talk for hours and listen to music. (PS, I love this band name. LOVE.)
- Here’s to the Night by Eve 6 reminds me of graduation, endings, beginnings… this song makes me ugly cry.
- Pour Some Sugar on Me, Def Leppard reminds me of pole dancing in a basement and licking whipped cream off a girl’s body just to see the boys squirm. Oh, teenage girls… willing to do anything to get some attention. Sigh. Let’s put this on the list of things I hope my daughters never do.
This list could go on forever, honestly. I’ll stop here before I’m crying so hard I can’t see the dang computer screen! Your turn now, I showed you mine, you show me yours!
About MommyGeek
Anything considered “grunge” instantly takes me back to high school. I made a tape with Greenday’s “Dookie” on one side and Weezer’s self-titled album on the other side. I would put my yellow Sony Walkman in the inside pocket of my jacket and listen to that tape at naseum while snowboarding. Kids these days don’t know how good they’ve got it with iPods. It hurt like a mofo wiping out and landing on that Walkman.
Twitter Name: aimeewhitbread
At 35, I still listen to most of the music that I listened to in high school. I was a “loner.” Now I’d be sent off to counseling for the things that I did, like writing poems about grenades, reading Nietzsche during pep rallies… But in 1990-1994, it was a more innocent time and you could safely be a weirdo.
I listened (and listen) to Danzig, Slayer, Misfits, Metallica, The Smiths, Sisters of Mercy, L7 and other similar stuff. The fact that I still listen to this stuff as a 35-year-old mother shows that I have not grown up one bit! And I don’t intend to anytime soon!
Twitter Name: 18Years2Life
I can’t fight this feeling (REO Speedwagon) instantly takes me to my senior year when my boyfriend went away to TCU.
Chilliwack, Opus 9 album takes me way back.
Oh dear God. Music and me are a messy subject. Every song from certain people mean something. Strangely enough Under the Boardwalk is one of them. The other is That Summer by Garth Brooks. Always makes me melt.
Twitter Name: kaye_sunny
The fact that that Verve Pipe song takes you back to high school makes me feel old. It takes me to my days working at the insurance servicing firm, not long before my daughter was born.
Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” takes me back to senior year, and that old Chevy Celebrity I used to drive everyone around in. I had to crank the window down by hand, and I didn’t even have a tape deck in the car, just an AM/FM stereo.
Chumbawumba’s “Tub Thumping” makes me remember the door decorating contest my department won at work, earning us bagels once a month for a year- I don’t know why that songs sticks out as being played while we were decorating the door (we piped the local adult contemporary station through the intercom system in our building), but I distinctly remember singing along with it.
When my kids were small, my mom used to watch them a few days a week while I worked. Kenny Chesney’s “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” was popular when Hoss was about 2 and he busted out one day singing it with some added lyrics “No shoes, no shirt, no pants, a’ no problems!” As a result, that song makes me think of him running around with his diaper duct taped around the waist to keep him from stripping down completely.
Twitter Name: MamaKaren