Musical Memory Lane

I was running along the lake last week listening to my iPod shuffle.  There aren’t many songs on my shuffle, and I basically know the playlist by heart, but I hadn’t listened to it in a while, so one song caught me off guard.  It was one of Beyonce’s songs from her latest album, 4.  While the song is an upbeat and fun song, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with a déjà vu-like feeling.  Of course for the rest of my run I was stuck thinking about this post, and how much I associate music with different situations.

 

I have a bad habit of becoming obsessed with songs and albums.  You know how when you turn on a top 40s radio station you can count on one of three songs being played at any moment?  That top 40 radio station is my life.  I don’t only listen to top 40s hits, but I do obsess over songs and albums.  At any time in my life, I can pinpoint the three songs I was listening to. 

I had a coach in college who told me about life soundtracks she made.  For certain semesters, seasons or years she would make a soundtrack.  As soon as I heard this, I wanted to steal the idea.  But as soon as I went to put it into action, I realized my problem.  I couldn’t create a soundtrack, I could create a single, and an EP if I was lucky.  I quickly gave up that plan, and went on with my music obsessing ways. 

When Beyonce’s beat started filling my ears, I was in Garden City.  I was running.  I was running as many laps as I could before I absolutely had to go into John and Jane’s house to shower.  I didn’t want to get ready for another funeral.  I didn’t want to wear another black dress.  I didn’t want to be in St. Joseph’s again.  And I really didn’t want to cry anymore. 

It’s a bummer, because I loved that album.  I loved that album until I ruined it.  At the time, it was the best thing that could have happened to me.  I must have listened to Schoolin' Life on repeat over 15 times while I ran one morning.  It kept me from crying, but now it makes my heart hurt. 

I have songs that remind me of everything.  And it’s what makes putting my iPod on shuffle so much fun.  So, let’s take a little trip down Meaghan’s Music Memory Lane.

The Ben Folds Live album:

This album will always remind me of the summer after my junior year in high school.  I am sitting in Jen’s black VW Cabrio.  The top is down, and I don’t know where we are going, but does it matter?  We are in high school in a convertible, and there aren’t parents around.

Milkman:

Milkman is what is known as a mash-up artist.  Take completely unrelated songs and mash them together and you ended up with some of the most awesome and fun music to party to.  Josh introduced me to Milkman while I was in Thailand, and of course I went through my obsession.  Now I cannot listening to a song without being transported to my 625/55 house in Piman Chon 1, listening to the music especially loudly on my impressive sound system and drinking Leo beer with Cait and Paul. 

James Taylor's New Moon Shine Album:

This is the song that Garvey and I had a dance to.

This album throws me back to Annapolis, dancing in the family room.  I can feel the afternoon sun beaming through the windows as Garvey and I performed our choreographed dance that he refused to remember the steps to, in hopes of making my parents laugh, and infuriating me.  Then there was the JT concert the family attended at Tanglewood, and one of my favorite weekends in my entire twenty-five years. 

Brett Dennan:

Somehow I came across Brett Dennen immediately before I began traveling alone last fall.  I had four albums downloaded and loaded on my iPod before I took off for Koh Lanta.  As I lounged on the beach, studying for my scuba exams Brett Dennen filled my ears.  And now I cannot listen to that red headed artist without seeing the Thai coastline, tasting the plastic of a regulator in my mouth, feeling the sun on my face, and glancing down at my arm hoping to see freckles that have long gone since my return to a non tropical locale.

Like a G6:

There was a brief period of time in Thailand when I had a cool phone.  Cool is a relative term as my students with iPhones quickly began to outnumber those without.  I thought my telephone was cool because it held music and had a small speaker.  So, when Paul and I both became obsessed with the song Like a G6 it only seemed logical to illegally download it and put it on my phone.  When Paul and I got into his Suzuki Caribbean on our way to pick up Cait for a coworker’s party with our matching telephones and playlists, the stereo wasn’t working.  What else was I to do than play Like A G6 on repeat from my phone?  And when the car broke down, I continued to repeat the same song.  Looking back, I’m surprised that Cait continued to be my friend after being forced to listen to that noise in a AC-less car for over two hours...

Call Me Maybe:

This is our HBB version, check it out.

I was first introduced to this song through facebook stalking.  Heather had posted the video on Cici’s wall, and, well, the rest is history.  I was quickly obsessed with the song along with the rest of the world.  And in similar fashion, I preferred the Justin Bieber lip syncing version to the actual music video.  When my boss at Hot Blondies Bakery began talking about her love of Justin Bieber, I immediately shared the video.  Who doesn’t love the Justin-Selena romance?  Sure enough, Laura was hooked.  And when Lorin returned from vacation she was thrilled to jump on the bandwagon.  When the cinco de mayo party rolled around, it only made sense to create our own music video, German videographer/ commentator and all.  For the rest of my short-lived career as a baker, the song was a constant presence in my brown sugar- filled life, and will always be associated with my days at HBB.

Fergie's The Dutchess:

I went through a ridiculous time during my sophomore year in college.  As though taking 18 credits and rowing for more than 20 hours a week wasn’t enough to keep me busy, I began working at the Starbucks on campus.  I absolutely loved my job.  And when I developed a minor crush on the fitness center’s evening supervisor, I would do anything to pick up hours.  And when my minor crush became a serious flirt fest, I would do anything I could to stick around the fitness center after I had closed the coffee shop.  Naturally, I took to working out even more.  After I would finish closing up I would bat my unimpressive eyelashes and head to the locker room to change into possibly my third workout outfit of the day.  I would then jump on the elliptical and listen to Fergie’s album, The Dutchess.  I would sweat a little, jam out to Fergie a lot and hope that Matt would come to “check on the floor."  The album played a pretty big role in the rest of my life that year, from dance parties to driving to practice, but from the moment I hear one of those songs begin I am transported to the same elliptical, crushing hard on a completely unavailable boy.  I think I’m still crushing…

I have many more songs to add to this post, but I think that is enough for now.  Maybe a second installment?