I've been feeling a bit nostalgic lately.
First the NKOTB and now this...
When I was in college, my good friend, Brooke, and I would sometimes pass the hours of our music classes compiling lists of songs that defined us. Brooke called it "The Soundtrack of My Life." As you can guess, the lists were long and random. Anything from the Sound of Music to G. Love and the Special Sauce sat on the lines of our ever-growing lists. Now, these weren't just songs that we liked, they were songs that meant something to us. A connection, if you will, to memories of all kinds.
At our sewing retreat this past March, my sister recommended that we make a CD with a few of everyone's favorite songs and then to write a couple of lines about why we chose what we did. (By the way....I still need notes from everyone...) It was so fun to see what people chose and to know why they chose it: John Denver, The Carpenters, Wicked, Paolo Conte, Yo-Yo Ma.... An eclectic collection to say the least. A mini soundtrack to the lives of the wonderful ladies in my family.
That being said, the soundtrack of my life these days consists solely of Barbie and Disney Princess songs. They play over and over in my car and on my stereo all day long. Tillie absorbs the music like a sponge and, as sick of the music as I am, nothing makes me smile more than hearing her sing "I'm wishing (I'm wishing) for the one I love, to find me (to find me) today...." It's adorable, really.
This music has become such a part of my life, that I find it playing even when Tillie isn't even with me. And, even worse, I'm always singing along. Pathetic, I know. So, one day this week, I caught myself doing just this, and decided it was time to put on some of MY music. I pulled a random CD out, appropriately titled, "Mary's Music". There was bound to be something lovely here.
Now, just a side note; many of you know that I adore making music mixes. I like to have a theme for them as it helps me not get too carried away. I have great running, resting, love, 80s, dance, etc. mixes that I call on when the occasion requires it. This particular CD had no listed theme so I wasn't sure what to expect, but was positive, all the same, that it would be delightful.
The songs I heard next were such a random mix that I could hardly believe I had put it together. Just to give you an idea, here is what I found:
REO Speedwagon: In my Dreams
Dr. Dre: No Diggity, No Doubt
Sublime: The Rivers of Babylon
Jon Bon Jovi: Livin' on a Prayer
Dee Lite: Groove is in the Heart
Jim Brickman: The Love of My Life
Garth Brooks: The American Honky Tonk Bar Association
And the list randomly goes on from there. Now, I know exactly why I had all of these songs. These could all be included in the list of the Soundtrack of My Life. I like remembering REO and Bon Jovi because I saw my brother perform them MANY times with his college a cappella group (I was quite the fan). And me and my roommates loved dancing to Dr. Dre in front of our apartment window (window dancing) so that we could have a competition with the guys across the way dancing in their apartment window. And Dee Lite will always remind me of my siblings and how we thought this song was SO silly!! (and, frankly, it is!) AND...as embarrassing as it is to admit it, my friend, MaryAnn, and I sang The AHTBA at Disneyland wearing big blue pants, a nasty white bodysuit and a sequined red vest. Is there any end to the shame?!
Since listening to that CD, it seems like I've heard a lot of other random old songs that have brought back so many crazy memories. I think I need to make a new cd.
What songs would be on the soundtrack of YOUR life?
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9 comments:
woah. I was totally smiling at your random list. I would do exactly the same kind of thing (meaning randomness, not your exact songs.) :)
I will get your my list.
Silly me but I need you to remind me exactly which songs I gave you for that trip CD -k-?
So, I LOVED this fun post! What a fun idea to think back on all the songs which play such a role in life. I have a million but I'll just list a few: 1) Nothing Lasts by the Samples. It was THE favorite of mine during high school and my GF's and I went to 3 Samples concerts and always yelled as loud as we could for them to play that song. We even spray-painted t-shirts with "take my hand..." (first lines of the song) and wore them to a concert. Maybe I'll have to get you to add it to our CD now that I think about it more--it's one good song.
2) Ghost by Indigo Girls. You know the drill--I have sung that song at the top of my lungs with both Heid and Cec and the harmony is just so pretty in it. Any IG song will remind me of my sissies--esp. since Heid and I went to one of their concerts up at Wolf Mountain (remember when it was called that?) when I was a Sr. in high school. We had a ball and heard all of our faves by them. Good, good times.
MARY!! I HEART life soundtracks! This post made me wax very nostalgic, too. Thank you for taking me back to the good ol' music minor days. I miss them terribly sometimes. On my mix would have to be so many randoms, but definitely Counting Crows, REM, Bjork, Death Cab, Sinead O'Connor, Sigur Ros, Yes, Justin Timberlake, etc., but I have to say that one of my new favorite songs is that Miley Cyrus one. I know... SICK. I hate to admit it, but there it is. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU! MISS MISS MISS MISS YOU! - Brooke
Mine reads like an 80's movie
Oh L'Amour--dancing in my friend's backyard, winning the talent show with our Straight up Paula Abdul lip sync, Annie's song by John Denver, and anything that was in any movie with Molly Ringwald. I've had my princess phase too--enjoy it while it lasts!
love you.
Love it Mary! It really made me laugh. Oh the good old LE days. And I sure miss those white body suits. We had some good laughs over that. I miss you!
The soundtrack of my life would be mostly church songs, since I'm so spiritual.
Not really. Mine would include come let us worship the king, some songs by celine dion, faith hill, john denver, the carpenters, and Cowboy take me away by the dixie chicks.
oh, and I think you forgot to include NKOTB, Cindi Lauper, and the bangles.
Here are a few from the soundtrack of my life: "And Then He Kissed Me" from The Crystals. In High School my friends and I watched the movie Adventures in Babysitting and at the beginning, the girl is dancing to the song waiting for her date to pick her up. So we fell in love with it and bought the CD and blasted it every time we were in the car. Too bad it wasn't the literal soundtrack of high school (just kidding, I wasn't a lip slut). From college, I'm going to have to say "I'll Be Okay" from Amanda Marshall. My roommate introduced me to it because she played it all the time, then after awhile I played it for myself. And the soundtrack of my mission is the fourth verse of "Come Come Ye Saints" that starts with, "And should we die before our journey's through..." I laugh every time I hear it because when we had a bad day or you know, a regular non-Ensign story day, we would sing it just as a funny thing, but sometimes we weren't laughing. As for my current status, it's not so much Disney Princesses as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Ah, the things that make the little ones happy. This was a fun post, and from my novel of a comment, I should have just turned it in to one of my own!
ummm...I think it's time for an update!
Hey Mary, I just wanted to let you know I had a dream about you having a pet tiger that went out of control at a party we came to at your house. Random!!
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