music

Music has always been a part of my life.  A more important part in my life in many ways than other things like sports, or books even.  I have realized in the past few years that my life has a soundtrack. And that's not to say that certain songs or artists represent certain specific moments in my life.  But rather certain albums (sometimes songs in particular) have come to remind me of a certain period in my life.  If I get an album that I absolutely love, I'll play it on repeat in my car cd player until I have not only the lyrics to every song memorized but also the order in which they play.  And this album, becomes the album that reminds me of that time in my life.  So now when I replay that album I am immediately brought back to that same period and the flood of memories and emotions that goes along with it.

I was reminded of this twice in the past week.  Once when my wonderful roommate sang Wonderful World by Sam Cooke, a song that my dad and I used to sing.  I think he even played it on the guitar. Hearing her sing this song I was brought back to those moments, sitting in our living room in Braintree listening to Sam Cooke, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt and the like.  Often my dad would play guitar, but sometimes I remember when we would put a tape or cd into the stereo and I would be on my mama's hip singing and dancing and swaying to the music.  And while we no longer seem to do this as a family in such a concentrated effort, it still happens sometimes when we are in the car and all of a sudden we all break out in song.

This same feeling came over me when I went to a Brett Dennen concert in Philadelphia.  A folk-pop singer from California, I was first introduced to him in high school by one of my best friends.  Now more than 6 years later seeing him live was wonderful.  But one of his albums played in my car the entire summer that I lived and worked at a music camp in Vermont.  That summer was amazing and crazy and weird.  I met some of the greatest people there and I've continued to have a place in my heart for a select group.  Now when I hear that album, Loverboy, the songs remind me of the times that I blasted the radio in my car driving to Burlington or over the Brandon Gap.  And it's not necessarily the songs that have particular significance to me during a certain moment in my life, but rather the memories and experiences associated with the time at which I was listening to this album that come back to me whenever I listen to it again.

This is true forever and always of Graceland by Paul Simon.  This is one of my all time favorite, top-five albums.  We had it on cassette when I was a kid and I memorized all the lyrics and the exact order they would come up in.  If I ever need to feel grounded I listen to this album.  There is something special about music and the connection that I have with it.

For some people there are smells that remind them of certain people and events.  For others they can simply remember great detail and specific dates in which things happened. My relation to my life as it passes behind me is through my music.