i recently had a homework assignment to create the soundtrack of my life. my professors idea was to find songs that mark moments in your musical memory that have shaped or complimented your experieces. or in other words, to find songs that will always remind you of...
and i decided to share them with you, yes, anonymous human being or robot you.
Led Zeppelin -
Black DogI’m pretty sure I had heard other songs before this one but this was the first one I remembered. I remember it because I happened to stubble upon the Led Zeppelin IV album in my dad’s collection. There was probably some reason I chose this album over the rest in the collection to listen to but I don’t remember what it may have been. When the album started and Black Dog came through the headphones something moved in my body – in my guts.
Huey and The News -
I Wanna A New DrugMy parents were big Huey Lewis fans. Huey Lewis and The News was one of the first concerts I ever went to and I knew almost all of the songs by heart but sometimes I didn’t have the lyrics right. For some reason in this song I thought Huey was singing “I wanna new truck” and was confused as to how a truck could make you sick or make you “feel like I feel when I’m with you.”
The Who –
Magic BusAnother early concert that my parents took me to at RFK Stadium in DC but I didn’t know many songs and was pretty bored at the show. The only song I did know was Magic Bus - I remember jumping up and dancing around to it when it came on. It hasn’t remained my favorite Who song but in my adult life the Who has remained on my favorite bands list.
Bon Jovi -
Livin’ on a Prayer This was from the first album I owned. The purchase was influenced by my babysitter – how else does an 8 year old get into hair bands? She made sure to tell me the lines of the album that I should not sing around my parents. This song is a classic to rock out to. The story of young, struggling, passionate love. I still belt this out at the top of my lungs when I hear it.
New Kids On The Block –
Hangin’ ToughThe first concert that I went to of my own choosing. It was the beginning of my pre-teen pop music phase and like many of my peers I was obsessed with New Kids On The Block. This one hasn’t lingered in my mental music library but I’m pretty sure I haven’t forgotten any of the lyrics to a majority of their songs.
Paula Abdul -
Straight UpMore pre-teen pop. Paula made me think I should grow up to become a choreographer. My friends and I would create dances to all of her songs and then use my parents video camera to record them. I hope those video cassettes spontaneously combust one day without causing any irreparable damages to anything else in the vicinity of the tapes.
Cranberries –
LingerFor some reason in junior high classmates were passing around a piece of paper with the lyrics to this song written down – I have no idea why, it seems almost kind of strange but not strange when you consider all the things that kids in junior high will do to distract themselves from school work. Somehow the piece of paper reached me. I hadn’t given the song much thought before then but for some reason knowing the lyrics made me pay more attention to the song and grow to like it. This began a slight obsession with knowing, transcribing and/or having physical copies of lyrics to songs that I liked.
Green Day –
LongviewThis song seemed move like a wave through my school. People would speculate about what Billy Joe was singing about [was he really talking about masturbation?!? Whoa!] The video was also really popular. You were cool if you liked Green Day. This song was the first one I learned in my brief attempt at learning the bass guitar.
Nirvana –
Smells Like Teen SpiritLike many in my generation, this song sparked an obsession with Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. For weeks you could not escape this song on the radio or the video on MTV.
Liz Phair –
SupernovaEarly in high school I got a subscription to Rolling Stone and would scour the College Radio charts in each issue cross comparing them to my music library. I felt proud when I already had this album and found it climbing the College Radio charts. It was also the song that played in my head whenever I saw someone I had a crush on.
Elton John –
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on MeI once woke up to my radio alarm clock playing the live version of this song with George Michael and Elton John. I hated it – it made me want to throw my alarm clock across the room. Especially the part where George introduces Elton “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Elton John!!!” and the crowd goes wild. But now [years and years later] I actually really like the song and I really like Elton John. Maybe I needed to be older to be able to relate to it or maybe I just needed to wake up on the right side of the bed.
Alanis Morisette –
You Oughta KnowUnrequited high school love. And also: empowerment [even though I’ve now learned that this song in a sense was actually manufactured empowerment].
Steppenwolf –
Born to Be WildDriving in my fist car in one of my first excursions alone. It wasn’t on the radio it just popped into my head as I drove.
Tori Amos -
CoolingSo much of her music has moved me that it’s hard to pick one song. This is a B-side that can often bring me to tears.
Pink Floyd –
TimeIn my younger [and slightly more morbid] days I started to create a play list of songs I wanted to have played at my funeral. This song was on the list. I even wanted to have the lyrics “the time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say” written on my tombstone.
David Bowie –
Space OddityAnother song that was on my funeral play list.
Nine Inch Nails –
A Warm PlaceAnother artist that I have a lot of music from so I took a stab at selecting one track. This is from my favorite NIN album,
The Downward Spiral. It’s a beautifully somber track that makes me want to be floating in the ocean at night under a full moon.
Sarah Mclachlan –
Good EnoughThis song will always remind me of my first love.
Bruce Springsteen –
Thunder RoadThis song also reminds me of a past relationship and often brings tears to my eyes.
Janis Joplin -
Kozmic BluesThe amount of raw emotion that comes through on this track is astounding. A helluva lot of pain but hope as well. The way this song builds and drops and builds again while Janis pours her heart almost leaves me emotionally exhausted. In the end, when that raspy howl is coming through the speakers I start to feel like 'thats it, I'm going to lose my mind' but then I just take a deep breath. Or two. During a rough patch of life I used to walk up and down the street listening to this song while trying not to flip out and writhe around and howl back to the music. If I was successful then there was hope.
The Beatles I think I discovered the Beatles a little later in life than some. I had of course heard their songs before but had never listened closely until I [somewhat accidentally] took a class on the Beatles in college. Narrowing the selection down to three was difficult.
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Strawberry Fields ForeverThe song is genius for so many reasons. In class we listened to several outtake versions of this song from a boxed set. I was amazed at the difference that the different drum mixes had to the feeling of the song. In the end I was glad they chose the track they did – I love the way the drums counterbalance and play with the mellotron and John Lennon’s melodic lyrics.
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Tomorrow Never KnowsI love the drum beat in this song.
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A Day In The LifeI’ve always thought of this song as the perfect example of the differences between John and Paul’s songwriting approaches. John’s lyrics are somber, elusive and whimsical and Paul’s are straightforward, poppy and catchy. In other instances having these transition back and fourth in one song wouldn’t necessarily work but they’ve structured the song in such a way that they really compliment each other. In the end it’s a perfect example of how amazing of a songwriting team they were.
Bob Dylan –
Queen Jane ApproximatelySpace constraints require me to only select one Dylan track, which is a shame. Critics sometimes rip this song. I love this song. Bob writes passionate love song and often even more passionate break up songs.
Peter Gabriel -
Solsbury Hill Listening to this song helped give me the courage and the strength to walk away from a job that was slowly taking my spirit, bit by bit.
Wilco -
Jesus, Etc.I first heard this song while sitting in a bar with friends. The song hit me in such a way that I completely spaced out and heard none of the conversation that was going on around me, only the song.
i think of new tracks everyday. sometimes three or four. this list could get unwieldy pretty quick. its already reached the maximum capacity for tags in one post - i couldn't even fit them all.
if you, human being you or robot you has a list that you want to share, i'm all ears.
