There are so many difficult things going on in the world right now. I am incredibly passionate about many of those things, but I am woefully unqualified to speak on them in a meaningful way. Allow me to send you this way as we enter this marathon.
Back when we were all stuck in our homes indefinitely (remember?), I clicked over to my favorite blog Cup of Jo to see a post by my favorite author there, Caroline Donofrio. The article, What’s the Soundtrack of Your Life? was wonderfully written (as always) and got me to thinking about my life through music.
Caroline’s post is totally right when she says that when someone asks what kind of music you like that the answer isn’t so simple as what you listen to now. It’s a culmination of a lifetime of songs and sounds that can take you back to a moment in time with just a few notes. When I looked back, here’s what stood out to my mind and my ears…
Childhood (in the car)
While riding around in our family Suburban, the main rotation is made up of three movie soundtracks: The Big Chill, Animal House and Dirty Dancing. I still know all of these songs.
Childhood (at home)
I learn to play the piano on a burnt orange upright in the basement. As I move through childhood, I move from Sesame Street and Muppet songs to Amy Grant (my first tape!), Whitney Houston and Gloria Estefan. I plug in an old stereo microphone and sing along with these three ladies at the top of my lungs for hours on end (apologies to my family). The Romeo + Julie and Titanic soundtracks awaken adolescent emotions. I listen to the Hot Five at Nine on Y107 every weekday.
High School
I don’t listen to quite as much music, but we absolutely ride around in Riki’s Jeep listening to Kid Rock (I know) and other things I don’t remember. Jenn’s mom takes me to my first concert, Matchbox 20, and I suddenly can’t get enough live music. The Blue Note becomes one of my favorite places. Jenn and Riki sit outside Streetside Records and get us tickets to NSYNC five rows from the back of the arena. By the time the concert rolls around, we aren’t as obsessed, but we go anyway.
College
I discover John Mayer and also spend way too much time playing Bejeweled. I see Matchbox Twenty again at Riverport Amphitheater but this time it’s four days after 9/11 and a plane flies over and everything feels so different. I see Lifehouse in concert at Truman and sing the entire Moulin Rouge soundtrack as I drive from Kirksville to Columbia. I turn 21 and spend hours at the Dukum Inn singing along with bar songs and then dancing to Ignition (Remix) and Dirrty at Toonz (gross) while drinking far too much bad rum. My senior year is dominated by the repeat playing of Fight Songs by Old 97s.
Post-College
I move back to Columbia and start my real grown-up job. We go to Shattered many Saturdays for 80s Night, and those remain some of my most favorite memories. I’m introduced to Muse and become properly obsessed. I listen to but mostly pretend to like Alkaline Trio, the Used and Tool. I go to Lollapalooza in 2007 and see Amy Winehouse, Muse, Daft Punk, Regina Spektor and LCD Soundsystem among many others.
These Days
I decide that I’m going to like what I like. I fall madly in love with The Avett Brothers and see them in concert every chance I get. During one of their concerts, Brandi Carlile opens and I nearly lose my mind and how incredible she is. I bounce around to all sorts of things that speak to my emotions like Jason Isbell and the Head and the Heart. I listen to the Hamilton soundtrack until I have it memorized. I still also go back to those old favorites and smile at the memories they bring up for me.
So share in the comments. What songs, albums, artists still mean the most to you or send you back to a specific phase of your life? I’d love to know what music makes you, you.