Saturday, July 11, 2009

My Six

A Hard Day's Night designImage by 嘉莉-咖哩 via Flickr

I discovered a wonderful post today, titled "Six Songs", by Moondancer on her blog, Just.....a wee bit. It is a sublime and eloquent piece speaking to the power of music upon memory, and one's emotions. I'm in wholehearted agreement with her on this, and I very much recommend her post. Outside of the potent sense of smell, music/song has always been a memory trigger for me, as well.

If you gave it some thought, what would your six songs be.....

And since she graciously asked, at this moment, the list of six that I'd put together would be:

It's All in the Game (1958), my mother's favorite song; and when I hear it even now after all of these years later, I cannot help but think of the wonderful woman who bore me...

A Hard Day's Night (1964), I still can recollect fondly sitting in a darkened theater taking the Beatles in as a 10 yr. old. Although I'd heard songs on the radio by the Fab Four, it was this movie and song that first struck and mesmerized me. And I'm still within its impact.

It's Too Late (1971), my junior year of high school and it was this song that marked a shift in my heart's outlook (and the girl that was a H.S. senior at the time shall remain nameless, here--as my wife eventually reads all of my posts).

Dust in the Wind (1977), this song played on the radio as I left drove home from St. Francis Medical Center in March '78 after I learned my mother wouldn't be with us for much longer... Though I wanted desperately to change or turn off the radio, somehow I couldn't.

Silhouette (1988), the same year I courted my future bride, this song always seemed to pop up on the radio. The CD eventually found its way into our music collection before our engagement, and it was played at our wedding reception.

Don't Fear the Reaper (1976), this song introduced the concept of the air guitar to my first born when he was a barely a toddler some 20 years after it was released. Our living room jam sessions right before bedtime, with the volume up, had my wife giving us the weirdest of looks, too!

My thanks goes to Moondancer for giving me a chance to the flex the nostalgia gene once again (as my wife groans about this somewhere out in the ether), and for her heartfelt post.

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12 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for stopping by! I am glad you liked the post, it was hard to do just six songs, so I went with happy ones. Thanks also for sharing your "six songs." Wonderful. I hope you visit
    often;-)

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  2. Yes, it is hard just to limit this to six. I've added you to My Blog List. Thank you for your comment.

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  3. Such a beautiful, poignant post. Thank you for sharing your memories. I don't want to get into memories that are too sad so I'll just relate two embarrassing ones.

    Every time I hear Boz Scaggs's "Look What You've Done to Me," it makes me remember the very first time I was asked by a boy to slow dance. I was thrilled but the minute we got close, I realized he had overpowering body odor that made my knees weak but not in a good way. I didn't want to be rude so I stuck it out through the song, nearly losing consciousness. Afterwards, I found out he only asked me because every other girl in the room had already turned him down.

    The other is the Trammps' "Disco Inferno." In high school, I was auditioning for the drill team (a dance troupe performing at sports events). Aspiring members were taught choreography which I had down cold. When it came time to do it in front of the judges, however, this one move that required me to snap my head to the side sent my glasses flying across the room, effectively rendering me blind. I spent the rest of the song scrambling around trying to find my glasses. Unsurprisingly, I didn't make the team.

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  4. PCN: I'm blown away by your consideration of others with your first memory. I know few who'd have the grit to do what you did in that circumstance. And for your second, that must have been some head move (since I'm sure you practiced it diligently with those same glasses). In each case, it reveals a strength of character--and that same trait holds true in your freely sharing them here. I tip my hat to you, PCN. Thank you.

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  5. You are so kind, le0pard13, to find the good in my ridiculous experiences.

    Regarding the glasses, I did practice that move wearing them but I think when it came time to do it for real, I put an extra hard oomph into the snap, hoping to impress the judges. Also, being a little nervous, I was sweating more, providing less traction for the glasses.

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  6. "It's all in the game" :-) A mother's good taste. I like it too as well as the remakes.

    Enjoyed the post and the music.

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  7. Hi le0pard....I accidently deleted a comment you sent me...sorry! And thank you...

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  8. Hmmm, this was cool Michael. I think I might have to take a stab at this myself! Do you think my bookies would be disappointed?

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  9. Go for it, Jen! I'd love to see your music and memories. Thanks.

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  10. Some of the songs you and Moondancer named have memories for me also. 'All My Loving' and 'A Hard Day's Night' - shoot, I have distinct memories for more Beatles songs than any other artist probably. And 'Dust In the Wind.' That one brings back a couple of memories.

    Music is so powerful. It's amazing what can be done with just 8 notes.

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  11. The Beatles just keep on giving long after they stopped making music together. If there's anything I'm really happy about it is that my kid's learned to appreciate the Fab Four.

    Music::Memories

    Thanks, Corey.

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