A friend of mine posted this on Facebook with his own list, which then made me and other people reply with lists and memories. I thought it was kinda fun, so I posted my list of 12 songs and why they bring on the memories…too bad the list was only twelve. I could probably have gone to 25 before I had to stop and think about it.
Here are the songs I posted with the reason why:
Tombstone- Crowded House* When I joined the Army I really, really, didn’t want to leave home, but I needed a change and I had no immediate family or anyone to really keep me there. This song always seemed to be about that to me.*
Secret World- Peter Gabriel *Because it was the Wedding Song for my wife and I. *
Caroline’s Fingers- The Cocteau Twins *During my first tour in Germany (before I was married and hadn’t even met my wife) I dated a girl that this song reminds me of for some reason. I guess its because of the long walks we’d take or something. *
Bootzilla- Bootsy’s Rubber Band Going way back, this was one of the songs I grew up with. Hell, I had the album.
Hounds of Love- Kate BushI have a lot of favorite Kate Bush songs, but this one reminds me of my freshman year in college. I liked it and used to play it on a jukebox in a bar my friends and I hung out in, and one of my buddies would laugh every time we went in there and say “Go play your Hounds of Love, man…we know you’re gonna do it.”.
Little Red Corvette- Prince *Because it reminds me of *Petra. She wasn’t a slut by any means, but I was so in love (unrequited) with her back in the 80s that every song made me think of her. I guess I remember this one because it came on the radio the day I decided to really tell her how I felt. (and chickened out )
I drink alone- George Thorogood *Funny to me because my buddy Scott and I would sing along with this song while drinking together which means we were not drinking alone. *
Wish you were here- Pink Floyd *My friend Scott and I had some rough times in the 80s, and we were (and still are) good friends. When I left town, we both used to mention this song whenever we spoke. Every time I hear it I’m reminded of the bond between us. He drives me crazy at times, but he’s my brother from another mother. *
Voyage to Atlantis- The Isley bros. *When this song came out it was always played at Family Cookouts for some reason. When I hear it, I think of the way things were back then in the late 70s and how much I miss all of the people I knew then that are no longer with us. *
10. King of Rock- Run/DMC *I’ve just always liked this song. *
11. Kiss me deadly- Lita Ford *My friend Annette got the nickname “Iron annie” from me because of this song. We were just friends but we went to the beach together one weekend and we must have heard this song 50 times on the radio. So much that she started singing it, which caused us to make jokes about her taking up a career as a female heavy metal singer. Its amusing to us because she’s seriously not the type. *
12. Best of my love- The Emotions Very old song. But being a"tween" when it came out, my friend Curt and I used to hear it all of the time while hanging out i his garage. It always makes me think of that for some reason. I dunno why, since we were oly then, the both of us, becoming interested in girls. We spent most of our time playing baseball and reading comic books.
Most have to do with the girls. Others have to do with music that just works to my ears. Many are a combination. The list is unordered except for a clear number one - which has it all - strong associations with a particular girl, a sound that blew my mind when I heard it, and the fact that it came along at a time in my life when I was essentially going through metamorphosis.
Burial - Archangel
Darkstar - Aidy’s Girl’s a Computer
Iron and Wine - The Trapeze Swinger
Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Shampoo
LCD Soundsystem - New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down
Portishead - Glorybox
Wilco - She’s a Jar
The Knife - Heartbeats
Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube
The Smiths - I Know It’s Over
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
Compiling the list meant drudging up all sorts of memories! Sheesh! It’s interesting to think of what the difference between this list and a list of my current favorite songs would be. There may be one or two that would be on both, but I doubt it. I suspect that this is closer to an all-time favorite list, given the emotional grounding of most of the tracks (though that would still probably have some variations).
[ul]
[li]Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys[/li][li]Don’t Worry, Baby - The Beach Boys[/li][li]Penny Lane - The Beatles[/li][li]Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones[/li][li]Bonzo Goes to Bitburg - The Ramones[/li][li]Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana[/li][li]Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - J.S. Bach[/li][li]Ellens dritter Gesang (usually known as ‘Ave Maria’) - Schubert*[/li][li]Für Elise - Beethoven[/li][li]Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry[/li][/ul]
*(I’m fairly certain this is, in fact, the one I mean. It’s the one you think of if you have only heard one Ave Maria being sung operatically.)
Tall Cool Woman in a Black Dress, Hollies
My Sharona, The Knack
Born In The USA, Springsteen
ROCK in the USA, Mellencamp
Stairway To Heaven, Led Zep
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, CSN&Y
What’s Goin’ On, 4 Non Blondes
Start Me Up, Stones
Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits
King of Pain, Police
I’m Not In Love, 10cc
Holding Back The Tears, Simply Red
All these are permanently fused in my head with my Dad (and his stereo system) & our family’s living room:
Long Tall Woman in a Black Dress – The Hollies
medley: Themes from *Star Wars *-- Meco
Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan
the “Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah, nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah, hey-ayy-ayy, GOOOOD-BYE!” song (dunno what it’s called, obviously, or who did it) – ???
Probably my favorite song from childhood:
Love Rollercoaster – The Ohio Players
most emblematic song from junior high:
She Blinded Me With Science – Thomas Dolby
most emblematic songs from senior high:
Don’t You Forget About Me – Simple Minds
Alone Again Or (cover) – The Damned
Abbey Road medley - The Beatles
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
Tumbling Dice - The Rolling Stones
Layla - Derek and the Dominos
Levon - Elton John
Make Me Smile - Chicago
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
After the Gold Rush - Neil Young
Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Cold, Cold Heart - Hank Williams
Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
mmm
Let’s see how many I get thru. No particular order.
[ul][li]Crazy on You, by Heart. It was playing at a party, and it was the first time I asked a girl I didn’t know to dance, and she agreed. [/li][li]*Christ is Risen! Alleluia! *That song is Easter to me, and once a year, I pretend I can sing and try to hit the high note. Rejoice! He is risen![/li][li]Up on Cripple Creek - Credence Clearwater Revival. My last three days of college, I met a girl and we spent the whole three days together. And we went to see The Last Waltz. Jena was her name. I never saw her again.[/li][li]Trumpet Voluntaire. They played when my wife came down the aisle to marry me. My God, is that woman beautiful![/li][li]You’re So Vain, Carly Simon. The No Secrets album was playing at my first high school party where there were no grown-ups around.[/li][li]Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O’Connor. Because of someone in my life who died, who was probably the person I loved the most for the first part of my life. [/li][li]You’re Beautiful, James Blount. That’s my daughter’s song. Hers and mine.[/li][li]O Holy Night, Celine Dion. Christmas Eve. [/ul][/li]
I’ll probably think of others as soon as I hit Submit.
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga. Makes me feel like I’m in a speeding car.
Mary’s Boy Child - Boney M. One of the few things I like about Christmas. So beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.
Good Rockin’ At Midnight - The Honeydrippers (Robert Plant) - it’s just…swingin’!
Voices - Vangelis. Rather majestic, I love the way it builds and builds
You Shook Me All Night Long - we used to sing this in the car at the top of our lungs, on the way to track meets.
Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim. Hey! Christopher Walken flying!
Mad World - Adam Lambert. Just f’ing beautiful.
Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes. Was there ever another song like this? Otherwordly.
Remember The Time - Michael Jackson. Hard to pick just one by Michael Jackson, but I think this is kind of romantic.
Every Little Thing I Do - Soul For Real. Because it makes me feel like I was young and carefree and on summer vacation.
Real Wild Child - Iggy Pop. Because I get weary of feeling old and dull and depressed and tired, and this charges me up a bit.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Annie Lenox. Because I have watched the youtube video about a hundred times and will watch it a hundred more, because it is knock-you-out beautiful. And there’s a hurdy-gurdy!
Pink Floyd = Shine on you crazy diamond
Genesis - Firth of Fifth
Marillion - Kayleigh
Kate Bush - The man with the child in his eyes
Peter Gabriel - San Jacinto
Queen - Killer queen
Dire Straits - Private investigation
10CC - I’m not in love
Simon and Garfunkel - Sound of silence
Eagles - Desperado
Carpenters - This masquerade
Santana - Samba pa ti
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