As post-holiday blues loom, I’m missing melodyharmonius and her cheerful threads. I hope this one will do! Please post about a song and why it brings you happy memories.
Yesterday at the gym I heard “Talking in Your Sleep” by The Romantics and instantly there flashed into my head the image of a bouncing diaper. When my son was first learning to stand, he would pull himself up on the couch or the coffee table, and if he heard music that he liked, he’d attempt to shake his booty. We discovered that playing “Talking in Your Sleep” was the most reliable way to get him started.
Brown Eyed Girl. Reminds me of an evening a long, long time ago when an African student actually thought he was going to propose to me on our first date. I put that nonsense away, and we went on to drink a couple pitchers of beer, have really good conversation, and hold hands while skipping back to the dormitories. Some time in the course of the evening, he had the bar owner play Brown Eyed Girl.
Back in 1978, I got my first horse, and spent many, many happy hours trail riding thru the woods at the stable I boarded him at, with my little transistor radio looped around the saddle horn.
For some reason, of all the songs popular then, it’s Billy Joel’s ‘Only the Good Die Young’ that instantly takes me back to that time. I can feel the summer sun on my back, smell the horse & pine, hear the thud of hooves on the trail and the squeak of leather.
It was the best summer of my life. I wish I could have it to live over.
Once my grandmother was videotaping my little cousin playing in the yard, while a radio in the background was playing “American Woman” by The Guess Who. Watching this video always used to crack me up, as my cousin’s attempts to do gymnastics seemed to sync up with the music. My favorite part is when she bends over to do a handstand, but gets distracted by a bug in the grass and crawls away after it…
Okay, I guess you had to be there, but the fact remains that when I hear this song I get a big stupid grin on my face.
I went to see Tron last night with my kid, and (no spoilers I hope) but there’s a bit where they play Journey’s Only The Young. I was instantly 16 again, poised with my finger on the button to record that song from the radio, sitting on my bed with my best friend, giggling and having a fantastic time.
My son is almost that age now. I want to make him understand what it is he’s got, his whole life out ahead of him, and how much joy and fun he should be having right now.
The song Elephant Gun by Beirut instantly brings me back to a tiny apartment in Beijing where I spent a week getting over my ex with a beautiful Danish girl who was totally hooked on this song.
The second that opening chord hits, I can smell her hair and taste the lip gloss. One of my best memories of 5 months in China.
“Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass always brings me back to the time when I first rode my bike by myself all the way across Chicago from Cicero Avenue to Lake Michigan and back. I was about twelve. On my way back home, I stopped in a little coffee shop restaurant that I had never been in before. They had a jukebox, and “Brandy” is the song I picked. While it played, I had a Coke at the counter.
It was the most wonderful sense of freedom I’ve ever experienced. “Brandy” always brings an echo of that happy day back.
Angel by Aerosmith instantly transports me to 1991. I can almost smell the green apple Jolly Ranchers that I was eating as I listened to this song for the first time, using the brand new Walkman that I had been given for Christmas.
I can’t search it up for some reason, but I think her last posts dealt with leaving her job and suffering a loss of internet access. Hopefully she’ll come back to us one day!
Well now, that’s just not acceptable. She should be at the library, using their internet!
Seriously though, I also hope she isn’t gone long. I don’t think I’ve ever actually interacted with her but she does stand out as an endlessly pleasant poster.
