I probably have a higher appreciation for music than the average person, much like many people in this forum.
Sometimes, I listen to too much music. But there are songs you listen to and enjoy. Some songs may touch you and you feel identified with.
Then are the really special songs. I´m talking about the type of song that you feel connected with. This type of song reminds you of a specfic time like no other, or perhaps has changed your perspective.
I´ve had a few songs like this, but If I had to choose one that stands out for me, it would have to be Pink Floyd´s “Comfortably Numb”.
Much more than a typical rock song about drugs, as many people claim it to be, this song for me is much more. It´s about feeling disconnected with society, about feeling regret for what could have been and about trying to explain moments in life in which you lose all perception of what is real. These moments are very hard to describe, yet I think Waters does a great job at describing it.
So, which song would you say has impacted your life in a special way?
The album “The Wall” by Pink Floyd and then after my 2 yr old son died on 8/1/08 “Better Than” by The John Butler Trio. That particular song is about appreciating what you have and what you had instead of spending your days thinking about the tragic things in life. I tear up everytime I listen to it.
Redfrost, I am so sorry for your loss. I can’t think of anything worse than losing a child.
Laugh if you wish, but Dan Fogelberg’s “Auld Lange Syne” , while not really affecting my life, does remind me of a girlfriend I had in college. When I hear theline “and the snow turned into rain”, I can’t help but feeling a bit wistful.
Yes, I know it’s a sappy song…
I’m the daughter of a guitarist, so music has always been a huge part of my life. So many songs have impacted me, be it in the music (David Gimour pours his soul out into his Strat), the lyrics (Jeff Wayne’s Forever Autumn, anyone?), the overall vibe given off by the song (My favorite song has mediocre music and vocals, but just makes me feel so much hope that I can’t help but adore it), or strong memories associated with it (Hello, Dad’s playing, heard and seen my whole life). *
People despise going to concerts with me, because I tend to stand motionless in one spot and go into a sort of trance. While they are drinking/moshing/pumping their fists, I’m zoned out and unaware of anything else in the room.
*Damn, that’s a lot of parentheses! Sorry 'bout that.
I always identified with the song “Lyin’ Eyes” by The Eagles. I was sort of in the role of the boy in the following lyric exerpt:
“On the other side of town a boy is waiting
with fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal
She drives on through the nice anticipating
'Cause he makes her feel the way she used to feel”
I have lots of songs that remind me of a particular person, or time in my life.
“Time For Me to Fly” reminds me of a long-ago co-worker and friend who was breaking up with her husband.
The whole album “Wish You Were Here” reminds me of a sweet guy I traveled with for a while - he explained the whole thing to me while were a bit - um - under the influence?
“My Girl” reminds me of my late husband.
“Sunshine on My Shoulders” is my new husband’s and my song - he sang it to me at sunset on Daytona Beach - I fell head over heels in love with him! Yeah, it’s cheesy, but I don’t care.
Tons of songs! You know how they say smells evoke memories? Songs do that for me.
I’ve already mentioned *You Can’t Go Home Again *by DJ Shadow, in the other thread, because of it being all tangled up with good things ending. It’s a bittersweet song for that reason but I still love it… I guess that makes me a masochist.
Elliot Smith’s *Pitseleh *is another bittersweet song, because it reminds me of a boy that I could’ve fallen very much in love with, had we met at a different time in our lives. Actually, anything by Elliot Smith reminds me of him, but this line in Pitseleh is just too perfectly bang-on:
On a more positive note, Stars’ Sleep Tonight will always represent those first giddy weeks when I started dating The Boy. I honestly believe that song will always continue to make me feel young and head over heels for a few minutes, even when I’m 80 years old and arthritic.
I’ve posted about this before, but if I hadn’t heard “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush, I’d probably be dead or unhappily married to a redneck and living in a trailer park in Kansas somewhere, instead of married to my soulmate and living in such a great city. Specifically, I met him because we were both Kate fans, and I wouldn’t be living in Chicago if I hadn’t met him. I certainly would never have heard of Happy Rhodes, who has enriched my life in countless ways, musically and personally. I never would have gotten my radio show, or heard 99% of the music that I played. My entire life, every single bit of it, from my taste in music and food, to all the wonderful movies I’ve seen, to trips I’ve taken (London! Twice! amazing for an insular Kansas farm girl!), a thousand other things, would be different if I hadn’t heard that song. I shudder to think.
But then, going back even more, I would not have heard Kate Bush if I hadn’t heard “The Musical Box” and “Watcher of the Skies” by Genesis, which made me a fan* and put me in touch with the Genesis fan who turned me on to Kate, so those are important too.
*you have to understand that before I heard those songs, I was mostly into oldies, heavy metal (or whatever you would call early Black Sabbath) and southern rock, though I did like Yes and Pink Floyd, which probably paved the way for becoming a huge (Peter Gabriel) Genesis fan.
