You know, songs that just take you right back to a certain point in your life, or make you think of a certain person, a certain night, whatever. Here are mine:
Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
I was away at a boarding school for grades 7-9. I hated it there, but I feared leaving, just because it was stable and certain. At the end of my 9th grade year, I sat in my room and listened to this song over and over again, while I took in every aspect of that dorm room and the hall that led up to it. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it all in the end, but I knew that I wanted to remember it, and now whenever I hear that song I do.
The Doors - Riders on the Storm
My Dad has lived in Dallas all of my life, and as I kid I naturally worshipped my older half-sister (his daughter from a previous marriage, truly a kind and wonderful person). She used to sometimes take me to a total dump of an institution there, Dan’s Lakewood Cafe, with her friends late in to the night. There was a jukebox there and this song played constantly on it. It always takes me back to being a little kid with a cup of coffee at this table with super-cool-older-kids and being up later than I knew it was possible to be :-).
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - #41 (Acoustic Version)
I used this song to get through the really tough time after a break-up with a girl I was completely and utterly racked with love for. I went back to using drugs heavily, and developed a speed habit that I eventually kicked, leading to the current incarnation of me, clean and sober Lucki (clean since July!). Anyway, when I hear this song I get way bummed and feel like when you wake up after having crashed hard following a long speed session- jittery, kind of sore, a little sick to your stomach, and just kind of like your timing has been thrown off. Blech. Great song though, and I still have the girl as a great friend. We’re supposed to hang out today, actually… OH MY GOD. This song just randomly came up on my giant ass mp3 playlist. That’s freaky.
A year ago last month, my stepfather attempted to commit suicide by taking over 100 sleeping pills. He called my mom at work shortly after taking them just to say he loved her. She knew something wasn’t right and she rushed home - another 10 minutes and it wouldn’t have had a happy ending. Anyway, this song came out in April of this year (I downloaded it in Feb, but finally was able to buy the cd 2 months later), and it’s amazing how closely the lyrics mirror my feelings about this situtation. If I’m in a mood that is anywhere near depressed, this song has me in tears and makes me think of how strong my mom was through the whole situation. She lives 600 miles away, so I could only really offer support over the phone and it killed me that I couldn’t be there.
I can’t imagine it happening
I close my eyes but it won’t go away
I can’t imagine it happening
I tell myself that it’s so far away…
I hate myself that you’re so far away.
“Who’s That Lady?” by the O’Jays, or somebody…
About the time that song was popular, I went to a local breast bar/pool hall called Bare ‘n’ Ball. I walked in just as a dancer started her set. I overheard somebody say she was a cop in her regular job. She was really into the acting part of her job, making eye contact with customers, doing that come-on look. She was not my type at all, though. I felt really uneasy looking at her. The more she undressed, the less of her I wanted to see, and through it all, the PA pounded out Who’s That Lady? again and again. She spent more and more time at my part of the stage, persisting in her flirtation directly at me. She was the kind of woman I’d pay to get dressed and go away. I kept waiting for the end of her set, so some other dancer would come on. After the sixth repetition of that song, which I had never liked, I realized that, due to the snowstorm and the low pay scale, she was the only one who had showed up to dance. I finished my beer and fled into the night. To this day, I still shudder when I hear that song.
Kiss from a Rose by Seal. This song came out when I was 17 or so, and seeing my first serious boyfriend. He was obsessed with this song, and made of tape of it repeating over and over. I remember many late summer nights hearing the song about 20 times. The relationship ended badly, and he was bent on self-destruction, so the song’s always had a sad connotation for me. It’s only been in the last year or two that I no longer stop dead when I hear it, then go into a day-long depression. I know it will make me think of him forever, though.
The Way by Fastball. The first time I heard this, I was in an underage/afterhours club, and Mr. Gay Portland lip-synced to this song during my first real live drag show.
Five Dollar Fine by Chris LeDeux. Reminds me of loud, drunken late-night renditions out at the “Party House” when I was 19 or so. I can almost taste the Coors Lite when I hear it.