Musical Memories

I love how music can hold memories for us. There are certain songs that always take me back to another moment in time or cause me to think of a certain person. Funny how our minds work like that.

I cannot listen to The Phantom of the Opera or ABBA without thinking of my best friend from junior high and high school. Topher introduced me to both completely different styles of music. I can still hear him singing Masquerade in my ear.

Tunes from Blessid Union of Souls like Jelly or Light in Your Eyes always make me think of my sister and some of our late-night conversations post-college.

80’s songs by Madonna make me chuckle and think of my childhood when I was NOT supposed to be listening to pop or rock music at all, and yet somehow I know her songs quite well.

Richard Marx’s Right Here Waiting will always bring back memories of the Croswell Fair. I loved that song, and I can still picture Lisa, Barbara and I giggling as we served Diana’s ice cream from our cozy booth to our customers.

Along the same lines, New Kids on the Block songs like Hangin’ Tough, Cover Girl, Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time), and Popsicle never fail to make me smile and grimace at the same time. What were we thinking? And which one did I like again? Hee hee!

Elton John’s Blessed album always makes me think of a family trip to Florida and one really bad haircut. My family visited Florida for a few days after my college graduation, and my sister and I drove home to Michigan, following behind my parents in another car. Barbara had her Blessed tape with her, and we played it again and again on the drive. As for the haircut, my great aunt in Florida convinced me to chop off most of my locks for a radical change, and it turned into rather a disastrous phase for me. UGH!

Chris Rice songs always make me smile. He just has such a positive and upbeat presence. One song in particular still chokes me up every time I hear it. He wrote Let the Words Escape as inspired by Elizabeth Barret Browning’s poetry. I’m a big E.B.B. fan, and I hearing Chris’s song reminds me of reading about Elizabeth’s romance with Robert Browning. I love it.

Brandon Heath’s song London naturally brings a flood of memories back from my England trip last May. I close my eyes and once again I am walking along the streets of London, passing the Houses of Parliament as I cross Westminster Bridge, enjoying the river scenes along the Thames… SIGH!

For me, music bottles memories like a photograph can. It's all good!