Where would we be without music? This past weekend I finally had the chance to go home to South Florida and visit my family. It was wonderfully relaxing. Yet all weekend I was antsy for Sunday. My parents allowed me to take my car back up to school (I’ve been without it all year).
For me, that not only meant freedom and convenience, it also meant one heck of a jam session in my car. One of the things that soothes me most is a long, easy car ride with some great music. Saturday night I downloaded new songs, old favorites and even some Glee tunes. I was ready for my drive home: four-and-a-half hours of pure musical bliss! Alas, our quote for this week:
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. – Bob Marley
One of my favorite things about music is its ability to move people. “Baby Got Back” makes me laugh, while “Butterfly Kisses” always makes my eyes well up. I have found that the two strongest memory triggers for me are smells and music.
A song can take you back to a specific moment in time. Sometimes, it reminds you how you felt. For instance, “With You” by Jessica Simpson brings me back to the way my middle school crush made me blush and giggle. Or, “Love Story” by Taylor Swift will always remind me of my great love. We tried so hard to find our song and wanted to stray away from the cheesy stuff, but really, the song found us.
And then I think about Bryan Adams’ song “18 Til I Die.” I identified so well with it when I was younger, and I still can’t help but rock out to it every chance I get. I also remember the first time I dealt with a break up — I listened to “So What” by Pink. Girl power at its finest. I feel that almost everyone has somebody in mind when they sing that song!
Do you have a song that you simply can’t listen to?
“The First Cut is the Deepest” by Sheryl Crow has a strange effect on me. I can only listen to it when everything, and I mean everything, in my life is going great. I’m a big thinker, especially right before going to bed. I usually have some worry, qualm or concern in my head. I can listen to that song, though, when I can smile at every aspect of my life.
The first time I heard it, I was in the back seat of a Mustang convertible on a beautiful, cool night in Georgia. The top was down, and my best friend sat next to me and our dads were in the front seats. I remember watching all the trees and breathing in the air, as I shared an iPod headphone with my best friend. This song came on, and I will forever associate it with that calming, flawless moment.
Sometimes silence is deafening; I look to music to fill that gap when I have no words to say. I allow it to let me feel certain ways. I recently discovered that my theme song is “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield because it describes me and my approach to life in a nutshell.
I’ve found the “soundtrack to my life.” What’s yours?
Xoxo,
QQ