What an odd feeling it is when you’re innocently standing in aisle 12 reading the label on a jar of spaghetti sauce to suddenly be transported back in time. Grocery store music tracks – their out to get us all! So, today when this happened to me, I started wondering what other songs I’d forgotten that are deeply connected to long, lost memories. Thinking back to various situations in my past that drew on emotion – happy, sad, flirty, painful, erotic and crazy – I came up with these eight songs. Let me just first state that this is a list of memorable songs, not a list of favorite songs. Big difference.
Wallflowers – One Headlight
An old boyfriend was driving me home from work in the rain when his car broke down. This song was playing on the radio when it happened – no joke. To make me laugh and ease the tension, he started singing the song to me. The best part of the whole serenade was that he replaced the Cinderella part with my name. Pure genius, that dude…he really wanted to get laid, I’m sure. Cheesy, corny, funny and awesome all rolled up into one perfect package is the only way I can describe this memory.
Wham, Careless Whispers –
7th grade. I remember standing in the middle of the school yard begging my best friend, who had just bought the new Wham tape (yes, tape), to please make me a copy. She did. Every time I hear this song I think of her.
Savage Garden, I Want You –
“Anytime I need to see your face I just close my eyes
And I am taken to a place
Where your crystal minds and magenta feelings
Take up shelter in the base of my spine
Sweet like a chica cherry cola”
When my daughter was three years old I would play this song in the car more times than I’d like to admit. She learned the verse from the constant repetition and would it sing it to anyone who would listen. Nothing is more adorable than hearing your three year old say, “chica cherry cola”.
KISS, Let’s Put The X In Sex –
An old friend of mine is a huge KISS fan…me, not so much. He usually chose the music our group of friends would listen to because he was the oldest and coolest kid with a guitar we knew at the time. This song stood out possibly because it was oh, so scandalously inappropriate for my age or because it’s the only thing I ever learned to play on a guitar (quite badly, I might add).
Red Sovine, Little Rosa – “I pusha the crowd this way, and I pusha the crowd that way and there at my feet lay my Little Rosa”
You know those uncomfortable memories that you wish you could delete from your brain’s hard drive? Well, for me, this song and it’s associated feelings are definitely one of those moments. Back in 89’ I went through an odd/crazy/mixed-up stage which led to dating a Cajun guy who listened to Red Sovine’s music…a whole lot. He also liked to catch alligators and eat boudine every chance he got, but I suppose that’s besides the point. ‘Little Rosa’ is a song that stands out more than any other because…well, it’s about a dead little girl! When Cajun guy would sing this song, I vividly remember him pushing his hands back and forth imitating the story. He was slightly weird, a whole lotta creepy and the relationship didn’t last very long.
Nazareth, Hair of the Dog-
This song would come on the radio every night at exactly 2 am just as I would lock-up at work. All of us who worked the last shift of the night would gather in the parking lot to shoot the shit and smoke some pot. Inevitably, someone would turn to me with pot-smoker’s paranoia in their voice and ask, “Dude, are you sure you locked-up the store?” Of course, I’d have to go check, sometimes three and four times a night. Love this song!
Dead or Alive, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)-
This memory is a tad embarrassing. I remember walking from one music store to another trying to find the 45 to this song. Not one place had it in stock. It wasn’t until three years later I realized why. What I was actually asking store clerks at the time is this: “Do you have that really cool song from Depeche Mode called You Spin Me Around and Around?” Not one…I repeat, NOT ONE PERSON had the heart to say:
1) “Depeche Mode would never put out such a shitty song.”
2) “Like, oh.my.gawd – you have like, the band and title all-kinds-of-wrong!”
3) “Ever hear of hair bands? They’re in right now, you know?”
In my defense, I was only 13 years old, so give this kiddo a break.
Bon Jovi, Wanted Dead or Alive –
And, it’s come down to this song. Of all the songs listed above, this one song is truly the watermark of my youth and can be associated with various memories over several years.
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