Monday, January 12, 2009

I Got the Music in Me.

Put a lot of miles on the car on the weekend.. Barrie to Kitchener to Toronto on Friday.. back to the K-dub, then to Hamilton on Saturday .. white knuckled it back to KW Saturday night.. then back to Barrie on Sunday.

Good times people.. good times...

I don't mind driving but there was a lot of it. It got very tense as the weather was crappy at times.. and we saw a LOT of accidents... and even a huge car fire. Craziness on the roads last weekend.. I think there was a full moon.

What I enjoy about being in the car is the chance to listen to music. I like to flip around and listen to the radio.. and I like to throw on the occasional CD. That's the bright side of burning up a couple of tanks of gas and getting a hideous cramp in my right leg..

One of my favourite albums of all time is the White Album. I finally bought a CD copy recently and the car trip was the perfect opportunity to listen to it. Some of the tracks I hadn't heard in years. It was awesome. I had forgotten some of the tunes.. but oddly remembered most of the words.

The White Album reminds me of being about 19.. driving in the backseat of my parents car to Pembroke for Christmas. I had put the album on cassette and would listen to it over and over again on the "walkman" that I had.. the seriously cool portable compact stereo that I won in a "suggestive selling" contest when I worked at Wendy's as a teen. Compact? Oh yeah.. about the size of a paperback novel. About as compact as my ass.

I listened to this album over and over and over again. I love the song Rocky Raccoon.. I don't know why. I just do. Bungalow Bill.. Revolution.. Blackbird... and one of my favourite songs of all time.. I Will. The song that at 19 I would sing along to and wish for true love...maybe this would be my wedding song..? It wasn't. I sang it again on the weekend..but not with the same bright eyed optimistic true love outlook. Hey, I'm old and jaded. I'm allowed.



It was interesting listening to this album with fresh ears.. my childrens' ears.. they had heard songs from it, sure. The daughter is a huge Beatles fan.. but they hadn't heard most. Revolution #9 creeped the son out. LMAO.

When I was 9 there was a draw at the local park and I won a transistor radio. It was red and came with an earpiece (this is the olden days before headphones). My mother crocheted me a little case for it and I would carry it around everywhere. I would listen to the radio all day every day and late into the night. I can remember struggling to stay up for the yearly TOP 100 songs of all time countdown.. My god! Would it be "Let it Be" or "Stairway to Heaven"... I had to know! This was the start of my love of music... and of radio.

Through listening to the White Album, I started thinking about my favourite songs, what they meant to me or more correctly, who they mean to me. And strangely enough, throughout the drive many of those favourites came on the radio as if summoned by my thoughts. "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues" came on during the drive on the 400.. reminds me of an ex boyfriend who I refer to as "Psycho Steve"... good times.

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is a huge one for me..... I have 2 copies on disc.. wore one out listening to it over and over in the dining room of my parents house. Also makes me think of Waterloo.. when I moved into my place there, a dear friend of mine bought me that on CD as a housewarming gift, knowing it to be one of my favourites. Now when I listen to it, I think of him, rather than grade 8.

Willie Nelson's Stardust... laying in my bed while my parents sat out with the neighbours on a hot August night.. laughing, having a drink and singing along with Willie.

Anything off Moving Pictures by Rush is an automatic memory of Craig, my high school boyfriend. I still love Rush to this day. Red Barchetta is my favourite. And Tom Sawyer. Oh, and Limelight.... Craig used to write song lyrics in my yearbook each June.. it's how I always remember the lyrics to Downstream by Supertramp.

Anything by the Commodores or Earth Wind and Fire... automatically makes me think of "The Natural Highs".. a group of girls.. 11 of us.... who all had "flavour" names.. Vanilla, Butterscotch, Chocolate.. I was Cinnamon ... and the boys we hung out with.. particularly Greg and Phil. Love them all.. and thanks to the internet.. still talk to many of them. Whenever I hear "Brick House" I will think of you..... LOL

Various Police and Elton John songs conjure up my 20th summer... when I was crazy about a boy who would never be more than a friend. In fact, he still is.. but some of those songs can still evoke a tiny bit of sadness, and regret that I never told him how I felt. The Police also makes me think of my sisters.. one of the bands we actually ALL liked. They were big into the trendy bands at the time.. I had Elton, the Eagles, Zeppelin... and the Police. Seemed to be the one band we could all agree on.

Another favourite album? Back in Black.... AC/DC. Fan-freakin-tastic. 1981.. Grade 12 ski trip to St. Donat PQ.. on the way up someone put it on and the entire trip we alternated between AC/DC and Genesis. Finally got to see a full AC/DC show in November... and my ringtone is "You Shook Me"... a fan.. yeah. I think so.

So many songs remind me of so many things.. first slow dance with a boy? Nobody Does it Better by Carly Simon.. Play September by Earth Wind and Fire and I can still do part of a dance routine.. (No, that's okay, you really don't want to see that). Anything from the score of Oliver reminds me of my first grade teacher. More Than A Feeling by Boston still makes me think of a boy I loved, and still do.. a little bit. Electric Avenue by Eddie Grant makes me want to vomit. A range of emotions.

Heart of the Matter by Don Henley has long been a huge favourite of mine..... in fact, the whole End of the Innocence CD is huge for me. 1989... got married that year, daughter born the following year... I still listen to that album. Originally I had this on cassette and I have had to buy several copies of this CD over the years.. it's been lost, destroyed, stolen. Heart of the Matter has been sung by me many times in various vehicles and for various relationships. "Even if, even if, you don't love me anymore..." Enough said.

Life is a Highway... always reminds me of the daughter.. at age 3 singing "Life is a highway, I want to ride it on my lawn....." My Wish by Rascall Flatts makes me tear up.. thinking about my kids and what I wish for them.. Both of my children are very talented singers... my daughter's version of Cannonball makes me tear up every time. Tonight the Heartache's On Me.. the first song she ever sang on a stage. Breath of Heaven - when she was in Grade 6 she played the Virgin Mary in the Christmas pageant. People chatted through the whole thing.. but when my daughter sang Breath of Heaven, you could have heard a pin drop. I get all emotional just thinking about it.

My son is also a really good singer.. "Sixty to Zero" not only reminds me of my friend Johnny Reid - who is freakin' awesome - but also of a show in Elmira he did. My son and I went backstage to say hi to Johnny before the show, and he sang part of Johnny's song for him, to show him he knew all the words. So when Johnny got to that part in the show, he brought Josh up to sing with him.. It was awesome.

Bohemian Rhapsody reminds me of my grade 6 birthday.. my friend Lynn gave me that 45 and 2 others for my birthday. She and I and another friend had a sleepover and made taffy and got it all over the kitchen and each other...
Fat Bottomed Girls reminds me of Jenn.. not for that reason, but because it's the only Queen song she ever liked... (I know! what is WRONG with her?)

Moon River is my parents wedding song. Could I Have This Dance was my wedding song.. I never really liked that song. It should have been a clue. Long Time Running was my sister's song .. they were engaged for a few years..
Certain songs make you think of certain people, certain times, certain feelings. Should I Stay or Should I Go makes me think of Mohawk College, the Arnie and drinking pitchers and screaming out the lyrics. I Want You to Want Me is me and the daughter in the car singing along to a burnt CD she made of songs of my generation..and trying to sing "feelin all alone without a friend y'know ya feel like dyin" in the limited amount of time allowed.. LOL. Not all of my memories are depressing.

But some songs I'll never be able to listen to without crying.. I Learned that From You by Sara Evans.. and a song called Seven Years On by my friend Thomas Wade (I would post it but don't know how) makes me bawl every time I hear it. Holy Water by Big & Rich still rips my heart out.

And obviously, Beth by KISS. A perennial favourite and one that is sung to me on a regular basis, including once by a man dressed in a Gene Simmons costume.. Doesn't he know that Peter Criss sang lead on that? Dumbass. Listening to the lyrics, I find it ironic that I married a musician. Life imitates art.

I guess listening to old music just dredged up a lot of thoughts, feelings and memories... after all, I've had a lot of time to think lately. It's made me think of love lost, opportunities missed and things I always meant to do but didn't. I'm hoping the soundtrack to the next part of my life is a little more upbeat.

But, enough of that.... I'm going to go find HARD ROCK 2 and blast it on the CD player in the car. Ace of Spades by Motorhead sounds pretty good right now.

Life: I've had a couple of days of being a little stressy and depressed. I have a couple of really good friends who've been very sweet to me and make me feel better.
Love: It's all going to the above mentioned friends. I think they know who they are.
Pants: Yes, I'm wearing some. Work out pants. Going to the Y. Let's hope they play something "snappy".

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