While scrolling through the 3000 songs on my iPod, I always come across songs I haven't heard in a while that instantly bring up a strong memory. It's amazing the impact that music has on a person's life. I couldn't sleep tonight and was motivated to list what I think are the 20 Songs that have been most influential in my life.
2. 'Hello, I Love You', The Doors- My mom used to play this song and dance around the kitchen while preparing dinner. My younger brother would shout "Brian!" from his high chair every time she sang the line "Hello, I love you won't you tell me your name/ Hello, I love you won't you jump in my game". This is the happiest I ever remember seeing her.
3. 'Ironic', Alanis Morisette- This was the very first CD I ever purchased. I listened to it non-stop on my Discman and thought I was very grown up. I still enjoy the album.
4. 'Lucky Love', Ace of Base- While Ace of Base was most famous for 'Don't Turn Around' and 'The Sign,' my best friend Martina and I always preferred this song. We thought the lyrics said "Lucky love belongs to Tina and Kevin" and made up a whole scenario about their romance, which we'd elaborate on while jumping on the bed and taking turns singing the solos. Years later I was disappointed to learn the words are actually "Lucky love belongs in teenage heaven."
5. 'Unforgettable', Natalie Cole feat. Nat King Cole- This had been a favorite song of my grandparents. They are both gone now, but it will always make me think of them.
6. 'The Hardest Thing', 98 Degrees- 98 Degrees was the first major concert I ever attended. I went downtown to the Delta Center with a group of girlfriends and we screamed every time Nick Lachey looked in our direction. I thought I was sophisticated because I preferred 98 Degrees over N'Sync or Backstreet Boys, whom "everyone" liked.
7. 'Hey Jude', The Beatles- The year the Beatles 1 album was released, every adult in our family (and me- which made me very grown up) received it as a Christmas gift. It was really my first introduction to the Beatles (aside from an ill-fated school performance of "Yellow Submarine" in first grade) and it was a good one. I listened to it constantly, and still play it often. "Hey Jude" was probably my first favorite song off the album- at one time or another, most every song has been a favorite of mine.
8. 'I Put a Spell On You', Nina Simone- My dad gave me this CD as a Christmas present when I was about 15. I listened to it once and thought it was awful, and wondered what the heck he had been thinking. It sat untouched on my shelf for about five years until I came home from college one summer and it was the only music I had around. I played it and decided it was fantastic. I've since downloaded several of her other albums.
9. 'Complicated', Avril Lavigne- This song was hugely popular around the time my friends and I got our drivers' licenses. We spent hours (and tanks of gas) driving around aimlessly, screaming the words to this song with the windows rolled down, enjoying our cherry slurpees. It's very reminiscent of a fun, careless time in my life.
10. 'Rocking the Suburbs', Ben Folds- This album cemented my friendship with Tricy for life. We attended a debate camp where we knew no one and felt completely out of place. Then we discovered Ben Folds. We put it in her Discman, each took 1 headphone, and listened to it 8 hours a day for two weeks.
11. 'Hanging by a Moment', Lifehouse- This band was somewhat of a one-hit wonder, but their album was a birthday gift from one of the first guys I ever dated. Thus, I listened to it and looked for a "deeper meaning" in the lyrics that would define the way he felt about me. If only I had known how shallow 16 year old boys really are. . .
12. 'Bubble Toes', Jack Johnson- Dave made me a mixed CD when we were first dating that included a few Jack Johnson songs, which were new to me and I instantly loved. A few years later I pestered Dave for weeks to get tickets to a Jack Johnson concert with me, and he refused on the grounds that the following day was his first day of school. I relented and missed the concert. Dave showed up in Logan that night ready for school, only to get dragged back to Salt Lake for the Jack Johnson concert by his roommates. He called me from the concert and I was not amused. Come to think of it, he's still in the doghouse for that one.
13. 'Everyone's a Little Bit Racist', Avenue Q Cast Recording- Tara and I have always bonded over a shared love of musicals. While most of our friends listen to so-called "cool" music, we can often be found singing along to 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' or 'Bye Bye Birdie'. Though neither of us has seen Avenue Q, we have really enjoyed the soundtrack, especially 'Everyone's a Little Bit Racist." Hey, it's true!
14. 'The Scientist', Coldplay- Dave and I broke up and got back together several times in high school. Each time was more difficult, and looking back now I realize it's because we both knew there was still something special between us. After a split that was particularly hard for me, I spent a lot of time listening to this song which I felt expressed my feelings. I heard it the other day for the first time in ages and was overcome by a wave of grief.
15. 'I'll Be', Edwin McCain- I was a week shy of my sixteenth birthday when my grandma died. We were extremely close and losing her was one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with. I really don't know why I chose this song, but I listened to it on repeat for the entire 6 hour flight out to New Jersey for her funeral.
16. 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant', Billy Joel- Sometime around my junior year in high school, I started to enjoy some of the music I had grown up hearing my parents play. I still put on some James Taylor or Bruce Springsteen when I miss them. Billy Joel is now an all-time favorite of mine. I would love to see him in concert one day. This song is one that Tara introduced to me and I particularly enjoy.
17. 'The Promise', Tracy Chapman- The most complicated part of my early relationship with Dave was that we were always leaving each other to pursue our own adventures. At the end of one summer as he prepared to leave for school, he played this song for me and made a promise that he would come back to me. We'd refer to it often as we left each other over and over again in the next few years.
18. 'Let's Get it Started', Black Eyed Peas- I moved to Baltimore, Maryland for my freshman year in college and spent more time drinking, partying, and getting crazy than I ever have since. This song was immensely popular (as was it's predecessor, the politically incorrect 'Let's Get Retarded') and played nearly everywhere we went that semester.
19. 'Stay With You', John Legend- When Dave and I were planning our wedding, we realized that none of the songs we considered "ours" were appropriate for our first dance. I really wanted to find a song that was different, not one that was going to be played at 100 other weddings that year. A friend put on a John Legend CD at work one day and I immediately loved the album. When 'Stay With You' came on a few songs later, it was instantly my choice for our wedding song.
20. 'Wicked Little Girls', Esthero- This is a favorite song of mine right now, one that's fun to dance around to while I'm cooking or cleaning or whatever. It always gets the baby moving too!
