I’ve been revisiting some old 📀music lately. I use Spotify for playlists now rather than turning on my previously downloaded iTunes stuff. But- that old iTunes music is pure 📀gold! I can still 🎤sing along to every word of songs I haven’t heard in years.
Do you have songs that bring you back to specific times and 🏖places? Do particular songs remind you of certain 😍people? For me, music brings on the memories- just as I lived them. It also carries 🎭emotions connected to them.
You probably have songs that make up the fabric of your life. Here are a few of mine:
🎼”You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones- My brother, Stephen, played that for me when I learned that I didn’t make JV 🎉cheerleader. Two things about this one- Stephen can find a Stones song for any occasion. And, not making cheerleader turned out to be a good thing. Trust Mick and Keith when things seem wrong. You get what you need.💯
🎼”For Just a Little While” by Sally K. Albrecht and performed by Mia and other students at JHS in May of 2011. The last song performed on the old high school stage just days before the EF5 🌪tornado blew it all away.😢
🎼”Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac- riding the 🎡Scrambler at the Home Show in the parking lot of Memorial Hall circa 1979
🎼”O Holy Night” by any church choir- sitting next to my dad at 🎄Christmas Eve services
🎼”Big Yellow Taxi” by Counting Crows- This was Ken’s 🚕ringtone for longer than it should have been. Still love that one- the song and the guy!😍
🎼”Brick House” by The Commodores- every 💃🏻🕺🏻party in the basement of the Sigma Nu house at Mizzou
🎼Every album by Elvis Costello- College! 🐯All of it. For those in the know, I’ll leave out the details of the Elvis concert and the incident in the parking lot to protect the not-so-innocent. You’re welcome.😂
🎼”Ready Steady Go” by Generation X and performed by Fools Face- late 🌜nights with my brother, Doug, at Parody Hall in KC- Those steep stairs. That stage with the low ceiling. The bench seats.
🎼”Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles- one of the original theme songs to my mom’s ☀️noontime news/talk show in the 1970s
🎼”Hills and Valleys” by Tauren Wells- playing in Angelina’s room as she prepared for school the day after one of her classmates passed away✝️
🎼”We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel- teaching history to my students at Fairview Elementary School in Columbia, Missouri🔥
🎼”Guns and Ships” by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of 🌟Hamilton- remembering that Zane introduced me to the Hamilton phenomenon- and that he can actually do the crazy fast rap in this one
🎼”Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day. This is the perfect ending to every 📚school year. South Middle School people- you feel this one, too- right?
There’s a song that my kids would probably tell you is ‘my song.’ It’s called “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent. I even joke- kind of- that I want it to play at my funeral someday. 🥰It has to be the original Broadway cast performing it, though. No random singers doing a cover of it. It has to be the real deal.✅There’s a line in the song that says, “Measure your life in love.” That’s how I live my life and how I hope to be remembered.💕
I have also been experimenting with a new genre of music in the last couple of years. I’ve never thought of myself as a 🤠country fan, but that’s changing. I have many favorite 🤠country songs and artists now. There’s even a 🤠country playlist in my Spotify rotation. I think it’s important to try new things in life. Music is a great place to start.
What if…we play our soundtracks? We should remember through them. Revisiting the past can be comforting. 😊It shouldn’t stop there, though. We can also grow by shaking things up and adding to them. Start with The Beatles and Bruno Mars. ❗️Add some Blake Shelton and Chance the Rapper. ❗️Mix in Elevation Worship and a healthy dose of show tunes from Wicked. ❗️Now- we’re talking! Maybe- just maybe- opening our minds to different kinds of 🎼music will open our ❤️hearts to new experiences in life. So, listen to the songs that take you back in time. Just remember to keep making new mixtapes.💖
sharing the stairs 