When I hear The Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits, I can actually smell my old boyfriends soap. He smelled so great and clean. It makes me smile.
When I hear Always and Forever by Heatwave, I can feel the suntan on my skin getting ready for the Junior Prom. (thanks to baby oil and aluminum foil) I can see my pink dress and feel those butterflies I felt in my stomach when Joe picked me up.
When I hear Carol King sing It’s Tool Late, I can see the pool at Saratoga State Park. I can taste that Molson, my first legal drink at age 18. That was, by the way, the last time my stomach saw the sun, sometime in the mid 1970’s!
When I hear Running with the Devil by Van Halen, I can smell that nasty old salad bar at Ponderosa Steakhouse. I worked there when I was in High School and we cranked Van Halen after hours while we cleaned up. I could write stories forever about waitressing there!
Only the Good Die Young, by Billy Joel…(I had a Jewish boyfriend who thought that was hysterical); Candida, by Tony Orlando and Dawn….ohhhh I have NOTHING to say about that one!; and how come I know every last word to Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf and American Pie by Don McLean yet I cannot remember where I hide the kids Christmas gifts?
Music is so powerful. My husband and I danced our first dance to David Sanborn’s The Dream. I have it on my iPod and we still dance when we hear it. We stop what we are doing and dance. The kids no longer scream YUCK, they just look as if to say, “really?”
Speaking of the kids, one thought to pass on: I am so happy that Barney has left the building, and so have the Teletubbies and the theme from Kim Possible, although I did like that one.
This made me think, “what will my kids remember?” My blog is PG so I cannot even say some of the song titles that are out there today, let alone the lyrics. I guess Madonna was viewed by our parents that way in the 1980’s but Lady Gaga may have surpassed even Madonna’s shiny pointy bras!
I love this little song on the radio (I’d rather not say the name) but it has a great beat. So I decided to look up the lyrics so I don’t sound like a total idiot while I am singing. Holy Cow! I could not believe it. I can’t say those lines, not even alone, while I am dancing my Zumba moves like I ‘m J-Lo. While I was out there, I did look up the lyrics to Bennie & The Jets by Elton John. Are you laughing? Do YOU know the words? Look them up, you too will be enlightened.
I guess music makes our memories more than we know. You don’t need an expensive boom box or stereo system. Sometimes the song just pops in your head and you can sing it to yourself, at no charge. If you use a wooden spoon like a microphone, you will even THINK you’re Joan Jett!
Hello and welcome.
Music is so helpful as a memory aid that it can be used on purpose to ensure memory of various things. My father told the story of how he learned to spell “lantern” when he was a boy. His mother simply sang a little tune the lyrics to which were, “L-A-N;T,E,R-N; that spells lantern”. He never forgot it. When our children were very young, we live in Rome, NY and felt it was important that they know their address in case they wandered off or otherwise found themselves confused about how to get home. So we taught them a little song that had as lyrics our home address; “3-1-5, West Embargo Street.” Our daughter is 31 and she still knows that address by heart.