My diary is dead. It was boring to write in, every entry felt really contrived and formulaic. Instead of a diary I now keep a book of lists and plans and drawings and thoughts and ideas and stories and scribblings that I write in whenever I feel like. It’s a lot easier to keep than a diary, and a lot more fun. I write in it more consistently then I ever did in my run-of-the-mill diary. Anyway, in that book of lists and things, I have a list titled in dramatic balloon text:
It’s basically a list of all the songs that we can remember growing up listening to. They’re not all that good but most of them have some sort of story, or at least a memory to go along with them. The entire Shrek soundtrack is in there. It reminds us of the early 2000’s and going to government school. Evil Ways by Santana is in there because Christian sang that over and over again last summer. A LOT of Enya is in there because we’ve listened to that from the womb. ‘Only Time’ is special because (oddly enough) it reminds me of laying on the floor and reading Tintin comic books. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and Do Wah Diddy are two of our favorite sing-alongs. Matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof : my 15th birthday and my friend Jenna. In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg : running around the house. Lady Gaga makes us feel ‘culturally aware’ and reminds us of swimteam with the middle schoolers. Certain songs remind us of certain people. Pocketful of Sunshine, for example. I associate that with our trip to Kitty Hawk with our friends the Larsons a couple of years ago. Complicated by Avril Lavigne. I thought I was way cool for liking that song back in the third grade. Hello Seattle by Owl City reminds me of my east coast AND west coast friends. Wee Sing America has many many memories attached to it. The Beach Boys remind me of Dad. So do Leonard Cohen and Percy Sledge. Rod Stewart and Pandora remind me of Mom. Pavarotti reminds me of Grandpa. Tainted Love by Soft Cell. Hey There Delilah. The House of the Rising Sun (of COURSE!!!) ALL of Celtic Woman’s songs remind me of the eighth grade and moving to NC. Ottmar Liebert (classical guitar) reminds us of living in Texas. American Pie. Clair de Lune. Led Zeppelin. Amazing Grace. Christmas music is a category unto itself. Everything we’ve ever heard is in there! Excepting hymns.
Hymns have stories too though. Since I was twelve I’ve associated a certain hymn with each convention that I’ve been to. Boring ’02 (an exception) was #87, Saginaw ’06 was #98, Demorest ’08 was #200, Denton ’09 was probably #102… Saginaw ’09 was definitely #409. #108 will always be associated with going to union meeting at a certain family’s house. #117 reminds me of when I was 4. #77 reminds me of Christian. #75 reminds me of Hawaii (naturally). #158 makes me sad. I could go on and on.
But I won’t because I need to go look out the window and watch for snow! So excited!!