(new in the shop: i’m a mix tape)
I wish I could hit “rewind” and tell my younger self to save all the mix tapes I created in the 80s and early 90s. I bet they’d be so fun to listen to now, especially since my musical interests were all over the map.
Don’t judge, but I’m pretty sure those old tapes would have included tracks from the Indigo Girls, Tori Amos, Bon Jovi, Richard Marx, The Eagles, Dolly Parton, Linda Rondstadt, Bobby Brown, New Edition, Bette Midler, Tracy Chapman, Nelson, Joan Jett, Enya and Skid Row. Eclectic enough for you?
I know hearing any of the songs that were on those mix tapes would catapult me back to another time and place. It’s amazing to me how music can imprint a moment on my heart and hold it there forever. When I hear Kool & The Gang’s “Cherish,” I can feel myself sitting at the piano in my parents’ bedroom (the only place in our house it would fit!), playing the song for my grandparents over the phone. When I hear “Waiting for a Star to Fall” by Boy Meets Girl, I’m instantly sitting in the passenger seat of my dad’s car, daydreaming about my latest crush, before being dropped off at my friend Mary’s house. If I hear Kylie Minogue’s version of “Locomotion,” I can feel myself in a conga line, weaving through the junior high cafeteria during an after-school dance.
Music is such a powerful connector and influence, present in our lives even when we’re not fully aware of it. Do you have memories from years gone by that come to mind when you hear a certain song? Would your mix tape have included any musicians more embarrassing than the ones on my list? I seriously doubt it…but try me! ;o)
P.S. I hope kids everywhere are playing this song over and over on their iPods. It’s new from Pink; whenever I hear it on the radio, I get a little choked up.
