The Soundtrack of Your Life

So, a friend asked me "What ringtone do you want?" He was going to customize it so he knew when I was calling. Huh. I was stumped.

You would think that would be an easy question, but nu-uh! How does one define themselves by one song?

While I would love to call myself an audiophile, I know way too many people whose passion for music far exceeds mine. I am lazy with it. I haven't searched for new and exciting things, mainly because it is hard for me to define what I would want to find. So, I wait for friends to share with me. Although, with iLike on Facebook, I have found myself venturing out a little more and searching. I have found many things i like, no pun intended. OK, well, maybe a little intended.

Regardless, my life is filled with music. Much of it is the stuff I grew up with in the 70's & 80's, but that would also include the 30's through 60's too. I can pull out the lyrics to a 40's tune almost as easily as I can one from the 80's. There are few genres that I can't tolerate, but I do find it odd, the songs I didn't like "back in the day" I can tolerate now, mainly on nostalgia. Case in point: Richard Marx. Couldn't stand his frizzy mulleted "don't mean nothin'" voice back in the 80's yet, I still find him "right here waiting for [me]". But now, I listen.

There are still some I have to change when I hear the 1st bar of the tune: "Nothing Compares 2 U" - puke. " "My name is Luca" - vomit. The only thing that can help me tolerate the first is that I can associate it with Australia. As we all know (OK, maybe YOU don't, but many do), if it is linked to my Oz, I can find a way to love it. The song was popular here before I went "down under" and then, it was released there right after I got there. I had to put up with that weird shaved head for a year. I digressed...

I don't want to think of the songs that bug me, I want the songs that fill my life with love and fond memories ~ we don't focus on those times near enough!

Even in times of sadness, like my grandpa's death. I remember during that summer, (1984?) we spent so much time reminiscing about him my mom's childhood and fixing up my great-grandma's house to prepare it for renting. Quarterflash's "Harden My Heart" was popular and when I hear it, I remember that time with my family and the smell of corn starch & downy ~ what we used to remove the wall paper in the house.

To many of those types of songs, I refer to them as my "Childhood Happy Songs," (even if for no other reason, they had a lot of "nah nah nah nah nahs" in them). Cherish, Sister Golden Hair, Philadelphia Freedom, Afternoon Delight, Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin', Wildfire, to name just a few. These make my heart swell when I heart them. They bring me back to such a warm comfortable place. My parents gave me a wonderful life and filled it with music.

I grew up in the right decade. I wanted my MTV and I GOT it. I was Hungry like the wolf (you know you said it in that quick breathy Simon leBonn way too!), I didn't know what She-Bop was really about, but I sang right along with it anyway (sister, that song too was about masturbation, just like Blister in the Sun, and the dance moves in Beat It!). I remember when you had to wait up until the wee hours (11 pm!) to hear the Cure & REM for the Alternative (120 Minutes) on MTV. It was the end of the world as we knew it and i did feel fine. I can sing along with a lot of that and I do know the right lyrics to "Come on Eileen," I have won over at least 1 person with that knowldge alone.

Music is so personal. It is the poetry to which I fill my life. I just saw "Mama Mia" and mentioned to a friend that from now on, if song lyrics fit a situation, I will break into song and treat my life as my own musical. Who am I kidding, I have already been doing that - you know it's true if you have spent any time with me.

The music of my life is flavored with the experiences I have shared. I have "The Best Thing" that summarizes my life in Oz. The perfect anchor song for that, yet I also have "Roam" that has a special place too and not for the obvious "I was roaming around the world" connection - it's much more personal than that. Rattle & Hum, Guns & Roses, Kate Cebrano, Terrence Trent D'Arby, Jimmy Barnes, Johnny Diesel...all Aussie connections. And how can I not include Elton & Phil in that mix?!

I am going to go and mow my lawn now, an event that won't make it into the movie of my life, but while I am mowing, I will be listening to my mp3 player and listening to songs that help me make it through every day. And I will be wondering if that song will make it into the official soundtrack of my life.