The Soundtrack to My Life
Just a couple of notes of Carole King’s “It’s Too Late” and I’m right back in the summer of 1971, with long, straight hair, wearing my pink cotton Indian shirt with the tiny mirrors all over it – a shirt I so wish I still had. I can actually feel the heat and smell the incense in Azuma, a store in Forest Hills, New York, where I spent many hours – and a good amount of my babysitting money – buying smiley face buttons, peasant shirts and peace sign patches to sew on my jeans. I was twelve.
Songs bring back memories to me more vividly than photos ever have. In many ways, my iPod is my scrapbook. Pictures may show me I was there, but songs make me remember what it felt like.
I recently read Allison Winn Scotch’s new novel, The Song Remains the Same, in which a woman suffering from amnesia tries to recreate her life by listening to the playlist her sister made her to help jog her memory. I love this idea because I do believe we each have a personal soundtrack to our lives. Some of the songs are meaningful because of their actual lyrics, some just because of where we were or what we were doing when we heard them.
To this day, I can’t hear “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” without remembering the day in 1969 that my mom, sister and I drove home from our beach club, only to discover that my grandmother had died. The song had been playing on the car ride home and will be forever embedded in my memory of that day.
Many people associate their camp days with songs like “Kumbaya,” but for me, it’s “Box of Rain,” “Friend of the Devil,” and “The Weight.” They bring me back to those amazing, lazy, friend-filled days at Camp Willoway, and I can totally picture the lake where I rarely swam but often crossed to raid the boys’ bunks.
“Tupelo Honey” represents the start of my love story with Michael, and Van Morrison has graciously accompanied us through our first New Year’s Eve with a new baby (“Have I Told You Lately”) to our family trips in Lake Tahoe (“So Quiet in Here”).
“Desperado” is the lullabye I sang to my son as an infant and “Driver 8” is the song I danced around the living room to, bouncing my baby daughter as she smiled and gurgled. In a total role reversal, I’m the one now doing the smiling and gurgling whenever I hear “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” which she belted out in the grocery store one day as a toddler.
I almost always have music playing in the background – although background is pretty misleading, considering the impact it has on me. Rod Stewart may believe “Every Picture Tells A Story,” but, oh, I can tell you some pretty good stories about events that song itself has accompanied …
I agree with you. Music is memories for me. It’s funny how a song can ignite such a strong memory immediately. I also have all the best songs that have the best memories on my iTunes.
Could not agree more. I can play the soundtrack of Tapestry in my head at a moments notice…what great memories.
Music has played such a huge roll in my life – “The Circle Game” from camp, anything by Crosby, Stills Nash and Young from my teen years, and Sinatra, always – so many songs, too many to name! I must read “The Song Remains the Same”. Our soundtracks of our lives are instrumental (no pun intended) in keeping our memories alive.
This is a wonderful site. No doubt that music plays such an important role in our lives and live on in our memories. In 1971 I was a teenager living in Forest Hills, New York and your memories of that time (Carole King, peasant shirts, etc) – that was a real blast from the past. I wouldn’t be surprised if our paths crossed and we shopped at the same time. Thank you for for all the work you do!
Wow, so true. Just as u was reading the script, I though of myself in 1971 wearing a white peasant top w/jeans hearing a song by Bread walking along Devon Avenue in Chicago.
Oh Lois…this is one of my favorite pieces you have written (AND there are countless one’s I LOVE!) YES, YES and YES! In fact some of your life soundtrack songs are also mine and even as I read about them it was as if my mind was flying backward….to a river with a bunch of women singing “Box of Rain”…er um I mean “wine” cause it was a box of wine (or 5) at that time. ah nostalgia is swooping in but what a wonderful reminder of how sweet this life is. Thank you as always for bringing me back home. xo
I love this article- and I loved all the same songs. My husband and I were listening to Carole King Radio on Pandora the other night after a few glasses of wine- one song after another- classic- one of the best nights I have spent in a long time! Can we use this piece for betterafter50.com?
Great piece. For me it was Johnny Mathis and my first love. Our song was “Killing Me Softly With Her Song” – oh, and The Carpenters. The list goes on.
Songs put me back into my Grandparents living room, watching them dance, do the “cake walk”. And again as I’m growing up trying to decide if I like Ella and Sarah better than Hank (always arguing with my DJ brother about it).working in first Record Store in my Navy town, discovering Elvis and MO Town. What great things music does for us. First kiss, first real dance with a boy…..Thanks for reminding us all. Love all your stories. jaz
Funny when I look back on the music played in my home in the 70’s – My father listening to Chicago or the Mikado, my mother to Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, my sister was a Black Sabbath and Rush fan, while I couldn’t stop playing the Fleetwood Mac Rumours album over and over and over again – the neighbours must have thought we were nuts.
Loving the article, loving the songs :>) I guess music plays an important role in all of our lives
I have the same reaction to Carole King, and for the same reason: she is part of the soundtrack of my younger life. Music always evokes vivid memories for me. Mostly wonderful, sometimes painful. Who doesn’t have a few “break-up” songs on their list?! Music has always been very important to me. Like reading, I cannot imagine life without it.
I haven’t thought about Azuma in more than forty years! I still have some of the buttons (“war is not healthy for children and other living things”), but sadly, my day-glo posters are all gone.
A few months ago, while visiting my mom in Los Angeles, we met Carole King as we walked into Macy’s and she was walking out. My mom said, “Aren’t you Carole King?” She stopped and said “Yes I am”. My mom started to cry and said “Can I hug you?”, to which she replied “Sure”. I went on to tell her how much her music has meant to us and that listening to “Tapestry” always made us feel stronger during tough times. After speaking with us for a few minutes, she said goodbye and after she left, we agreed that our lives are now closer to being complete. She is the nicest lady and looks fantastic! Lois, my soundtrack matches yours! Thanks!
Thank you for guiding me to this wonderful website and article!
Unknowingly, I just completed my personal soundtrack on Monday!
I decided last week it was high time I uploaded all of my CD’s onto the computer so I could sync them with my Iphone.
As the music played, my mind wandered. I suddenly began compiling lists of possible songs. Before long, I had my very own album! It was such a cool experience! I’d highly recommend this excercise. And, the best part about it, three days later I find your wonderful article!
Both your article and my new playlist have brought restored hope, joy and empowerment into my world! Here are some of the songs that really rock PIXIE’S WORLD!
Pixie’s first album list:
1-Your Wildest Dreams Moody Blues
2-Father’s Eyes Amy Grant
3-Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover Sophie B Hawkins
4-I’m Gonna Fly Amy Grant
5-Forever Young Rod Stewart
6- Pray for Me Michael W. Smith
7-Stuck Like Glue Sugarland
8-Angels Among Us Alabama
9-Two Hearts Phil Collins
10-Home For The Holidays Garth Brooks
11-Running On Faith Eric Clapton
12-Good For Me Amy Grant
13-The River Garth Brooks
14-The Dance Garth Brooks
15-The Power of The Dream Celine Dion
16-Don’t Stop Fleetwood Mac
Thanks for listening!