Driving home from work last
night, I was playing my favorite driving game.
It’s called Scan. I scan the
dial, find a good song, camp there for a while until they no longer play music
I like and then scan again. I try not to
play this game with a passenger next to me, they seem to get agitated and stare
at me until I give up and settle on one station for the duration of the trip,
good music or not. The only rule of Scan
is to sing, loudly and with purpose so that the music will know that you
approve of it existing.
I love music. I don’t play any instruments and my singing
is really not something that should be heard outside of my shower or sanctity
of my car, but I do love it. I cannot think
of a time, place, or event in my life that was not punctuated by music of some
sort.
Growing up I was given the
fundamentals; Allman Brothers, Doobie Brothers, Crosby Stills Nash (and sometimes
Young), Jethro Tull, Beatles, Moody Blues, Led Zepplin and The Who… My mom and
dad agreed on some, not so much on others.
But it was always playing. Later
on in my childhood, maybe not as much, but those really early years (when my
parents were probably all of 28 years old), music was a staple to how life was
lived.
I remember sitting looking the
album covers, spread out on the floor (although I believe story is that I once
danced on them, maybe shattering a few, I might have blocked that from
acceptable memory). They were so cool,
opening up, lots of graphics, designs and color. To this day, there are a few that stand out
in memory—Songs from the Wood, Jethro Tull scared me to my core. I do not know why looking at it now, but it
freaked me out something fierce. Eat a
Peach, I loved it. Question of Balance,
I could stare at for hours. 
When I was in 7th
grade, we drove down to Florida in a motorcamper-- I don’t know if there were any other tapes or
if my father only played Abbey Road because A: he really liked it or B: because
my mother really did not like it, but when I think of this trip, I will always
think of Abbey Road. Over and over and
over again.
A trip up to Long Lake in Maine years
later, my father discovered Graceland by Paul Simon. I can remember getting stuck on the high
bridge in Portsmouth in traffic for what seemed to be hours. We sat there in the back seat of my grandmother’s
car (borrowed for the weekend because it had Air Conditioning!!), singing the “Uwhat
uwat” parts of Diamonds on the Sole of Her Shoes- for the first time on that trip, I think my
brother, sister and I were in sync and not fighting over who touched whom.
Billy Squier will always make me
think of the dances at the Greenville Legion or Fire Station. We were little kids then, but we thought we
were so very cool. Metallica, my entire
10th grade year of high
school and my trip to France where I found French magazines with them plastered
all over the covers (Lars Ulrich was my reason for being back then). Rock Lobster; my summer at St. Paul’s School
doing Shakespeare with the ASP. Toad the
Wet Sprocket, Phish, Grateful Dead, Tori Amos, Fleetwood Mac; my soundtrack to
Keene State-
Think of some of your favorite
movies….what did you hear in your head?
For me, I heard the music that accompanied the movie. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to find a movie
where there isn’t some musical imprint that stays with me, popular or scored,
it’s all there- it builds that memory
you have when you think of the movie. If you are like me, you go a bit further
as to where you were when you first saw the movie, first heard the music. I suppose this is why there are Oscars given
out for Best Song/Musical Accompaniment, nail hit head, it’s valid, it matters.
I love having music in my life, I
can’t imagine how quiet and boring it would be without it. I love passing my love onto my children, much
like how my own parents did for me. It warms
my heart to hear my 3 year old belting out the words to Master of Puppets or
listening to them fight over which song is “theirs”, much like how my brother,
sister and I once did. My friends and family all bring a wonderful
and wildly eclectic musical arrangement to my world; I can see their faces when
I listen to songs that are their songs.
In those images, I truly am happy in my soul all the way down to my
feets..
