songs that “mean something” to me

I’m sure this is probably a meme…how can it not be right? But it came to me on my way to lunch today, so I’m going to roll with it and pretend I made it up.

So, the task:

Songs that trigger an emotional resonance, or strong memory,  when you hear them. THEY DO NOT HAVE TO BE GOOD SONGS!  Just songs that have a strong memory attached, etc.  That being said, I think most ofmine are good songs ;).

I’m trying some new tech to get the songs to you, so bear with me hear.  I’m using 8tracks.com to attempt to get some full playlists and not have to embed each song one by one via vox.  They have some weird restrictions, like the second time you play the list it will be out of order, but whatever you can skip through them to the appropriate songs.  So, just hit play and leave this tab up while the list plays, then read below for the stories…or whatever.

Various flavors of nostalgia, in chronological order, part 1:

http://8tracks.com/mixes/25021/player_v2

1. Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen – The album is one of the ones I remember my dad having in his truck when I was a little kid…the cover has stuck with me all these years. Since I got back into Springsteen years later, the nostalgia effect is mostly muted – but this song still has it – mostly because it reminds me of the album cover of the cassette in his dashboard.
2. Down on the Corner – Creedence Clearwater Revival – While my dad did also have a Chronicle I cassette in his truck, and this does stem from that, the real resonance comes in in that I think it was the first song I learned to play on the guitar. Duh du du duh da…etc.
3. Pure Energy – Information Society -I spent YEARS trying to figure out what this song was. I hear it somewhere around 4th or 5th grade, and just remembered the chorus line: “I wan to know what you’re thinking, tell me what’s on your mind” – or whatever. I had that stuck in my head for years with no way to find out what it was (no internet back then you know, and my parents certainly didn’t know). I eventually found out the name of the song and band *I THINK* from Jeremy J. in 7th or 8th grade. He had a cassette that I think had this album on one side, and their second (not so good) album on the second.
4. She’s the Queen – Starflyer 59 – I’m not sure why this is the Starflyer song that’s stuck in my head for this period, but it is what it is.  It reminds me of when my musical tastes were finally starting to come into their own in 7th or 8th grade.  I started getting rid of all the random cassettes I bought as a kid (Beach Boys, Motley Crue,  Madonna,  a bunch of random stuff really) and moving on to stuff I actually liked for personal reasons.
5. Selling the Drama – Live –<cheesy as fuck teen-drama warning> OK.  So, this was the song I would sing under my breath to keep myself going when my HS girlfriend broke up with me and then I saw her kissing another guy a few days later.  I think, that’s how it sequences in my mind anyway.  So yeah you know I was like …15?  16?  My tiny, angsty world was ending for a few weeks or a month or so there, and instead of talking to people like a normal person I would walk around singing this song.  TOTALLY overdramatic I KNOW THIS.  But, you know, shit seems important at that age ;). I wasn’t even really a Live fan…this song just stuck for some reason.
6. Stars – Hum -I can’t quite place this one – I’m not sure if it was late High School (I think it was), or early post-HS.  Either way, I’m sitting at the (only) gas station in Templeton (which has since closed down due to the economy – I think there is one other station now though), and I think it’s after midnight because that’s the only time the local rock station plays non top-20 shit…and this comes on and blows my mind.  I spend years trying to find the name of the band – (not sure how long it took to find them, but I did eventually!.  I’m thinking HS now, because the internet was still small enough that I couldn’t just search up the lyrics.
7. 3 AM – Matchbox 20 -Reminds me of driving around the streets of San Luis, after my first college “party” I think. A guy I worked with at Cuesta had invited me.  The whole thing was rather awkward and not particularly entertaining, but still a worthwhile experience.  I think I was lost  on the way home for a few minutes or something, and it was exactly 3 am, and this song came on the radio.  I’m sure the DJ thought it was funny, but it stuck in my mind and locked in that moment.
8. Molly – Sponge & What do you want from me? – Monaco – Ahh, college.  These are the “Isla Vista nights” songs for me.   Ahh, San Raf 6th floor. There were more, but these are the two that still cling to my memory.  We had several mix cds we made for warming up/pre-drinking…but I think these were on the one I liked the most.  Hearing them now I still get a little pumped.  And miss alcohol.
9. Lost Ones – Lauryn Hill – If the two above songs are the San Raf nights, the whole Miseducation album is San Raf days.  We all rotated discs on the cd player, and this one was Ryan’s – but I think we all liked it, so it got more play than if just he were playing it.  This was the first hip-hop album that really got me into on an album level (although I did have Cooleyhighharmony as a kid).  Up until then, it was just the random tracks you hear on the radio.  But this – this album was something else.  I’ve looked for other hip-hop albums that appealed to me this strongly,  but haven’t found one yet (alas, poor Lauren, why the fuck did you have to go crazy?).   Every single track on this thing is solid.  That’s a rare find for me any genre – but especially for hip-hop.  So why “Lost Ones”?  Because it’s the first song after that silly intro…it got things started.
10. All My Best Friends are Metalheads – Less than Jake -This one always reminded me, in college, of the friends I’d left behind from high school. Sort of nostalgia for nostalgia type thing… that”s two levels of nostalgia for your ass!  I think I remember these feelings first triggering during on of my radio shows on the campus station too…so it reminds me of that as well.

Feel free to comment with your own songs, make your own blog post, Facebook thing, etc.  I’d love to hear what is stuck in the back of your mind, cooking up images all by itself.

To be continued…