Note: I originally posted this December 10, 2010, using another site, which I don't use much anymore, so I decided to re-post it here. References to my fiancée are outdated, as we are now happily married, but I chose to include the original post as-is. I hope you enjoy it! :)
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While I was driving to work today, scanning through stations looking for my "get up and go" song, I stumbled across
"Georgia on My Mind," sung by Willie Nelson. I used to live in Georgia, so I always enjoy listening to that song. This time, however, it was a little different. The weather outside is cold and snowy...there's a biting wind. Yet, listening to that song this morning took me back to a place I haven't seen in many, many years. Suddenly, it was warm. The sun was shining, and I was running around in the woods near my old home playing Laser Tag. Those were the days. Instantly, I was refreshed. Gone were the "blah" feelings I experienced when I walked outside this morning into the bitter cold. In their place were warmth, contentment, and satisfaction. I spent the rest of the drive to work thinking about some of the "good 'ol days," and showed up to teach with a smile on my face!
1.
"Everything Louder Than Everything Else" (Meat Loaf) - In high school, I was a member of the drama club. The year this song came out, we would listen to it in the dressing room prior to every performance. It was our "get up and go" song.
2.
"Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" (Bryan Adams) - This was my audition song for the first play I was ever in. The girl I am engaged to now was my girlfriend that year in high school, and she was the one cuing up the music. In a way, that song was to her as well. When we hear it now, it always causes us to smile.
3.
"Take It Easy" (The Eagles) - The summer between my junior and senior years, I went to a national theater conference at Ball State University. The first day there, I bought "The Eagles Greatest Hits: Volume One," and I listened to it the entire week. It was an amazing week for too many reasons to recount here. Now, I can't hear any song off that album without thinking of that trip.
4.
"You've Got a Friend in Me" (Michael Jackson) - Believe it or not, this was on one of the first cassettes I ever owned. It was a "best of" cassette of young Michael and his brothers. Hearing it just makes me think of when I was a little kid and things seemed so much easier.
5.
"The Living Years" (Mike + the Mechanics) - This song reminds me a lot of my father, not because he's passed away (which he's not), but because of how affected he was by his father's death. He felt he never truly told his dad how he felt about him, and whenever he hears this song, I think it saddens him a little. My father and I are very close, and this song tends to remind me how important it is to let those you care about know it.
6.
"You Give Love a Bad Name" (Bon Jovi) - Before it was part of Barney's "Get Psyched Mix" on "How I Met Your Mother," it was a song I listened to whenever I was feeling angry or frustrated or needed to vent. I would put this song in my car stereo and drive around, listening to it as many times as necessary. While it doesn't point to a specific incident, it does remind me that there are healthy ways to let go of negative emotions (and yes...working out is another way!).
7.
"Beau's All-Night Radio Love Line" (Joshua Kadison) - I remember this song from college...while the details of the album and everything have to do with a girl I dated briefly the year this song came out, this song does not. Instead, this song is one I listen to when I'm feeling down, or when I'm feeling that I'm all alone and no one can understand me. It lets me know that there are plenty of people out there feeling the same way I am. It's a great tune!
8.
"Take on Me" (A-ha) - Crazy song from the '80s one-hit wonders! I used to work in retail, and one night during the holidays, a bunch of us went out to a bar near work to unwind. We had been there a while, and this song came on the jukebox. Without planning, when the chorus came on, a group of us stood up and belted it out at the tops of our lungs. I really don't know why I always think of this when the song plays, unless it has something to do with the fact that I'm usually more reserved, and this was a time when I let loose!
9.
"Now and Forever" (Richard Marx) - Another song that relates to my fiancée and me. This was the song that played at my senior prom, which I took her to. A long time has passed since then, but we are back together and getting married in January. So I guess (as her father reminded us) both "Now" and "Forever" do apply, albeit separated by 15 years!
10.
"With a Little Help from My Friends" (Joe Cocker) -
The Wonder Years. What else do I need to say? I love this show, and whenever I would hear the first few notes of this song,I would drop whatever I was doing to go watch! I know that the "wonder years" the show refers to are far removed from my own, but that didn't stop the show from shedding light on things that all teenage boys deal with as they're growing up!
What songs have meaning for you? I could probably list tons more if I had the time, or my iPod! Think about what songs have meaning to you and go listen to them. Music can "calm the savage beast," or so I recall someone saying. It helps my workouts; it helps put me in the right frame of mind...What does it do for you?