Nov 11
15
(UPDATE: This is an interactive post, please click on the links to hear some of the music mentioned)
As a youth, I was never exposed to smokers, drinkers or anything that would dare be titled rebellious or wild. My father listened to classical music and bad early 80′s music
while he air drummed on his steering wheel. My mother seemingly went along with the choice of music in the house , which later can only be defined as a form of torture. ( I actually had to use sound hound to hum the sheena easton song as i couldn’t recall the name.. but after 30 years.. that song still plays in loops in my head).
It was through their enjoyment of chazanut and really poor 80′s music that my music preferences were born.
It started with Metallica, and Alice Cooper.. moved into depeche mode, and duran duran and U2. My music and my poster ridden walls were looked at by my family as curious and perhaps rebellious.
During the Metallica phase..I grew my hair out long in the back ( no not a mullet) collected skulls, drew gothic themed art and pottery in high school and read books about slightly morbid topics. As my mother put it ” we are letting him explore himself.. and pray to the good lord this stops”. It eventually did.. as i realized there was probably little chance of me getting.. err… finding a girlfriend in this phase.
As a sophomore in public high school.. i began my rapid fire dating. Music stamped every event mad teenage event, every emotional life or death teenage drama. Sinead O’conner to this day brings back the memory of a girl Jodi F i was chasing.. who i went to a party and saw her with someone else. I was devastated.. and yet some 20 years later the song can bring back the entire scene in vivid detail.
Highschool homecoming, i took this cute catholic girl Dawn from some distant school.. i don’t remember much about her.. other then the back seat of a some poor unfortunate souls car and the music by the Nelsons.
Later on I was armed with a girlfriend ( whom i dated well in to college.).. which we shared the same teenage drama and music of course stamped each and every drama. Upon one massive, break up the cliche song from Say Anything in your eyes was on top of the play list.. ( i recall i even changed my outgoing voicemail with that music.. ya. i did that) Other music from INXS and NIN dotted this relationship.
Toad the Wet Sprocket to this day gives me the heebejeebees .. lets just say a concert that went terribly wrong that ended up with my brother Ben posting bail for me on a 1st degree felony that i found myself facing.
When the highschool sweetheart scenario took a sudden end.. music became painful and there was literally cd’s i was unable to listen to Counting Crows being one of them.
Post college, Jamiroquai always brings a smile to my face, again a from a very intense emotional situation.
With Andi, I really never asked her which songs played a part in her life.. but perhaps that will be a subject for her blog MomaSutra.. but through out our marriage we discover music together, and most of the time the music is enjoyed not for the emotional history of the music,, but the fact that we can enjoy the same music. Maybe that is what my parents were doing with that awful music.. perhaps that is what we all do.. when we see something nice, smell something nice.. we always want to share that with ones we love.. and without the drama of the music from our past, we appreciate the music because it was enjoyed together.