Music Memories

Hearing a certain song can transport you back to another moment, and no matter where you are in reality, suddenly you are standing on the smooth wooden floors of your New Jersey apartment, the sun is shining, the windows are open bringing in a sea breeze and Tom T Hall is blasting from your new CD player.

Okay, that specific memory is mine, but the other day I heard a snippet of The Day That Clayton Delaney Died, and I swear I could hear the ocean water rolling along outside our apartment.

The same can be said for certain Amy Grant songs (Fat Baby anyone?) and I am in our blue station wagon, singing along loudly, while we drove three days to our new home in Arizona. Jolene by Dolly Parton has me smelling my Grandma's perfume and hearing her and my Mom talk as we drive Grandma's car into town. The Statler Brothers singing their album Holy Bible reminds me of my mom putting their record on and all of us cleaning the house like crazy. Michael Jackson's Beat It instantly has me at the roller rink, racing around and around and around, the breeze blowing my bangs off my sweaty head and the skates rubbing blisters, but I couldn't slow down when the awesome MJ was playing!

I may have zero musical talent, but I do have an extreme appreciation of all kinds of music, and the awesome thing is, so did my Dad. When I read letters he wrote to my Mom, so many of them were about the current record he was listening to, or a certain song he was totally digging. His taste was eclectic, and I love that!

Every time I hear Barbra Streisand, I think of him writing about Uncle Art bringing a Cat Stevens tape to listen to on their fishing boat, but not getting much play time because, "I bought a Barbra Streisand tape and I've about worn it out already, but I love it for the music keeps me reminded of when I was home."

I know exactly what he means.