Music Memories

My iTunes was playing on shuffle, and Ryan Cabrera's "True" came on. I don't remember how old I was when the song came out, but it strikes me every time I hear it, even years later. There wasn't any particular story with it - I think one of my best girl friends introduced me to it, probably in middle school, and I could have possibly heard it at church dances - but it's always been a really sweet song to me, and music-wise, like THE perfect slow song. My biggest reservation is over some of the lyrics - I'm not in favor of crossing any lines, and there's certainly things that are more "true" than Ryan Cabrera's affection for a particular girl (like the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what I equate with truth) - but I figure they're innocent enough to sing about when singing someone else's song. I think the music, with the instruments, dynamics, and melody, is what really sells the song to me. I've probably done a few slow dances to this song (though none that stick out particularly in my head), but imagining dancing to this song with someone I really care about, someone I love, makes for a really nice, romantic picture :) A really, really nice picture. (And you can ask my mom, my best friends, my ex-boyfriend --> I'm a very, very logical person; not anti-romance, but definitely not sitting around waiting for Prince Charming; and yet... Everyone has some dreams). 


There's some songs that inevitably make me think of certain people or events: "White Horse" seems the most appropriate now for my ex (he's a sucker for chick flicks and fairy tales... but those aren't real life. Although "Out of My League" and "Falling For You" also remind me of him), "My Heart Will Go On" is the song I danced to with the crush from my first co-ed church camp, "You'll Always Be My Best Friend" is a short Relient K song that I mentally dedicated to my friends from freshman year of college (to one special guy in particular), the soundtrack to "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" reminds me of eating Skittles and reading in my bedroom during the summer in middle school, and many songs from back in the day that seemed to identify exactly how I was feeling with frustrated teenage crushes, haha (gotta love the music industry and teen egocentrism :) ). Usually the associations I remember with songs are positive ones. And even songs like the ones with my first boyfriend, though they hurt at first to hear, after we broke up, the pain of it faded with time. 

I go through phases in music too, of course. Middle school was a time of trying to learn the popular songs by Kelly Clarkson, angsty teen songs, and some pop classics of the era; early high school was a bursting of church music as I started going to more church camps in the summer and trying to learn all the songs being played at dances; later high school was a conglomerate of a bit of many many genres as I started to widen my circle a bit. Once I got to college, of course, my horizons started rapidly disappearing. Now, my music library consists of: Film Soundtrack, R&B/Soul, Latin/Latino, Alternative, Classical, Rock, Christmas/Holiday, Regional Mexicano, Religious, Pop, World, Brazilian, Bachata, Salsa y Tropical, Hip Hop/Rap, Caribbean, Dance,  Gospel, Jazz, Oldies, Pop Latino, Children's Music, Merengue, Country, Salsa, Vocal, New Age, Techno, Inspirational, Metal, Singer/Songwriter, General Spoken, Disco, Teen Pop, Christian, Cumbia/Cumbiaton, Raices, Easy Listening, Blues, Electronic, French Pop, Club, Punk Rock, Miscellaneous, Other, and <unknown>, so... I get around, musically (and that's discounting the distinctions between 'General Pop' and 'Pop', and 'General New Age' and 'New Age', etc). It's mostly thanks to roommates, friends, classes, and other experiences that introduced me to more classical, broadway, ballroom and salsa dance, and bollywood, which hadn't been in my collection before. What I listen to the most just depends on what I'm in the mood for. Yesterday I was feeling Taio Cruz and Michael Franti, and tonight I've been listening to Daniel Bedingfield and Boys Like Girls. I love having a wide variety of the explosive and fun music as well as the solemn and profound to listen to. It's like trying Indian food or home-canned peaches for the first time, smelling hot grease and remembering fresh donuts at the cider mill, sensing the impending autumn on the wind as it nips your face and tugs at your hair, or feeling the last long rays of sun that inexorably turn your face towards the warmth before it slides behind the distant mountain range. Whether I'm singing, dancing or listening, music is an interactive experience that moves, motivates, and inspires.