Music as the soundtrack to life

[Mighty Jack]

We’ve all heard the term, so what music has special significance for you and why?


Please, Please Me – The Beatles
I hit a point in my young life when I needed music; only I wasn’t quite finding what I was searching for… until I came upon a stack of singles. In that stack was a Vee-Jay recording of Please, Please Me with From Me To You on the flip side.

When I heard it I fell into such a blissful state, I played this over and over and over… I would run home after school just to listen to it again. I couldn’t get enough. This is what I wanted and nothing, no band, has ever spoken to me as perfectly as the Beatles.

I would soon discover that there were greater Beatles songs, more challenging chord progressions and lyrical content. But this is where my love affair with music began and if you asked me, “What is the most important tune in your life?” I would answer without hesitation, Please, Please Me.

Rebel Yell – Billy Idol
Idol represents one amazing, fun, youthful summer. His videos were all over MTV, his songs, Flesh For Fantasy, Eye’s Without A Face, were played non-stop on the radio. I thought Billy was invincible, everything he did was golden. That album and this song in particular, was the soundtrack for a time that holds so many wonderful memories. Hot summer nights, Bartles and James, my first love and my best friends.

Hail to the Thief, Radiohead
Never thought of this bands sound as sexy or romantic, heck I never could get into an entire Radiohead album before to be honest; but Thief changed that. Recently when I saw this at the store, I picked it up and smiled as it brought back memories of taking bubble baths while reading Harry Potter to her by candlelight. Drinking this expensive sweet tea she liked as this CD played in the background. Ahhh sweetness.

God Only Knows – Beach Boys
And what about tears? I’m not a Beach Boys fan but this song has significance. There was this one terrible night, horrible. I’m trying to... save her, truth be told. And she tells me to leave her alone, that she just wants to die. Later that night as she sleeps I watch her tiny body gently rise and fall with each breath and I sing to her softly…

If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on, believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me

God only knows what Id be without you
God only knows what Id be without you

A month later I’m at a burger joint and this song comes on and God help me I’m wracked with a sudden, violent bout of tears, I couldn’t controll myself. There’s these college guys at the table across from me and I probably look insane, I turn my face to the window and cover my eyes but despite my best effort I can’t stop the sobbing. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to hear that song the same way again.

Beth - Kiss
This was my little sisters favorite song. When she suffered bleeding in the brain and spoke gibberish and couldn’t recognize anyone…. We sang her favorite song to her and she sang along with us. It gave us such hope and she did come out of it and live for a few more months.
I played and sang this at her funeral. Yes the song reminds me of a tragic chapter in my life, but also It brings back her smile and happiness when she would hear it play on the radio.

[Bix Dugan]

I know what you mean about God Only Knows.
The Beach Boys hit such sweet, sweet notes in that song, then hit even sweeter notes.
It even gets to me, an athiest!

[Shep]

"Take On Me" A-ha. Reminds me of growing up in the 80s, watching MTV and my growing interest in girls (LOL).

"Just Like Heaven" The Cure. This reminds me of my first trip to Europe in 92, the incredible cities, riding the trains and listening to alt rock my little Walkman.

"Rock And Roll Star" Oasis. Me at college in the early/mid 90s. Young, arrogant and surrounded by other smart, amazing people.

"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" The Smiths. Reminds me of my depressing early single days after college. Working all hours in a newspaper reporter job I hated, in a little town I hated. Staying up all night writing and feeling like a zombie the next day.

"The Scientist" Coldplay. This was released when my wife and I were in England on our honeymoon. Beautiful time, beautiful song.

[soundandvision]

Gene Pitney - A Town Without Pity

For me, this song represents my childhood. Trying to be brief here...my love of music in general blossomed in my mom's car, riding to church every Sunday. One of the local stations in Memphis would play all classic pop from the 50's and 60's. There are a number of songs I can think of, but they all lead me to second and third choices. This song, succint as it is, reminds me of listening every Sunday to classic pop music (from Sun to Motown, Northern Soul to the Beatles and all points in-between). This excellent representation of the Brill Building 'sound' is the perfect for my emotions at the time -- and unfortunately, now.

10,000 Maniacs - Like the Weather

There were some summers in pre-pubescent years (late 80's) that I can best recall simply sitting around all day, watching VH1 or MTV, whoever was playing videos at the time. This is one of those songs that just stuck in my head so often at the time during my junior high years.

Pavement - Summer Babe

A lot of the habits I picked up during my early teenage years carried over into my adolescence, most of them bad habits. Being too introverted, quiet, shy. There were several girls at my high school that I had a thing for, most of them thought I was a complete dork (universal story, I know). But this song always takes me back to (I guess) summer of '92...'93. It also has a darker context for me in that, a friend of mine (a girl, ironically) committed suicide in early 1993. It just makes me thing of that era in general.

Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream

Easily, this is one of the most underrated songs of all time, IMO. It takes me to a time when I first fell truly in love and had a lengthy relationship with a girl.

The Beach Boys - Don't Talk Put Your Head On My Shoulder

Around age 20, I first heard "Pet Sounds". It had a profound affect on me at the time. It was like it was written directly for me. It caused me to reconsider so much of the 'classic pop and r&b' I had grown up on. The Beach Boys were suddenly "deep" to me. This song too, for me anyway, simbolizes the en dof the relationship I mentioned in the previous song. Along with "Caroline, No".

The Flaming Lips - Race For the Prize

Around 1999 I met my now wife and dated/lived together. This song for me represents the last few months I lived in Memphis and all of the upheaval that came with moving to Columbus. Getting engaged and "settling down". It also, curiously enough, caused me to reconsider the Flaming Lips as serious artists. I had totally relegated them to 'that band that did "Turn it On" and "She Don't Use Jelly"' from when I was in high school.

Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica

Full circle... I heard this single either on a web stream or Subterranean. It took me quite a bit longer to hear the full record but I was really blown away by it. Everything else in recent years pales. This song represents for me, my frame of mind going into my "30's". I'll be 32 this year...

[Mighty Jack]

Thanks for sharing guys, I like hearing music stories, what touched or moved or spoke to you at a certain time. My friend told me a story about a Tool song, walking through the park at night and how the song, the time etc all spoke and moved her in an almost spiritual away.

I haven't heard Summer Babe before so I checked it out. Good song.

[soundandvision]

mj said:

Thanks for sharing guys, I like hearing music stories, what touched or moved or spoke to you at a certain time. My friend told me a story about a Tool song, walking through the park at night and how the song, the time etc all spoke and moved her in an almost spiritual away.

I haven't heard Summer Babe before so I checked it out. Good song.

Thanks too for sharing your emotions re: "God Only Knows". It's so magical...

[Trumpy's Magic Snout]

soundandvision said:

Gene Pitney - A Town Without Pity

For me, this song represents my childhood. Trying to be brief here...my love of music in general blossomed in my mom's car, riding to church every Sunday. One of the local stations in Memphis would play all classic pop from the 50's and 60's. There are a number of songs I can think of, but they all lead me to second and third choices. This song, succint as it is, reminds me of listening every Sunday to classic pop music (from Sun to Motown, Northern Soul to the Beatles and all points in-between). This excellent representation of the Brill Building 'sound' is the perfect for my emotions at the time -- and unfortunately, now.

10,000 Maniacs - Like the Weather

There were some summers in pre-pubescent years (late 80's) that I can best recall simply sitting around all day, watching VH1 or MTV, whoever was playing videos at the time. This is one of those songs that just stuck in my head so often at the time during my junior high years.

Pavement - Summer Babe

A lot of the habits I picked up during my early teenage years carried over into my adolescence, most of them bad habits. Being too introverted, quiet, shy. There were several girls at my high school that I had a thing for, most of them thought I was a complete dork (universal story, I know). But this song always takes me back to (I guess) summer of '92...'93. It also has a darker context for me in that, a friend of mine (a girl, ironically) committed suicide in early 1993. It just makes me thing of that era in general.

Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream

Easily, this is one of the most underrated songs of all time, IMO. It takes me to a time when I first fell truly in love and had a lengthy relationship with a girl.

The Beach Boys - Don't Talk Put Your Head On My Shoulder

Around age 20, I first heard "Pet Sounds". It had a profound affect on me at the time. It was like it was written directly for me. It caused me to reconsider so much of the 'classic pop and r&b' I had grown up on. The Beach Boys were suddenly "deep" to me. This song too, for me anyway, simbolizes the en dof the relationship I mentioned in the previous song. Along with "Caroline, No".

The Flaming Lips - Race For the Prize

Around 1999 I met my now wife and dated/lived together. This song for me represents the last few months I lived in Memphis and all of the upheaval that came with moving to Columbus. Getting engaged and "settling down". It also, curiously enough, caused me to reconsider the Flaming Lips as serious artists. I had totally relegated them to 'that band that did "Turn it On" and "She Don't Use Jelly"' from when I was in high school.

Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica

Full circle... I heard this single either on a web stream or Subterranean. It took me quite a bit longer to hear the full record but I was really blown away by it. Everything else in recent years pales. This song represents for me, my frame of mind going into my "30's". I'll be 32 this year...

Some Teenage Fanclub love! HUZZAH!

Working on my list. Good and bad memories and they all seem to be attached to bad songs! I'll post it soon!

[Shep]

trumpysmagicsnout said:

Good and bad memories and they all seem to be attached to bad songs!

I know what you mean. Some of my earliest memories involve my mother listening to Barry Manilow.

Don't they know what kind of damage that can inflict on a kid?! LOL

[Arizona Warwilf]

Recorded music permeates my life. If I'm doing something, whether at home or at work, and it doesn't involve the TV, I have music on, or I'm constantly distracted by the thought, "I could be listening to music right now. I should put something on."
I am constantly hording music and I've got what probably amounts to an actual ton of music, but there are still some bits that have special significance.

Led Zeppelin- Whole Lotta Love
I was 14 and had decided I needed a hobby. I had looked around at other kids and realized I wasn't into anything; there was no obsessive personal interest that defined me. My birthday and Christmas had just come and gone and I hadn't even known what to put on my wishlist. I thought maybe music was a good possibility for something to be into; I started keeping my ears open. On a drive to Mal*Wart, "Whole Lotta Love" came on the classic rock station and it set the course for the rest of my life. From that song, I've branched out and expanded, moved forward and backward in time, but it all started there.

George Winston's Autumn and December albums
When I was a kid, my dad would often put these albums on during snowstorms, especially calm afternoon storms. The solo piano works just fit the atmosphere perfectly. On many occasions my sister or I would ask that he put "the snow music" on. I have my own copies now and still play them when it feels right.

Daft Punk's Homework
I was studying in Germany one summer during college and spent a couple days vacationing in Berlin by myself. I didn't really see any of the sights (well, I had with some of my classmates, but after they left I stayed to see the city my way). I did little more than shopping at used clothing stores and record shops, criss-crossing the city on the underground trains. Homework was the first thing I bought. I'd heard of it, heard it was an important record in dance music, but truly had no idea what to expect. I listened to little else in my oversized headphones on the U-Bahn. It fit so right. I felt so urban and adult being alone in a large city listening to big city music. It was the first time I really felt like I might be able to live my life however I wanted to, wherever I wanted to.

The Weakerthans- Plea from a Cat Named Virtute
This is a recent one, but it's a song that speaks so directly to me, that I can't deny its impact. Not only did I just get a cat (and her kittens) but this song touches on my depression, my longing to be more social, and my general need and desire to make some conscious changes in my attitudes and behaviors. It just hit me right in the get-off-yer-ass-and-be-the-person-you-want-to-be button.

I hope it isn't too much that I pasted the lyrics in here. Not interested? Don't read.

<sub>Why don't you ever wanna play?
I'm tired of this piece of string.
You sleep as much as I do now,
and you don't eat much of anything.
I don't know who you're talking to,
I made a search through every room,
but all I found was dust that moved
in shadows of the afternoon

And listen, about those bitter songs you sing;
they're not helping anything,
they won't make you strong.

So we should open up the house,
invite the Tabby two doors down.
You could ask your sister if,
she doesn't bring her basset hound.
Ask the things you shouldn't miss:
tape hiss and the modern man,
cold war and card catalogues
to come join us if they can.

Girly drinks and parlor games,
we'll pass around the easy lie
of absolutely no regrets,
and later maybe you could try.
To let your losses dangle off,
the sharp edge of a century.
We'll talk about the weather,
or how the weather used to be.

And I'll cater, with all the birds that I can kill,
let their tiny feathers fill disappointment.
Lie down, and lick the sorrow from your skin
Scratch the terror and begin to believe you're strong.

All you ever want to do is drink and watch TV,
frankly that thing doesn't really interest me.
I swear I'm going to bite you hard and taste your tinny blood
if you don't stop the self-defeating lies you've been repeating
since the day you brought me home.
I know you're strong.</sub>

[Arizona Warwilf]

Oh yeah, one more . . .

Matthew Wilder- Break my Stride
Michael Jackson- Man in the Mirror
Toto- Africa
Dolly Rogers- Islands in the Stream
And many others I can't remember anymore . . .
When we were kids Flagstaff wasn't as big as it is now and had no Mal*Wart or Targette or bulk grocery stores or decent hardware stores or decent auto parts stores, etcetera, etcetera. My parents would very frequently, perhaps bi-weekly, haul all three of us to Phoenix to do our shopping and to visit our grandparents. That meant over six hours in the VW Bus looking out at the changing scenery, sleeping, and fighting or playing amongst ourselves while listening to the adult contemporary pop station. There were many songs that we'd hear on every trip. My sister and I had favorites among them and we called them "Phoenix Songs" as we'd come to associate them with trips to PHX even when we heard them at other times. The four listed above are the only ones I can recall at the moment. We called Break my Stride "the roadrunner song", which made it difficult to track down years later as an adult.

By the way, I love stories like these too. I already love this thread.

And I love Teenage Fanclub!

[harpo]

The Beatles - Rocky Raccoon
I just remember my dad always playing this song in the car when I was little. It was on a tape along with "Drive My Car" and "Michelle" but it's Rocky that always stuck with me. I always misheard the lyrics and therefore never understood the song all too well until I was older!

Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days
Again, nostalgia. My parents would always get excited when this video came on (we're from New Jersey, obviously) and I always thought Little Stevie was cool because of this video (why, I don't know). Many, many years later, when I finally saw the Boss live, the song I really wanted to hear was "Glory Days" and I was absolutely chuffed when they actually played it.

Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness
Lots of Manics songs were on repeat my freshman year of college when I was rather depressed. This one is still one of my favorites.

Sloan - 500 Up
Sloan was my favorite band for years before I finally got to see them live. My friend and I drove three hours to the gig. The band thought we were crazy, but singer/bassist Chris Murphy got me up onstage during the encore to sing a song with them. This was it. My favorite Sloan song, that they never really ever played. I was definitely riding high after that.

The Libertines - I Get Along
I saw the Libertines (sans Pete Doherty) three times in one week in 2004. I really wanted to incite a stage rush during this song. It wasn't until the last night in D.C. that there was no barrier. So I rallied up the crowd around the front and told them to just jump onstage during this song (I got the drummer's permission... haha.. but security sure hated us!), and they did, and it was GREAT.

[Shep]

harpo said:

Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness
Lots of Manics songs were on repeat my freshman year of college when I was rather depressed. This one is still one of my favorites.

Nice! Gotta love old Manic Street Preachers.

[harpo]

jorel said:

harpo said:

Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness
Lots of Manics songs were on repeat my freshman year of college when I was rather depressed. This one is still one of my favorites.

Nice! Gotta love old Manic Street Preachers.

Yes! I hadn't listened to them in a while, but last night I just had the urge to listen to "Motorcycle Emptiness" over and over and over. Which just led to me listening to Forever Delayed on the way to work this morning. Ahhh, Manics. Still would love to see them live.

[Trumpy's Magic Snout]

harpo said:

jorel said:

Nice! Gotta love old Manic Street Preachers.

Yes! I hadn't listened to them in a while, but last night I just had the urge to listen to "Motorcycle Emptiness" over and over and over. Which just led to me listening to Forever Delayed on the way to work this morning. Ahhh, Manics. Still would love to see them live.

Still working on my list but Motorcycle Emptiness is on it! Seen them 3 times, pretty darn great so they are. In fact my first gig was them at the soon to be closed "Greatest Gig Venue In The World" (according to alot of musicians and I really ain't going to disagree) Glasgow Barrowlands. They opened with Motorcycle Emptiness. Oh aye!

[harpo]

trumpysmagicsnout said:

Still working on my list but Motorcycle Emptiness is on it! Seen them 3 times, pretty darn great so they are. In fact my first gig was them at the soon to be closed "Greatest Gig Venue In The World" (according to alot of musicians and I really ain't going to disagree) Glasgow Barrowlands. They opened with Motorcycle Emptiness. Oh aye!

NICE! I always wondered if they still did some of their older, popular songs. I highly doubt they'll ever come back to the States, though. Ah well... always a good excuse to pop over to London again!