Sing along

I did a lot of driving around the city this weekend. A. LOT. And what is the best thing to do when you are stuck in the car for hours on end?

Listen to music.

I'm amazed at how much music affects your life. I hear certain songs and it takes me back in time. I remember people, places, smells. I remember how my heart ached or how much I cried while listening to certain songs. I remember healing, laughing, and growing. Music is awesome, man!

A couple of things I heard this weekend include:

Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' by Journey. When I was 12 or 13 (I don't remember), Mom dropped me and my best friend (at the time), Renee, off at Six Flags. It was an all night party where the park stayed open until 3 a.m. I'm surprised, today, how Mom let us go... but we had a great time! Renee and I met some guys -- Ray, Tim, and Ricky. We told them we were 17 and 18 (Renee was a year older than me) and they believed us! Ray was 18 and looked just like Robin Zander from Cheap Trick. We hit it off and were a "couple". Renee liked Tim but wound up with Ricky who was in his LATE 20s... very scary by today's standard. We wound up walking around the park until the wee hours of the morning with these guys.

Because he lived in Alabama, I had a long distance correspondance with Ray for a few months. He came to see me, with Ricky, one time but I had just been caught skipping school so I was on restriction. I was SO upset that I couldn't hang out at the pool with them! The next time they came to see us, Renee's dad chased them down and told them our TRUE ages... we never heard from them again.

This song was VERY popular at the time and Ray and I considered it "Our song" along with Bad Case of Lovin' You by Robert Palmer.

Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood: This song reminds me of Mychael. He LOVED FGtH! Also anything by Adam Ant, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears... if I hear those songs I always think of Mychael and his crazy self. We would sit in either his room or mine with our other friends Andrew and Barry and listen to music CONTANTLY. We would go to concerts -- they took me to Adam Ant and Duran Duran -- and dance the entire night. Gosh I miss those days.

Livin' After Midnight by Judas Priest: My best friend,Kim, and I would listen to this while getting ready to party. It is the perfect. perfect. perfect. party song for a couple of heavy metal mamas. I still turn it up and sing it at the top of my lungs when I hear it... I also do a little head bangin!

Babe by Styx: I had a boyfriend in college that I loved DEARLY. We didn't say the big L word until we had been dating a few months; I swore to myself I would NOT say it first. Driving in his truck one day, this song came on. He was holding my hand and everytime they sang "Babe, I love you" he would squeeze it. I didn't acknowledge it; just smiled inside. That night was the first time we said I love you. It breaks my heart now because he broke it back then. I can't help but remember the feel of anticipation and loss whenever I hear it.

Meeting in the Ladies Room by Klymaxx: Reminds me of my dancing days! I would spend entire weekend evenings at the teen clubs dancing my heart out. I met Tom at one of these clubs and we spent the next three years in a very volitile relationship, but one that I cherish to this day. This song makes me feel young and I want to dance all over the place when I hear it.

OK... those are a random sample of my favorite "memory" songs that I heard this weekend... what are yours?