i guess it would qualify as a sense memory type of situation, but when i hear certain songs, i think of certain people. someone that i have not seen nor heard neither hide nor hair from in decades can slam back into my brain in a heart beat just with a simple song.
whether i used to listen to it with a person or they used to listen to it or it was just popular at the time.
our neighbor at dad’s growing up used to have the 45 record for 99 tears, so that reminds me of jeremy smith. jerm also gets electric avenue. i think megan lombardo was really into whitney houston in elementary school. so anything early whitney equals megan. for some reason, that song secret lovers from the 80s makes me think of going to karate class when i was in fourth and fifth grade. it might have come on the radio on warm 103 when mom was taking us or something. (i am kinda going chronologically here…) anything off the thriller album is bruce murray since i think i got michael jackson trading cards on his street for trick or treating one year.
air supply is my step mom, sal, since she used to play air supply’s christmas album during that time of year, i think. unfortunately, when i think of new kids on the block and celine dion, it falls to my brother jason. but he also gets the tracy chapman crossroads album, which is awesome. my sister lindsay is more fortunate to be associated with the counting crows august and everything after album since we used to listen to it in the basement at dad’s house. the three of us share seven mary three’s rock crown album, which i believe we went through a combined 9 cpoies of over the years. huey lewis and the news is my mom since she had a crush on him back in the day. mom also gets thank you by dido. sappy, i know. my dad gets everything eagles in my head. especially off of the hell freezes over album.
poison’s look what the cat dragged in album is eric fry since i think we did a report on them for music class way back in the day. eric also rets a collection of great dance songs by pink floyd. while forrest grosh owns pink floyd’s pulse double disc in my mind. give me that nut by easy-e rings of jason krause since we were at his house the first time i heard it. krausey also got the first rage against the machine album since i never took that out of my tape deck for the drive to school. maxi priest’s bonafide album goes to carrie mccann who was a year ahead of me in high school. she used to make fun of me for listening to it. i really liked her, but i had no clue how to talk to women at the time. so we would just pass volleyball in my backyard after school.
fugazi’s waiting room and the entire blood sugar sex magik album by the red hot chili peppers belongs to one of my best friend’s quaye. he also gets the live mental jewelry album in my head. quaye and i did a lot of growing up together in the early high school years and the music that we listened to was a key part of that. around the same time, pearl jam’s ten came out. that one goes for jeff telesco since i think he dubbed the first tape of it for me. i remember asking him a stupid question about the lyrics to jeremy. “he says he hit me with a surprised left, and then my jaw left hurting. wouldn’t it be his right side of his jaw?” it just didn’t click with me. idiot…
“the group” gets the throwing copper album by live. krause, telesco, josh shaw, lisa miller, colleen tempest, sam carter, and julie geist and i were an inseperable crew our junior year. we would cruise out to “the road” and just philosophize until we had to go home. the shit you do in rural pennsyltucky…
then i fell for keri croyle my senior year. anytime i hear anything off the 10,000 maniacs unplugged album or cantaloop by us3, i am reminded of her and what was my first “real” relationship. its extremely bittersweet. other girls i dated? vivian moy was the one that i let get away for the longest time for me. she is the fiona apple tidal album. caryn poeschel is the counting crows recovering the satellites album, especially the track goodnight elisabeth. she got that CD for me for xmas that year along with a sharks tooth necklace when she went on a scuba trip for the holiday.
my boy timmy wright who is currently serving overseas (godspeed timmy) is everything green day to me. i remember that on his hall, the RA’s allowed the students to paint band logos on the dorm hallway walls. i helped him paint the girl from the cover of hte kerplunk! album. a great and squirrelly water polo player that lived next door to me, steve stefko, is the crow soundtrack to me. i did a mixed tape for him freshman or sophomore year that was ninety percent crow.
as for places and times, the song far behind by candlebox will eternally bring back shades of senior week following high school graduation in the OCMD. i think that mtv was playing that song pretty much on a constant loop at the time along with mmm mmm mmm mmm by the crash test dummies. that was one of my first weekends just getting totally shit-faced. a half a case of zima and i woke up covered in sun tan lotion. i remember sitting outside with daryl foxhoven on some park benches outside of our hotel room and i swear to god that i saw my first UFO.
a few jeff buckley tunes go to toad and goat-diggity when i was pledging Pikes. when it was late night at their crib on main street in slippery rock, buckley and james’ laid were the tunes. kmick and soultrain would make sure of it. my boy zagnuts would always look for me on the dance floor at alexander’s for trying to stay alive by the fugees. while kus and his ripped rugby shirt were always there for pussy control by prince. toward the end of school, nails was the big daddy soundtrack and the tunes off of the songs for kosovo album from when we worked at alexanders and structure.
after college, the bald kid is nothing but limp bizkit to me. while our roommate mike killian was outside by staind since we used to blare it on the way to our church league softball games.
hell, i could go on and on. everytime i put my ipod on shuffle its a journey down memory lane. so you see, no matter how far away from home i am, with the click of a play button you are all with me occassionally by chance but mostly on purpose. captured in moments with the soundtrack of my life.