Sunday~May 3, 2009
I was driving along in my very spacious and rockin' cool minivan the other day, happy to be off running a few errands solo. At an intersection, I started thinking about how the other three drivers at the stop signs surely had no idea I was BLASTING Love Lockdown by Kanye West. At least I'm pretty sure they didn't guess my thirty-something shoulder shimmy was timing itself to the Lockdown beat. (You can scroll down to the bottom of the post and click play if you want to hear Love Lockdown. I dare you to try not to shimmy.)
I love all kinds of music. It's powerful, it changes moods, makes a person think, and as my friend Jo of Mylestones said, "When memories mix with music, they can create an explosive concoction of emotions. They become a potion to transport us from faded to vivid, from far away to yesterday."
It's true, music really can transport me, making my memories vivid and alive. It pulls me from the present and plants me at a high school dance, the loss of a loved one, or a trip with good friends. And then I feel something I thought I'd long since forgotten, and have the chance to recognize how rich life has been, and how much I've taken with me along the way. I think that's why one of my favorite Sara Groves' songs is "All Right Here." In it, she sings of the experiences, the lessons, the heartaches, the blessings..., they're "all right here" inside of her. That's true of all of us. Music has the ability to bring me back for so many surprising visits, reminding me of who I am and who I once was, and that it's still "all right here." Maybe it's shifted, grown, and changed, but it's all still there, wrapping itself around my heart and making me who I am.
Whenever I hear David Grey belting out the words to Please Forgive Me, I'm transported to a country road near the small town where I grew up. It's as if I've just moved back there, the way I did after being gone for over five years after high school. I'm driving around curves with all the windows down, smelling the fresh Spring air coming off the lakes. I'm 23 years old, feeling so free and alive despite all the unknowns, the future a blank slate. I had no idea at that time how very free I was, but I do now. Hearing that song reminds me that the same free-spirited person is still with me, I can feel her.
Just the same, one day I'll be glad I let myself fall in love with a Kanye West song while driving my minivan. Hearing it all those years from now will take me back to the days when my boys were very small, and getting out to run errands on my own was so freeing. Because the truth is, that freedom I sometimes feel I've lost, is actually always right there in my heart, ready to shimmy.
(Playlist.com didn't have "All Right Here" so I threw in another Sara favorite for good measure.)
23 clicked right here to comment:
I love David Grey. Such great songs.
Music is like that for me, too. There are songs I really connect with, and when I hear them on the radio - bam! I'm right back where I first heard it.
Embrace the freedom!
I loved your friend's quote. I loved this whole dang post! Music is entwined in the fiber of my soul. I listen to it everywhere. It helps me remember and helps inspire. I can't write without it. Sometimes, music bridges the gap where words alone can't. You've got to respect art like that, huh?
loved this post. love music! it can change my entire mood, my entire day!
i'm not sure i can listen to love lockdown the same ever again. i will now be cracking up every time i hear it blaring out of one of my kids' rooms. (i'll be thinking about you shimmying in your van)
I was singing along to a Prince classic at the traffic light the other day and figured the guys next to me were wondering what that 46 year old woman was doing. They probably called 911 to report me having a seizure or something.
Ha, I was rocking out to Rage against the machine in my mini-van the other day...thinking the same thing. Can't wait till we can meet and rock out in our mini vans together!
Yes! Music is so powerful. And Kanye? Well, I can't ever sit still if he's playing... it's my hips, they just start rocking out. :)
Getting to turn up the music in the car is one of the reasons I love to get out of the house by myself sometimes.
You are so right. Music can take me back to certain moments or times in my life so vividly, I can even feel those same emotions so strongly.
By the way...I LOVE David Gray. Love him!
Oh, you were SO rockin' the party in your minivan!!!
And you know I'm with you on the music/emotions connection. It is so powerful.
But that last line? About the freedom you feel sometimes you've lost...being right there in your heart...ready to shimmy!! LOVED. IT.
what a great post...music is so powerful!!! and I love to shimmy!!! :)
I especially love this post because I am such a music freak...the louder the better. i love music lyrics so so much. And funny you should bring up Kanye...the song Good Morning has been running through my mind for days. I don't know why...
The sad part is that I am too old for the music I like. My car is my surround sound boom box. There, I just dated myself. Blogging is so self-realizational. ;)
Great Post...there is actually an old country song that sings "ain't it funny how a melody can bring back a memory"(I think it's Clint Black, not sure). Always thought it was so true and your post brought that song and memory to mind. Love the look of the blog!
Love Jo's quote. Great way to talk about the power of music. Amen.
The older you get, the truer these words will be. Music is such a gift!
Music speaks to me like nothing else does! I love it and the way it can change my mood and shift my attitude so quickly. I guess some songs are hard for me to listen to, but many of them have so much meaning to me.
I'd never heard Love Lockdown, but I love that you listen to it. I think I have a new jammin' song for the mini-van! I will always think of you when I listen to it, you know.
David Gray is my boyfriend.
So true! I have tons of songs that bring me to a certain time and place. I especially love songs I haven't heard in a while and it resurfaces an old memory!
I love the memories music envokes. Thanks for the thoughts and reminders. I am thinking about Foot Loose right now.
I love music... it really is a time machine allowing us to tesser back and forth :)
I love music... it really is a time machine allowing us to tesser back and forth :)
I've got a post ready for Friday describing certain songs that bring certain feelings into my mind and heart because of them. (If that made any sense at all.) I completely agree with you about how music moves us in so many ways.
Do you know what I love? When blog friends share songs they love with me. Then when I listen to the song, which previously had no meaning to me, I think of that person. It sounds slightly creepy as I type it out, but I promise it totally isn't.
You're perfectly on point with this post. Music is the connector. Whenever I feel the house is getting too...SOMETHING....I play music. Wee One starts dancing immediately. He loves music, just like his daddy.
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