Memories Strongly Tied To Songs

[Railyn]

I know I did this one once before, but I have no idea where it is, and I'd rather just start the convo over again (especially for the newbies):

Have you ever heard a song and then "seen" a vivid memory? It happens to me frequently. I once heard that all memories occur with music, and I think that it's true.

Many of my really strong ones go back to when I was in college. Perhaps it was the fact that I was 200+ miles away from home, in a new area. Everything was new, and exciting.

"It Ain't Over Til It's Over" by Lenny Kravitz
I always vividly see my dorm at the top of the hill - walking up to it during my orientation. It was brand new, and I put in months before I need to apply to be assured a spot in that dorm. Someone in one of the houses near the dorm was blasting that song on a stereo - it was a nice day and the windows were all open.

"I Love Your Smile" by Shanice
Not one of my favorite songs, but again I vividly remember driving in my 1985 Sentra, by myself, trying to work my way around Youngstown and the surrounding areas and find out where stuff was. I was in the marching band (The Pride Of Northeastern Ohio - The YSU Marching Penguins!!), and was there for 2 weeks before my roommate moved in. This song was all over the radio.

"Left To My Own Devices" By Pet Shop Boys
Driving on Route 480, looking for the Lee Road exit, going to visit Nelson when he lived with Don in Maple Heights.

"Everlasting Love" by Howard Jones
Again on Route 480, outside Macedonia. I got my first ever speeding ticket - 65 in a 55 (I missed the sign where the speed limit went down). It would be 15 years before I got another.

"Emperor's New Clothes" by Sinead O'Connor
Driving around Randall Park Mall looking for a parking spot. Yes, Daniel, I heard it tooling around in April, but no worries on finding a spot.......


They're not all college, though:

"Shine A Little Love" by ELO
A trip to Texas to see my new baby cousin - it was always on the radio

"Turn Turn Turn" by The Byrds
I read the bible verse it's based on at my Pappy's funeral.....

"Brick In The Wall" by Pink Floyd
We took a field trip with the church, and the minister had the radio on. All of us kids were in the back of the van yelling "WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION". The look on the minister's face was priceless.

I'm suddenly drawing a blank (I hate that). I'll add more when my brain is working again.

Anyone else?


**Added: "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John
Sitting in my cousin's parents cabin cruiser on the Delaware River during the Bicentenial (which we spent in Philly - it was awesome) watching the tall ships sail in. Yes, I know it had nothing to do with the Bicentennial, but they jumped on it, and it was all over the radio during that time, including when we were on the yacht.

[Dawn]

Railyn, great topic!

Oh yes, it happens to me all the time as well - in fact, there aren't many songs that don't have a memory attached to them for me. Here are a few snapshots:

Diamond Girl - Seals & Crofts
Summer of '73, I was not quite 5 years old. My parents and my dad's brother, his wife and their daughter (10 months older than me) went to Shenandoah Acres, which was a resort/lake area. On the way home, I vividly remember sitting in the car, looking out at the passing scenery and hearing this song on the car radio.

Strange Magic - ELO
In early summer '76, my family decided to go to a lake several hours' drive away for a fishing trip with my dad's brother's family and my dad's sister's family. Once we got there, my cousins and I entertained ourselves with my new Mister Jaws game I brought along, as well as chasing each other in the fields near the lake. I must have heard this song on the car radio either going to or from the lake, for it always reminds me of that.

I Know A Heartache When I See One - Jennifer Warnes
My family went on weekend camping trips often during the summer when I was growing up. In July '79 we were on one such trip, and I was at the swimming pool. Somehow I tripped on the steps on the diving board, and went sprawling down on the concrete, busting my chin wide open. My parents had to rush me to the hospital for stitches. This song was popular at the time, and must have got associated with that memory somehow.

Missing You - Dan Fogelberg
Separate Ways - Journey
In October 1982, I was 14 and had just started high school. I had joined the yearbook staff, and through that became acquainted with a guy named Terry, a sophomore and one of the sports editors. I thought he was kind of cute, but was even more surprised when he asked me to go with him, since at the time I was in that awkward stage and didn't have much self-esteem. We never formally dated - I was too young - but we would sneak occasional kisses and hold hands. In retrospect it was more of a "puppy love" relationship than a serious, mature one, but I had real feelings for him. He moved to another state in February '83, and I was devastated - I was sure no other guy would ever be interested in me at all. Missing You reminds me of when I met Terry, and Separate Ways reminds me of the breakup, as they were popular at those respective times.

The Reflex - Duran Duran
In June '84 a friend invited me to go on a trip with her church youth group to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. Several other friends of mine were in that youth group as well, and we all had a fabulous time. While we were getting onto one of the rides - I think it was the scrambler - The Reflex started playing.

Celebrate Youth - Rick Springfield
I bought Rick's album Tao the same Saturday I took my SATs, in May '85, and listening to that song still brings back vivid memories of that day.

I'll add more later...

[Dawn]

A couple more to add:

Fly Away - John Denver
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon
Both of these songs take me back to February '76, when my parents and I went to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland to see the Ice Capades. My dad's boss, his wife, and their son (who was about 4 at the time; I was 7) went along, and we all rode in the same car. The day after the Capades, before we drove back to Virginia, we stopped by a toy store in Landover Mall, and Laverne (the little boy) and I each got a Disney Pop-Up Pal - the only two they had left in the display. Mine was Donald Duck in a barrel and his was Goofy in a spaceship. On the drive home, Laverne started throwing a fit because he wanted to switch Pop-Up Pals with me, and I wouldn't let him.

Hold the Line - Toto
in October '78 my parents decided to visit my dad's sister's family, who were living in western Ohio at the time. Fall color was at its peak, and I vividly remember seeing all the vivid reds and golds on the trees as we drove through West Virginia, and hearing that song on the car radio during the drive.

Rio - Duran Duran
This song reminds me of a oral presentation I had to give in 9th grade English class, in April or May '83. We were studying Greek mythology, and we each had to pick a relevant topic and give a 5-minute report to the class. Mine was ancient Greek customs, I remember. Anyway, I was very shy and not looking forward to the prospect of delivering the speech at all. When the teacher called on me, I went to the front, nervously started my speech, and got interrupted by a loud announcement from the athletic field about a track meet that was going on at the time. I stopped, waited for the announcer to finish, and started again, only to be interrupted a second, and I believe third time. I was pretty rattled by that point by all those interruptions and general nervousness, but somehow managed to finish. I think I got an A- on the speech, surprisingly.

[Ken]

Here are a few of mine:

Rock N Roll Love Letter - Bay City Rollers - In the summer of 1976, my mom and I along with my aunt and two of my cousins went on a camping trip for a week to Kalamalka Lake near Vernon B.C. The campsite was amazing it was right near the lake, and there was also a tennis court and store. The store had a jukebox on the back porch area, and you could hear it all around the site. This was one of the songs that was played regularly.


Fox On The Run - Sweet - I bought this 45 sometime in December of 1975.I remember listening to it not long after I bought it and I remember it was snowing that day. My record player was right by my window in my room, so I was watching it snow outside while listening to the song.


Hold Your Head Up - Argent - On the day of my High School graduation in 1985, we were all allowed to leave early in the day so we could get ready and prepare for the evening.I remember my Dad taking me to pick up my tuxedo and the song was playing on the radio as we were driving.



Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John and Kiki Dee. I remember riding my bike around my neigborhood sometime in the summer of '76, occasionally I would bring my transistor radio with me, I did this time and remember hearing this.

[Cool Hand Logan]

Great topic!

"Maggie May" reminds me of watching Wonderama on Sunday mornings upstairs in my grandmother's living room.

"Brandy" and "Too Late To Turn Back Now" remind me of going fishing with my father on Saturdays at a creek that was close by.

"Oh Babe, What Would You Say" reminds me of going to the roller rink on Saturday afternoons with my mother, father and sister.

"Magic" reminds me of going down the shore to Seaside Heights.

"Copacabana" and "Baker Street" remind me of going down the shore to Wildwood.

Good times!! Long gone.

[Railyn]

logan5 said:

"Copacabana" and "Baker Street" remind me of going down the shore to Wildwood.

Good times!! Long gone.

So is Castle Dracula......

[Cool Hand Logan]

railyn said:

logan5 said:

"Copacabana" and "Baker Street" remind me of going down the shore to Wildwood.

Good times!! Long gone.

So is Castle Dracula......

Been so long since I've been there...don't even remember it. I just did a websearch and here's what I came up with....

mywebpages.comcast.net/castlealan/

[Jughead]

Oddly enough, the first song I'm listing is "Under The Sea" from the Little Mermaid soundtrack. It brings back the college memory of six of us crammed into one car, cruising down the streets of Ottawa. Somehow, one of my friends had the soundtrack, and we listened to it as we cruised down Bank Street.

Eastside/SMOOTHER
Another college hit that I heard on the radio all throughout the summer of '01.

Ray Of Light/MADONNA
I remember this song was a hit around the time I turned 17 years old...the week before, we had one of those high school spirit days, and I remember taping a classmate to the wall while this song was playing.

Sexx Laws/BECK
Grad Goodbye Day 2000 Baby! This song was blaring as I was crawling through a pit of mud, competing in one of the crazy events that day.

Rasputin/BONEY M
HAAAAH!!! We were having a rummage sale to raise money for our grad dinner, and we happened to notice that someone donated a Boney M album...we ended up listening to it and making fun of it all day long!

[alandhopewell]

One that comes to mind immediately...

"BLACK AND WHITE"-Three Dog Night. The summer that came out, I was in my first relationship with a girl; she was 15, I was 16, she was white, I was (sorta) black.

[Dawn]

Another excellent topic to revisit. I was just thinking about this thread the other day, and wanted to add a few more songs.

Night Fever - Bee Gees
The winter of 1977-78 was very severe in the part of VA I lived in. I was in 4th grade at the time. We missed so many days of school due to snow in December through February that not only did we lose our Easter break and had to go to classes until almost the end of June (about 2 weeks longer than normal), but we also had to go several SATURDAYS! Not fun, although the teacher tried her best to make it less painful for us by bringing in snacks and mostly letting us watch filmstrips rather than doing a lot of book work. Anyway, this song reminds me of a couple of those Saturday sessions, as it was played often on the radio then, and I had the 45 as well.

And, I noticed I didn't include many examples from my adulthood in my original answer, so I'll add a few now - two of them are Click related.

Gypsy (Of A Strange and Distant Time) - Moody Blues
I first heard this song on the Music Choice classic rock channel, and immediately loved it. This was in April 2003, right after YL had folded but a couple of weeks predating the Click. I remember hearing this and thinking how cool it would be to have been able to have discussed this song on the YL music board had it still been up. Anyhow, whenever I hear it, it always takes me back to those "limbo" weeks between YL and the Click.

Congress Alley - Orpheus
You may remember that in the fall of 2005, Pete did a review of Orpheus' first album here on the Click. I was intrigued by what I heard from the clips, so Pete offered to send me copies of their albums, since they were hard to come across at the time. I received them in the mail, and liked them so much, I wanted Mark to hear them as well. Anyway, on a Saturday right around that time (early December), we had the first Orpheus CD playing in the car player while we ran errands that day. We were still in VA at the time, and I remember it was raining, and chilly. A Five Guys restaurant had just opened up, and we went there for lunch. To this day, whenever I listen to the Orpheus albums (and Congress Alley especially), it reminds me of that day.

Bad Day - Daniel Powter
In May 2006, Mark and I put our house on the market, packed up everything we owned, and moved to CA. It took us a little over four days to make the drive across country, and there were long stretches, especially through Arkansas and Oklahoma, where the selection of radio stations was very limited. Ordinarily, we wouldn't have listened to top 40, preferring oldies or classic rock, but it was often the best of the bunch at any given time. Bad Day was very popular at the time, and we heard it repeatedly during that trip, to the point that it has forever become associated with that move.

[Ken]

I love this thread, here are a few more memories I can think of:


Magic - Pilot - The summer of 1975, I was riding along in the car on the way to shop at one of our local malls.This came on the radio while driving around the parking lot, looking for a parking space, it was HOT that day.


Watching The Wheels - John Lennon - In 1980, shortly after John died, I remember my brother and I were at home in our basement rec room talking about John and the Beatles and how we both were still in shock over the news. While we were talking I remember my brother putting on "Double Fantasy" on his stereo and this song filled the room.


Mr. Jaws - Dickie Goodman - I was in Grade 3 in '75 and someone brought this 45 in for 'show and tell." It was the first time I had ever heard it and I (along with the rest of the class) couldn't stop laughing !