Now I know how care-free it feels to be driving alone, with some favourite music blasting away. In the past, given my lack of driving confidence, I've usually preferred no music when it's me who's driving. Music felt distracting. Also, with two little people in the back of the car - oh, say 98% of the time - things tend to get noisy anyway. On those rare occasions where I'm alone behind the wheel, I've savoured the silence in the car - just me and my thoughts.
Lately, 'just me and my thoughts' don't seem to cut it, though. Last weekend, when I was making an escape for a few hours, I impulsively switched the radio on. Lucky for me, J had it tuned in to a station he'd already discovered and likes - KROQ. Even luckier for me, the station was having a 'Nothing but the 90s' weekend.
Heaven.
It must be a sure sign of ageing - being reduced to fits of bliss when hearing songs from 'way back'. As a kid, I remember how happy my mother would be listening to songs from the 70s, when we were in the car. The Doors aside, I remember thinking how daggy and old those songs were - songs that weren't as old (then) as the songs I found myself belting out to on Sunday.
Oops.
If anyone cares to join me in a trip down memory lane, here are some of the songs from KROQ's playlist that had me smiling like I haven't smiled in a long time:
Ah, sweet youth...
Most of our CDs are boxed into storage back in Australia. Many of our favourite albums are on our iTunes library, but we never got around to putting them all on. I wish we'd been a little more organised in that respect, but hey, the internet is a wonderful thing in the mean time, right?
What songs take you back?
Oh, I was crazy about "Bittersweet Symphony" almost from the first listen. How cheesed off was I when a well-known news network appropriated it to promote themselves?
ReplyDeleteIt must be hard when you leave all your CDs behind. I think you know I've got an MP3 player but I've been bad about using it. I've still got my Discman and I take that with my CDs most days on the train. I know, I really should embrace the new.
It's true that certain music can cheer you the hell up when nothing else will. My preference for music from way back when is a source of amusement for many. I've been told I should like things from my own era but to me, you like what you like and that's it.
In my case, the good feelings associated with that era of music come from my childhood where the radio was always going in the background. I associate a lot of that with feeling good and happy - it's a no brainer really.
I don't mind recapping some of the 80s stuff but a lot of it was okay first time around even if it doesn't hold up now (for me).
I did like a lot of 90s stuff though. Again, I think it was the exposure to it that helped. During the era when I was listening to Richard Stubbs on radio in Melbourne, I developed a taste for a lot of the music they were playing then.
Every time I hear "No Rain" by Blind Melon or "Daughter" by Pearl Jam, it reminds me of when I first moved to Melbourne and found Stubbsy on the dial.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
It's funny the amount of happiness that can be gained - even if temporary - from listening to a bit of music, isn't it? I surprise myself with how often I forget about, then rediscover much-loved albums.
ReplyDeletePearl Jam - now there are some memories! I must have seen them at least three times live. Such a great band.
The radio station is doing the same 90s theme again this weekend, so I've been reliving a few more favourites: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bjork, and Smashing Pumpkins. Happy days! I just need some REM to complete me.
Hmmm, my most vivid memories tend to have a soundtrack attached.
ReplyDeleteMoby's album Play will always remind me of meeting Bren and falling in love. And whenever I hear Tool I think of our early years together - equal parts passionate and addled.
The music of my childhood is also hugely evocative - but like Mel, it was less the music of the time rather than the music my parents played. So The Beatles, The Stones, Joe Cocker, Creedence. So much fabulous vinyl that coloured my long, summer days. Where is that vinyl? I need it.
The music of the 90s will always make me long for a scotch and coke and a dirty ciggie. Can't help it. Those were some crazy days. No responsibility. Just being young. Fuck. You think about it too long, it's bittersweet, isn't it?
Oh, Moby! What a great album to fall in love to. 'Play' will always remind me of London (the better stuff, though). I used to crank it when I had to set up for, then clean afterwards, in the downstairs bar of the pub I used to work at - I would have the entire bar to myself before and after the lunch rush, so that was kind of fun. I used to cook a lot to it, as well, and so I always picture the view out the kitchen window of our London flat when I hear the album.
ReplyDeleteTool takes me even further back, to a messy, complicated time in one particular share house.
Ah, youth... not sure I'd want to do ALL of it again if I had the chance, but no regrets.