So, I’m in Kansas City, walking through Charming Charlie’s having been told that if I was looking for jewelry, this was the place to go.  A half hour later, and completely overwhelmed, my good natured husband and I are walking in the back of the store when this song comes on.  It has a great melody, a fabulous hook and, wait for it, a bridge.  Yes, I’m a geek who gets excited about a good bridge.  Anyway, long story short, it’s not so much about shopping at Charming Charlie’s, it’s that everytime I hear the song, I go back to Kansas City inside Charming Charlie’s.  

It’s 1974 and I’m sitting in my dad’s car in the parking lot of the A&P in Lexington, Kentucky.  Dad had run inside to shop for few minutes and I was listening to the radio when the song came on.  I had never heard it before, but the lyrics told a story and the chorus was amazing.  And just when it couldn’t get any better, there was a key modulation.  Oh my gosh!  So singable, such a great melody, and anytime I hear it I’m 14 years old again.  It’s once again dark outside, the windows in the car are open, the A&P sign is aglow, and the song is playing on the radio.  

Everyone I ever dated has music attached to them.  Friends are attached to certain songs or singing groups.  Occasions are tied to this music.  Music is attached to family members and it tends to be how I remember them best.  “KISS” and Led Zeppelin will forever be attached to my brother.  It was the 70’s. Sometimes I love remembering that music.  Sometimes I hate it.  I remember who I was with when I discovered Chicago, Elton John, Donna Summer, ELP, and thanks to my Doug, Gino Vannelli.  James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett take me back to trips to South Carolina and Florida. These memories are beyond important because I don’t have a lot of memories otherwise.  Long, long story for another blog.

Since leaving teaching, I’ve begun exploring my favorite songs and singers again.  I know that may sound strange, but I had become a bit burned out the last few years.  In the old days, I could sing the lyrics to a song while reading my homework without issue.  Now I’m trying to work and sing those lyrics at the same time and it’s a bit harder, but what I noticed is that despite the fact that I have very few memories of my past, I not only have no problem remembering the words to songs I sang 50 years ago, but I remember every dynamic level, every vowel sound, every little nuance.  I remember how it feels to create the sound.  It gives me comfort and in many cases, it brings back a memory I may have long forgotten except that it was attached to a song.  

This is what separates music from other subject matters for me.  I’ve never had a math problem take me back in time or help me remember friends.  A review of a scientific hypothesis doesn’t help me connect with emotions I had in college.  Well, except maybe frustration.  The closest thing for me might be books, which reread, can occasionally take me back in time to the first time I read it.  I’m grateful for both as they connect me to the better times of my past.  

For whatever reason, so many people say they would not have made it through school if not for music.  People are comforted by music during hard times, they’re lifted up, they celebrate and like me, they remember.  I don’t know if music is all that kept me in school, but I DO know that music was what made me excited to go to school.  It’s where I got to socialize, where I made friends, where we made music, made mistakes, strove for excellence, won and lost, laughed and cried.  These were and still are my people.  We all experienced the power of music together and some of my best memories are linked to doing everything with these people in high school and college.  We might not look at music the same way from a technical standpoint, but I know we look at it similarly from an emotional standpoint.  The fact that my fellow high school band geeks gather periodically to re-live those memories highlights the importance of making music together.  Not to continue giving other subjects a hard time, but it’s hard to imagine the math or science club meeting every 10 years to remember their experiences together.  It’s music that connects us and helps us create those memories.

Of course I’m speaking of these memories from a musician’s point of view, but this really is a human point of view.  There’s not one of you reading this who can’t think of a piece of music and relate a memory to it.  Whether it’s a date, a family member or a special occasion, the memories created and stirred by music are universal.  A subject this powerful should be taught to all children, don’t you think?  

Music, thanks for the memories.