What songs have meaning to you? When you hear a particular song, does it bring you back to a moment of impact? When you wake in the morning do you have a melody in your heart? For me, music has a profound effect on my daily life and helps me explain who I am. When I think of my mother, it brings back a flood of memories, those memories included her record collection. Beethoven, 50’s show tunes, and my favorite, Allen Sherman’s “My Son the Folk Singer.” Any of these piece of music brings back the beautiful moments when my mother allowed me access to her vinyl albums. Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, “Eroica”, was my favorite and even today brings me back to a time when my mother was alive and young. The tears always remind me of the love I once had and will never lose.
The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was an extremely important album to me. My sister and I would practice disco dancing to this amazing soundtrack. We didn’t understand that Saturday Night Fever was a harsh movie about real street life in the inner city. All we cared about was the music which was fast and cool and we loved to dance to it. At my Bar Mitzvah, my sister and I danced like pro’s and I showed my moves, absolutely horrible, but we had fun. The songs “Disco Inferno” and “Staying Alive” put me back to my last days of my 12th year, jumping around in the den, loving music! This is one of the few memories I have with my sister, but thanks to the music it will always be there for me to dance back in time.
The Who’s “Substitute” is a memory landmine. I first listened to The Who’s" “Live at Leeds” when I was 14 and my sister’s boyfriend had just given the record to her as a present. She didn’t much like it, but I took it and listened to it several times, I fell in love with The Who’s music that day. Later that night, my parents forced me to go to a teen center located under the Great Neck Library. It was called Levels and my mom had been told by a friend’s son that I would like it. I was dropped off at 7pm, and was told that I would get picked up after my parents were finished with dinner.
There I sat in the corner waiting for my parent to return. I had few friends and none of them were there. For a good part of an hour, I sat in silence not knowing what to do. Everyone around me seemed to be having fun doing various things, but I wasn’t invited to join and I didn’t ask since I was way too shy. It was then when two older guys came up to me and introduced themselves. Al and Bobby. They both had guitars! Al asked me if I like music. I said I liked The Who, that my one day of listening to one album had made me a fan, and they freaked out. They asked if there was any song that I liked by them and I immediately said the only song I remembered. “Substitute” I said and they fell about the place. They couldn’t believe that this nerdy kid in tennis sneakers picked one of the coolest rock songs they knew. Then they played it, and played it really well. I was stunned and still, 40 years later, get chills when Al plays music.
My mother’s collection of soundtracks from Broadway was extensive. I liked a few songs on select records but was never a big fan of the music. Little did I know that Oklahoma would become my favorite show and it would be the way I would meet my wife. A friend of mine, and ganja supplier, ran a small children’s theater and had cast of recent college grads and current students, all cute! During the performance, one of the cast members caught my eye. She was doing her best to impress me and was having one her best nights. That was until she missed one of the steps when she was dancing up a short staircase. It didn’t phase her and she went on with the show. Later, embarrassed, we sat after the show and talked. Imagine her disbelief when I told her how blown away I was by her poise. I think she fell in love with me that moment. Oh what a beautiful day… and a perfect musical memory.
From a young age, I liked the Beatles, their early stuff and I connected. As I got older, I lost interests in the Beatles and started listening to other stuff. Imagine my surprise when a next door neighbor in my dorm played “Blow by Blow” by Jeff Beck. He became my favorite musician at that moment and it was his instrumental version of “My Love Don’t Bring Me Presents,” that became one of my favorite songs. It was jazz and rock, the guitar was perfect and funky, and fell in love! I remember my dorm room on a winter’s day, too cold to go outside, we did bong hits and listened to Jeff Beck. For me, that moment was a perfect present, and a musical memory that has lasted through time.
I still feel the music as it permeates me,inspires new experiences, and colors them in a unique way. Each color, sound, and experience adds to the grand symphony of life. In the end, it is these times and melodies that have added both flavor and meaning to every day things and events. The soundtrack to our lives is both profound and personal, and should be treasured for a long as you can feel the music. For it is that music that makes us who we are and lets us dance along with the universe.
