Time Machine

Do you ever hear a song and it takes you instantly back to a place?

I heard old-school Alabama song Song of the South on the way to the gym the other morning. And then all of a sudden it the early years of college, at a certain Frat House, with certain friends, all of us singing every word at the top of our lungs and laughing endlessly.  There might have been moon-shine soaked Cherries in the vicinity.

Then one  morning after taking Eileen to school, Billy Joel’s Only the Good Die Young came up on the play list. That one takes me to that summer with Cheri and Billy in Marion. I can’t remember if we were 15 or 16. I got to stay with them for what was probably a couple of weeks, but I swear it felt like the whole summer. After a day at the beach we’d spend a lot of time in the back-garage-converted-to-a-bedroom where Billy got to sleep. There may or may not have been beer present. May or may not have been snagged from the parental unit’s cooler. And we listened to a lot of Billy Joel.

You know that song at the end of Grease –that one We Go Together – that reminds me of 8^th grade. We had a lip synch contest every year, and that year at the end of it we uber-cool 8^th graders did a surprise performance at the end of the show to that song. Now as a person well past the age of 14.. I wonder if it really was a surprise!?  Also in that same vein is all things RobertPalmer. Our friend Derek ‘perfomed’ that song, slick backed girls in black dresses and red lipstick included. And he did a back hand spring. And I think at that point he was the only male we’d ever seen do that and it was C O O L.

Baby Got Back  - classy song right? Me and Lisa would drive around aimlessly and listen to that song over. And over. And over. Just to get all the words memorized. That was also popular when we took the Youth Group trip to Florida.  Yes. Apparently Father David tuned out THAT song and let us play it endlessly. (and fine, me and Lisa weren’t driving around aimlessly. We were stalking John and Josh L). And for the record, I still know every single word. 

Enough is Enough – Barbara Streisand and Donna Summer. Oh yeah. Good stuff and you know it. Sissy and I loved, I mean LOVED, that song.  We’d sing our heads off in the den. She would stand on the coffee table my Grandpa Julius had made and twirl around with a wooden spoon for a microphone.

The Christmas albums by Johnny Mathis and Boston Pops/Arthur Fiedler. Records- actual vinyl. We had those when we were kids. And it was a big event every year to get them out, and WE got to work the record player. Those speakers were taller than ME.

Walkin in Memphis.. well duh. Of course that one is here. Cheesy, yes. But we liked it. And I still do. J

Smells Like Teen Spirit and Jeremy. We’d never heard anything like it. Our Freshman year we went to see NKOTB (seriously? You don’t know what that stands for? Fine = new kids on the block) in CONCERT. And Milli Vannili. YES, I admit it. I saw both groups in a short span of time. And so did Katie and Beth and Shannon P and I think Jennifer.  And less than a year later  was this grunge thing. Nirvana and Pearl Jam. I remember Holly actually learned to play Smells Like Teen Spirit on the piano.

Life is a Highway. If Kristin is reading this right now, she just did the Woody Woodpecker laugh. My word I LOVED that song. And there was one morning driving to school in the little red Sentra it came on the radio, FM100 to be exact. And when it was over Ron Olson (yes, I remember the DJ, and he’s still on the radio now..) said he loved that song so much, he was going to play it again. And he did. And I turned it up crazy loud.

Anything from BloodSugar Sex Magik album. John loved it. And played the TAPE in his JAMBOX in his CAR because our cars were so old they didn’t have cassette players. And he’d have cleaned the car and it was a big bench seat in front and we’d turn a corner him, the jam box, and the other two or three of us up front would slide all over the place.

Other than the Alabama songs.. I can’t say there’s a lot of songs that stick out from College. Which may or may not have had to anything to do with kegs.  And keg stands.

I could go on.. but the ones from being a kid are the best. How very specific some of the visions in my head are when I hear certain songs now and again. 

Random posting I know..  but fun right?!