Soundtrack to My Life
There are the songs we love and then there are the songs that have stories behind them. Songs that, if someone (Dear God, please not Michael Bay) makes a movie about you one day, will be on the soundtrack. These are some of my songs and some of my stories. In no particular order because I'm drunk.
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Everyone has their firsts. This was the first song that I learned to pick on a guitar and learned the bass lines for. Not sure if I remember them now, but it’s still probably there somewhere in muscle memory. Oh, but at the time I was so happy with myself. I don’t know how to read music well and this song I learned by ear; by listening to the track over and over and playing it and probably annoying a bunch of people in the process. It was like a personal accomplishment for me. Like running a marathon or climbing a mountain or whatever the hell it is you outdoors people do for fun. The funny part I suppose is that once I learned how to play it I never really played it that much afterwards and I guess sometimes that’s just the way things roll. You can be so proud of an accomplishment and then it’s like…so what? And that’s okay.
REM – Document album, track 5 – It’s The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
I know, by heart, the album, the track number and the dong duration. This was one of those songs that totally didn’t make any sense at all but you still had to love it. Afternoons sitting idly in high school I can remember playing this CD through and through but always stopping to replay this song on in particular over and over. And it brings me back to those days where my biggest care was whether the history teacher would get too angry because my paper on the Russian Revolution of 1917-1918 was too long (64 pages bitches!). It draws me back to those little details of not having coin-operated washing machines for laundry, sneaking off campus at ridiculous hours to eat saimin at Liliha bakery then walking back goddamn exhausted because it was uphill all the way back. Then falling asleep in history class the next day. Overall though the one thing that I remember about this, there was a day in my senior year, Honors English with Powers, we were reading a book…and I can’t remember the book.... then discussing the book in class. But the discussions were like three chapters behind the reading. And I was annoyed. Why am I doing this reading if we’re not going to be discussing it until the next week? I didn’t make sense. And one morning I had this song playing as I was getting ready and there’s a line in the song “Lenny Bruce was not afraid…” So off I go to class. Again our class discussion is way behind on the reading. Power’s says something to the effect of “and what would this character ask?” As the song is playing in my head, “Lenny Bruce was not afraid…” my immediate response was “he would ask why we’re reading so far ahead if we’re not going to discuss it for a week.” And she turned, gave me what was quite possibly the closest I’ve ever gotten to a “MOTHERFUCKER IF I WASN’T GOING TO GET ARRESTED I WOULD LEAP OVER THIS DESK AND STRANGLE YOU WITH MY BARE FUCKING HANDS! YOU LITTLE SHIT!” look in my life. Then she paused for a couple of seconds and responded “you know what, you’re right” went back and sat behind her desk and that was it. We sat in stunned silence until the bell rang. And so I killed one day of Honors English because of REM.
Jon Dee Graham – Twilight
I saw this man play live once. In some bar whose name I don’t remember. I think it started with an A. He walks in the front door looking like…I don’t know what. I guess I assumed at the time a customer or maybe a trucker or something. He walks up to the stage takes just a few seconds for a sound check and then starts in on what I have to say is one of the most amazing live performances I can imagine. This song in particular I remember because at the time I was drinking my first Arrogant Bastard beer, one of my new favorites, and was unsuccessfully flirting with the waitress. It wasn’t a life changing experience but it was something I’ll remember and in the future as I travel I have to remember to get off the beaten path sometime. Hidden gems are really hidden, they’re just not on the tourist route.
Animaniacs – Nations of the world
United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru
Republic Dominican, Cuba Caribbean, Greenland, El Salvador too.
It was I think seventh grade. I had this on tape. And it took me weeks to memorize it. Oh my God but it was awesome. I could do the whole thing super fast, like a fucking hummingbird on crack. It was just incredible. Jesus I said tape…I’m old. I was so impressed with myself about this one though. You’ve never seen such a happy little nerd. Though at the time I wasn’t exactly little but that’s a separate issue. I don’t know if they still do reruns on the Cartoon Network or whatever but it was such a neat thing to see. And at the time I figured, oh this might be useful, maybe I like win a geography bee or something. Hell, some of the countries on that list don’t even exist anymore …I’m old. But you know those things that can flash you back to childhood memories? This is one of those things for me. I can remember getting busted in intermediate school for stuff, nearly stepping in someone’s shit (literally) in the hall on the way to the shower, all the crazy stuff that…had I just been sexually abused by a Catholic Priest as a kid, I might have traumatically blocked from my memory.
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Everyone has their firsts. This was the first song that I learned to pick on a guitar and learned the bass lines for. Not sure if I remember them now, but it’s still probably there somewhere in muscle memory. Oh, but at the time I was so happy with myself. I don’t know how to read music well and this song I learned by ear; by listening to the track over and over and playing it and probably annoying a bunch of people in the process. It was like a personal accomplishment for me. Like running a marathon or climbing a mountain or whatever the hell it is you outdoors people do for fun. The funny part I suppose is that once I learned how to play it I never really played it that much afterwards and I guess sometimes that’s just the way things roll. You can be so proud of an accomplishment and then it’s like…so what? And that’s okay.
REM – Document album, track 5 – It’s The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
I know, by heart, the album, the track number and the dong duration. This was one of those songs that totally didn’t make any sense at all but you still had to love it. Afternoons sitting idly in high school I can remember playing this CD through and through but always stopping to replay this song on in particular over and over. And it brings me back to those days where my biggest care was whether the history teacher would get too angry because my paper on the Russian Revolution of 1917-1918 was too long (64 pages bitches!). It draws me back to those little details of not having coin-operated washing machines for laundry, sneaking off campus at ridiculous hours to eat saimin at Liliha bakery then walking back goddamn exhausted because it was uphill all the way back. Then falling asleep in history class the next day. Overall though the one thing that I remember about this, there was a day in my senior year, Honors English with Powers, we were reading a book…and I can’t remember the book.... then discussing the book in class. But the discussions were like three chapters behind the reading. And I was annoyed. Why am I doing this reading if we’re not going to be discussing it until the next week? I didn’t make sense. And one morning I had this song playing as I was getting ready and there’s a line in the song “Lenny Bruce was not afraid…” So off I go to class. Again our class discussion is way behind on the reading. Power’s says something to the effect of “and what would this character ask?” As the song is playing in my head, “Lenny Bruce was not afraid…” my immediate response was “he would ask why we’re reading so far ahead if we’re not going to discuss it for a week.” And she turned, gave me what was quite possibly the closest I’ve ever gotten to a “MOTHERFUCKER IF I WASN’T GOING TO GET ARRESTED I WOULD LEAP OVER THIS DESK AND STRANGLE YOU WITH MY BARE FUCKING HANDS! YOU LITTLE SHIT!” look in my life. Then she paused for a couple of seconds and responded “you know what, you’re right” went back and sat behind her desk and that was it. We sat in stunned silence until the bell rang. And so I killed one day of Honors English because of REM.
Jon Dee Graham – Twilight
I saw this man play live once. In some bar whose name I don’t remember. I think it started with an A. He walks in the front door looking like…I don’t know what. I guess I assumed at the time a customer or maybe a trucker or something. He walks up to the stage takes just a few seconds for a sound check and then starts in on what I have to say is one of the most amazing live performances I can imagine. This song in particular I remember because at the time I was drinking my first Arrogant Bastard beer, one of my new favorites, and was unsuccessfully flirting with the waitress. It wasn’t a life changing experience but it was something I’ll remember and in the future as I travel I have to remember to get off the beaten path sometime. Hidden gems are really hidden, they’re just not on the tourist route.
Animaniacs – Nations of the world
United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru
Republic Dominican, Cuba Caribbean, Greenland, El Salvador too.
It was I think seventh grade. I had this on tape. And it took me weeks to memorize it. Oh my God but it was awesome. I could do the whole thing super fast, like a fucking hummingbird on crack. It was just incredible. Jesus I said tape…I’m old. I was so impressed with myself about this one though. You’ve never seen such a happy little nerd. Though at the time I wasn’t exactly little but that’s a separate issue. I don’t know if they still do reruns on the Cartoon Network or whatever but it was such a neat thing to see. And at the time I figured, oh this might be useful, maybe I like win a geography bee or something. Hell, some of the countries on that list don’t even exist anymore …I’m old. But you know those things that can flash you back to childhood memories? This is one of those things for me. I can remember getting busted in intermediate school for stuff, nearly stepping in someone’s shit (literally) in the hall on the way to the shower, all the crazy stuff that…had I just been sexually abused by a Catholic Priest as a kid, I might have traumatically blocked from my memory.
posted by rpalmeira | 3:21 AM
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