One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
– Bob Marley
No matter how “evolved” I may imagine my taste in music has become (coolness level: Single Malt Whisky) there is no escaping the flood of dopamine-induced nostalgia when I hear the first few notes of an old favourite from my motown/rock/soft-rock/alt/punk/pop roots. There is a special kind of euphoria that comes over me when I realize that somehow I still remember every single word to a song I haven’t heard in over a decade. How do I, being the cool person that I am, celebrate this feeling? By singing it out loud while inventing my own awkward choreography. Naturally.
Music does something special for everyone. For me, it brings long-dormant emotions to the surface and transports me back to a simpler time. Music is the one thing that temporarily lets me step outside of present-day Laura and to once again briefly inhabit a different version of myself; one before the trauma of loss, one whose biggest worry is who I’ll be sitting next to at lunch, one who is blissfully ignorant of inequality, poverty, and global pandemic.
This week my task was to listen to an old favourite song. I had an inkling that I would be creating a playlist, but I didn’t realize how big of a task I had set for myself. Somehow I ended up with almost 60 songs, so I decided to cut the list down to a thematically appropriate 52. As I was looking over my list, I began to think about why these songs meant something to me. I ended up creating and annotating a playlist of 52 songs that make me happy. Enjoy!
Oh, and if you want to skip over my ramblings (you’re forgiven) here is a link to my playlist on Spotify.
Week Twelve: Old Favourites
- A Day in the Life – The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band- When I was a kid, one of my favourite Saturday afternoon activities was dancing around the living room with my Dad (or was it dancing around Dad in my living room?), usually to some upbeat Motown, ABBA, or one of my favourite Beatles songs: “A Hard Day’s Night” or “Help!” As I got older and started exploring more of their extensive catalogue, I found myself listening to this album more and more. A decade or so later, I asked my father what Beatles song was his favourite. When he told me it was this one, something in my brain latched onto it and “A Day in the Life” has been my favourite ever since. Although “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” still hold very special places in the heart of my inner child.
- Stop! In The Name of Love – The Supremes
More Hits By The Supremes- One of my Mum’s favourite bands was The Supremes. When we weren’t listening to the Beatles, ABBA, or Neil Diamond, a common soundtrack in our house was this one. Young children love songs with associated dance moves (probably why the Macarena, the YMCA, and the Chicken Dance stick around generation after generation). In one of my clearest memories from early childhood, my Mum and I are standing in the living room facing each other and, in sync, we put our hands out in a “stop” motion, followed by a heart drawn in the air and some more awkward dance moves choreographed by yours truly.
- Twist and Shout – The Beatles
Please Please Me- My grandma (Dad’s very English Mum) and I would often dance to this song, perhaps after a long day of playing “marching band” with tiny instruments and tea cozies on our heads. The dance would involve sticking one toe out to the side and twisting our bodies back and forth, seeing how “low” we could twist. Being a small child, already much closer to the ground, I usually won. The whole episode usually ended in giggles and a big hug.
- Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve
Urban Hymns- I was an “artsy” kid all through school. I went to a special elementary school for “the arts” and my transition to high school was no less dramatic. I played in every possible version of “band” that would have me, so most of my memories from that time are punctuated by musical instruments and band-camp-esque field trips. At one of our seemingly innumerable concerts, the strings band played an instrumental version of this song. It was probably the first time I had experienced cool and “current” music being played in an educational context and I loved it! (I also loved Beethoven, but he belonged in music class. The Verve was radical!) The band later went on to play music from Lord of the Rings when it was in theatres (specifically “Shadowfax” for all my fellow LOTR nerds).
- Tupelo Honey – Van Morrison
The Essential Van Morrison- When I was growing up my Dad had the best taste in music. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t “cool” back then (I was shamelessly teased for liking the Beatles) but now the “hipsters” like it so I was cool before cool was cool…right? (The rest of my playlist will very quickly put this to the test). This song was on heavy rotation. Whenever I heard it as an adult, it would stir up intense feelings of nostalgia. When tasked with picking a “father/daughter dance” song for my 2017 wedding, I told “father” that since “daughter” was picking everything else, he had to take this one. No surprise that my endearingly non-committal father weaseled out of the task when “Tupelo Honey” came on as we were listening to music. I may have picked it in the moment, but it was because of him from the beginning. I learned on the night of our wedding reception that despite him humouring many years of my crazy kid-dancing, my father is actually a great dancer. We didn’t practice and I’m pretty sure we looked incredible!
- Such Great Heights – Iron & Wine
Around the Well- My husband and I began our relationship living in two different cities – he finished university commuting between Fort Erie and St. Catharines (30 minutes on the highway) and I was finishing grad school in Peterborough. That meant that on alternating weekends, one of us would drive 3+ hours in rush hour traffic, and the other would take 5 hours worth of public transit. Early on in our relationship, he was sharing some of his favourite music and this song came up. It was oddly familiar, although I was sure I hadn’t heard it before. I loved it and instantly related to the lyrics. It felt very much “like us”. Years later, when we were picking music for our wedding, we both independently came up with this song for our “first dance”. This dance was choreographed and practiced beforehand (although I’m pretty sure no one was paying attention!)
- Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
Give Up- There was a reason why the last song was familiar. I had been listening to this one, the original, for years. I worked at a theatre camp (of course I did) and for the showcase one year we choreographed a modern dance to this song. It was the first time I had heard it and I added it to most of my subsequent mixed-CDs.
- Come and Get Your Love – Redbone
Wovoka- I don’t remember when I first heard this song, but as soon as I did (and every time after) a big smile broke out across my face. I can’t explain it, but for some reason this song makes me unnaturally happy and brings on fits of ridiculous and energetic “dancing”. If I had to pick a song to wake up to, this would probably be it because it is my music equivalent of a double-shot espresso. The only reason I haven’t made it (or any other song) my permanent alarm is out of fear that I’ll grow to resent the thing that reminds me that I have to get out of bed.
- Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra
Out of the Blue- I heard this song a fair bit around the house growing up. It was part of the phase in my music development called “Real Music Comes from the UK” (I still partly subscribe to this a tiny little bit). During this phase, I went from “is this the Beatles?” (words cannot describe how much that annoyed my father) to “what do you mean you don’t listen to The Clash?? It is a fun, upbeat song that reminds me ever so fondly of my impressionable youth.
- Send Me On My Way – Rusted Root
The Theory of Flight- This is one of the most delightful and whimsical songs that I have ever heard. For some strange reason it makes me want to link arms with someone and skip down an imaginary street. It was released the year I was born and the first place I heard it was likely in the movie “Matilda” which I adore to this day.
- Mr.. Brightside – The Killers
Hot Fuss- This song is on my list because, for a brief moment in the early 2000s, it was the epitome of “angst”. At the tender age of 13, I could relate to exactly none of the lyrics (taking a cab, smoking, sex), but for some reason an entire generation of pre-teens was drawn to the explicit-ish images of infidelity. I distinctly remember jumping up and down and “headbanging” at the Much Music Video Dances (yes, we were very cool). Every so often this song comes on the radio and I feel an instant combination of nostalgia, embarrassment, and faux-indignant rage.
- Absolutely (Story of a Girl) – Nine Days
The Madding Crowd- My favourite memories of this song are wrapped up in elementary school dances, trying to sing along and never really remembering the words beyond the first couple of lines. The memories are simple: I remember the school gym, the kids around me, the sounds, the smells, the fear of having no one to dance with during the next slow song. They’re pretty perfect memories.
- Zombie – The Cranberries
No Need to Argue- I’m not sure when I first became aware of The Cranberries, but there was something (the thick Irish accent) about Dolores O’Riordan’s voice that captivated me. I had been listening to this song on and off for years before it occurred to me to pay attention to the lyrics. As a kid I latched onto the word “Zombie” for obvious reasons, but as a slightly more discerning teenager I began to learn about the conflict in Northern Ireland that had peaked in my lifetime. Now, knowing much more about the history of the two countries, this song stirs me to my core. Whenever it comes on the radio (which it often does), I stop whatever I am doing and turn it up.
- Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
Baby Now That I’ve Found You- Take a quick gander through this playlist and you might be able to tell that I have been very influenced by music from and inspired by the 1960s. This may have something to do with when my parents were born, but even if your parents aren’t certified Baby Boomers, you can’t deny the unique quality of this decade in music. My wonderful memory of my dad holding both my hands and swinging me back and forth across the living room isn’t specific to this song, but to the entire – very swingable – genre.
- Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show – Neil Diamond
Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show- Both Mum and Dad loved Neil Diamond so I have a long history with his music. When I was old enough to pay attention to the lyrics, I remember hearing Neil sing “pack up the babies and grab the old ladies” which made me burst out laughing. I was absolutely delighted by the image of someone packing an infant into a suitcase and grabbing an elderly woman and tossing her over their shoulder. I don’t think I actually knew the proper name of this song until many years later, because when I asked one of my parents to put it on the stereo, I requested the “Babies and Old Ladies” song.
- Uptown Girl – Billy Joel
An Innocent Man- I don’t remember when I first heard this song or when I began listening to Billy Joel, but I do know that this is one piece of joyful nostalgia that plays in my house whenever I am baking. It has a place in many of my “Throwback” playlists and I almost always sing along.
- Drops of Jupiter – Train
Drops of Jupiter- Honestly, until the very moment of writing this (I looked it up for the release date), I had no idea that Patrick Monahan wrote this song in memory of his late mother who died from cancer. My uncritical pre-teen brain just leaned into it hard because of its moody and sorrowful quality. No wonder! He was writing about deep personal loss; something I would experience three years after the song’s release. When I hear this song now I don’t feel aching pain; probably because when I first heard it I couldn’t relate to Monahan and I didn’t pay much attention beyond the first few lines. Now, when I hear this song I feel young, dramatic, and uncomplicated. I feel the way I felt back then; my only problem was that I didn’t have a problem. It was a beautiful, simple, sad, funny, crazy, normal time.
- Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
Rumours- Another British band from the 1960s? Yes please! It is very cool these days to listen to Fleetwood Mac, but I think I can claim some extra street cred for having listened to them since birth. Also, any halfway intelligent person can figure out my exact age by doing the “I was this old when” Easter Egg hunt I have inadvertently created throughout this list…
- Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind- Some kids pretended to play the guitar. Some kids grabbed the nearest hairbrush or shampoo bottle and became lead singer. Me? Listening to this song I wanted to be the drummer (okay, also the singer). This is another one of those instant 1990s classics that hits people about my age right in the feelings. It still makes regular appearances on the radio and most of the lyrics still live somewhere, locked in the back of all Millennial brains.
- Hey, Soul Sister – Train
Save Me, San Francisco- My love for this song is thoroughly uncomplicated. I liked it because it’s upbeat and it’s a good song to dance to in the car. When I hear it now, I laugh at myself for loving it and for remembering all of the lyrics to this day.
- You Can’t Hurry Love – The Supremes
The Supremes A’ Go-Go- I contemplated including both the original 1966 Supremes recording and the version released by Phil Collins sixteen years later. I ultimately settled on this one because far too often it seems like an African American artist or group releases a song to moderate success, and then some white dude re-releases it and it blows up. No, Phil Collins isn’t “some white dude”, but I think the point still stands. Credit where credit is due, folks. To be clear, credit to Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland for writing the song, and credit to The Supremes for making it fabulous. After all, I did grow up in a Supremes household.
- Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
The Essential Journey- This remains one of the best songs to shout/sing with a large group of teenagers/drunk people. My life can be divided into two different Journey Phases. Phase One (Younger Years): When I first heard this song I was in elementary school and Journey was a regular feature at school dances. When it started playing we would all gather in a circle (you all remember it) and start “singing” (screaming) in unison. We would all end up feeling weirdly empowered and very much out of breath. Phase Two (Alcohol): Now, in my old age, Journey is primarily employed in three ways: to get people at a bar to scream and make intense eye contact with literally anyone while gesticulating wildly to the lyrics; to say you “sang at karaoke” while really you just stood at the mic while the entire bar sang over you; weddings.
- I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers
Sunshine on Leith- When I started drinking whisky I discovered that there was a tiny Scottish man living in the back corner of my brain, listening to this song on repeat. Long ago, I began to suspect he existed because this crazy blue and white, haggis eating, caber tossing, bagpipe playing part of me would emerge whenever I heard this song. It was also played over the loudspeaker on every cross country, track and field, and Terry Fox Run day at school. Sometimes the wee Scott drives me batty, but I’ve grown to love him and embrace him, particularly when the Scotch comes out. My family is pretty Scottish (Fyfe) and during certain times of the year (read: Burns night, when drinking, any time bagpipes play) it really shines.
- Wannabe – Spice Girls
Spice- Singing along to this song at the top of my lungs with all my girlfriends was the most empowering thing I had ever done in my entire life. It didn’t get better than this. This, and gal pal “Stop Right Now” were anthemic to us young girls and our first real introduction to “girl power”! Yes, I dressed up as Sporty Spice, yes I watched and re-watched Spice World up until adulthood, yes we had concerts at recess, in the backyard, and in the living room, and yes, I played this at my wedding. GIRL POWER!
- You Get What You Give – New Radicals
Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too- If my life was a movie, that movie would start with a sunny day montage of me, the protagonist, heading somewhere, full of purpose, in slow motion. There would be a mix of me walking, driving (windows down), smiling, and waving at people passing by. The song swelling in the background of that montage? “You Get What You Give”, by the New Radicals. I have no idea why I feel this way, but I do. That is all.
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrel
United- All I have to say about this song is that it is absurdly inspirational and my heart grows three sizes every time I hear it. I find myself dancing (awkwardly, white) to it and manically gesturing towards the heavens. Do you want to be uplifted? Listen to this song. Go now. Do it. I’ll wait.
- It Wasn’t Me – Shaggy, Rickardo “RikRok” Ducent
The Boombastic Collection- I went back and forth on whether to include this masterpiece in my list. It was released before I had any idea what the lyrics meant, but I will (proudly?) say that I stuck by it even after I realized it was about some guy repeatedly cheating on his girlfriend and denying it (while also bragging about it?). I guess this is on here because it makes me laugh and roll my eyes while simultaneously setting off a bit of feminist rage. It also reminds me not to take this whole thing too seriously because, cards on the table, I kept listening to this song over the years because I absolutely marvelled at how low that guy’s voice is!
- Jumper – Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind- Is it just me, or does the guy in the music video look much too cheerful to be singing about suicide? When this song came out in the late 90s I had no real idea what suicide was or what drove people to it. All I knew was that Third Eye Blind was describing some emotions that most young kids feel at one time or another. Also, it was moderately upbeat and catchy with a neat marching band drumming bit. Don’t judge me for missing the nuance here, I was a dumb kid!
- Every Morning – Sugar Ray
14:59- I love/hate this song. I angrily mock it every time it plays/every time I play it on purpose, because let’s be honest: it has been years since this turd of a song played on the radio. This song is on my list because just over a decade ago, deep into my obsession with standup comedy, I discovered a comedian called Rob Paravonian (where did you go, Rob??). He would stand on stage with his guitar and riff about music. My favourite is his “Pachelbel Rant” where he spends just over five minutes yelling about how the “chord progression” in Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” is in 90% of popular music. Even if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you actually know what I’m talking about. Another of his bits is about the Friends Theme and Sugar Ray’s “Every Morning”. I had heard the song prior to discovering Paravonian, but his hilarious tirade about how unbelievably creepy this song was really made an impression. I didn’t include this song because it’s good (it isn’t), but I included it because it reminds me of a younger me, sitting on the family computer and binge-watching comedy, long before “binge-watching” was a thing.
- Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
Back to Black- I bought this album shortly after it came out in 2006. I was in high school and a national CD store chain was having a “going out of business” sale. I heard “Rehab” on the radio and I was instantly drawn to her style and incredible vocal talent. She reminded me of the music I grew up with, but with a modern twist. I went to the store and bought this along with her first album “Frank” and listened to both, back to back, while standing in my room facing the speaker. I was so transfixed by her music that I couldn’t even relax. To this day, I know all the words to the album “Back to Black”, and the sound always brings me back to my teenage years, belting out her music, completely unable to do it justice, but having a very moody, existential ball. As I was listening to the album earlier this week, I realized that it was released two years after my Mum died. I think, based on Mum’s musical influence, that she would have liked Amy Winehouse, and we would have listened to her music together.
- Rehab – Amy Winehouse
Back to Black- Much like watching Don Draper in Mad Men makes we want to take up smoking, this song sort of made me wish I had a drinking problem. Just wait, 16-year-old Laura, your time will come.
- Tears Dry on Their Own – Amy Winehouse
Back to Black- I really needed to stack this playlist with Amy Winehouse because I can’t emphasize enough how much I love her.
- S Club Party – S Club 7
S Club- My claim to fame is that I met Jon Lee (the little blonde one) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016, a year after their second run as a band. I had been a part of the “Club” from their beginnings in 1999, all the way until a present-day evening of drunk nostalgia involving Spotify, wine, and my good friend Kevin. The capacity of this band to energize me as a pre-teen has somehow extended all throughout my life, and I anticipate forcing my unwitting children to listen to it, if only to show them that popular music doesn’t have to take itself too seriously all the time.
- The Anthem – Good Charlotte
The Young and the Hopeless- I bought this album when it came out and boy, did I ever feel cool. I loved (and somehow related to?) the Good Charlotte angst. It wasn’t too edgy but it had enough beat and noise to make me feel like I had truly joined the zeitgeist. I accept that being a fan of Good Charlotte now is to open oneself up to mockery. The personal lives of Joel and Benji Madden alone are fodder for comedy. Although one of them is married to Cameron Diaz, so I think they’re probably doing alright.
- Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous – Good Charlotte
The Young and The Hopeless- Here’s another favourite, just for good measure (one for each brother).
- Tubthumping – Chumbawamba
Tubthumper- This is the first non-Fred Penner album I remember owning. When this song came out (and we were all jumping up and down and throwing ourselves at the floor at “I get knocked down”) I immediately begged my father to buy it for me. If I recall correctly, I didn’t spend much time with the rest of the album (don’t judge me, I was 7) but I, and everyone I knew, absolutely loved Tubthumping. I had no idea the band was English (thus far my only knowledge of the UK was from the Beatles and my grandmother) and I had no idea what anarcho-punk was. It sounds cool now to say I listened to Chumbawamba when I was younger, but I had absolutely no idea what they were saying. Case in point: one day when I was singing along, my parents were standing outside my bedroom door talking about me (I don’t think they knew I was listening). My father said “Beth, she is swearing!” to which my mother replied “Bruce, she doesn’t know what she’s saying.” What was I saying? There is a lyric that goes “pissing the night away”, but at that point I had never heard the word “pissing”. My child-brain found the closest word, so what I was actually singing was “kissing the night away”. So it turns out that my father had nothing to worry about (although now I swear like a sailor…).
- It’s Tricky – Run-D.M.C.
Raising Hell- Even though this song was part of the global playlist for years before I was born, I didn’t really listen to Run-D.M.C. until my late teens, early twenties. I do have some earlier memories of this particular song – likely because it’s very catchy and appears in some teen movies from the early 2000s. All I know is that I love it. It makes me want to jump up and down to some specific choreography that I don’t know. It also makes me want to be cooler than I actually am.
- All The Small Things – Blink-182
Enema of the State- Did anyone else mimic Tom DeLonge’s cloyingly whiny voice when singing along? (“all the small theeengs”). Just me? Okay. Well, I was a cool kid in elementary school when this gem came out and I can say that every single one of us sang along (whiny or not) while jumping up and down like crazy people. The great thing about songs released during my lifetime is that my husband couldn’t avoid being exposed to them, unlike my slightly alienating 60s Motown. This is definitely one we enjoy together today.
- Save Tonight – Eagle-Eye Cherry
Desireless- This is one of those songs that, for me, is instantly recognizable by title, but if you told me that someone called “Eagle-Eye Cherry” recorded it I would return a blank stare. It was a song that was always on the radio, at school dances, and at the top of the charts. Maybe I’ve heard some of their other stuff, maybe I haven’t. There is no way to know! This is yet another song that makes me want to learn how to play the guitar, a song for which I only remember the chorus, and an instantly recognizable car-radio classic from my youth.
- Closing Time – Semisonic
Feeling Strangely Fine- This song has had two lifespans in the popular imagination. The first was when it originally came out in 1998. The second was its role as a bit of pop culture humour in the form of “who wrote this song? Third Eye Blind?” and as the universal “get out, the bar is closing” song. For me, it lives somewhere in between. I will say, always ones for a joke, that my husband and I made it the last song played at our wedding. We expected laughter and eye rolls, but the last 20 of us ended up with arms over shoulders in a big circle, singing it while swaying back and forth.
- Wonderwall – Oasis
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?- Everyone knows Wonderwall but can anyone tell me what a “Wonderwall” is? Asking for a friend.
- Here With Me – Dido
Angel- Yes, this is that song from Love Actually. It involves moody walking, angry coat-zipping, and general lovelorn theatrics from the guy from The Walking Dead. Does any of that make me love the movie or the song any less? Not at all. This song is like a big dramatic hug and I welcome it anytime.
- With Arms Wide Open – Creed
Human Clay- I needed to put some Creed on here to be completely upfront about my late 90s-early 2000s music rotation. You better believe I was drawn in by the emotional narrative spun by the slightly weird voice of Scott Stapp (another song that is very easily parodied). While I may have listened to it sincerely in my youth, I most definitely laugh out loud when I hear it come on the radio now, and I may or may not lip sync dramatically to it when the mood strikes.
- When I Come Around – Green Day
Dookie- Aww baby Green Day (and baby Laura). I was very young when this song came out, yet somehow it had the staying power to show up at every school dance until my high school graduation. They have been making music for longer than I have been alive and I bet you can guess the age of a Green Day fan with some accuracy by asking them their favourite song. Try it sometime.
- Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It – Will Smith
Big Willie Style- Everything about Will Smith is “cool without taking himself too seriously”. It’s what we all aspire to, right? He somehow effortlessly remains “on trend” despite coming onto the scene in the 1980s. It’s pretty hard to be unironically cool when you showed up to the party in the 80s. This rapper-turned-tv-turned-movie-turned-TikTok star was some good clean fun in the 90s and whose CD we can all be proud of owning to this day.
- Living Dead Girl – Rob Zombie
Hellbilly Deluxe- I know that this song may seem a bit off brand for me (it is) but I have some particular memories tied to it. From mid-elementary until the end of high school I was heavily involved in a local youth theatre group. My first show in the “Senior Cast” was called Teenage Night of Living Horror; a Halloween-inspired zombie story. Close your eyes and picture it. You’re right, that’s exactly what it looked like. One of the last things to happen before curtain call, just before the final hapless teenager was turned into a zombie, was an elaborate “chase scene” set to Rob Zombie’s “Living Dead Girl.” There was a lot of pancake make up, moaning, and slow shuffling, and it was awesome (to us, anyway). What makes this show stand out in particular is that through some kind of lonely-misfit magic, a small group of us gravitated towards each other and, even though we all went to different schools, we stayed friends all the way through high school. A lot has happened since. In my first year of university, the ringleader of our group died very young, at 20 years old. After that point, we all naturally drifted away from each other; moving away for school, getting into relationships, growing up. I am so grateful for this strange group of unlikely friends. I believe we found each other at a time in our lives when we really needed it, although we didn’t know it at the time. I lost my mother two weeks before rehearsals started; less than a week before my first day of high school. While most of us no longer speak, I reconnected with one of the other girls during university and we have been pretty close ever since. This song reminds me that you never know when someone will come into your life and how grateful you will be for them.
- Breakfast In America – Supertramp
Breakfast in America- One day I asked my father if him and my mother ever saw any bands in concert – years earlier I had asked if they’d been to see the Beatles, who played their last show when my parents were only ten years old. To my surprise, he said a word that was unknown to me at the time: Supertramp. Eager to experience my parents’ young lives second hand, I immediately downloaded all the Supertramp I could find. It turns out, they are a pretty incredible band and I have been listening to them on and off for years. Whenever I listen to this song I imagine my parents, who were younger than I am now, swaying to the tunes of Supertramp in a packed amphitheatre.
- Dare You To Move – Switchfoot
Learning to Breathe- I grew up with two competing moral influences: an atheist father and a religious mother. My mother’s philosophy often won because she had something my father did not: family backup. Her parents were very devout – her father and brother frequently delivered sermons in their quasi-Baptist church – and the rest of her siblings at least kept up the appearance. All the cultural content we got at Nana and Papa’s house was secretly (or not so secretly) about Jesus. When I was a pre-teen they would take my cousin and I to a book and CD store. We thought this was so cool – there were modern-looking pop and rock bands! I didn’t understand why my dad rolled his eyes about it until I was older and I realized that it was a Christian bookstore, with books about God and songs about loving Jesus. I think he may have thought his in-laws were brainwashing me. Flashforward to today, I sit somewhere between lapsed Presbyterian and skeptical agnostic. Despite some pretty concerted effort on the part of one half of my family, much of my religious upbringing has worn off. One bit of the culture I do remember very fondly, however, is this band (and Veggie Tales). It turns out that both my husband and I grew up listening to these guys and we both get a bit of the feels whenever we hear one of their songs.
- Meant to Live – Switchfoot
The Beautiful Letdown- While not overtly Bible-thumping, there is a very Christian thread woven through all of Switchfoot’s music. At the most, it’s gently inspiring soft rock. It definitely formed an interesting part of my musical upbringing (I own a tour DVD) and something I can laugh about with other former Christian music kids.
- Sk8er Boi – Avril Lavigne
Let Go- There have been two times in my life when I’ve wanted to wear a tie: the time Rachel wore one to work on Friends and the instant I became aware of Avril Lavigne. Both my husband and I independently loved her music growing up and she was very formative for both of us for different reasons. For me, it was her edgy cool-girl punk style and relatable lyrics. For him, I’m pretty sure he just had a crush on her. This particular album, however, holds another heavily eye-linered place in my heart. Let Go came out in 2002 when my cousins and I were exactly the right age to become absolutely obsessed with this “counterculture” icon. A year after the album dropped, we found out that she was playing a concert in my hometown and we absolutely begged our parents to let us go. I will say right off the bat that none of our mothers liked her music. Something about her being too loud and wearing too much makeup? Well, the whole family came into town for the show. There was one ticket for me, one for each of my cousins, and one for the unlucky mother who had to accompany us. I don’t know if actual straws were drawn, but my mother ended up with the short one. My cousins and I still reminisce about the concert. My mother brought and wore earplugs throughout the entire performance. She actually covered her ears for the opening bands – a band called “Gob” was followed, I believe, by another called “Swollen Members”. Totally her scene. But you know what? She took it like a champ. My Mum, or Auntie Beth, was there to celebrate and support us. She didn’t make [too much] fun of our love for Avril, and she even helped us pick out and buy matching tour t-shirts.
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Deep Blue Something
Home- I don’t remember when I actually became aware of this song (it was released when I was 5, so probably a bit later) but I do remember it popping up in strange places throughout my teenage years and into university. When I attended and subsequently worked at a musical theatre summer camp, the song had resurfaced and had become a popular sing-along tune among the campers and staff. My group of friends in high school also had it on rotation. The last time I remember listening to it regularly was in first year university. Whenever I hear the song now I am oddly proud that I remember some of the words to a Deep Blue Something song (although I’m sure I couldn’t name a single one of their other songs). I feel like I want to learn guitar because hearing this particular song makes me instinctively start strumming the air. Maybe someday I’ll actually sit down and watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s to see the Something that Deep Blue has been talking about all these years.
- We R Who We R – Kesha
Cannibal- Two words: Party Anthem. This album was released halfway through my undergraduate and at the time, my best friend and I were sharing a house with one other girl who will remain nameless (draaama!). Not only did we live and work together, we also took many of the same classes and spent nearly all of our spare time sitting on the bed or floor in one another’s room, talking about everything and nothing. As if we weren’t already separated-at-birth weirdos, we also shared a birthday. This set us up for some excellent party shenanigans. We alternated between hitting the club and throwing a house party for the special day in October, but every year one key element remained the same: the epic pre-drink dance party. We would spend the hour and a half before leaving the house drinking, doing each other’s hair and makeup, and carefully selecting our club attire. During this ritual, the more inebriated we became, the more we started to dance. We would put on the “party tunes” and just get silly, using the alcohol as an excuse for what we called our “awkward white person dancing” (it is exactly how you are picturing it). This song was one of our regulars and I thought it was a good song to end on. During those years we were going hard (“hard hard hard hard hard”), we really felt like the world was ours, and you better believe we knew we were superstars. We were a perfect version of what we were. We have remained best friends to this day, even though our lives look very different from a decade ago (we’ve known each other for an astounding 16 years). From classrooms to staff meetings a lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same. We have to work a bit harder to communicate now, and happiness doesn’t come as easily as it did when the most stressful thing we did was write exams. We still have our dance parties and sometimes we drink a little bit too much, but no matter what, We R Who We R.
How to Be Happy 