When I was a little girl, I hated all music except country and Britney Spears. I wouldn’t even give any other genre or artist a chance, something that annoyed my dad because one, he hated Britney Spears and country, and two, I was a brat and we couldn’t go anywhere together without me attempting to insult Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, or any other classic rock or heavy metal band he would play. I’ve grown a lot since then and I can honestly say that I love every genre. But what I really want to talk about is how certain sons remind us of certain people in our lives.
Silver Thunderbird by Marc Cohn
Many, many songs remind me of my father. He’s the person that opened my eyes to classic rock, to heavy metal, and he’s the one that’s pushing up crowd surfers with me at heavy metal shows. “Silver Thunderbird” has always stood out to me, though. I remember very vividly the first time my dad had me listen to it. We had just gotten into his truck, not even three-hundred feet from our house and he said, “Listen to this. No, really, listen. This song makes you want to cry.” And so I did. I put my feet up on the dash, listened to this song that obviously meant a great deal to my father and held back tears. We didn’t say anything when the song had finished, but my dad looked over at me with a serene smile and his eyes crinkled and I will never forget that moment.
Man! I Feel Like A Woman! By Shania Twain
Just like with my dad, there’s a plethora of songs that remind me of my mom, a lot of them being Shania Twain songs and Dixie Chick songs. This song sticks out to me out of all of the rest, though, because July 2015, my mom and I finally got to see Shania Twain together in Pittsburgh. I can remember my mom dancing and smiling right beside me as I sang the lyrics with excitement, but my mother with a calm happiness. We don’t go to concerts often because our music tastes couldn’t be more different; concert outings happen once in a blue moon for us. But that concert and that particular song solidified the fact that while I may have drastically changed in some ways, in other I have not and I am still my mother’s daughter.
Lady Killers by G-Eazy
Okay so, there are a handful of songs by G-Eazy that remind me of one of my best friends Briana. There’s “Tumblr Girls,” “Loaded,” “Stay High” and “Lady Killers II.” When we’re together, these songs make everything better for us and when we’re apart, there’s two ways these songs can make us feel: depressed because we’re away from each other or extremely happy because of the good memories that come with the songs. We’ve even planned to get matching tattoos with a lyric from “Tumblr Girls” in each other’s handwriting; that is how important these songs are to us. Anything by James Bay also reminds me of my lil’ bean because we saw him in concert together, twice, in the span of nine days because we’re that obsessive.
Me by The 1975
I’d dated someone for almost four years and I introduced him to The 1975. “Me” had always been my favorite song by the band and it soon became one of my ex’s favorites, too. When we broke up, I couldn’t bear to listen to anything by The 1975, let alone this song that spoke millions of words for the both of us. It took me almost a year to listen to that song again. At first, I had regretted sharing my love for this band, for this song, with my ex but I’ve since learned that I can’t live like that. I shared something beautiful with someone that I loved deeply and I will never regret that.
Tip and Dash from The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
Nadia and I first bonded over our love for Disney movies. The first time we’d ever really spent any time together was at my house, watching The Little Mermaid and falling asleep to it in my living room. The song “Tip and Dash” never fails to put us into a giddy mood and whenever we’re in each other’s cars it’s the first thing we play from my iPod. Again, anything Disney related reminds me of her, something that sometimes sucks because she doesn’t live near me anymore and listening to these songs on my own makes me sad and makes me miss her.
It's amazing how songs can take you back in time, to good memories and bad alike. Songs have the power to transform our moods, to make us ache for someone and to make us feel alive. What are some of your favorite songs and what do they mean to you?
