Blog Every Day in May: Day Twenty-Nine



Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories.

So if you follow my blog at all, you know I LOVE music and while that does not make me unique in the human experience, I also LOVE sharing music and I use this blog to do so. This prompt was especially fun for me, and I can't wait to see what other people chose.

Here are my musically-linked memories:

Shadows on Stars: When It Builds

Summer 2012

 

Last summer was so bleeeeh. Studying for the bar took over my life and the knowledge that it was my last "real" summer but that I was spending it listening to 4 hours of daily lectures with 2-6 hours of outlines, test questions, and BarBri AMP (which I credit for my passing MBE score) really made it extra sad. We also lost power for over a week due to the derecho, and the humid hot Richmond summer with no A/C was
But there were friends to talk with, family to lean on, and music to get me through. I heard this song on KEXP's Music That Matters podcast and it became one of the songs that got me through especially boring or dry subjects. Now when I hear it, I can think about the positives of that summer, the biggest one being that I'll never have to tak ethe bar again!

Backstreet Boys: I Want It That Way

1999-2000, Dad in Korea



This song came out either right before or during the year my dad was stationed in Korea, and my older sister was a HUGE Backstreet Boys fan (like just about any girl her age). Somehow, the repetition on the radio, my sister's CD player boombox, and in the cultural lexicon made this our song. We would sing it over the phonelines to one another. Across the world and the 14 hour time difference, the whiney "Tell me whyyyeyyeyyeyyys" kept us connected. The best was that my dad didn't actually know the lyrics beyond that point that was really all the song became. I'm sure either of my sisters would say the same thing.

Eric Prydz: Call on Me

Prom 2005

 

My friends in high school had good taste in music. At least one of us would always find a song or artist right on the cusp of breaking out, or making it big into the mainstream. Collectively we were all about Avril, Shakira, Jack Johnson, and Taking Back Sunday the years before they got big. Someone knew about "Call on Me" in that same way and we played it ourselves leading up to prom and after multiple requests to the DJ, after the lights had come back on, and the students were leaving the dance hall, and the cleanup crew began to emerge, the DJ finally played it. From the hallway, our group (well at least the girls) all rushed back in to have our own dance party. It was one of those moments imprinted on my mind of youth, joy, and the impending goodbyes that followed.

 

Calle 13: Tocarte Toa

Studying Abroad in Santiago, Chile 2008

 

Now this might not be super obvious, you might say "Wait, wouldn't you choose an artist who was Chilean?" But this was the song that I made my Chilean friends teach me, that I would practice singing/rapping along to, that would get me off my rear and to the dance floor at the discoteca (not that it ever really took much for that to happen). While there are plenty of Explosions in the Sky songs that were the soundtracks to my busrides and travels around the county, I associate them with so many memories already. This song will take me back to asados with choripan (chorizo sausage in a bun), roncolas at the discotecas, empanadas on the walk to my friends apartments, getting strange looks from drivers as I may have been the only person jogging in the whole city, and socring golazos with the Catolica women's soccer team.

Old Crow Medicine Show: Wagon Wheel

Living in Richmond, VA (specifically 2008-2011)

I had a friend senior year in college who lived next door in the on campus apartments who would bring his iPod, hookah, and sometimes guitar or homework out to the front porch on a nice night and whoever was around would join and we'd sit around listening to his music and relax. Obviously since I'm mentioning this song, this was one that was played often, and especially towards the end of the Spring it became that song to remind me that it wouldn't last forever, and I'd have that weird feeling of nostagia for a moment I was already in (does that happen to anyone else??).
It was also the song to close out the bars every night (or at least whenever I actually had the energy to stay until last call). Especially the summer of 2011, when I lived down there through the summer, it seemed like any weekend night out where this ended the night was especially good, even though nothing special or out of the ordinary would happen.

Did any of these songs bring up memories for you? What songs take you back? Comment below and I'll check out your posts for today!