The Soundtrack of My Life

As I was jammin' to my iPod lineup tonight while doing the dishes I got to thinking about all of the music I have loved and enjoyed since my early days. My lineup is wide and quite varied. You name it, I've liked it. From Country to Alternative, its all right there on my iPod, although I was watching "The Namesake" and know I could not ever listen to Indian music for more than a moment... Anyway, this got me wondering...If you could create a 'soundtrack' of your life from childhood to current day, what would that soundtrack be composed of? What songs stick out in your mind over time that bring back moments and people in your life? Mine, I've decided would have to be a collection of cd's and would include the following:

"Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" At about 3 years old, much to the embarrassment of my mother I sang this song with great gusto. Loved it then, love it now.

"Smurfin' Party" When I was about 5-6 my mom bought us kids a Smurf music tape and we wore the poor thing out. I've been trying to find it on the internet and have been unsuccessful to date. I'd pay good money for a copy.

Favorite selections from "My Turn On Earth" and "Saturday's Warrior". Go ahead and snicker and them admit you listened to them too. This is in stark contrast to the 1st song mentioned I know. When I was about 6 I listened to these tapes over and over and over. To this day I still love them both and sing "Angel's Lullaby" to my children.

When we lived on a horse ranch in Montpelier, ID my mother purchased Dan Fogelberg's "Innocent Age". I remember thinking about how he told a story with every song. A must have on my soundtrack would be "Sand and the Foam". It fully rings true now with my babies growing so quickly.

Favorite selections from "Grease". Regardless of any hidden messages and innuendos, my sister and I can sing this entire collection word for word. Must haves: "Summer Nights", "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee," "You're the One that I Want", "Beauty School Dropout" and "We Go Together".

I had a friend who loved Wham!, Duran Duran and Tears for Fears, so I of course loved them too. This would include "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Hungry Like a Wolf" and "Shout".

"We Are the World"...who could forget? This was the anthem during my whole 4th grade year.

"You're the Inspiration" by Chicago. My best friend Krysta and I made up a dance to this and I can clearly remember it was fabulous. We listened to this over and over.

"Hot Blooded". This beauty of a song was on a Foreigner album my mom owned and I don't know why I particularly liked this song, but I did and I drove everyone crazy listening to it again and again.

"Born in the U.S.A." On the way to church my father would get us in a reverent mood by blaring Bruce Springsteen's great American anthem. To this day I can't hear this song without thinking about the 30 min. trip to church, Peach Rd. and my dad singing as he drove. Too funny!

The summer before my 8th grade year I lived with my Aunt and her family in Seattle. For my cousin Corena and I that summer was ALL about working at my uncle's fast food restaurant Chick n' Spuds, "Dirty Dancing" and Def Leopard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me". Ah! The sweet memories of childhood! Nobody puts Baby in a corner!

My 9th grade year was my sad attempt at a 'black' phase. This part of the soundtrack would include, Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough", Erasure's "Imagination", The Cure's "Pictures of You" and Yaz's "Only You".

Into high school the following songs would certainly apply and even have home video lip syncs to drive the point home:
*"Shiny, Happy People" My BFF Josie and I belted it out back and forth from the school to her house.
* "500 Miles" One word high school pals..."Socks"
*"Send Me an Angel"
*"Stairway to Heaven" Believe it or not a pal of mine and I used this song for a devotional. He played the guitar and I played the flute and then as he played I went over and turned the strings on his guitar. The point being that with the gospel, life is in 'tune' and without the gospel our lives are out of tune. Our seminary teacher took it way too serious and held us after class to give us a lecture on the true meaning of the song. I can still give the lecture word for word. If you want to know just speak up and I'll be happy to 'tune' you in.
*For that matter...Any Led Zepplin song!

Post high school I got on a big Harry Connick Jr. and Barbara Streisand kick, so "Recipe for Love" and "Evergreen" would certainly need to be included.

After marrying James, Country was introduced into my life and ALL 3 Dixie Chicks CD's would find there way onto my soundtrack. I gave them up for awhile after their Bush fopah, but I have slowly been forgiving them and letting them be heard again. Can't have a soundtrack without Alison Krauss either.

My soundtrack now is a jumble of all these styles and songs and I have failed and I'm sure forgetten to mention many, many others. The list is endless and thus this post would be endless too. These are just the standouts in my mind and life. What would be on your soundtrack?

Here too is a quick peek at 10 songs on my iPod from a shuffle standpoint:
*Crazy-Aerosmith
*Dreams-Cranberries
*Grace Kelly-Mika
*Baby I'm-A Want You-Bread
*All I Want is You-U2
*Juke Box Blues-Reese Witherspoon, from Walk the Line
*Mystery-Live
*Layla-Eric Clapton (My cousin Carrol told me a story about this song once...)
*Come On Eileen-Dexy's Midnight Runners
*Black Horse and the Cherry Tree-KT Tunstall