Music and memories

We had a lovely visit with the family, and came back home from down south this afternoon. Suitcases are unpacked and put away, the laundry is started, and we are settled in for the evening-- all except the teenager, who is spending the night at her girlfriend's house, and so will likely be going gangbusters into the wee hours.

The drive home today was thankfully unadventurous, unlike the trip down on Wed. We had our first real winter weather that day-- snow, sleet, gusting winds. The snow started to stick just after lunch; a lovely sight to behold from the comfort of our home, but not nearly as nice to experience behind the wheel. I took the first driving shift, while the rest of my family immediately dropped into slumber.

The good news is that I stumbled across an oldies station that kept me unexpectedly good company that evening. For whatever reason, they played a whole string of songs in a row, that kept that part of my brain not busy driving occupied in serious memory retrieval. Not that they were all what I might now class as particular favorites; but goodness, did they carry a lot of associations. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but music, for me, goes further-- it touches all five senses as well.

The Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville," for example, sent me back to sitting crosslegged on the braided rug in my parents' family room, watching TV while I ate lunch (usually a PBJ on Wonder Bread, and a glass of milk).

Now, it's not unusual to have some song crop up that connects the synapses in my brain to something in my history. The amazing thing was that there were a whole slew of them, right in a row (and the fact that I know both title and artist to these tunes, off the top of my head, is something-- as those who know me will tell you that I am among the world's worst at remembering those details). In addition to the above, the playlist included

• Cat Stevens Al Stewart, Year of the Cat
• The Commodores, Easy Like Sunday Morning
• The Eagles, Seven Bridges Road
• Electric Light Orchestra, Turn to Stone
• Beach Boys, Surfer Girl
• Jim Croce, I Got a Name

There were a few others, but those are the ones that spring to mind.

Now, some of those associations are more pleasant than others, of course-- and some stories I'm more (or less) likely to share. But they all connected with me, in one way or another-- and made good company as I steered down the road.

So here's the natural question: what song(s) trigger memories for you? And if you care to share the connection, feel free.