Seeing Music

Some songs take me back to a particular point in my life. Some are obvious like the song “For my Wedding”. Plenty more are vague – 80’s hits that will always mean something simply because I was a teenager in that period. There are also songs that make me think of a particular person every time I hear them. “Son of a Preacher Man” = Tami, “Old King” = Buzz, “Just Wait” = Holly, etc.

Some songs have even more concrete images tied to them. Almost every time I hear “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” by Cake I see Matt doing the raise the roof motion and Holly playing air trumpet. We were in Santa Barbara for a fast weekend, staying in “tent city” on Sean’s front lawn, meeting several good friends for the first time. Beautiful memory.

Sometimes a song I’ve heard several times hits home suddenly because of the particular moment it starts playing. “My Thanksgiving” started playing while I was walking around Greenlake with the pooch on Christmas morning. Already in a reflective mood walking alone with my dog, the lyric “For every breath, for every day of living, this is my Thanksgiving” connected on an even deeper level. This was my “finish song” when I set up my half marathon playlist, and it still grabs me whenever I hear it.