Life Soundtracks

Everyone has those songs. Whether it be a "favorite song" an "OMG, don't ever play that song again-song" or an "I can listen to this and never get sick of it-song." Music is something that plays a major role in our lives.

I often add songs to my Life Soundtrack. Your Life Soundtracks are the playlists, if you will, of songs that bring you back. For example: while I'm listening to certain songs or certain bands- I'm transported to a past time in my life.

I'm not talking about Bill and Ted's phone-booth tele-portation, I'm talking about hearing Lovers in Japan from Coldplay (click there!) and going back in time to their May 2009 Hartford concert. Just recalling that one moment literally makes my heart pound with overwhelming happiness.

It doesn't only remind me of how amazing that show was, it reminds me of the entire weekend- all the highlights (and low points,) as if it was 2 months ago. All because of one song!

There are hundreds, literally hundreds, of songs (or bands) that I can listen to that remind me of someone, sometime, someday, some piece of my historical past. The best part of it? I can hang around in the memory- close my eyes and get stuck there, smiling at a past feeling, or get the hell out of it quickly. But, my favorite way of sharing my Life Soundtrack flashbacks? Sharing it with the person who I had the memory with. "Remember that time we were at that show and all the ATMs were broken..." "Remember when you'd push the seat all the way up and raise it really high and sing that song at the top of your lungs?!"

I know that memories work similarly when you suddenly smell something familiar- you're brought back to another time. (Passing by a guy wearing your dad's Old Spice After Shave, the smell of your high school boyfriend's car, laundry detergent your mom used to use...) But those "scent memories," as I'll call them, fade as quickly as the scent that hit your nose. There's just something so comforting, and so heartwarming (or heart wrenching) about listening to a song that reminds you of another time.

I know I'm not alone here: what songs are on your Life Soundtrack and what do they bring you back to?