The Music In Me

Another entry that I have had in storage and decided to get them out and post them here...there are more to come.


Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I guess my earliest memory of music is listening to a radio program on Saturday mornings when I was a young child. The theme song to that program was "The Teddybear's Picnic". And there was always music at Sunday School like "This Little Light of Mine" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children".

I started taking piano lessons when I was in the second grade. I was never very good because I didn't like to practice. I just wanted to sit down and play, but unfortuately I was not gifted with the ability to play by ear. In fourth grade I played the tonette, a sort of recorder. The tonette band was a requirement for getting to play an instrument the next year.

My band director decided I should play the violin. I hated it! I was terrible, but I stuck it out for one year so I could play the flute. I liked the flute but, like my piano lessons, I didn't like to practice. I continued to play flute just well enough to be able to march in the marching band in high school. I loved the marching band, it was a lot of work but when the band took the field at pre-game and half time Wow! what a feeling! And that uniform, as ugly as it was, I loved it! Unlike high school bands today we learned a new show each week, we practiced before school, after school, a few nights a week and on school holidays. And I loved it!

I have always liked to have music on in the background of my life. I don't think I could drive without the radio on. I have recorded some of my favorite music so I can listen to it on my iPod when I walk and I often have music on when I am at home. I remember my mother always listened to WIKY as she did her housework. I didn't like "her music" it was too old-fashioned but it was there.

There aren't too many kinds of music I don't like. My favorite music has to be the music of my youth. The music of the 60's and early 70's, I don't think there is any better music. I've always liked classical music, and have learned to like Bluegrass and Big Band music. I enjoy music from other cultures, especially if it includes a steel drum.

It's funny how a few songs can transport you back across time and space. There are three such songs in my life. No matter where I am or what I'm doing when I hear these songs, my memories take over and transport me to another place and time for a few minutes.

One such song is "My Girl" by the Temptations. Whenever I hear it I am immediately riding in Eddie's blue convertible listening to the song on the 8 track player. Eddie was my "bestest" buddy in middle and high school. We spent a lot of time driving in his car and listening to music. I'm not sure why one particular song stands out, but it sure does. When it comes on I can feel the cool night air blowing my hair.

Another song that takes me away is "Cherish" by The Association. When I hear this song I am sitting the the Pizza Barn in Terre Haute, Indiana. I am a freshman in college and I am on a date. This date was arranged by a high school friend. The guy I am with is very nice, but I had a boy friend "back home". When "Cherish" came on I knew that I was "in love" with the guy back home and started making plans to go back home to attend a local campus and be near him. (By the way, that was a big mistake and the guy back home was not the love of my life.)

A third song that takes me away and caused me to make a life changing decision is "You are not Alone" by Michael Jackson. I was working in Frankfort and stayed away from home most of the week. I had just returned from a week of vacation with my family and my boss said she needed me to drive to northern Kentucky to help with a training session. I chose to drive the back roads and of course the radio was on. When Michael started to sing, I started to cry. What was I doing in northern Kentucky while my husband and daughters were in western Kentucky? Why had I taken this job that required me to be alone? I decided to start looking for a job that would allow me to be closer to home.

For the last several months I've been listening to music and much more I've been hearing the lyrics. I am amazed that all these years I've enjoyed the songs and thought I knew them, but I didn't. Some of the lyrics are wonderful and others are a bit strange. There are lyrics that I can't believe I allowed my own daughters to listen to in the 80s and lyrics that tell such wonderful stories.

I can't even imagine what it must be like for composers to have all that music in their heads and to be able write it down, what a feeling that must be. All I can say is thank you...thank you to the composers for the music, the lyricists for the stories, to the performers for sharing the music with us and to the folks who have figured out how to record the music for us to enjoy anytime we want to hear it.

And yes, there has been music on in the background as I have been writing this...I have the TV on the Flashback 70s music station...there has been a little Chicago, a dash of Firefall, a bit of Rolling Stones and some George Harrison.


It's been way too long since I wrote. It won't happen again.