Music: A Time Machine

Music plays a very important role in my life. Especially since I am such a movie fanatic. All movies have soundtracks or scores. Well, my life often seems to have a soundtrack as well. Music has the uncanny knack of taking me back in time. Certain music sparks memories so vivid, it almost seems like they happened just days before. There are songs that have truly special meaning to me and bring me back to some of the best moments of my life. I thought I'd share some and then ask a question that I've always wondered about.

I'll start off big. One of the greatest moments in my life came the day before I home for college. A group of friends and I went to a night club to celebrate. I was the first to be heading off. Among the group of friends was a girl, who will remain unnamed, who I had a crush on literally all through high school. She had a steady boyfriend though and was therefore off limits. We had so much in common. *Side note: WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE BROKEN UP WITH HIM?? NO, YOU HAD TO DATE HIM FROM SOPHOMORE YEAR TO GRADUATION!!!! There, I feel better.

Anyway, she had recently finally broken up with her boyfriend. We were always pretty good friends, so seeing each other in this social setting wasn't that uncommon. Well, I finally worked up the courage to ask her to dance. During our dance, I reminded her of my feelings for her (she had known before) and we kissed on the dance floor. I remember the song that was playing vividly. I even recall that my first ever purchase at college soon after I got there was that CD.

Now, every time I hear that song, I get goosebumps. The hair on my arm literally stands on end. The music magically transports me back to that time. That was our last "romantic" encounter and I've always kind of thought she was "the one who got away." But that song will always transport me back to that day when I kissed the girl of my dreams. *Side Note: I AM HAPPILY MARRIED. I WOULD NOT TRADE MY WIFE FOR THIS GIRL. IT'S JUST A FOND MEMORY. THERE IS NO NEED TO CONTACT MY WIFE AND SUGGEST THAT SHE DIVORCES ME.

Other songs:

"Creep" by Radiohead brings me back to Nantucket island. Three summer visits with friends. One of my friends played the song a lot so now I associate that song with our Nantucket adventures.

"Lady in Red" by Chris DeBurgh. Takes me back to another evening I had with the girl above. Side Note: I'M NOT OBSESSED! I JUST WISH SOME THINGS COULD HAVE FALLEN DIFFERENTLY IN MY HIGH SCHOOL LIFE.

"Brass Bonanza." The Whalers theme song. Brings me back to all those wonderful games at the Hartford Civic Center with my dad.

"Never Gonna Get It" by En Vogue. Cruising around with my friend in his Dodge Omni.

"I Don't Think I Will" by James Bonamy. The moment I proposed to my wife.

"Ain't Much Fun" by Toby Keith. Freshman dorm room with my hockey playing roommate who introduced me to country.

I could go on and on. But now my question...am I the only one who gets so caught up in music? Am I the only one who can be taken back to an earlier moment so vividly (that my hair can stand on end)? Maybe I'm weird, but I don't care. Time moves so fast. It's nice to have something like music that can rekindle such vivid memories so that I can re-live them, allbeit just for a moment.

Toes in the Water...

I am writing in a conflicted state right now. I want to feel strongly one way, but I can see the arguments another way. I'll start out with my gut but then play Devil's advocate.

There is a song on the radio right now by the Zac Brown band. The main verse contains the lyrics: "Toes in the water, ass in the sand." The "a" word said clearly and strongly during daytime hours.

I have a problem with this. There are kids out there, already exposed to way too much language and violence on TV, who might hear this. I certainly don't want my kids listening to the song and singing it. I used to be able to have no fear turning on a country music station while driving with my kids in the car. No longer I guess.

I can think of several other alterate lyrics that Mr. Brown could have used in place of "ass." Furthermore, why can't there be an alterante "radio edit" that uses a different word or mutes it out like many other songs? I distinctly recall Taylor Swift's album version of "Teardrops on My Guitar" featuring the line "because it's so damn funny." But if you listen on the radio, she says "it's just so funny." A different version of the same song was created for the radio.

Why couldn't this be done for the "Toes" song? Especially since the Toes song features an "adult" word more prominantly? I am very surprised that this song is played on the radio during peak hours. After 8pm, fine. But not when most kids are awake and could hear it.

But now the other side. I look at other countries where censorship is not as strict as the United States. You never really hear about problems with children hearing or seeing offensive material. Maybe, since it is such commonplace, parents can monitor what their children see and hear more easily.

Secondly, I believe an artist should be able to creat his/her work as he/she sees fit. If it has violence, fine. IF it has nudity, fine. Bad language, fine. No problem. That is their creation and they should be able to make it as they want and express themselves as they want to. So if they want their creations played on the radio, on TV, or on display in a museum...they should be allowed to. It's the radio station that chooses to play it and the customer (or in my case, driver) that chooses to turn on the radio to hear it.

So it's a tough call for me. Despite my feelings about censorship, I still find myself upset. I guess I'm mostly upset with the radio station for choosing to play the song during daytime hours and not muting that one word. It can be dones. Just ask Taylor Swift.