Love is in the air, even a week after Valentine’s Day. New love is also blooming. My friend, Kim, is experiencing new love right now. Hearing her stories of long, late night phone calls, outings to the big city, and nights at home cooking dinner together makes me think (way) back to my own new love, circa 1990-something.
Today’s shuffle mix on the iPod played some songs that conjured up memories of when Matt and I first started dating. Our relationship started when we were still teenagers, and music is an instant transport back to that time. There are certain songs and albums, to quote a local radio station, that are the soundtrack of our lives.
One of the first songs of significance to our relationship is Today by the Smashing Pumpkins. Matt bought me this as a CD single and I listened the heck out of it. Do you remember CD singles? I'm so happy I can now buy individual songs on iTunes.
10,000 Maniacs Unplugged Album – Back in the day MTV did an acoustic show called Unplugged that had great artists such as Eric Clapton, Nirvana, and Lenny Kravitz. MTV then smartly released the show as an album. I remember watching the 10,000 Maniacs show at Matt’s house since out in the country we didn’t have cable TV.
InYour Eyes by Peter Gabriel – This was the theme of Matt’s Senior Prom. We went into Schaumburg for dinner with Matt’s BFF Nate and his date. At the time going to Schaumburg was quite a distance, at least to me being the rural kid that I was.
Melloncollie and the Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins – We drove into the big city to the Tower Records the night this album was released. At midnight we drove back to our dorm in the country listening to it at full volume. I actually wanted the title song from the album, MellonCollie and the Infinite Sadness, to our wedding processional. However, the title of the song in the wedding program would look to be a downer. So I opted for the popular Trumpet Voluntary.
InYour Eyes by Peter Gabriel – Yes you’ve seen this song before. It ended up being our first dance song at our wedding.
There were a few albums that we obsessed over during college and early adult life.
ThrowingCopper by Live – Lightning Crashes, I Alone, and Selling the Drama were most likely worn out on our CD.
TheBends by Radiohead – Whenever I hear Planet Telex, The Bends, Fake Plastic Trees I sigh and remember our apartment on Augusta Avenue.
Music as a “where were you when…”
I remember sitting at Matt’s house in April of 1994 when news broke of Kurt Cobain's suicide. Hearing Courtney Love on MTV while mourners gathered outside his Seattle home, for some reason, is etched in my brain.
Now as adults we have many more musical connections to Coldplay, Foo Fighters, and The Subdudes. We’ve even got the kids trained to know when a Coldplay song comes on the radio. G has a good rendition if Paradise.
