The Soundtrack of My Life

As I was driving this morning and listening to my current fave cd, I got to thinking. (Music tends to do this to me, make me all introspective and whatnot.) I started thinking about how there are certain songs I associate with certain times in my life. Usually, it's because I was listening to that particular one when specific things happened, mostly just coincidental, but thereafter I always remember that time in my life when I listen to those songs again. Interesting, right? Does this happen to you?

So as I pondered on that, I realized that basically I have a soundtrack for my life. Not my entire life, mind you, just several years worth, but a soundtrack for sure. For instance, whenever I hear Jason Gray's Not Right Now...




...it takes me back to this past March, when a friend passed away very unexpectedly. Then there's Meredith Andrews' Sunrise...




...which helped me wake up on my drive to work in April, plus several of the other songs on there that gave me inspiration for writing. When I listen to it again, it takes me back to when I started challenging myself to writing a different sort of poetry than I'd ever tried before. And it inspires me again. It somehow gets my creative juices flowing! :)

Then there's May, when I was saying goodbye to mom and I had just recently purchased Phil Wickham's latest which had The Secret Place on it.




This song seemed to speak my heart during that difficult month. It still does, as do the other songs on that album.

These have all been current life songs, but what about my past you ask? Well now, there's the soundtrack to Bride and Prejudice (an awesome movie, by the by!)...




...which always takes me back to when I first watched it back in 2004. But it also makes me think about the roadtrip from CA to VA in 2013, when I moved back here. We listened to this cd quite a few times on that trip. It's just roadtrip music, okay? :)

Then comes 2014, when I was still adjusting to the Big Move (yes, it took almost an entire year for my head and heart to adjust completely) and I discovered Ellie Holcomb:




Those songs immediately take me back to all the Unknowns I was feeling at that time. It also reminds me of a fabulous weekend trip to Nashville where I met Natalie Lloyd (aka Awesomest Author Ever :)! I think I listened to that cd the entire way there, all weekend long, and then the drive back home again. Clearly I could not get enough of it!

If I want to go WAY, way back, I bring out Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Fishin' in the Dark.




That will definitely take me back to my childhood days! :D

And Pharrell Williams' Happy always makes me think of nephew...




Z and I listened to this song over and over and over one night when I took him out to eat for his birthday. He always introduces great new music to me! :)

Clearly, I could keep going, but I think you get the picture. Particular songs take me to particular moments in my life when I hear them. Moments of great happiness or great sadness. Moments that I haven't forgotten, or if I do, I've only to listen to a certain song again to bring that moment immediately to mind. Music truly speaks to our hearts, doesn't it?

What songs are on your soundtrack?

Music & Stories

As I was reading Glass Girl the last few days, a song kept running through my mind. A song that seemed to fit the mood of the story really well. In fact, it almost felt like the song and the story were meant for each other! That probably sounds silly, but it's true. It made me to wonder if I could possibly find other stories and other songs that would compliment each other like that. So guess what? I compiled a small list for you! Aren't you excited? (The correct answer is yes.) :)

Now granted, the authors of these books (were they to even read this) may not agree with me at all. In fact, you may not agree either! But that's okay. I had fun making this list anyway. :) I clicked around on YouTube as I scrolled through the books I've read and tried to decide what could match with what. (A good excuse to listen to music! Which....I didn't really need an excuse to do that, but anyway....)

I didn't want to bog you down with a huge list, plus I didn't have hours and hours available to write this either, so you're getting a list of five books with five songs. I chose each song based on the music and the lyrics both. I wanted the mood of the music to compliment the mood of the story and if the lyrics added to that, then all the better. The first set are the only ones I truly felt belonged together without a doubt in my mind, but the others work pretty well too. Let me know if you think I'm right, or if you have a better suggestion! Either way, I hope you enjoy. :)

Glass Girl by Laura Anderson Kurk

My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay

Til Grits Do Us Part by Jennifer Rogers Spinola

Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen