Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Music To My Ears



I have no musical talent. I can't play an instrument, carry a tune or read music. I regret that I don't have musical talent, but I am grateful for the talent of others that have created the songs that accompany so many memories from my life.


I love that hearing a song can bring back the memory of a special time, a lost love, a forgotten feeling or a long gone loved one.

There are the old, I mean really old, songs that take me back to nights at home with my parents, when I was really small, before television became their nightly entertainment. Whenever I hear Tennnessee Waltz by Patti Page or Come On-a My House by Rosemary Clooney I'm back in the living room of my childhood home hearing the scratchy 78 rpm records played.

There are the songs that were my early introduction to the pop music of the 50s played by my brother who was 5 years older. Shake Rattle and Roll or Rock Around The Clock  by Bill Haley and the Comets never fail to bring to mind what a good dancer my brother was (and still is).

My own teen years were serenaded by Elvis, and, of course, The Beatles. Love Me Tender and I Want To Hold Your Hand, along with many others were my introduction to what we, as teens, thought love was. When I wasn't dreaming of love I was hiding in my room dancing and singing to songs from the musicals that I loved. Let Me Entertain You from Gypsy or Hello Dolly from the musical by that name can still get my feet moving and my out of tune voice singing.

College years full of football games,  sorority houses and fraternity parties are brought back when I hear Wild Thing by The Troggs, or Leaving On A Jet Plane by Peter, Paul and Mary.

I could go on and on into my early 20s when I first had children and much of the music was lullabies and Sesame Street, into my 30s and my country music years, into my 40s with Jimmy Buffett and the songs that my teenaged children loved.

There are hundreds, or maybe more, songs that I can hear and enjoy thinking back to a special time, a special person, a special place. Even though I don't have the talent to make music, I love that the music others have made has accompanied my life.

14 comments:

  1. Made me think of all the musical memories in my life. Thank you for bringing them back to mind.

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  2. Amazing how music can fix memories or evoke them - and help us remember good times from fifty years ago!

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  3. Not only did you date yourself here, but so am I by commenting that I recognize those early songs. I know just what you mean, because hearing a song from the past evokes memories of that time period. It could be from my childhood, my teen years, or the different decades of adulthood.

    I can remember as a very young boy dancing with my mom to The Jitterbug. Or singing along with my parents to a song on the radio in the car. Sometimes all it takes is to hear the first few words of a song that I haven't heard or sung in many years, and the words come right back to me.

    Ah yes, music and the memories. Time sure does fly by, but the magic of music can bring it all back in an instant.

    Great post Jeanie.

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  4. I know what you mean about music, Jeanie. And what is amazing is we can remember the lyrics to those songs from so long ago yet we can't remember the one item we went into the store for just 1/2 hour before. I'm with you about having no musical talent, I'm so tone deaf, yet I married a musician.....

    opposites do attract :)

    betty

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  5. Oh, what a wonderful trip down memory lane! Thank you, thank you! I, too, can't sing to save my life, but I do love music and the memories that come with it. One of the happiest memories is the way my dad would grab my mom and dance around the house every time Bobby Darren's "Mack the Knife" came on the radio!

    Thanks for sharing your musical timeline. Nothing but smiles here!

    Liz

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  6. Music just make my heart soar and sister, ya got me flyin' high right now!!! OOooo, this is my kinda post!!! My mama sang...all the time. Those old, old songs like Yabba Dabba and Que sera sera. She still sings 'em.

    I had an Aunt who came to live with us durin' her High School years who bought music for the top hits every week in the mid-fifties. We would swing and she would sing....and I would join in.

    When I was around fourth grade daddy started buyin' me the top 10 hits and carried this through High School where I fell in love with the sixties hits.

    1970 began my college years where many 'great' were born. The Who, Three Dog Night, Elvis, The Beatles, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band(they were actually local) and waaaay more.

    Now ya know why I have no self~control when it come to beltin' out a great tune! Heeehehehe

    I just can't help myself and my heart love to soar!!!!

    God bless you and have a very musical day sweetie!!! You've go me singin'.........

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  7. Great post and SO true. I love to break out all of my old music and relive fun times. I sing out loud ALL the time and don't care who hears me even though my voice isn't what it used to be. My kids used to make fun of me when they were younger. I taught them they shouldn't make fun of anyone singing (no matter how bad) because music lifts the spirit.

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  8. Music makes everything so special. Lovely post.

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  9. I have no music talent...sadly...
    but my kids do
    I love to hear them sing (o:

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  10. I have no musical ability either. I don't mind. lol

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  11. You and I must have grown up in the same time period because I remember all those songs. Just reading this post brought back such lovely memories! Thank you!

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  12. Isn't it wonderful what a song can do to your memory? I hear a song from long ago and it brings back the love of music and what I was like back then. Nice post, and thanks for the trip down memory lane.

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  13. I love how there are some songs that I may have heard hundreds of times, but I happen to hear them at a particular moment in my life and all of a sudden I "get" them like I have never gotten them before.

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  14. I remember those songs too! I just love Old songs!

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