Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday - It's My Life

So I'm back with another Twisted Mix Tape, and this week's theme is the soundtrack of your life.

I think this can be interpreted two ways...it can mean songs whose titles and words describe your life & it's events, feelings, etc., or it can just be songs that were significant at some point in your life.

I decided to take the easier route on this and just pick songs that stand out from various points in my life, and because I tend to define the first half of my life in terms of what educational level I was in, I've narrowed it even further to those.  And to make it even easier on myself, rather than try to figure out if a song "defined" that part of my life, I've just picked the first song (or in some instances band) that popped to mind for that period of my life.

So here goes....

Delta Dawn - Tanya Tucker

The only reason I can think of that this was the first song to come to mind when I think of my elementary school years is that we used to sing this song on long car rides, so I have memories of singing this with my whole family.  It's one of the few songs (besides "Found a Peanut") I can remember my father ever singing.

Mountain Music - Alabama

I'm not sure if I was in 7th or 8th grade when this album came out, but my best friend and I loved this song in particular and played it over and over.

Troubled Child - Journey

Of course any mix tape of mine has to contain a Journey song, and this is the album that came out during my high school years.  As is common for me, my favorite song on an album is often not one that is regularly played on the radio, and this is one of my favorites from this one.  The entire album of course was played until the cassette tape (yes we still used those then) was stretched.

Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel

This was pretty much the theme song for my college years.  We thought we were wild and crazy and breaking all the rules...we weren't...but it felt like it right?  I can't hear this song without thinking of my college roommate and some great memories.

Let Her Cry - Hootie and the Blowfish

Back when I was in law school, Hootie and the Blowfish was still a bar band.  My boyfriend at the time lived in Columbia, SC and was friends with the band, so we traveled all over North and South Carolina, and sometimes Virginia and Georgia too, on weekends following them from bar to bar.  We never had to pay a cover charge because we were always on the guest list, and often crashed wherever they did for the night.  Maybe I'll tell some of my more humorous (and a few embarrassing) Hootie stories someday....or maybe not.

So there you have it...the soundtrack of my life, at least until age 24 or so.      

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday - Give Me Some Love

Yeah, I haven't felt much like blogging lately, but I'm back today with the Twisted Mix Tape of the week.

Valentine's Day is Friday, and so of course this week's theme is love, love songs, all things love.  This got me thinking about love songs that have meant something to me over the years, and so I give you a brief snapshot of my life in love songs.

Ripples - Genesis

O.k., this technically is not really a love song, but it has a place in my romantic history.  When I was in 6th, 7th, 8th grade the local Elk's Club used to have occasional teen dances.  A friend of mine who was in high school always DJ'd and this was the song he would play last at every dance.  It's 8 minutes long so it was an opportunity to slow dance with whomever your latest crush was for a good long time before your ride picked you up.

Stay Awhile - Journey

I was a geek growing up and spent a couple of weeks of the summer between 8th and 9th grade at an academic camp at a nearby college.  The dorm we stayed in had the college radio station on the first floor.  It also had an adjoining dorm that housed all the guys at football camp.  As is the norm at that age, couples were formed quickly.  Needless to say there was a lot of song dedication going on those 2 weeks.  When I asked the college DJ for a song to dedicate to my football player at the end of that week, this was his suggestion.  Although the relationship didn't last, my love for Journey remains.

Amanda - Boston

I had a huge crush my freshman year of college on a guy I was in band with.  He was a good friend and I agonized about whether or not and how to let him know I wanted to be more than friends.  I ended up writing him a poem and making him a mix tape that included this song. He didn't feel the same way, but I got over it, and we stayed friends.  And no, his name wasn't Amanda.

Just So You Know - Kristen Hall

Unfortunately there is no YouTube video available for this song that was considered a "B" side.  The lyrics to this song don't quite do it, but I couldn't leave this one out.  I had one truly serious relationship before I met my husband.  It ended in a slow, long, drawn out process that was the result of both of us not really being willing to admit our lives were going in different directions.  I listened to this song over and over during that time because it captured my feelings almost perfectly.

My Best Friend - Tim McGraw

My husband and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day.  It's not a big deal to either of us really.  But this is "our song" and has been since we were dating.  We danced our first dance at our wedding to it.  I'm not a sappy or romantic person really, but he's still my best friend, and this is our love song.

 

Simple Joys

My friend at Knit On Regardless has joined me in the quest to blog every day this month and is posting each day about the small luxuries and simple pleasures in her life.  Since part of my goal in doing this is to become more aware of things in my every day life that I can write about, I'm stealing a page from her book today.

The weather has turned warm again here in North Carolina, down right hot in fact.  As I left work this afternoon, top down, Journey on the radio, and the weekend before me, I found myself sitting at a stoplight with my toes tapping, my fingers drumming, my head bobbing and a smile on my face.  One of life's simple joys.