Music and memories
I went to the the store this morning and bought a copy of Richard Simmons' Sweatin' to the Oldies, 20th anniversary edition. I've been trying to find a way to start moving my body again. Inertia is a powerful barrier to overcome. But Richard is a skilled motivator, and the oldies are just the elixir to get me high enough to swing my hips and shake my bootee.
What is it about the music of our youth? Well, quite frankly, because it is the music of our youth, we feel an energy that electrifies us. I'm not 62... or even 26. I'm 16 again, and with a sense of wonder about the world outside of Huntsville, TX, and a sense of adventure to explore edges of propriety. Great Balls of Fire! Okay, okay... Great Balls of Fire was actually popular in 1957, but it was still requested often on the "Pick-a-Tune" program on KSAM radio. My older brother Stone liked the tune a lot, so naturally I did too. I remember reading in one of the gossip magazines at the drugstore about Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his thirteen year old cousin. Mercy me! In a couple of years I could be marrying someone famous and leaving my little bitty hometown. The possibilities in my future boggled my imagination.
Fast forward. It's My Party (Leslie Gore, 1963) was a recurring theme during 1963. My boyfriend Jimmy broke up with me to date a classmate, and she had the nerve to request this song in my name on Pick-a-Tune. (Yes, Pick-a-Tune was a long running program that adolescents adored.) I, of course, took great delight in requesting Judy's Turn to Cry in her name when Jimmy returned to me by summer.
Neither of us ended up with tall, lanky, sexy Jimmy Scott, but we sure sharpened our claws on each other's psyche. I remember that I left her something in my senior will (remember those?) and it was very, very catty. Oh the drama of young lives.
Writing Prompt: Listen to some of the songs popular during your high school years and write about the memories the songs conjure up.
What is it about the music of our youth? Well, quite frankly, because it is the music of our youth, we feel an energy that electrifies us. I'm not 62... or even 26. I'm 16 again, and with a sense of wonder about the world outside of Huntsville, TX, and a sense of adventure to explore edges of propriety. Great Balls of Fire! Okay, okay... Great Balls of Fire was actually popular in 1957, but it was still requested often on the "Pick-a-Tune" program on KSAM radio. My older brother Stone liked the tune a lot, so naturally I did too. I remember reading in one of the gossip magazines at the drugstore about Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his thirteen year old cousin. Mercy me! In a couple of years I could be marrying someone famous and leaving my little bitty hometown. The possibilities in my future boggled my imagination.
Fast forward. It's My Party (Leslie Gore, 1963) was a recurring theme during 1963. My boyfriend Jimmy broke up with me to date a classmate, and she had the nerve to request this song in my name on Pick-a-Tune. (Yes, Pick-a-Tune was a long running program that adolescents adored.) I, of course, took great delight in requesting Judy's Turn to Cry in her name when Jimmy returned to me by summer.
Neither of us ended up with tall, lanky, sexy Jimmy Scott, but we sure sharpened our claws on each other's psyche. I remember that I left her something in my senior will (remember those?) and it was very, very catty. Oh the drama of young lives.
Writing Prompt: Listen to some of the songs popular during your high school years and write about the memories the songs conjure up.
posted by Joyce, of course at 9:19 AM
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