There has been a soundtrack to almost every important (and non-important) event in our lives. Sometimes the songs we hear define the moment, sometimes they linger in the background. The first song that I remember was sung from my mother’s lips, a Harry Belefonte tune called Jamaica Farewell. The nostalgia it wells up makes me cry. The students at my kid’s elementary school would often sing this song on assembly days, locking the tune into its second generation. The good songs stay with you and the great ones can even touch your grandkids. Feeling Groovy (Paul Simon and Garfunkle) accompanied me on the most embarrassing day of my young life as I sang it to the entire school in the 8th grade talent show. I may never forgive my mother for that one. Do you remember the song that accompanied your first kiss as I do? (Every Time You Go Away-Tom Waite). I’ll never forget the Billy Joel song, New York State of Mind, coming through the air on a solitary and still winter morning as I rowed on the Orchard Beach Lagoon. At that moment, while the other college kids were stumbling home from a night of drinking, I heard it as the sun came up around me. Someone was accompanying the tune with his drums and I had a serenade like no other. The moment defined my young adulthood and I can still picture its very essence. It’s moments like this you come to appreciate your life’s soundtrack. Just this morning, I sat and watched my daughter listen to her Ipod. Lying relaxed on the ground with my camera in hand, I captured her as she closed her eyes singing her own soundtrack. I wonder what songs will define her? In the end if we could select life’s playlist that could fit on one CD, what would it be? I guess at 40, my list is about halfway there. Whether it was heard via vinyl, 8-Track, a yellow Sony Sportsman or a Nano, the songs are yours for life.
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