Soundtracks

There's something very exciting about hearing a new song and going, Wow, I cannot wait to hear that again!

So you go and download it and proceed to wear the heck out of the |<< button [what's that called these days?! Rewind? Playback?] until you've memorized all the lyrics and maybe even made up a suave dance move or two to your favorite part. I can barely hear this song right now without my eyes watering... maybe it's hormone overload. Maybe it's just one of those songs that tingles my happy circuits on a cellular level. Maybe it's this part of the lyrics that nearly turns me inside out and puts a lump in my throat:

'Cause you are all that I've waited for all of my life
You pull me closer to love

I've mentioned before about my anticipation of a baby's arrival...it's suddenly hard to imagine what your life was like before that little person showed up. I was never the girl who dreamed of having kids and what I'd name them and how I'd dress them and fantasize about the things we'd do. I was good either way. I met the right guy and that changed, but even still, we did not take for granted that it might not happen naturally for us. And we knew fertility treatments weren't our bag...it only took seeing Kate Gosselin's saran-wrapped belly in the intro of that tv show to have us running and screaming. Adoption would be our back-up plan if necessary. Fast forward to today, which is 77 days from our due date. Could be more, could be less, but we are definitely getting closer to love by the second. Two tickets to Tingletown, please.

Good googly, it IS hormone overload! I'm getting all mush magoosh up in here. So let's get back to the subject: soundtracks. We made a wedding soundtrack cd as a gift to our guests (which we still have a plethora of if you'd like one). And I don't know about you, but there's plenty of songs that mark points in my life... they may or may not have been monumental but they sure felt that way at the time. The rewind button was concave on my cassette player. I like to think they are part of my life soundtrack thus far...here's an incomplete list of these songs, with a little background on why they made the mix:

Swingin' on a Star by my mom (and supposedly Bing Crosby)
My mom used to sing this to me, and I always loved where she'd put extra inflections. For the longest I thought she'd made it up. She is that clever, so it was entirely possible.

What I Am by Edie Brickell
Because of the lyric, Religion is a smile on a dog, my friend's mother thought it was "devil music" and said I was not allowed to listen to it in her house. I was all, wha...huh?!? and then, of course, I loved it even more since an adult said it was bad.

We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister
My brother loved the heavy metal hair bands, and I loved whatever my brother loved. Especially the big-blonde-haired scary man with all the make-up. Heeby-jeeby, that was good stuff. Rock on, Dee Snider.

Picking Out a Thermos by Steve Martin
I don't know when I first saw The Jerk, but it is my favorite movie of all time. That's all.

Mandolin Rain by Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Ohhh, the anticipation of the last song of the night at the ice rink...the COUPLE SKATE song. I could do a whole post on that nonsense...wait 'til we can have a beer again together and I'll re-live it for you. At any rate, this song + 7th grade boyfriend + skating while holding hands in public...oh. my. gaw. It was the real deal. Plus, I loved Bruce before he was cool, at least in my hometown. He would have been on my pillowcase before NKOTB.

Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares) by Travis Tritt
My first foray into country music that I can remember...roughly 10th grade? Whew. It was bad country, and, I'm pretty sure, boyfriend-induced as well. Anyway, the lyrics were funny. I can't wait to tell JJ about those things called pay phones. And mullets.

There's plenty more, but the list is deep and the stories shallow. Besides, I need to get to work on the baby soundtrack. Along with the Mat Kearney tune, these have been on the replay mix lately: New Shoes, I Don't Know A Thing, Chasing Pirates, Boom Boom Clap, Ice Cream...just to name a few. They may have a metaphor hidden in them about my pregnancy or the baby, and they may just be what are making my ears dance right now. But it's very fun to put together tunes that I can someday tell my little person were on his/her replay list while still in the belly ship. And maybe by then it won't matter what the rewind button is called.