Musical Memories

I’ve noticed something interesting about how I listen to music. I tend to associate specific songs with specific people or events in my life. In many cases, I have no idea how or why certain songs have attached themselves to my subconscious. Sometimes, the associations are bizarre, but many times they make perfect sense. For example, the song “Scars” by Papa Roach will forever be correlated with 1010 (the name I have designated to an anonymous female ‘friend’ from many years back).

So, here are the songs I associate with friends. (Initials are beside the songs.)

SCL – “Time to Pretend,” MGMT; “Thank U,” Alanis Morissette; “Vindicated,” Dashboard Confessional; anything by Loreena McKennitt; “Paper Planes,” M.I.A.

MFE -”Eternal Flame,” The Bangles; “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” Celine Dion; “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Bonnie Tyler; “U + Ur Hand,” P!nk

MAW – anything from High School Musical or Rent soundtracks; “Jesusland,” Ben Folds; “No One,” Alicia Keys; “Put Your Records On,” Corinne Bailey Rae; “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” Fergie; pretty much anything by The Fray, Justin Timberlake, Gnarls Barkley, Kanye West, James Taylor, Gym Class Heroes; “You’re Beautiful,” James Blunt; “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen; “Stop and Stare,” OneRepublic; “Hoppipolla,” Sigur Ros; “There Are Worse Things I Could Do,” Grease soundtrack; “If I Were a Boy,” Beyonce; “Womanizer,” Britney Spears

DFM – “The Name of the Game,” “Money Money Money,” and “Super Trouper,” ABBA; almost anything by Coldplay; “Still Alive,” Jonathan Coulton; anything by Radiohead, Pink Floyd, the Team America soundtrack

MSL – “It Ends Tonight,” All-American Rejects; “Look What You’ve Done,” Jet; “Rockin’ the Suburbs,” Ben Folds; “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen; “Kiss the Rain,” Billie Myers; “Home,” Michael Buble; “(You Want To) Make a Memory,” Bon Jovi;  “Bring It On (Snakes on a Plane),” Cobra Starship; “You Oughta Know,” Alanis Morissette; almost anything by Rockapella, Fall Out Boy, Sister Hazel, Breaking Benjamin, Gavin DeGraw, Goo Goo Dolls, The Hush Sound, Vertical Horizon

ALF – “Check on It,” Beyonce; “Time to Say Goodbye,” Andrea Bocelli

MMS – “With You,” Chris Brown; “Hollywood’s Not America,” Ferras; “If This Isn’t Love,” Jennifer Hudson; “She Will Be Loved,” Maroon 5; “Happy Ending,” Mika; “Thinking of You,” Katy Perry

MJS – “Music is My Hot, Hot Sex,” CSS; “1234,” Feist; “Night Train,” Amos Lee; “Lucky,” Britney Spears; anything by The Beach Boys

ALA – anything by The Killers, Switchfoot; “You Raise Me Up,” Josh Groban; “Magic Stick,” Lil Kim & 50 Cent; “Nothing Better,” The Postal Service

KEC – “Lose Yourself,” Eminem; anything by Reba McEntire; “Midnight Train to Georgia,” Gladys Knight and the Pips; “Float On,” Modest Mouse; “Chasing Cars,” Snow Patrol

LSC – “The Sound of Settling,” Death Cab for Cutie; “Wonderful Tonight,” Eric Clapton; anything by Imogen Heap, Train; “Hanging by a Moment,” Lifehouse

CSW – “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” Def Leppard; anything by Journey; “We Belong,” Pat Benatar

DMW – anything by Guster, Green Day, Simon & Garfunkel, The Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M.; “Hey There Delilah,” Plain White T’s; “Flowers in the Window,” Travis