Musical Musings

So, I was running along yesterday, be-bopping along with my ipod, and a song came on that got me thinking. The song in particular was “Never Let You Down” by the Verve Pipe. Whenever any songs from that album come up on my ipod, I am immediately transported to running through East Grand Rapids, primarily because that CD never left my discman for sophomore through senior years of college, and consequently, that’s what I listened to for the vast majority of my running in college. So this got me thinking about music and its power of association. There are several songs that will bring to mind memories, like any time I hear Garbage, which isn’t very often, granted, I remember the SS Badger, the ferry across Lake Michigan as we started our family road trip out west Freshman year of high school. Or Brushfire Fairytales takes me even further away, to my interim trip to the Netherlands, riding around in the vans on our daily excursions. Fields of Gold, my favorite song ever, reminds me of grocery shopping in Meijer at Christmas time, for some inexplicable reason. I can instantly picture the big red bulbs they would hang from the ceiling, but I’m not quite sure why that association is there. Bob Marley is a reminder of all-nighters pulled in the SE basement for no reason whatsoever freshman year.

To further my musical contemplations, the next song to come up on my ipod was Get Free, by the Vines. This was my angry music for the summer after sophomore year, when my car continually decided to have problems (some of which I inflicted, I will admit), I had the crappiest job ever (opening word files and saving them under a different name for 8 hours a day, anyone?), and my first serious relationship was disintegrating. Another summer which had its own soundtrack was the summer after junior year, when I was in Germany. I happened to hear Mad World last weekend, and it reminded me of the bus station in London, after we had just arrived from our second all-night bus ride in a row. Unfortunately, my CD I burnt with all of my memorable songs was stolen the first time my car stereo got stolen in Austin, so I don’t get to listen to them as much, but if I happen to hear any of the songs I instantly think of Germany.

As I was wrapping up my run, I was feeling exhausted and was contemplating walking the last 2 or 3 blocks, when what happens to pop up next but Wonderful Waste, another song from the Verve Pipe, which keeps me going until I get home. Ah, the power of music.