Soundtrack to our lives

Have you ever had something trigger a memory for you? For some it's a phrase, a smell or a photograph. Snap ~ it transports you back to the time and place, putting you back in the moment. For me, music has always been a part of significant memories, creating a soundtrack of sorts for my life. My soundtrack includes everything from Metallica to Frank Sinatra to the waltz my grandfather wrote for my grandmother.

When I finished my last exam in Grade 12 it was Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" that I played loudly in my tin-box car as my friends threw their exam notes out the window as we cruised down the highway. When I was trying to hold together a shattered heart in Taiwan after being dumped by my first love, David Gray's "This Year's Loving" was the only thing that could console me. Many a cross-country road trip was done to any and all Barenaked Ladies albums.

I was pondering this on Friday as I drove from Edmonton back to Saskatchewan to my parent's home. The moon was bright in the clear prairie sky, stars shining and the white snow reflecting the nighttime landscape as I listened to Seal's "Amazing". I realized how amazing my life has been so far. The drive home itself was amazing under the bright, larger-than-life prairie moon. All of these songs are part of the soundtrack of my life. Each can instantly recall the joy and the pain imprinted on my mind from long ago.

Recently the song "I Believe" was unveiled as the official anthem for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver sung by 16 year old Nikki Yanofsky (see here). At first I thought the song was hokey but after hearing it for 17 magical days as it represented our athletes there is nothing I want on my iPod more.