Appetite for a Soundtrack: Nevermind. Your Playlist is Your Legacy.

There is a scene in one of my top favorite movies, High Fidelity, where Dick walks into Rob’s apartment as Rob is rearranging his record collection.  Dick asks Rob how he is organizing the records.  Chronologically?  No.  Alphabetically?  Nope.

Autobiographically.

Profound.  Maybe even genius.  Why?  Because Rob must remember that in order to find the song “Landslide,” by Fleetwood Mac, he would have to recall that he bought the record for someone else in the Summer of 1983 and he didn’t give it to them for personal reasons [loosely quoted – High Fidelity].  Eat your heart out, Scrabble. 

Some might say that this peculiar way of organizing one small section of life is ridiculous.  I would argue that our memories, whether you are an avid music connoisseur or not, are tied up in songs.  For those of us who live and breathe music, there are songs in existence that are essentially the soundtrack for life-changing moments.  So the sentimentality wrapped into these tunes are scrapbook-like.  Smothered in memories.  And I’ll be honest with you.  I love it, whether the memories were good, or bad.

I posted a Richard Marx song on a social media account the other day, and a good friend of mine, Jeff, was able to rattle off exactly where he was and what he was doing when that song [Should’ve Known Better] was big on the radio.  This reveals the true power of music.  Who needs time travel when you’ve got your record collection? 

I have always felt the presence of great memories [and BAD] when the stylus touches wax.  I wanted to share an example, so I meandered down to my record collection to peruse for a moment or two.  

Example 1:  Bloodshed – “The Soft Spoken Words of Fallbrook”  -  7”

There was a kid named Justice who I hung out with on the planter in front of the principal’s office at Fallbrook High during my sophomore year of high school.  I was really starting to get into the idea of forming my own band.  I remember Justice used to say that he was in a band called Bloodshed and they were signed with Tooth and Nail records.  At the time, I had no idea who they were.  And I had no idea who the label was.  Very soon thereafter, I discovered that Tooth and Nail held several of my favorite bands on their roster.  This 7” reminds me of those times hangin’ out on the planter at school.  Justice:  If you’re reading this, I hope you are well!

Example 2:  Petra – “On Fire” -  12” 

I had to find Christian alternatives to Guns N’ Roses/Metallica [metal and rock n’ roll in general] because my parents didn’t want me to listen to vulgar lyrics.  Petra was about the closest Christian alternative there was at the time [that I knew of].  I owned the cassette.  I used to lay on the floor in my bedroom where I would play the song “Fired Up” over and over and over.  As corny as this music was, I can still play this record all they way through and mysteriously enjoy it.

Example 3/4:  Guns N’ Roses – “Welcome to the Jungle” + “Nightrain” -  7”

            Nirvana -  “Nevermind” -  12”

I owned everything that Guns N’ Roses [and Nirvana] put out.  I used to have to hide the cassettes because mom would find them and I’d have to throw them in the garbage.  I remember that I used to hide them on my wooden bed frame along-side the mattress.  I used to listen to the cassette singles on my Walkman before falling asleep at my grandma’s house.  I always rendered the tapes useless over a short period of time.  This habit continued into the Use Your Illusion records.  Additionally, the two records, seen in the photo (above - GnR & Nirvana), were both purchased in Europe during one of our tours.  Memories on top of memories.

Final Example 5:  New Found Glory – “Sticks and Stones” – 12”

I remember sitting in a hotel room in Australia [Warped Tour Australia] with all the guys from NFG when the label sent them the edits for the “My Friends Over You” video.  The NFG guys were trying to decide which edit would be appropriate for MTV.  There was a scene in the video where the music stops and Ian farts.  The decision revolved around whether or not the video containing the fart would run on-air.  So whenever I see this album or hear “My Friends Over You,” I am reminded of this particular night and all the fun we had trying to figure it all out.

I know you get the point.  There are songs that transport me back to Homecoming and others that sit me down in the hospital room where Ivy [my daughter] was born.  There are songs that put me in the middle of a SOMA mosh pit and others that put me on a stage in front of 35,000 people.  There are songs from bands who I have met that were pricks, and others from bands who were as down to earth as the next guy.  There are songs that blew the speakers out of the first truck I owned, and others that fueled some great times with the best of friends.

I wish I had the time to stop and write it all down.  I know I’d fill the pages of a thousand Moleskins. 

Give the gift of music to your children.  Make it so their playlist is nothing but a massive compilation of scrapbook pages filled with the best memories you could muster.

Thanks for sharing a little time with me here today.

Steven