Those who know me well, know that I have eclectic music
preferences. From classical to country, swing to disco, I like it.
Now that’s not to say that I like everything in each of
those genres. For instance, I can’t stand Elvira or Swingin’. Ring My Bell
makes me cringe. I detest the 1980s’, Don’t Worry Be Happy, yet I enjoy its
1960s counterpart, The 59th Street Bridge Song.
Funny how music affects us. Via our memories, music can transport us to a
specific time in our lives or trigger a feeling from the distant past. Ninety
percent of the time, I can make such a connection between a piece of music and
something in my life.
I recently heard the opening music of Captain Kangaroo – my favorite
show as a child – and immediately, albeit briefly, felt that excited
anticipation I always felt as the show was beginning. A couple of months ago,
as a part of its 60th anniversary celebration, KWCH in Wichita aired
the first couple Beverly Hillbillies episodes. There was a joy in hearing “Come
and listen to a story ‘bout a man named Jed…” that I haven’t felt in years.
Marching band music is designed to generate excitement, yet
there is a level of excitement created as the Salina Central drum corps marches
in below Salina Stadium that I get nowhere else. Certain disco songs take me
back to summer evenings during high school, when I was out with my friends and
there was a bit of a cooling breeze buffeting our faces as we enjoyed life.
Another disco song, Kool and the Gang’s Celebration, takes
me back to my Fort Hays days, specifically to DJs, a now defunct bar in Hays
where one could “party with 900 of your closest friends.” (It was in an old
Dillon’s store.) Then we thought it was fun. Now I would be concerned that I
would have to wait at least a half hour to get into a restroom!
Sometimes I don’t understand why a song takes me back to a
specific event. For instance, every time I hear Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street,
I flash back to Salina Stadium in May of 1978 when the class ahead of mine was
graduating. I know Baker Street was released that year, but why it takes me
back to that particular graduation is a mystery.
I always thought it odd that I so enjoyed Moolight Serenade
until years later I learned that it was my parents’ “song.” Enough said.
Music and my mood are directly linked. Either music affects
my mood or because of my mood, I listen to a particular type of music.
Sometimes, I find that I need to recapture a particular feeling, so I listen to
music my mind has linked to that feeling. I have put together playlists on
Spotify to correspond to particular moods/feelings. What I listen to one day
may not appeal to me the next. As I write this, I am listening to a ‘70s mix
and it is fitting my mood quite nicely.
I don’t understand why some people insist on slamming others
because of the music to which they listen. I’m not overly fond of hair bands, for
instance, yet I have friends who are. And you can be quite sure that I will
make no apologies for enjoying disco. To each his own, I say.
Music has an important role in our lives, at least it does
in mine. Make time to enjoy some music and see where it takes you!