My Life as a Soundtrack....

We had relatives visit last night which was just lovely, a yummee roast was called for the special occasion and we even popped open a bottle of bubbly we picked up in the Napa Valley a few years ago.  I walked out into the living area this morning and noticed the TV on as usual but it was on a different channel to what we normally watch for the morning news, weather and traffic report. My first instinct was, crap wrong channel and my day is ruined.  Wow, such an optimist these days huh!

So I took a small step back inside my mind and thought about how maybe I’m not as spontaneous as I once thought! So today has been about making small changes to my routine and who would have thought that one slight change could create such a shift in my entire day!

I was expecting a friend and her baby over for coffee so I went to turn off the tv, that being my choice for change in that moment. Then it occurred to me that music in the background would be a fresh way of being. I love music, when I was younger music was the soundtrack to my life. So many memories stem from music – pieces learnt on the piano, buying my first CD with my first ever paycheck, going to my first concert, my nanna taking me to my first musical, dancing with a crush for the first time, my wedding song, the music my daughter was birthed to, the funny lines my son thought were the lyrics! So that moment shifted something inside of me and instead of turning off the TV I switched to Max, a music channel on pay tv. It was like the universe was listening cause I was greeted with the Top 100 Love Songs of the 80s and number 92 was playing! I cranked up the volume when Prince’s Purple Rain came on, memories filled the room in an instant.

My day went on from there…. Madonna’s ‘Crazy For You’, The Bangles ‘Eternal Flame’, Phil Collins’ ‘One More Night’, Poison’s ‘Every Rose has its thorn’, U2 ‘With Or Without You’, Bonnie Tyler ‘I Need You Tonight’, Harry Connick Jr’S ‘It Had To Be You’, Journey’s ‘With Open Arms’, INXS ‘Never Tear Us Apart’, The Police ‘Every Breath You Take’.

Bonnie Tyler: I Need You Tonight – my cousin, 10 years my senior, visiting my family while going through a messy and devastating breakup with her boyfriend at the time. I was 15 and she had this CD of love songs – power ballads J We would crank up my parents lame ass stereo in the sunroom, overlooking the ocean and reaching notes so high that if Australian Idol was around back then we would have thought we were contenders for sure. I distinctly remember it being a misty rainy grey day and I wonder if that memory alone is why I still love those kind of days even now. 

The Bangles: Eternal Flame now this song still gives me goosebumps. Sadly, I still know the lyrics by heart! I was attending my first ever school disco, even more tragically I was in Year 10! I’d had a crush on the same guy since year 7 and we were both so painfully shy (at least I’m hoping that was his excuse) that we had never actually held a conversation. Somehow on that night the planets had aligned and we were thrown together by our friends (clearly they were all sick of my swooning and dribble about true love and him being my soul mate) to dance the slow song, the final one of the night at the final disco of the year. Needless to say, there was no conversation, not even a pash as a dream was kind of fulfilled!

INXS: Never Tear Us Apart – Now this was probably one of my fave Michael Hutchence songs. One of my best friends in high school was obsessed with him and INXS. I liked the band but you know, Jon Bon Jovi was my kind of rock star! I do have a more recent memory of this awesome song! Linking arms with one of my closest friends and two of her friends that thanks to a weekend away, gumboots from Bunnings, copious amounts of bubbly and a Day on The Green stamped a friendship among us all. What happens on the Green….stays on the Green! An annual tradition was created that weekend, I’m sure!

Cyndi Lauper: Time after Time – what can I say…the fashion of the 80s is wrapped up in that film clip alone!

George Michael: Careless Whisper – I adored him! I did not suspect even for a moment that he was gay (even when he was part of WHAM!). Mind you, I was only about 7 or 8 at the time and thought gay was just another word for happy-go-lucky. I remember taking my first Woolworth’s paycheck (cash of course) and buying my first ever CD, George Michael’s Listen Without Prejudice and drove my parents nuts playing it over and over and over.

Prince: Purple Rain – I will never forget the night two of my best friend’s went to Sydney to see Prince in concert. I curled up in a tight ball under my doona and sobbed purple tears! My dad wouldn’t let me go to the concert with my girlfriends. I was in Year 11, the daughter of a former cop – need I say more! Although he seemingly came good in the days leading up to the concert, trying to win tickets through the local radio station (maybe he was sick of my sullen mopping for months on end) but alas, that dream was shattered and I was devastated in true dramatic teenage style. Still haven’t forgiven him!

U2: With Or Without You – A friend in Year 8 was over the top obsessed with U2. She saw them on their Rattle n Hum tour and would easily break down in tears at the mere mention of Bono! Again, I wasn’t a major fan as my commitment still lay with Jon Bon Jovi, but when I was 18 I was with my first ‘serious’ boyfriend and about 12 of us drove up to Sydney to see U2 at the SCG. To this day, it is still one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to (and I’ve even see U2 live since). We spent the day in the sun lined up outside the SCG, probably almost 1km back in the line but just beside ourselves with excitement. Somehow we all managed to stay together AND end up in the mosh pit, right on the front fence with only 1m between us at the stage. Bono was right in front of us as he crooned With Or Without You. I bought every U2 CD available straight after that night to remember.

So my life is a soundtrack! Music is more instrumental in my life than I realized. How could I have not been aware of this until now! I even created a playlist for when I was in labour with my daughter! She was birthed at home, by candlelight to the sweet gentle sounds of Bliss’ One Hundred Thousand Angels. My son enters dreamland each night listening to his iPod! My daughter bopped away today as I relived many wonderfully joyous memories of the 80s.

It’s been a day of small changes, a shift to our routine, a tweak to my mindset and giving the vocal chords a good workout!