Soundtrack of your life?

First let me apologize for how ridiculously long this post is. I’ve realized this only now that I’ve finished. It’s very rambly even though I’ve left a ton of songs out. (Usually songs that remind me of specific people or very selective memories)

I don’t know about you, but my ipod is like a timeline. I’ve just kept progressively adding more and more songs onto my playlists as I discover them or feel in the mood for them. As a result my ipod playlists are somewhat like a record of my moods in the past. I also really strongly associate particular songs to specific periods of my life. The song that is attached to a memory is usually there because it matched my emotional state at the time, or was what I was listening to at the time around when the memory was made. The earliest I can remember doing this was when I was 13 and I fell in love (so I thought) for the first time.

The song I most strongly associated with her was “Dancing when the stars go blue” by the Corrs. I also associated Tonic’s “If you could only see” with her.

When I eventually found out she had no interest in me and we broke up, the song that sticks in my head the most is Headstrong by Trapt. Ah, young love, disgusting isn’t it? ~_^

Thinking back to my medieval living history group the song that’s stuck with my most is “Southside” with Moby and Gwen Stefani. I know it’s a strange song, but the lyrics, at least how I heard them at the time, made me thing of a band of knights in a foreign land riding around. (Don’t ask, I don’t have a clue why either)

At the same time I had a really good best friend who I was fiercely loyal to. She helped me through the breakup of the first girl and I almost dated her. She ended up dating this other guy and they’re now engaged. She’s thinking about having the wedding on their 10 year dating anniversary. (Yeah, they’ve been dating that long non-stop with no trouble, it’s really amazing) Anyways, this song always made me think of her and how I’d do anything for her.

Moving on, at 15 I found my first true love and we dated for almost 2 years. I can’t remember exactly how I settled on this, but I’ve always remembered our song as being “You and I both” by Jason Marz

When we broke up I listened to several songs a lot. “Every rose has it’s thorn” by Poison and “Porcelain” by Moby come to mind. Yet the song that I most associate with the breakup and how I felt is “If you could read my mind” by Gordon Lightfoot. It’s a really beautiful song and still makes me heartsick when I listen to it, even though it was years and years ago.

Thinking of my friends in highschool, making videos with them, building crazy contraptions, and blowing things up, I’m most reminded of “Hide” by Creed. (Yes, I know, forgive me for this super generic rock)

Fast forward to Freshman year of college: My memory is a little hazy. For some reason the transition from High School to College is really hard for me to remember. It was such a big switch while I was simultaneously burning bridges with all my friends from  High School…but that’s another story. I remember Red Hot Chili peppers and “Cry for you” by September. I’m sure I’ll remember something later and I’ll update this.

Sophomore year of college I met my two best friends. Daft Punk makes me think of them. (This is an awesome vid btw)

It was the same year that I met my second love. We dated all through out college, about 3 years. The song she picked as ours was “Such great heights” by the Postal Service

When we broke up, oddly enough Bad Romance was pretty popular, so that song was stuck in my head. It was at the same time I discovered the awesome group Pomplamoose. Their renditions of “September” really helped cheer me up:

But one of the songs I most strongly associate with my rebound from that relationship is “Bullet Proof” by La Roux

The summer after graduating and leaving my old life behind was tough, but this song by GoldFish cheered me up:

Moving across South Carolina later that summer was pretty physically demanding. At the time I had just discovered Ratatat and listened to them in between moving trips. They really helped me get through a lot of lonely afternoon full of moving boxes in the 115 degree heat. One of my favorite songs by them is “Wild Cat”

Another great track that I discovered at the time was “Don’t touch my popcorn” by the Diplomats of sound. It’s really upbeat and celebratory. For some reason I always confuse it with “Heaven” by RJD2, another really great feel good song that I think they played a lot in the law comedy/drama show Boston Legal. It kind of makes me think of my ex becoming a lawyer, since we watched a few episodes of that show and she loved it.

Sometime after that summer I drove up to my college to see my old friends. It was a really interesting experience namely because I was paranoid of running into my ex (we weren’t and still aren’t talking) and because I may or may not have tried marijuana for the first time in my life. One of the strongest memories I had of that was sitting there in a dark room with my friends, with a burning throat, nursing a can of fresca and listening to this song that one of the guys put on.

Fast forward to this summer and the first world wide internet war between Wikileaks and Anonymous and the US government and corporations: this was the song I listened to the most while surfing the IRC chat servers watching them plan DDOS attacks and what their next move should be.

Finally, towards the middle of December I got a full time job and things really started to turn around. At the same time I discovered 009 Sound System.  I really like them for chillout driving, plus, if you listen to the lyrics they’re pretty atheistic, which rocks.

Lastly, this brings me up to present day. Lately I’ve really been on a Royksopp kick:

(I’ve also been listening to their tracks “What else is there?” and “You don’t have a clue” a lot)

Anyways, I’ve got to be up for work in 6 and a half hours, so I’m going to hate myself in the morning. So what about you? Do you do the same thing with music and attaching it to memories? What are some songs you most associate with important life events?