Soundtrack to Life

Isn't it funny how music can bring you right back? Twice in the past week, I have pulled cds out from the depths of my old cd case tucked far under the seat of my car after having forgotten my Ipod on car trips. I've been drawn back to different places in different times that I can still feel and remember details about - even six or seven years later. "What are they?" you ask, "Which albums?"

Aren't most albums this way? Many are for me. The first one is All That We Let In by the Indigo Girls. I was suddenly back in Bozeman, cruising up Hyalite Canyon. It was a beautiful spring day, there was a little bit of snow still up there and we had sandwiches packed in a bag in the backseat. This time I'm cruising here in the Twin Cities. Track one is coming to an end and my hand automatically darts to the dashboard to skip track two to move directly to track three. On this cd, the best songs are the odd numbered tracks. I still remember this, it's automatic. But once track three is over, I also remember that track four is a good one. I let that one play. Then five. Then seven. These are some of my favorite lyrics:

And I truly believe that you see the best in me. I'm enough for your love and that thought sets me free.

Love is just like breathing when it's true. 


I pass the cemetery, walk my dog down there. I see the names in stone and I say a silent prayer. When I get home you're cooking supper on the stove. And the greatest gift in life is to know love.

                                                       I miss you...

The other one was last weekend on my drive home from a quick trip up to Duluth. I pulled out Jonathan Larson's Tick, Tick...Boom! soundtrack. I never saw the musical, but a friend turned me on to the music. I haven't listened to it for over seven years. Yet as I popped that cd into the player, I could remember each word to almost every song. I was transported immediately back to my cozy little mother-in-law apartment in Bellingham, Washington during my state-hopping "do odd jobs and read three books a week at the coffee shop" period when life fit neatly into my car. It's as if albums are at times the soundtracks for life chapters. The main song "Cages or Wings" moved me to tears on that car trip last weekend. I don't know what it was. The lyrics are powerful. Give 'em a listen and see what you think.