Soundtrack of My Life

A few years ago during a rites of passage class, our instructor told us that we were going to create a timeline that consisted of the most important and memorable moments of our lives. Some of the events that were most significant to me included the first day I got my period, my first kiss, high school graduation, my father's transition (that is how death is described in the Yoruba faith), and college graduation.

The assignment was fun, insightful, and really made our group take time to look at how important the events that occurred in our lives were. Our instructors also told us that we would never finish our timelines and that we should always go back to it to add new things (for example: my daughter's birth).

Earlier today I was listening to "Tender Love" and was concentrating on how that made me feel inside and the memories that came to my mind and thought about a conversation that me and a friend of mine had a while back. We were talking about music, how influential it is in our lives and what our musical timeline would look like. This is what I came up with:

1981 - "We Are Siamese" - This is one of the songs from the movie "The Lady and the Tramp." I have the soundtrack to this movie on a record (yes they still exist!). My cousins and I would put this one song on and for some reason get on our hands and knees and crawl around the table and shake our behinds when the "boomboomboomboom" part played. This song just reminded me of my childhood and how I consider cousins to be more like my brothers and sisters.

1982 - "My Guy" - Sister Sledge - This was actually my first 45 that I bought on my own. Purchasing this 45 made me feel like an adult because I was able to spend my own allowance on what I wanted.

1986 - "Just My Imagination" - The Temptations - This was during the time that hip hop was making it's style known to the world. For some reason, I did not like any of the artists at all (LL Cool J, Run DMC, Fab Five Freddy) and agreed with my mother that the old Motown sound still reigned supreme. This reaffirmed my love affair with classic and honest music from folks who could actually sing and write.

1987 - "Push It" - Salt n' Pepa - Yeah, the anti-hip-hop stance didn't stand long. This song reminded me of my first middle school dance and how shy I was to dance with Derrick when he came up to me during this song. I remember stopping dead in my tracks, covering my face, giggling, and turning red from embarrassment.

1991 - "More Than Words" - Extreme - My grandmother died this year, but before her transition, she spent a couple of weeks in the hospital. Every time we went to and came home from the hospital, this song would be on. I think of her each time it comes on.

1992 - "Lately" - Jodeci - I went to pre-college this year at UW-Milwaukee and a friend of mine was able to live in the dorms. During a break in between classes, a few of us went up to her room to sit around and have lunch. This song came on and me and my friend put our hats on backwards, picked up some brushes and lip synched to this song (we even had the exaggerated head nods).

1996 - "Old Dog" - Beenie Man - This was the beginning of my third year of college and the introduction of my roommate from the Virgin Islands. I loved dancehall music before meeting her, but she brought a new perspective on reggae and dancehall to my life and introduced me to artists that I would have never heard of here in Milwaukee.

1997 - "No Woman No Cry" - Bob Marley - My aunt died in February of this year. I had just gotten "Legend" a few months prior and had this song on repeat on my CD player. I'm not sure why this song affected me so at the time, but for some reason it was on point.

1998 - "My Life" - Mary J. Blige - Not the song, but the entire album. Almost every African American female in the United States can name, recite, and relate to a song from this album (if not every song from this album). Bad break up, put My Life on. Got back together with your boyfriend, put My Life on. Had a fight with your man, put My Life on. Just got engaged, put My Life on. Having a bad day period, put My Life on. Each of the previous examples are reasons why My Life was played on my CD player over the years.

1999 - "Groove Me" - King Floyd - My father died at home December of this year. This was one of the songs that he wanted me to find for him on CD or cassette so that he could listen to it in the car while on his daily lottery run. I didn't get a chance to find it before he made transition.

2008 - "Hush Little Baby" - This is an important song in my musical timeline because it is the only thing that will calm my daughter down when she is teething or fighting sleep. I sing it to her quietly in her ear while she's laying underneath my chin.

2009 - The Pop Tart commercial - Whenever I want to see my daughter happy and "dance" (aka her bouncing up and down while clapping and squealing) I find this on Youtube and let her lose her mind. But it is the most beautiful thing to see her blissfully happy. It makes my heart melt every time.

No matter what the genre of music is: grunge, hip hop, old Motown sound, or new age; we all have a soundtrack that represents who we were. We should all take the time to create a soundtrack to not only reminisce on the music that we grew up with, but to fondly remember our lives and how the events surrounding those tunes shaped us into who we are.