Musical Memories...

I don't listen to much music... I'm not sure why.  I've always been out of step with what's popular, and even before MTV appeared, I saw stories in the songs I heard.  One lasting memory is riding a bus to a parade with my fellow musicians, none of us much over fourteen at the time, and regaling my seatmates with my fleshed-out narrative version of Styx's "concept album" Kilroy Was Here, complete with "and that's where this song comes in" inserts.  Even now, I'll occasionally get a soundtrack playing in my mind to go along with a story I'm working on, or find a story in a song.

I just downloaded a bunch of songs I remember liking from way-back-when to help me invigorate my workout... and some of them are story-songs, and some of them are songs that fit into stories.  Among them...

• The Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band.  I may use it, B-word and all, as an example of narrative poetry when school starts up again.  I took a shine to this song when I heard our grade school custodian playing it in the cafeteria after school once, and never got it out of my head.  

• Because the Night - the unplugged 10000 Maniacs version.  I'm working on a G.I. Joe fanfic where Scarlett works through her martial arts katas to music, blending in a bit of dance and gymnasitcs, and this seemed perfect for what I have in mind.  I don't do "songfic," but I do sometimes have a playlist behind a story.  This is definitely on the Luporri soundtrack.

• Kyrie by Mr. Mister, as well as the a capella version from The Sing Off.  I hear this one with entirely new understanding now that I'm an adult... but still love it as much as I ever did as a kid.

• Goofy movie love songs... Glory of Love by Peter Cetera and All for Love from the first Disney version of The Three Musketeers sung by Sting, Bryan Adams, and someone I just cannot place.  Yeah, I'm a hopeless romantic.  I may inflict them on characters in a story sometime.  Sigh.

• Just the Way You Are - the Glee version.  Never watched the show, though I wanted to.  The viral video of the flash mob dancing to this song in its original version made me tear up.  I so wish that someone had, or would, dedicate this song to me.  Unfortunately, dear hubby isn't the sort to do it.  Sigh, again - but I love him anyway, just the way he is.  This is probably the most recent of my playlist - the only other one from the past decade that I can think of is The Sing Off version of 21 Guns, which makes me want to go out and find someone in uniform to hug...

• A couple of Neil Diamond songs... Sweet Caroline and Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show.  My mom used to inflict Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow on my sister and me back in the day of eight track tapes in the car.  One day, we simply couldn't take it any more and we each stripped off a sock and made impromptu sock puppets to lip-synch along to what we honestly felt was cruel and unusual punishment.  We were in hysterics within minutes.  I will NEVER put Copacabana on my iPod, but I now have a deep fondness for Neil Diamond and sing along lustily as long as I'm alone in the car.