The Soundtrack of my Life

The other day I was cleaning the bathroom in one of the hotel rooms and we’d turned on the radio in the room to listen to some music while we worked.  There is one radio station in Fox and I can only describe it as kind of like a Bob radio station.  They play weird stuff.  As I was scrubbing the tiles a Katy Perry song played on the radio.  It came to me in a flash: this part of my life will always be characterized by Katy Perry music.  

Do you experience that too?  A song comes on the radio and it takes you immediately back?  I’m not a very musical person.  I don’t remember most band names or song names or which song is by which artist.  I remember my life through songs though.  Certain songs will always bring back memories.  Any Jack Johnson song, and I mean ANY Jack Johnson song, will bring me back to my freshman year of college.  My roommate Tanya always played Jack Johnson’s CD while we studied in our room.  

Any punk rock song that was popular on the radio when I was in middle school or high school will make me think of my sister and her car.  We used to listen to a lot of music in her car.  When she got her license she would take me to movies and on the way there and back we’d listen to the music she liked.  For a while we only listened to Santa Monica by Everclear.  She had gotten a CD from Costco that had that song on it and we didn’t like any of the other songs on the CD so we just listened to Santa Monica on repeat.  It’s still one of my favorite songs.

I’m constantly reminded of these times here in New Zealand because our one radio station plays a lot of Jack Johnson and a lot of old punk rock music.  (Although I’ve never heard Santa Monica yet, but I’d love to!)  They also play a lot of Katy Perry music.  I can’t say Katy Perry is my favorite artist.  But they play her stuff so much that I know from now on whenever I hear Teenage Dream, California Gurls, or Firework I will remember Fox Glacier.  (Just as I was writing this I realized one of the songs I thought was by Katy Perry is really by Christina Perri.  How confusing is that?  See I told you I wasn’t good with songs and artists!)

Firework is probably her most uplifting and edifying song.  It encourages you to be your best.  Don’t let the world get you down.  This is encouraging when one is cleaning a bathroom floor!  If you haven’t heard this song you should at least look up the lyrics.  I’m sure they will uplift you too.  Not only has this song encouraged me but it has given me a memory that I will hold onto forever.  Even if that memory is of me cleaning a bathroom!