Friday, January 16, 2009
My head hasn't been correctly functioning lately, and my memory has been crapping out. But everytime I listen to certain music, it reminds me of specific things in my life, kind of in visions like my life flashing before my eyes. Here's a bit of a list that I compiled.
Cake
The first couple tracks of Cake's album Fashion Nugget remind me of my youth. When I was young, my best friend Pete got me a casette tape of Fashion Nugget for my birthday. I remember him giving it to me at a basketball game. We probably lost. I remember that since it was a casette tape, it sucked to have to fast forward or rewind, so I really only got into the first couple tracks: Frank Sinatra, Friend is a Four Letter Word, and Distance. The reason Pete got me this specific tape was because of The Distance. It was one of my favorite songs. I remember going with my parents to Carousel Center to sell raffel tickes for CBA, and listeing to KRock.
Later on, this album came back. When I was at Bishop Grimes, I bought the CD, but didn't really listen to it. I let Bob borrow it, and for weeks he sang Nugget. So I got into it again.
A couple years after that, I went on a trip to Florida with my parents, and listened to Fashion Nugget the entire time. When I hear Stickshifts and Safety Belts as well as It's Coming Down, I see Orlando. When I hear Italian Leather Sofa, I see ghetto Miami.
Bush
Bush is a great band with tons of memories for me. The song Glycerine was the first song I ever learned on guitar, I ever danced with Meg to, I ever performed live with a band, and the first song I performed as a married man. However, the song Glycerine reminds me of the Cornell campus in Ithaca. Why? I remember listening to it on repeat staring at sheep.
When I hear specific songs of Golden State, I think of different things. The album in total makes me think of Ben Stith. We were both big fans of them. However, most of the songs on this album remind me of the desert, specifically in Souther California. We went on a family trip out west, and I listened to this album on repeat the entire time in Cali. When I hear the song Inflatable, I can see the rolling hills of sand in Palm Desert, overlooking miles and miles of desert. An absolutely beautiful site.
Staind
I've always been a huge fan of Staind. I'm even a card-carrying member of the Dysfunctional Fan Club. Back in 2000, I was given a pre-release of Break the Cycle by a friend of the band. I recieved it the day that I left for our annual fishing trip in Ontario. I listened to this album the entire trip (yes, that's a developing pattern.) When I close my eyes during the song For You, I can still feel the boat rocking, and hear the waves crashing.
A couple of years later, I discovered the roots of Staind in their album Tormented. I was planning on taking it on my trip to Branson, MO. But I had an accident.....A couple of weeks before we were to leave, I slipped into a hole (This will come up again later) and tore all of the ligaments and tendons around my ankle. I was bound to a wheel chair for a couple of months because of this, but I still went on the trip. I remember listening to Tormented the entire time in Branson, feeling so angry and depressed because I couldn't do anything. When I close my eyes during Namelss, I can still see this little building that sold lawn decorations around a sharp curve.
System of a Down
Well, System has done a lot for me. I covered System repeatidly in bands for years. But suprisingly, none of that is a visible memory for some reason. What specifically sticks out in my head is the song Sugar. It reminds me of the old get-togethers my brother Matt used to have with his friends. His friend Rob used to love System, and back then, I didn't. I remember sitting around in the kitchen playing Rosk listening to SoaD. When I close my eyes, I can see the Risk board, and all of our asses being kicked by Matt.
Later on, the song Ego Brain sticks out to me. When I went to OCC in Syracuse, I spent close to 12 hours a day at school. Studio classes were long, and they were not well-scheduled. So during the day, I would go out to my car and take a short nap. I remember having the song Ego Brain on during one of my naps, and I remember how bitter cold it was outside. I also remember how dark it was from the clouds. I can still smell the wood from the ceramic fire pit.
Roulette sticks out in my head from my many bus rides back and forth from Syracuse to Buffalo to see Meg. When I close my eyes during Roulette, I can see the onramp getting onto 490 in Rochester after our stop there.
Hoobastank
I hated this band when they were big. Annoying as all hell. But it reminds me so much of Porzio. I can hear his horrible attempt at trying to sing The Reason.
Aaliyah
Odd, I know. Not my style. But it's a good memory, none-the-less. The song Are You That Somebody reminds me of all my friends from Saint Matt's. but specifically Beth Gratien. I used to have a huge crush on her. One year (when this song was big), Kenny and I had a huge Halloween party at our house in East Syracuse. I remember going upstairs to my room with a binch of people. I remember thinking "Beth is in my room!" when this song was on. Then my head went another direction. Lol. But I digress, when I close my eyes, I can hear all of my friends laughing and talking, and the smell of all of the people in the room, and this song in the background.
That's it for now. I will expand it more later.
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