Soundtrack of your life, my version

[sanpaku_backup]

one_11 was discussing how music you hear at different points in your life seems to change how you perceive the reality around you and maybe even define who you are at that time. I think about this a lot, not least because one function of my paper journal (when I had one) was to write down what I was listening to at the time, so this is fairly easy for me to follow.

I also think about this because one thing you contemplate when you have a kid is which stimuli they receive will stick in their brains and go on to mold them in some way. At this age the answer is probably none, but it is probably one reason why we are reluctant to give Joanna the insanely beeping, chirping, rhyme-playing "phone" with flashing lights that we received as a present. (Its undeniable narcotic effect on her is another.) And there's the yuppies who have their kids listen to Mozart in the womb so their brains will grow well. We're not that extreme, but I must admit that when I play with her now I have a decided preference for classical or jazz music in the background.

If you think about it, of course, you realize how strange and haphazard your music choices are at an early age -- what happens to stick in your ear. I didn't really start listening to the radio on my own until I was about 9, so until that point my musical knowledge was limited to snippets of things my parents or other people were listening to.

What stuck with me were weird songs with strange harmonies or lyrics -- I know this because I still have something of a shock of recognition when I hear them. For example, the song "Let 'em in" by Paul McCartney made a big impression on me at about age 5. Not only does it have an image that a 5 year old can hold on to -- "Someone's knockin' at the door -- someone's ringin' the bell..." -- the song has syncopation and these bizarre minor chords. It also talked about "Uncle Ernie," and I liked Ernie from Sesamie Street, so there was that connection. I was also into "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is," by Chicago Transit Authority (the original Chicago), because I kept imagining someone running around asking people what time it was... very primitive, but that song has such a rich sound to it, so that was part of why I retained it.

I know that I would think of these songs in my head for years before I knew who made them or how they fitted in to "popular" music, which I didn't really start listening to until junior high. For example, at age 9, the very first song I ever taped -- because my dad got me a stereo with a tape recorder and chose a radio station at random -- was an elevator-music version of "Morning Has Broken." I used to play it all the time. I didn't hear the Cat Stevens version for about another 10 years, I think.

It's strange to think of one's musical tastes being molded subconsciously by a time period that you have no conscious memory of. To Joanna, the 1970s will be as remote to her as the 1940s are to me... and probably just as incomprehensible. That's another weird feeling.

Comments

[librarygrrl.livejournal.com]

one of my mix tapes made your favorite list--wow!

Re:

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

I told you about it before, remember? It had an effect on me -- sort of a precursor to Ron's music before I could really understand it. Anyway, yeah, you've got about 3 months in 12th grade, there.