Listening to Sabriel and Pao cover Gnarls Barkley in a sweet, soulful way reminds me of how powerful music can be. Music is said to be a top memory trigger; right up there with sense of smell. Music transports me to the past, but I also think it defines eras in our lives. Thriller (Jackson) was an era. As Time Goes By. Everyone can tie a significant period of their lives to a song. It may not be the pop hits of America, but there is a collection of sounds that form the melody of our lives.
My songs largely come from Boys II Men, Bon Jovi, Jason Mraz, and Biggie Smalls. There was that period where D’Angelo laid down the soundtrack to all of my amorous affairs. There was the dark period when I fell victim to Slayer and their ilk, only to float back to the surface of normality with Metallica.
These days I groove to the tunes of Maroon 5, Kanye West and Jay Z. Jason Mraz is always on the playlist, and it could be he more than any other that defines my 30s.
Some Thoughts:
- Survived the week before school with minor scrapes and bruises. No significant sleep occurred, and I did jam about a year’s worth of pedagogy into my brain over a 84 hr stretch. How much will stick? At least all the stuff that made it into my syllabi