THIRTEEN SONGS Watching Bette Middler attempt to sing "Wing Beneath My Wings" on American Idol last night...(I'm sorry, I LOVE HER, but she sounded pretty bad last night), brought back all these memories associated with that song...and it got me thinking...music has a way of marking times in our lives, at least it does for me..so, without further ado, thirteen songs that bring back specific memories for me: 1. "Wind Beneath My Wings" - Bette Middler: This song reminds me of 8th grade graduation, and my friendship with my then best friend Beth, as this was "our friendship song". It also reminds me of the two boxes of tissues I went through while watching the movie "Beaches". AS an aside, mom told me last night that this song reminds her of my Sweet 16th B-day party, because it was the song I danced to with my dad...how cute! 2. "One Sweet Day" - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men; this song still makes me cry every single time I hear it. It was on constant replay on the radio right around the time my friend Leo was killed by a drunk driver...I pulled off the road more than once to cry hysterically when this song came on. 3. "Friends" - Michael W. Smith. Not that this song is EVER played on the radio, but not only does it have a strong relation to my memories of my above mentioned friend Leo, while he was still alive, but along with a list of quite a few other songs, it reminds me of my years of involvement with a youth group, which were some of the most important in terms of shaping who I am today. 4. I'll Stand By You - The Pretenders. Again, another song related to the above mentioned years, and again, another song I cannot listen to without crying. 5. "Insensitive" - Jan Arden and 6. "Don't Speak" - No Doubt. BOth of these songs remind me of the end one particularly turbulent relationship. Both of them fit our issues to a T, and I now smile when I hear them, but remember turning up the volume really high every time they'd come on, trying to convince myself it was time to let the relationship go. 7. "Shoop" - Salt N Pepa. Ah...my cousins would know why this song brings back memories...Oooh, bobby bobby...you had to be there...we were young, we had a crush on an older guy, and we were vacationing in the White Mountains in NH... 8. "Please Don't Go Girl" New Kids on the Block - Followed by every other song they ever recorded. Memories of a time when it was all about posters on the wall, pen pals from other countries and watching a concert from the nosebleed section, and still thinking "Donnie waved at me"...HA! 9. "Electric Youth" - Debbie Gibson. Coupled with a few more Debbie Gibson songs, memories of choreographing "dances" in my grandmother's basement with my two cousins. 10. "Hotel California" - Eagles. Shooting pool at Billiards, even though we didn't know how to play, always choosing this song from the jukebox, cheating ridiculously,making up our own rules. 11. "We are the World" - various artists. I had just arrived in this country when this song was popular, and my grandmother had printed out the lyrics from somewhere, and as little english as I knew, I remember memorizing them, and singing them over and over again. 12. "No, No, No - You don't love me" -Dawn Penn. I love this song, and at a college dance I won a gift certificate to a restaurant because I identified it within the first 2 beats of the song. Nobody else even knew what it was. I was so proud! Please don't let this keep you from checking back, things should slow down next week and then I can be my witty self and blog again. 13. "Material Girl" Madonna and also "I saw him Standing there" Tiffany...both of these remind me, again, my two cousins and I playing around with dad's video camera, making music videos. I wonder where those tapes are now? This is just a small sampling of memories attached to songs...there are so many more. And I probably even missed some major ones here...What songs hold strong memories for you?

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