Music=Memories=Memory=Happiness

 Music=Memories=Memory=Happiness

I grew up with music. I only liked the black groups - Pat Boone was not my style. I loved the disk jockey Jocko who would end his session saying: "I'm like a roach on a post - too smooth to move." The music and especially the beat, made me happy.

I had and have great memories from some of the songs. Some of the songs reminded me of the fun basement parties we had in my teens. Some of the songs reminded me of the girlfriends I had. Back in my day when you went steady, you had to have a song that was just for you and her.

Some of the songs reminded me of the horrible Vietnam days. At that time I hated the politicians who were drafting young people to die in an unjust war. My best friend's brother came back from that war and was never the same.

One song saved my mental health. That song was The Rose by Bette Midler. I was going through a stressful and financially difficult second divorce. The Rose's lyrics:

                                        "When the night has been too lonely

                                  And the road has been too long

                                  And you think that love is only

                                  For the lucky and the strong

                                 Just remember in the winter    

                                  Far beneath the bitter snows            
                                  Lies the seed that with the sun's love

                                  In the spring becomes the rose"

Those words (and the help from my therapist Bob) made realize that in the spring I would be loved again - and I was.

Did you ever notice that trying to remember where you were a year ago was difficult. However, remembering a song a year ago is easy. I have CRS (Can't Remember Shit) but I know at least two bars of hundreds and hundreds of songs. I guess it's the way the brain works and I like it

Lastly, most of the songs I remember remind me of happiness and love. The lyrics (like a line from the Temptations: "she makes a blind man talk about seeing again) are powerful and they say what was going on at the time, what was going on in the world, love lost, loved gained, and happiness. 

Hearing the songs I love makes me happy