The Musical Soundtrack of Your Life
There is a vintage music box alarm clock on a shelf in my home. I don't have to wind it up to hear the tune, as it is firmly attached in my mind to childhood memories of time spent with my Grandma Marty. I recently looked for more information on the weighty little piece, and found that it was made by Swiza in Switzerland c. 1970 and has “Roman numerals on a golden disc, golden hands, and luminous dots,” among other elements.
Each of our senses–sights, sounds, scents, touch, and taste–can elicit recollections in us, with music being a powerful memory trigger. Particular songs can make you cry, make you laugh, or even make you recall an entire epoch of your history. The music you listen to (sing, play) over the years comprises the musical soundtrack of your life.
My music box alarm clock, made in Switzerland c. 1970 by Swiza, a company founded in 1904 that is still in business.
Mine goes something like this: Throughout my childhood there were silly and sacred camp songs, church songs and hymns, and the prayer songs Dad would sing to me nightly at bedtime. My teen years were a mix of the 70s albums my older siblings left behind–Carpenters, Carol King, John Denver, along with some of the most well known bands of all time–Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Cheap Trick, Eagles. The 80s music that filled the airways accompanied my high school years and beyond: Journey, The Police, Hall & Oates, Foreigner.
My college years in particular have strong memories associated with the popular music of that era: Bruce Hornsby, U2, Heart, Eurythmics, Fleetwood Mac. Alternative rock crept in, with R.E.M., Talking Heads, The Cure, ELO. There was even a questionable year of country music in the early 90s. In the 2000s, I had the privilege of singing a full repertoire of choral classics during nine seasons with the Philharmonic Chorus. Today, the soundtrack of my life is a hodgepodge of all of the genres that have gone before, including contemporary Christian music and a lot of show tunes.
Think of the musical soundtrack of your life. It likely has many iterations, and you probably have go-to songs for every occasion or sentiment. The next time you hear the first few notes of a song and a jumble of emotions floods through you, be thankful for music and its power to move. How drab life would be without music as our daily accompaniment! That is why everyone at Heartland Sings loves what we do, and it is our pleasure to consistently bring the music to you.
