A song to remember people with.

Second post, again on Music. Is this my escape route from blogging about my life? Possibly. Maybe even an escape in real life.

I have already listed some awesome songs. But, this one is not about the best. This one is about how I relate situations and people to songs. I am sure everyone does. There are some that bring back memories of stuff that happened, people they met or a place they've been to.

So often, in office, I open Youtube but I have no idea what I want to listen to. I get clueless and scroll through the homepage and NEVER find anything worthwile. Somehow, whatever is trending on Youtube is crap. I, invariably, start thinking of school, then college, then home and I land up on one of these:

1. Nobody's Listening by Linkin Park

Keertan's Ford Ikon. Parked outside some Malayali Community Event in Baroda. 2002. He said he had a cassette of the latest album of LP. I had no clue what LP is. Hell, I hadn't even heard English songs till then. (Well, you can't really count Vengaboys and Brazil in this.) He slotted the cassette in, fast forwarded, then realised it was the 2nd last song on Side B, reversed the cassette and played. The sudden bass hit me and instantly caught my attention. I was rapt, trying to fathom what Mike Shinoda was rapping about. Who cared. It was SUPER! And thus began my tryst with songs in the English language. Life was changing so fast. My language changed, my taste along with it. We had to dance on a Backstreet Boys song on Sports Day, and I knew the song!

2. People = Shit by Slipknot, Dance of Death by Iron Maiden, Ruby by Kaiser Chiefs

The first two were a suggestion from Gaurav and the last by Mihir, in 2006. 11th Std, new city, new school, new friends. I did not listen to rock, metal, and any combination of those. But these songs captivated me! And how! I learnt how to play Dance of Death on a recorder! It sounded like a love song, but it worked! Mom finally started letting me close the door at night before sleeping. I got internet, found websites with free mp3s, understood what a bitrate was and downloaded the latest version of iTunes like clockwork to keep my iPod in sync! Life was good.

3. Absolutely Everybody by Vanessa Amorosi

Yes Yes, the Star World song. This one reminds me of dad coz this is THE ONLY ENGLISH SONG TILL DATE HE REMEMBERS AND HUMS! Haha! I don't know how. I was just playing this song one day on my desktop speakers and he caught the tune from his room, got up with his daily Sudoku in hand and asked me to replay the song. I was too amazed with the request and I didn't understand which song he was referring to. So, he hummed "hmm hmm hmmm hmm hmm boodyyyy". I looked up at heavens and said Thank You God! I now have approval!

4. Precious, Stripped, Enjoy The Silence by Depeche Mode

Again, 2006-2007. Dragonball Z. Back to back. Every night. Used it to pump my own motivation to study for JEE and AIEEE. And I really think it worked.

5. Jamaica Farewell by Harry Belafonte

2nd year I think. 2009. Probably the first of many recommendations by Aditi. I was addicted to this song for a looooong time. I realised there were too many songs I missed in my childhood that Aditi somehow caught hold of. This, and the Carpenter song. Her suggestions are easy to sing, easy to catch hold of, stick in your head and never leave you. This song is so soothing, I listen to when I am alone and cleaning my room or trying to work.

To be contd....