The other day I was driving and listening to the radio and The Velvet Underground came on. Instantly I was sitting in a bedroom from my past, watching a guy from my past draw. It made me think about all the other music that will forever be connected to guys from my past. Some of it I liked, some of it not so much. Some of it I can listen to now and feel happy about where it came from, some of it still makes my chest tighten after all these years.
Here's the rundown....
Richard- Many an afternoon spent in his basement, becoming friends with his little sister, watching him play Mario, and listening to his favorite...ZZ Top
Mario- He was older, and didn't last much more than a summer month(maybe), but he would drive all the way out from the city to see me. I still have in my possession the double CD set of Van Halen that he gave me.
Daryl- My first high school boyfriend. He was all country, right down to his cowboy boots. I'm assuming that he's the one that introduced me to Garth Brooks. Although at that point in time, you couldn't really get away from that man.
Chris- Yet another "Good 'ole Boy", I remember listening to the country radio station with this one too.
Mike- The son of my father's best friend from childhood. He and I grew up together and our paths crossed in high school through a mutual friend. I had already been introduced to punk music from radio and my older cousins, but this guy solidified that love. We went to small punk shows almost every weekend. He was in a band. He had a mohawk. He and his friends were intelligent, and sarcastic, and hated the mainstream. I can't listen to the Cure or The Dead Kennedys without thinking about him.
JP- Showed up at the beginning of grade 11, from Montreal. He was tall, and dark, and quiet. The triple threat of the hormonal highschooler world. He was also an artist. He would draw me pictures in class and shove them in my locker. He is the one I spoke of earlier. Oh Velvet Underground, the perfect soundtrack for a brooding artist forced to live in a place he hated, so his Mom could pursue a relationship with a man he really hated.
Darren- Fun and silly. I had a crush on him through most of high school and we finally dated for grade 12. we went to prom together, despite having broken up already. It was the mid-Nineties and everything was alternative. The Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, and Hole were the soundtrack for many a party. Neither of us would be pigeon holed to a single genre though and we both enjoyed a good dance song too. We had a blank tape. We would pass it back and forth, adding a song or two each time, that made us think of US.
My "Boys"- Through high school I was the lone girl in a group of five. Me and my Boys were almost inseparable for most of high school. Aside from my family, I credit them with shaping me into the strong, independent, male-brained female that I'm proud to be. I think of them when I hear someone playing "name this song/band". I also think of them when I hear the Offspring, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. They appreciated an eclectic taste in music like I had been raised with.
Ren- My college sweetheart. The father of my children. A hipster at his core. An album listener. He brought Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, and Dear Tick into my life. I cannot hear them without thinking of him.
My little boys- Even though they are young, they also have music connected to them. When A was an infant we drove long distances, A LOT. It was discovered that White Stripes- Seven Nation Army would put him to sleep, EVERY single time! The first non-kids song that the boys sang along to in the car was Blitzkreig Bop by the Ramones, at 2 & 4 years old, yelling "Hey, Ho, Let's Go!" from their car seats. There was also a P!nk phase, where A would watch videos on youTube over and over again.
There you go, my musical history, through Guys.
