Power of a Song

You know the power of a song? It's when you hear a song and instantly you're transported to that place. Now I'm not talking about hearing a song and saying "oh I remember when" no, no, no. I mean when you hear a song and it's like you're physically taken to that memory like your own virtual reality smelling salts. I love flipping through the radio and listening to songs to see if anything happens. Let me give you an example. If Rage Against the Machine "Bulls on Parade" comes on, I can remember right away my brother playing high school football because they always walked out of the locker room to that song. If I hear Willie Nelson "Crazy" I think of my cousin Joe's knockout impression of him. But neither of those songs transport me. I think there is a fine line between a memory and what I'll call a back to the future moment.

If I hear the song "Dreams" by Van Halen I have a back to the future moment. I can instantly feel like I am sitting in the locker room after my final football game in high school. That song was blaring in the background, guys leaving and turning in their jersey's and then there is me. I sat there refusing to take my jersey off. My brother brought my cousin Andrew down to the locker room and we hugged it out like guys do. I can remember the smell, the sticky feeling my eye black left on my face, the used athletic tape thrown across the floor and that awkward pit in your stomach of not sure what happens next. The next day, front page paper had a picture of me crying with the title, "Broken Dreams" a crafty play on words from a second rate hack journalist for the AT. I heard this song today on my way home and my 20 minute drive turned into me pulling into my driveway wondering when I made that left off of 23. I know this happens to other people, so if you are the one person that reads this blog, what is a back to the future song for you? Where do you go in your mind when you hear it?