Soundtrack to Life

For most of this year, every Thursday (#ThrowbackThursday!) I've thrown out a random song lyric from my youth to see if my Facebook friends and Twitter followers can figure out the artist and title.  This has been a super fun exercise, because invariably it brings fans out of the woodwork to cherish an old track with me. Who would've guessed so-and-so is into such-and-such?

Music is literally the soundtrack to our lives.  There are songs that instantly transport me to different stages in my life: middle school dances, sorting baseball cards in my bedroom, road tripping through the USA.  And, there are songs that, only half-joking, once we hear them we must stop whatever we are doing and groove to them.  (In the local vernacular, you might say, "Yo, that song is my jawn!")

I am by no means a music expert, a music lover, or even an average consumer of music.  And yet it still holds sway in my life.  And it is still an instant connection to others and to past times.  This is the power of music.

PS In case you're interested, here are all of the lyrics from the year.  See how many trigger some memory for you.  Just don't lose the entire afternoon YouTubing everything.

"And everything is to the back with a little slack cuz inside-out its wiggity wiggity wiggity wack." - "Jump," Kriss Kross

"Jitterbug into my brain, it goes a bang-bang-bang 'til my feet do the same." - "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,  Wham

"Pack it up pack it in, let me begin; I came to win, battle me that's a sin." - "Jump Around," House of Pain

"Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also..." - "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," Martin Luther

"All the school kids so sick of books, they like the punk and the metal band. When the buzzer rings, they..." - "Walk Like an Egyptian," Bangles

"Perm in your hair or even a curly weave, with that New Edition Bobby Brown button on your sleeve." - "Around the Way Girl," LL Cool J

"Around the world the trip begins with a kiss." - "Roam," B-52's

"On the low from the Jake in the Taurus, trying to get my hands on some Grants like Horace." - "All About the Benjamins," Puff Daddy

"So why-y-y don't you use it? Try-y-y not to bruise it, buy-y-y time don't lose it." - The Reflex, Duran Duran

"I mean rich, poor, high, low, or upper-middle class, let's all get together and have a few laughs and..." - "Doowutchyalike," Digital Underground

"I know a place where we can dance the whole night away underneath the electric stars." - "Rhythm of the Night," Debarge

"Putting words together for recreation, each rhyme's a dissertation; you wanna know my occupation, I get paid to rock the nation." - "I Go to Work," Kool Moe Dee

"And if I have to crawl upon the floor, come crashing through your door..." (instantly taken back to Miller Jr High dances) - "Can't Fight This Feeling"," REO Speedwagon

"Join voices in protest to social injustice, a generation full of courage come forth with me..." - "Rhythm Nation," Janet Jackson

"Ruthless, never seen like a shadow in the dark except when I unload." - "Straight Outta Compton," NWA

"Talking away, I don't know what I'm to say, I'll say it anyway, today's another day to find you." - "Take on Me," Aha

"I remember how it all began, I used to sing dirty raps to my East Side fans." - "Life is Too Short," Too Short

"When I dial 611 Repair Service, she said 'Hello may I help you please?" - "Mr. Telephone Man," New Edition
"Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky and Mike...If I love the girl who cares who you like?" - "Cool It Now," New Edition

"My beats travel like a vortex through your spine to the top of your cerebral cortex" - "Triumph," Wu Tang Clan

"Girl, I must warn you..." - "Poison," BellBivDevoe

"Half my life's in books' written pages, live and learn from fools and from sages." - "Dream On," Aerosmith

"School is out and it's a sort of a buzz, but back then I didn't really know what it was." - "Summertime," DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

"Soon as the bass kicks, I need a fix; gimme a stage and a mic and a mix..." - "Microphone Fiend," Eric B. & Rakim

"A woman can bear you, break you, take you; now it's time to rhyme, can you relate to a sister dope enough to make you..." - "Ladies First," Queen Latifah feat. Monie Love

"Can you imagine when this race is won; turn our golden faces into the sun." - "Forever Young," Alphaville

"A style that's bold, so cold that it'll freeze ya; numb your mind, give ya amnesia." - "Gettin' Funky," Kid n Play

"Prayed through the nights, felt so alone; suffered from alienation, carried the weight on my own..." - Vision of Love, Mariah Carey

"Me and Kid Sensation and that home away from home, in the Black Benz Limo, with the cellular phone." - My Posse's on Broadway, Sir Mixalot

"I get weak in a glance, isn't this what's called romance?" - Lost in Your Eyes, Debbie Gibson

"As the rhythm is designed to bounce, what counts is that the rhyme is designed to fill your mind." - Fight the Power, Public Enemy

"It's long overdue but now Philly's slammin'..." - Motownphilly, Boyz II Men

"Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along...the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." - Song of Solomon

"Once upon a time not long ago when people wore pajamas and lived life slow..." - Children's Story, Slick Rick

"Every time I see you falling I get down on my knees and pray." - Bizarre Love Triangle, New Order

"More tender than a Roni but harder than a Jawbreaker." - Cha Cha Cha, MC Lyte