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Personal Soundtracks

You know how some couples have a song? It'll be some random song that means a lot to them, and whenever one of them hears the song, it'll remind that person of the other half of that relationship. Well, I do that, too. The catch, however, is that I associate music with people that I'm not dating. I don't know why, but some combination of my memory, my penchant for finding patterns, and my sense of humor means that I will hear a song and be reminded of certain people.


Now, I can understand if you think that this is weird. I have found that more often than not, though, the associations I make between the song and the person are pretty amusing. For example:

  • The chorus of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" reminds me of one of my sister's friends. This guy apparently did not know that a Louisville slugger was a type of baseball bat. As a result, he was very, very confused by the part where she says she used one to trash a car.

    Rightfully so, my sister gave him a hard time about it. Then, the guy mentioned that he was a baseball fan, but he'd never heard of that bat. Even more rightfully so, my sister renewed & increased her teasing.

    Knowing all of that, I get a little bit of a chuckle every time I hear that song.
  • A while back, MTV made a movie that mocked the whole boy band fad. Even better, the actors actually released music videos. One of those songs, Calculus, reminds me of a high school friend of mine.

    The song is absolutely ridiculous, but a few of my high school friends and I were up late one night watching bad TV. The movie came on, and we all got our laughs. In the midst of all of the laughter, one person jokingly suggested that we should create our own spoof of the spoof. Running with the joke, a new moniker was born: Driving 30 (it was a play on Matchbox 20). Since that day, I have always had that Calculus song etched in my brain along with a footnote reminding me of the person who wanted to recreate it in real life.
  • Juanes' "Mala Gente" reminds me of my cousin. As is probably obvious by the title of the song, it is in Spanish. My cousin doesn't really speak Spanish, but she likes that song. She understands a little bit, and she's picked some up from hanging out with my family. Now, she knew enough to know that the song was a break up song. However, she didn't know all of the words, so she didn't quite understand them all.

    Well, I was translating for her since it came up in conversation. There happen to be some choice words for the ex-girlfriend in that song, and one line says that she will burn in hell. It's not just that, though. A slightly better translation would be more like, "you will burn in hell slowly, you lying wench of a woman. Sucker." It's got a touch of whimsy, but the sentiment really is unkind.

    You should've seen my cousin's face when I explained this. The connotations of the words dawned on her, and her face couldn't help but express some surprise. She also laughed really, really hard at the exact same moment. I can't hear this song anymore without hearing my cousin's laugh in my head.
  • Fort Minor's "Remember the Name" reminds me of my coworker. I had mentioned the song during some conversation, but she had never heard of it. The most recognizable part of that song is probably the chorus, so I recited some of that:

    This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill,
    fifteen percent concentrated power of will
    five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain,
    and one hundred percent reason to remember the name

    She still didn't recognize the song. However, now that she knew what the song was about, she made an exasperated sound, and commented that only I would like a song with a math equation in the middle of it. I cracked up then, and I still get a good hearty chuckle out of it when I remember the exchange.

    Of course, she was probably right. The first time I heard that song, I distinctly remember adding up the numbers to make sure they actually added up to 100 percent. Also, if you went back to double check my math, you are not allowed to give me any crap about this.
  • "My Girl" by the Temptations reminds me of my sister in law. This is all my brother's fault.
Like I said earlier, I suspect this list is only going to grow. As I listen to new music and have new conversations with people, there are bound to be new comical conversations. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
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