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Personal Soundtracks 2

A while back, I mentioned that certain songs remind me of people. I don't just mean women I've dated, though there are certainly some amusing options to choose from there. No, most of the time, there are funny stories surrounding that particular person/song combination. And given my wacky memory, I remember these things when the song plays on the radio or on a playlist.

Since it's been a little over six months since I wrote about this the first time, I've certainly had a few more of these come to mind:

  • Talib Kweli's "Never Been in Love" reminds me of a coworker. We were sitting around talking about music during a van ride once, and this song came up. He was not a fan of this song. To roughly paraphrase his objection to this track, he didn't "want none of this pansy nonsense." A rap love song largely dedicated to telling a woman she is your first love? Aw, heck no.

    He wanted to hear about flashy cars and riches, all combined with that trademark swagger that comes with having those things. This was quite possibly the exact opposite of all that, and it just wouldn't do. I still remember that conversation when I hear the song, and a short chuckle almost always arises (yay alliteration).
  • Do you remember that SNL episode where they did a short "I'm on a Boat" skit? Remember how it somehow got popular and eventually turned in to a full blown music video? An old friend of mine didn't.

    Now, this would've been some useless tidbit of trivia were it not for the magic of Facebook. She posted a status along the lines of, "I'm on a train," and my mind immediately thought, "I'm on a boat." So, I replied with a quick joke about that. Not knowing what the heck I was talking about, she proceeded to make fun of me for a while.

    Eventually, the whole thing was sorted out, but not before a few laughs were had. By then, it was too late for her. This song is now inextricably linked with her in my mind.
  • My brother makes the list with a twofer: both Mobb Deep's "Outta Control" and Blaque's "Bring it All to Me" (featuring JC Chasez) remind me of him. For the first one, we both happened to be parked in front of the TV watching MTV once a long time ago. Mobb Deep was promoting their upcoming album, so they were doing an interview. I forget who, but one of them said, "we wanted to get back to our roots, hardcore thug music." Immediately following that, MTV played a new song they were featured on: "Outta Control." It was more or less what we expected until they hit Prodigy's part. If you didn't click the link, allow me to write out the lyrics for you: "I cook, I clean, I swear that mami." Yeah, real hardcore thug music, guys. My brother scoffed quite loudly.

    Along the same lines, I remember being in the room when my brother happened to hear that Blaque song. Again, the best part came quite a bit in to the song, during JC's part. Again, for the clicking-impaired, the lyrics go as follows: "I'm so for real, Are you feeling my Tims, my baggy jeans, my thug appeal?" I am not a thug, but I can guarantee you that I have more thug appeal that that guy. This time, my brother didn't even bother scoffing. He just flat out laughed, for a good long while.

    So, yeah, those two songs remind me of my brother.
  • I've mentioned before that I get in weird conversations some times. Well, during one of these said weird conversations, there was talk of plastering me with teddy bear stickers during a musical (I'm not even sure I can explain how we got to that point, honestly). Still, through no fault of my own, the conversation ended up there. Next thing you know, that person was calling me Sam "Teddy Bear" Chang (again, it's just better if you don't try to rationalize it).

    Well, she kept at it for long enough that this was on my mind for a little bit. Through sheer chance, one of Elvis' songs came up on my music player. I'll bet you can guess which one. Yup, "Teddy Bear." It wasn't so much for the contents of the song, but the timing was too perfect. If and when I hear that song, I immediately remember the crazy sticker plan, along with the person who came up with said crazy plan.
  • My old boss introduced me to the "Code Monkey" song. It makes me laugh, and I still have it safely tucked away on a drive somewhere in case I need some amusement on a slow afternoon at work. Not surprisingly, the song reminds me of the guy who introduced me to it.
  Being easily amused and having a halfway decent memory sure do make for a very interesting combination. For the sake of your amusement, though, I suppose I'll sacrifice by continuing to listen to music and talk to people. It's a tough job, but it's the only way to add to this list.
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