I’ve been thinking about narratives, how people create stories about themselves – even (maybe even especially) private stories.

I’m not sure whether it’s our culture, or if it’s just me, but music anchors me even more than sight or touch. It rivals smell for the primal whole-self response. I had an idea to free-associate, to simply list the music I strongly recall enjoying. For almost a minute, I had the illusion that that I could make a whole list. I suspect that if I did this again, some songs would stay and others would fade back, replaced by others through a different train of constructive memory.

Tonight, at this moment, here is the music that I recall enjoying, as it occurs to me in a roughly autobiographical, chronological order.

All Through the Night
Star Light, Star Bright
I’m a Little Teapot
Good Morning to You
Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Home on the Range
Sweet Betsy from Pike
I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad
Oh, Susanna!
Au Clair de al Lune
Rose, Rose and Up She Rises
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
My Knapsack on My Back
Funiculì, Funiculà
Cool, Clear Water
Erie Canal
Shulamite Maiden
Tsjaikovski
Sleeping Beauty
When the Bell in Lighthouse Rings Ding Dong
Kookaburra
Oh, How Lovely is the Evening
Silent Night
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Have You Seen the Ghost of John?
Inchworm
Cruella deVille (101 Dalmations)
Rachmaninov
Someone to Watch Over Me
The Beatles
In the Summertime
Forward, You Witnesses
There Was a Rooster
Joy to the Word
If You Go Away
Oliver!
Where Do I Begin? (Love Story)
Chopin
Hushabye Mountin
West Side Story
The Mama’s and the Papa’s
The Sound of Music
Godspell
Cat Stevens
South Pacific
Jesus Christ Superstar
Beethoven
The Doors
Jackson Five
Tony Orlando
The Carpenters
Love is Blue
The Locomotion
Classical Gas
Layla
I Think I Love You – The Partridge Family
The Monkeys
Seasons in the Sun (and side b) – Terry Jacks
Helen Reddy
Simon and Garfunkel
John Denver
American Pie
Laughter in the Rain – Neil Sedaka
My Eyes Adored You
The Eagles
Barbra Streisand
Elton John
Tom Jones
The Bee Gees
Olivia Newton-John
Grease
ABBA
Chicago
Steve Miller Band
Crosby Stills Nash and Young
Rolling Stones
The Who
My Sharona
Maggie May / Rod Stewart
Starry Starry Night
Queen
Boston
ELO

Looking back over the list, I’m convinced that it must be so off, in a number of ways. I also laughed. It does get better than this eventually (smile).

Have you ever thought about the music that resonated with you at a young age?