In my continuing exploration of music and the memories that it creates, my study heads to affairs of the heart.  If you look at newly released Song Journals, you will see that many people share their feelings about songs and loves they still have or have lost to the sands of time.

These same feelings were evident in the responses I received as I interviewed people from around the globe:

Patti Wood, The  Body Language Expert:

In junior high,  I remember standing up against the wall at a big school dance feeling so lonely and humiliated because no one asked me to dance to “Color my World.” For four years whenever I heard that song I longed to dance to it and finally I was able to in my senior year of high school and I now have a fantastic memory of dancing to it with my high school crush, a college boy, at a church dance!

FP, “The Unstoppable Champion“:

“Hold your Head Up” became my theme song for a lot of reasons but most notably it was the first song that came on the radio right after my first sexual experience. My boyfriend couldn’t have been more  COLD had he been left in the Freezer over night. It seemed he had gone from warm, loving and “oh so sweet” to a dispassionate and unaffectionate statue. I could feel the tears forming behind my eyes and I began to feel ashamed for what I had done. My self esteem was taking a beating here and I didn’t know what to do. Well Argent’s song came on.. “HOLD YOUR HEAD UP” and it was exactly what I need to mobilize myself, get dressed and walk out like it meant nothing to me. Of course I broke down later but now when I hear this song I remember my tears fondly. It brings me right back to that moment in time, but I don’t want to cry. I remember that no matter what, I am unstoppable!

Elisse Goldstein-Clark, of the Elkhorn Inn & Theatre in West Virginia

“You’re So Beautiful” by Pat McGuire: This song, sung by Pat McGuire in Marty O’Brien’s Pub on 2nd Ave. in NYC on Thursday nights after 9/11 is the song my husband and I fell in love to. This is OUR SONG- and probably the song for a Lot of NYC couples of that time… When we play his albums “Love Songs For Astronauts” and “Big Brown Sofa” we are both literally transported back to the fall and winter of 2001 and a totally crazy time & place, for better and for worse… We met in an elevator while both working for FEMA as disaster response workers in NYC (Oct 22, 2001), and Thursday nights spent listening to Pat McGuire at Marty O’Brien’s, doing some serious drinking, and dancing up a storm in the tiny bar with cop and firemen friends was what kept us sane…

Genma Stringer Holmes, of  Genma Speaks:

My sons heard me humming the chorus to Maxwell’s song, “Pretty Wings” and both commented how I seem to “drift” every time I hear the song.  My oldest sent me the lyrics a weeks ago and my heart skipped a beat. I sent the words to a former lover that stills holds a special place in my heart along with the video. The song speaks to me so powerfully.

Maxwell sings about being in love and not valuing the relationship or the person at that time of the relationship.  The wings are allowed to fly away but the love is still there and in order to find real love with each other they needed to be apart.  I think I will always love him but it was one of those relationships that literally drove me to the brink of insanity.

My favorite lines, in bold font, speaks to how crazy I was to love someone so powerful and so out of my league to begin with.  I am smart but I was dumb and young to be so madly in love and to think I was not going to get hurt or hurt him. Talk about passionate craziness.  It has been a few years since our final goodbye and I am still in counseling! (smile) Yes, we are friends and I wish him the best in life even with our crazy history.

Almost every adult in the world has stories of someone that touched his/her heart.  And I would venture to say that every love affair has a song or two that rekindles the memories.

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