Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about the musical break!!

THE PROMPT: "Most people listen to music. It also seems that there are songs that instantly pull memories from the dark recesses of our brain to its forefront. Pick 2 or 3 songs that have this effect on you and tell us about the memories they invoke."

What's up everyone? Ya know, it's funny...I was sitting around the other day, really missing my laptop and my iPod. I love music...that's pretty obvious. I can't wait to reunite with my cd's...they haven't made it to Cortland yet. I've got tons of memories attached to so many songs, I could probably score movies if I wanted to.

I'm picking two songs...the first two that come to mind with memories intact. And I'm sticking with two because to my knowledge if you try to embed more than two links in WDC's entry form, they just show up as giant blank spaces. Not cool, homies.

I love making lists and mixes. I love sharing music and different songs with people. It's a universal language. This first song shows up everytime I think about making an autobiographical mix cd. At its essence it isn't totally about me, but here's some history for you: in January of '92, my junior year of high school, I was on the wrestling team. We were goofing around in the practice room before a meet. We made up a game called "Powerball". It was like basketball, but we played with a volleyball and used the chin-up bars on each side of the room as our nets. Dribbling was optional and since the chin-up bars were low, it was easy to slam dunk. Oh, and you could tackle the ball carrier.

So like I said, we were screwing around before a meet, playing a quick game of 3-on-3. Now, the room had padded walls all the way around it, except where the vents were. I was under the basket with the ball along the wall. There was a nasty pile-up that I was the focus of. With my right arm cradling the ball, the other five players hit me as I hit the wall, breaking my right shoulder. I was done for the season.

Fast forward to that summer. I was trying out for the football team. After practice one day, I was having a lot of trouble lifting my right arm. I had gotten a decent amount of reps that day and just figured I was sore. But the next day after practice, I couldn't use my arm at all...I could barely get my pads off. I had broken my shoulder again.

Again, I was done for the season. All I could do was heal and hope I was better in time for wrestling season. It was a rough time for me. When the season started I wasn't medically cleared for contact. I could do conditioning drills, run, and lift weights with my lower body. I couldn't use my arms, nor could I practice. After warm-ups, while the team drilled, I'd strap on my headphones and run. Sometimes I'd run the entire time...up to two hours. I wanted to hit the ground running when I could start practicing again. I had a specific goal...I wanted to come back exactly one year after I first broke my shoulder.

I primarily listened to two tapes during my training. One was Public Enemy's Greatest Misses ("Tie Goes To The Runner" was exceptionally motivational), and the other was Check Your Head by The Beastie Boys. And to this day, whenever I hear this song, not only do I think about all the effort and training and hard work I put in on the road toward a comeback, but I think about how positive the message in these lyrics are. It can be uplifting at times. "If you can feel what I feel, then it's a musical masterpiece/ if you can hear what I'm dealing with then that's cool at least." From that point on, I was hooked.

The second song...this story happened maybe five or six years ago, maybe more. Me and my boy DMFM went down to see this band at one of the dirtiest, rawest, nastiest clubs you could see a show in (The Showplace Theatre...now closed). It was a small venue and there weren't a lot of people there...maybe 100 if that. All in all it was a great show, and seeing them live was everything promised. They're crazy dudes, flying all over the stage with their guitars, jumping around, hair going everywhere. Easily in my top five favorite concerts.

After the last song, the lead singer yelled "Group hug!!" He and the rest of the band jumped off stage into the crowd, and literally, it was just that...one big group hug. We stuck around after the show, and the guys were just hangin' out like regular dudes. We talked to them, got a few pictures (I had the first Motorola Razr phone with a great pic of DMFM and the guitarist, Hippy Chris) and Kenny, the singer, autographed the record we bought. Between beers, cds, the record, and other merch, I think DMFM spent way over $100. Crazy money. Stayed out so late he had to crash at 542, and his girl was pissed. But whatever. It was a great time...been a long time since a show was that much fun. And that's the memory that comes to mind when I hear this tune.

There are way too many other songs that bring back good times. I could be here all night talkin' about 'em. I'll easily probably think up a few more on the way home. There's always a song goin' in my head. Music...it's a beautiful thing. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!