The Valentine Soundtrack
They say chocolate is the way to a woman’s heart… sex is the way to a man’s. But that’s way too simple. For me, I like to think it was actually MUSIC that paved its own way to my heart from one very special Valentine’s Day so many years ago now.
You see, there’s something about a song that can take you back to that special place… a moment in your life frozen in time… and when you hear that song it washes everything else away. I’m sure you have THAT song too.
For me it was freshman year at Boston University. I had found the girl of my dreams and we were celebrating our first Valentine’s Day together. For the life of me, I can’t remember what I got her… but I’ll never forget what she got me.
She knew I loved music so she took me to a record store and let me go on a shopping spree. “Are you sure?” I must’ve asked… because any trip to the record store was a commitment of time and energy. I would pour through row after row meticulously looking and listening.
She was sure. She let me loose. I picked out a bunch of new CDs that day.
The Counting Crows had just come out with “Mr Jones.” I loved that song and that entire album.I bought it. There was this new group, The Cranberries, and they had this great song “Linger” that I really liked, so I bought that one too. The movie “Philadelphia” with Tom Hanks had just come out, it was so sad, but so life affirming, we had seen it together. I loved the music from it and picked up that one as well. I picked out a few more including classic rocker Warren Zevon and his Werewolves Of London with the great “haWoooooo” howl in the song. That was a guilty pleasure. I left the store with a whole stack of CDs that day.
I played those songs and played those songs over and over. They would become a sort of soundtrack to the next chapter of my life.
Eventually mp3’s, iPods and iPads took over. Eventually we got married and had two great kids. Eventually the CDs ended up boxed up in the garage and put in storage as toys and dolls and books took over.
But I haven’t forgotten. I still know exactly where they are. And when I hear those songs I’m still taken back to that very special place. I see my girlfriend and her flowing brown hair, that angelic smile, that feisty and independent spirit. I’m brought right back to freshman year when she and I first met. I’m brought right back to the years that we built our relationship until she eventually became my wife. I can hear those songs playing right now.
You see, there’s something about a song that can take you back to that special place… a moment in your life frozen in time… and when you hear that song it washes everything else away. I’m sure you have THAT song too.
But I’m in so deep. You know I’m such a fool for you.
You got me wrapped around your finger…
Do you have to… Do you have to let it linger…
It was Valentines Day. Twenty years ago.
What’s the soundtrack to your Valentine’s?
Pete Wilgoren is an Emmy award winning journalist who writes about his often surprising, embarrassing, and educational experiences surrounded by a wife and two little girls. Find Dadmissions on Facebook and on his blog Dadmissions.
