The Soundtrack to My Life: The Early Years

I grew up a little unconventionally. My parents were quite young when they got married and still young when my sisters and I came along. While most kids of my era grew up with Barney and Blue's Clues, we got that plus endless hours of MTV2 (which was the channel that actually played music videos on in the '90s) and got ready for school while out parents' massive stereo with a 100 plus disc changer blared.

Mama and Daddy for the most part liked the same music but each had their own distinct tastes. Southern and '70s rock always reminds me of my daddy: Stever Miller Band, Queen, Lynard Skynard, etc. Every time I hear The Allman Brother's Jessica or Ramblin' Man, I'm immediately taken back to riding in Daddy's old black Chevy after picking me up from the bus stop or from dance class, windows down, music loud. Also, System Of A Down's Toxicity has the same effect, but that's a completely different genre.

Mama, on the other hand, is associated with bands like Matchbox 20, The Wallflowers, and she was obsessed with Dave Matthews for a while. They once dropped my sisters and I off at our grandparents' for a weekend and went to Florida to see him. Songs like Crash and Satellite remind me of right around September and October when there's just a taste of fall chill in the air, sitting in the dining room, windows open, and Mama helping me with homework. She also gets the band Live, though those memories are not quite as fond. Once, on a trip to Panama City Beach, she played one of their albums (I'm not sure which one-- I tried to block it out) all the way there AND all the way back. It got old... quickly. Each time I heard the CD restart, I could have sworn a tiny part of my brain exploded.

But, whenever I'm feeling nostalgic, I turn to bands like Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, and Tool, bands they both loved. Tuesday, I raided my mom's Pearl Jam collection. For some reason, her copy of Ten was missing, the album I really wanted (I've been singing Jeremy and Evenflow in my head for weeks). I did get Yield, Riot Act, and Backspacer, which turned out great. I immediately picked Backspacer to listen to first since it came out last year, and I don't know how I've lived until then not having heard Just Breathe. It's so beautiful, and I know its my recent love of Folk that instantly made it my favorite track on the album.

I'll leave you now with a video of the song performed on Austin City Limits. Sometimes, a girl needs to get back to her childhood, and sometimes the best way to do that is with some Classic Alternative Rock to bang her head to.
SDG