So I’m listening to my music and “Beauty School Dropout” from “Grease” comes on and I realize how much influence other people have had on my music library.
I wonder if I ever would have even seen “Grease” if not for Amy, let alone have the soundtrack on my computer?
I certainly would never have taken a second look at Mika if not for Jada. And I do have a lot more CSN, CSNY, C, S, N, and Y songs than I would have if I never met her.
While I’ve always had a couple of KISS songs on my playlist, “Deuce” didn’t show up until I heard Ryan singing “get up and get your grandma out of here!” and I simply had to know what kind of song would mention grandma in it.
One time in math class, Dan mentioned the song “Free Bird”, which I knew was a big song, but never really listened to, so I owe that song to him.
Emily had a thing for the Mamas and the Papas, and although I don’t actually own the song “Sing for Your Supper”, it reminds me of her.
My family, of course, has had a lot of influence on what I listen to, because I’m always around them and hear what they listen to.
My dad used to play a lot of good songs when I was younger: “Bad Medicine”, “Rock and Roll Pt. 2″, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”, “Cat Scratch Fever”, lots of AC/DC… And from my mom I have Janis Joplin, Heart, Pat Benatar, and the Guess Who.
My brother has given me a lot of songs, because I’ll often hear him playing them when I’m in the kitchen. “Jamie’s Cryin’”, “Suspicious Minds”, “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow”, “Rain Dance”, and “Same Ol’ Situation” are just a few of the more recent ones.
Another person who is the cause of a few of my songs being in my library was my middle school music teacher. I can’t say much about him as a teacher, and although I was never really singing along, the best part of the class was when he turned on the cassette player to The Beach Boys or “Lean on Me”. Of course, there was also a whole songbook of Beatles lyrics, but that came out in grade 8, so I absolutely despised it. Except, well, I guess “Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da” is kind of an okay song… but don’t tell anyone.
The rest of my songs come from only a few other sources: movies (“You Should Be Dancing”, “Mad World”), television (“Don’t Stop Believin’”, “Shambala”), the nineties (“Strange Disease”, “Say You’ll Be There”), songs I’ve heard in concert (“I Wanna Know What Love Is”, “I Am A Wild Party”), songs that have my name in it (“Jenny”, “Jenny Jenny”), songs that I see the title or description of and immediately have to hear (the gangsta rap song “Computer Science for Life” by MC Plus+), songs with names I’ve heard of and figure I should probably give a listen to (“Wonderwall”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”), and the rest come pretty much from the radio.