The Soundtrack Of My Memories: Songs Of Summer

I  have made no secret of my intense dislike of Summer and it’s broiler like heat, but there was a time, back in the Stone Age, when I loved Summer. It was because I grew up by the beach. We didn’t really need central air because it never got that hot. And if it did get that hot, we could be at the ocean in 10 minutes. It was heavenly.

Oh and we had a pool. A big one. We were pretty covered in the beating the heat area. And I love to swim. Always have. My Dad always said that I was the embodiment of my birth sign, Pisces. He called me a fish.  😛 Although, because back in the Stone Age suntan oil was just that, oil, my translucent ass turned the color of  a well cooked lobster. {Mmmm, lobster…} And I do mean that literally.

My Mom, in her ultimate wisdom, let her so-white-she-glows-in-the-dark child spend hours at the pool with no sunblock on. In her defense, there was no such thing as sunblock then. There was Hawaiian Tropic Suntan Oil. So in essence, you were deep frying yourself slowly when you slathered that on.

I even knew someone who used pure almond oil as suntan lotion. And then there were those who went really old school with baby oil.

Yeah, they was smart ones, eh?

I am absolutely shocked I do not have skin cancer with as many horrrendous sunburns I got as a kid. I once got burned so badly the the peach fuzz in my forehead has never grown back. I was 14.

I would get so burned from a day at the pool, that I would be unable to wear clothes for two days and had to wear a sheet toga style around the house. My Big Bro always had a thing about peeling my skin once that inevitably began. The goal was to get the largest piece off at one time. There were times that we had twin sunburns {He’s translucent, too}, and would take turns peeling each other.

OK, now that I see that written, it sounds really creepy…

I digress…

My Boo, Brittany, from The Greer Five, is doing a Songs That Remind Me Of Summer series and it got me thinking about my own seasonal soundtrack. I may hate Summer with a passion, but I have fond memories of Summers as a kid and the music that reminds me of it. Each time I hear one of these songs, it transports me right back to that time. It is extremely visceral for me. I can actually feel the memory, not just see it in my mind.

And music. Well music is as much a part of me as breathing. Good music can make me laugh, it can make me cry, it can make me feel. Music is wonderful. I have very eclectic tastes in music. Everything from metal to country to reggae to new wave to jazz and crooners. I love it all. Except rap. I hate rap. None of it is ever original, they are always stealing riffs and beats from other artists and that bugs me. You cannot call yourself an artist if you don’t create your own music from beginning to end.

OK, I digressed.

Again.

For my first installment of The Soundtrack Of My Memories: Songs Of Summer, I have chosen one from my formative years growing up in the 80’s. {Yes, I’m old. Do you have a point?} It has become one of The Diva’s favorite songs as well. That girl’s got great taste. And she’s only 5. 😀

Enjoy.

Major Tom by Peter Schilling {It was sort of inspired by David Bowie’s Space Oddity}

Category: Thoughts