If My Life Had a Soundtrack

Everyone has a soundtrack to their life - a compilation of childhood memories, past experiences, love, growth and tragedy.  If you were to analyze your personal soundtrack to date, would it be classified under what’s currently “hot?” Would it meet top media standards, such as Much Music and popular radio stations? If we can’t all honestly say that we live by the current popularities of society, then whose standards define what is “hot”?

Illustration by Nina Charest

A person’s musical taste is typically diverse, spanning many different genres, decades, and artists. Music chooses you, it is not necessarily what is overplayed on the radio; it is simply what appeals to you.  This is what our life’s soundtracks are comprised of. Even though mass media influences society, people don’t necessarily conform to what is trendy, because it doesn’t fit the moulds of their lives. If we have to think that hard about music, half the expression and feeling would be taken out of it.

When you like a song, you feel it; you don’t make songs go through some invisible screening processes to analyze their popularity potential before you load it onto your iPod.  Instead it is the songs that truly matter to us, the ones that we feel the most profoundly for, that are the ones we relate to; they are the songs  that comprise our soundtracks.  They are the most meaningful, the most beautiful to the beholder and the most accommodating to our various stages in life.  They tell our story for us.

Not only are the extremely meaningful songs touching, but they serve as memory cues.  On a more personal note, whenever the songs ‘Thumb’ by Dinosaur Jr., ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ by Pink Floyd, or ‘Straightedge’ by Minor Threat play, childhood memories take us both back to the best time of our lives. It was the summer of 2004, and for us, it was the summer that defined our personal musical soundtracks. We spent our time in a small un-lit suburban garage with candles, incense, a vintage 1970’s record player, and a shag carpet.  We had been friends since the age of three, but for some reason our musical soundtracks did not meld together until this particular point in time. One of us was coming from a background of classic rock, the other with a taste of rebellious 70’s punk rock. Together we exposed one another to a different perspective, shaping our current soundtrack to life.

The importance of personal soundtracks is crucial because it gives a certain moment more value, and creates a more vivid memory.  Think about how some moments would feel without specific songs…think of relationship songs or wedding songs or even the song you hear on the radio right after something monumental occurs in your life.  Imagine how bleak some of these events would be without one of these crucial tracks that we so unknowingly add to our personal playlists.  Most often it isn’t until years later, when we hear the song again, that we realize its importance and its infallible presence in our lives.  After years of overplayed songs, and changing musical styles, these are the songs that we appreciate the most. They are still “hot” to us.

It’s not always how much air time a particular song gets, but rather its significance to us that makes it that much more appealing. That’s what gives it everlasting popularity, even if only in the eyes of a few.

“Hotness” in terms of music does not necessarily need to be left up to the discretion of others.  Why do these mass media stations feel they have this power?  Who are they to determine what is “hot?” Artists like Minor Threat and Dinosaur Jr. aren’t likely to be deemed “in” bands by any mildly pop culture savvy individual, but to us, they will always be great. To us, these are bands that will never die.

Soundtracks help shape our lives, and they simultaneously offer insight into them.  It is important to sit back and remember this at times, because although something is hot to one person doesn’t mean it will float the boat of another.  And every once in a while, when a step back is taken, a step forward can always be made: when you look back on a certain time in your life, you’ll find that your youth, your love and (most of all) the evolution of your life’s desire is reflected by its soundtrack.

© 2008 Christine Seabrook and Caity Cuffari, Illustration by Nina Charest; licensee (Cult)ure Magazine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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