Songs of my Childhood

I think my earliest memories of music are ones of my father. He did madrigals in high school, acapella in college, and never really lost that love of singing. He has a repertoire of songs that he sings all the time and they are some of my earliest memories with music. I am not really sure what the first one might be so I will talk about the most memorable ones to me. They aren’t necessarily my favorite songs but they are songs he sings very often and have made a deep impression on me. For some of these songs I can’t even listen to the actual recordings by the artists because they don’t match what I hear in my head. My father’s renditions just sound right to me. I am sure I will be hearing these songs in my head for the rest of my life. 

Sweet Baby James by James Taylor is a song that has been constant in my life. It is about a young cowboy going to sleep alone with his cows in the wild west. While this whole song is memorable for me, what I want to highlight is Taylor’s descriptions of nature after the first chorus.

“Now the first of December was covered with snow

Yes, and so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston

Now the Berkshires, they seemed dream-like on account of that frosting

With ten miles behind me, and ten thousand more to go, you know

There's a song that they sing when they take to the highway

A song that they sing when they take to the sea

A song that they sing of their home in the sky

Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep”

This part of the song really stands out to me for a few reasons. First, my family is from the Boston area so having a really grounding location for the trip he is going on makes the rest of the song a lot easier to picture. This is especially true of the next few lines as he describes the blanket of snow which is such a nice visual. Then lastly the recounting of the previous journeys of other voyagers is really interesting to me because it helps bring this sense of an inexperienced cowboy on his own for the first time to life in the song.

My Home by Rockapella is another one that my dad sings a lot. It is a story about someone reflecting on what they think their home is, talking about where their family is from, where they grew up, before eventually deciding on the answer that “you are my home.” The most memorable part of this song for me is the opening when the speaker is questioning why they are wondering about their home in the first place. The song opens like this:

“Is it the sky today

The way that the wind's pushing the clouds?

Or is it the late-day sun

Stretching the shadows over the ground

That brings on these memories”

I like the song, it is a nice quiet relaxing song about personal reflection. It does not have the same implications that it probably has for someone much older but I still enjoy it for the surface level value it provides me. I think of this song less about a person and more about an identity that makes up who you are. I think it is nice to reflect on where I have come from and where you have grown up when considering who you are as a person now. 

Finally, my father is a big fan of the English rock band Squeeze so the song Tempted has been ingrained in my mind for all of eternity. Tempted, as the title might suggest, is a song of someone who has committed infidelity while travelling as he gives into his temptations. Once again, the opening of this song is the most memorable part of the song to me. It is just a list of things he is packing and seeing as he travels but this odd list sticks in my mind.

“I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste

A flannel for my face

Pajamas, a hairbrush

New shoes and a case

I said to my reflection

Let's get out of this place

Past the church and the steeple

The laundry on the hill

The billboards and the buildings

Memories of it still

Keep calling and calling”

This opening is surprisingly memorable and I think about it occasionally as I am packing. I have read that this song was not a big hit when it came out and only started gaining recognition when it was used in movies. However, I know my father was a die hard Squeeze fan in high school so I am sure he was ahead of this trend on this song. It is not my favorite Squeeze song but it is pretty good, I even heard it live once so it has gone past just my earliest memories, it has ingrained myself into my latest memories too.

These songs are the most memorable songs of my childhood and were some of the earliest songs I recall. I will probably never forget these songs as long as I live and I don’t really want to forget them as I now strongly associate them with my father. I recommend giving them a listen if you haven’t heard them before.