The song remembers when

(from Bobby)

We were driving home from eating out last night when Garth Brooks’ “To Make You Feel My Love” came on the radio.

Suddenly, I was back at my sister Christy’s 1999 wedding.

My brother-in-law Josh sang that song during the ceremony, inextricably linking it in my mind to that special Saturday afternoon at the Keller Church of Christ.

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I would offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love
When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love
I know you haven't made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I've known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong
I'd go hungry, I'd go blind for you
I'd go crawling down the aisle for you
There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love
The storms are raging on a rolling sea
Down the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
But you ain't seen nothing like me yet
There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the earth for you
Make you happy, make your dreams come true
To make you feel my love

It’s funny how certain songs always take me back to a certain time and place.
My baby girl was born the day before Christy’s wedding, and Alabama’s “God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You” was a big hit on the radio at the time. I internalized the lyrics when Tamie’s doctor decided to induce labor a week later than originally planned – delaying Kendall’s arrival.

So, even now, I can’t hear this song without thinking about Kendall and reflecting on how she came just a bit behind schedule.

Your love is like a river
Peaceful and deep
Your soul is like a secret
That I never could keep
When I look into your eyes
I know that it's true
God must have spent...
A little more time
On you...
(A little more time, yes he did baby)

As for other songs that always put me in a nostalgic mood, it seems like many of them have something to do with a John Hughes movie.

-- I hear “Everytime You Go Away" and think Steve Martin and John Candy in “Plains, Trains and Automobiles.”
-- “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” reminds me of the gang in “The Breakfast Club.”
-- “Twist and Shout” makes me smile as I remember “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
-- Certain songs – although they’re not coming to me now – also take me back to “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink” and my first love – Molly Ringwald.

Of course, Hughes didn’t make every 1980s classic movie whose soundtrack plays in my mind.

“Take My Breath Away” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” put me in a Maverick and Ice Man mood as I recall “Top Gun.”


“Hungry Eyes” and “She’s Like the Wind” would remind me of “Dirty Dancing” in 1988 and a certain girl I started dating and fell in love with that year – IF I had bothered to see a movie with such an offensive name. But I will neither confirm nor deny that I have seen “Dirty Dancing” a few dozen times.

Speaking of the soundtrack of my first few months with Tamie, the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” always seemed to be playing when we drove my station wagon to Hafer Park on Friday nights to TALK. I can’t listen to it without thinking about her.

Just like I can’t hear Wham’s “Freedom” without – in my mind - cranking up the volume, rolling down the windows of my friend Jack’s Volkswagen and going cruising with the guys on Friday night. The girls must have thought we were really cool. I am sure of that! (Billy Idol's “Rebel Yell” has the same effect as Wham, strange as that may sound.)

Other songs bring back less pleasant memories.

Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” which he sang live for the first time on the Country Music Association’s annual awards show on Nov. 7, 2001, always takes me back to the difficult days and weeks after 9/11. Brooks & Dunn’s “Only in America,” which was released even before 9/11, also reminds me of that time.

Rascal Flatts’ “Moving On” became an anthem of sorts for me when I decided back in 2001-2002 that it was time for me to leave The Daily Oklahoman after nine years.

Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” makes me a bit nostalgic for my time with The Associated Press. I got a gift card to a music store as a going-away gift when I transferred from AP’s Nashville bureau to Dallas in 2003, and I bought the Norah Jones CD that I had heard so much about at the time. So, every time I hear songs from that CD, I think about that era of my life, of moving to Dallas and thinking I’d settle down for good (not knowing that The Christian Chronicle door -- and a return to Oklahoma -- would open just two years later).


I could go on, but this post is way past nerdy enough already. If you are still reading, we are both in serious need of therapy. But since you're here, what songs take you back?