Musical Nostalgia

I’m sitting in Starbucks (what else is new?) and they’re playing a song called “I Can’t Get Used to Losing You.” I just Googled to find out who’s performing it– a group called The English Beat. Has a bouncy little ska rhythm. And it’s bringing back memories that put a smile on my face.

All the young folks around me, tapping their toes to the music, have no idea that this is an ancient song. It goes all the way back to my middle school years. I was probably in the 7th grade when Andy Williams originally sang it, and it was not at all bouncy, but rather poignant and lovely. I remember being so captivated by it that I wrote down all the words.

Well, my mother stumbled across the notebook paper where I’d written the lyrics. She showed them to my father. They presented them to me, both awestruck by my writing ability as well as concerned that I penned lines like:

“No one else could take your place; Guess that I am just a hopeless case.”

I assured them this was a song from the radio and I think they were a little disappointed that I wasn’t the writer they’d thought me to be. Glad I was able to make it up to them with a few books later on.

What songs bring back memories when you hear them today?