January 8th in Posso's Prompts

Remember a trip or vacation that you took, is there a song, album or group that stands out to you? Can you explain why you remember or what causes the memories when you hear it?

Hands down the first memory that comes to mind is riding in the Utah desert with my mom and dad, looking for pottery shards and petrified wood while my parents had Rumours by Fleetwood Mac on. My mom and dad loved that album and I distinctly remember how quiet the ride in our Jeep Grand Cherokee would be driving around southern Utah. My parents did their fair share of arguing and bickering but somehow when you’d hear, “Now here you go again you say you want your freedom, well who am I to keep you down?” it was like everything stopped, I can actually remember them looking at each other and grabbing hands. I didn’t completely understand it at the time, but music to my parents was a part of their relationship, and it was something I developed thinking should be a part of mine. I can remember my mom cracking open a can of Shasta (the soda you can sometimes find in fucking 3 liter bottles. No wonder my teeth disappeared early) and telling me one of her favorite songs ever was “Go Your Own Way.” I remember that trip more than most; I was about to start first grade in Utah and I knew that it might be my last year there; things were getting tough for my parents and my dad insisted on raising our family in his home area, northern Wisconsin. I absolutely fell in love with Stevie Nicks and I memorized every song, every lyric, the difference between a song from Lindsay Buckingham and a song by Christine McVie - at 10 years old I could tell you who wrote each song. I told my parents that if you listen hard enough at the first second of “The Chain” you can hear someone whispering ‘fuck’ and it’s something I still swear by to this day - just listen to the deluxe album edition on CD - it’s one of my favorite arguments to get into.

Rumours is one of the only albums for me that I can listen to from front to back and not skip a song, even on a bad day, I’ve made so many memories tied to songs and I’ve always made sure that if it’s something I really truly want to remember, I associate it with Fleetwood Mac. I can remember getting excited with my friends Ben and Savannah drinking at Chasers when we heard thunder during a snowstorm, and we got worked up about thundersnow. I jokingly said, “She was wrong, thunder doesn’t just happen when it’s raining.” And we all laughed because we all understood the reference.

Heather knew I loved Fleetwood Mac and in a twisted way, I could put on Rumours and I’d have flashbacks of my parents: we’d stop fighting over silly, petty unworthy shit and we would appreciate each other. We always joked that our wedding song would be “Songbird.” I had printed the sheet music and started learning it on my keyboard at first just to amuse myself, then just to say I could do it, and finally to say I could play it for the girl that would eventually mean the most to me, and to this day, it’s now the only song that chokes me up any time I hear it.

Music has had an incredibly meaningful impact on my life and in so many different ways. I can tell you some super specific details of memories just by having some sort of song tied to it. Rumors is just one of many but I’d say it’s probably the most impactful album in my life. Whether good or bad memories music creates for me, I appreciate music for what it is; someone else’s way of making their thought last, and putting their feelings out there for others to capture, embrace and appreciate.