Music is what feelings sound like....

I love driving to work in the morning. It’s the only time of day outside of taking a shower, where I am completely alone and in my thoughts. Of course, this is the best time for me to listen to music without being otherwise distracted as well. I have music going constantly, whether it’s on my PC or cd player at work or in the background in the house. But I love listening most when I’m driving because it’s just me and the music. It’s like being with an old friend. Of course, many times I’ve talked about how music is a portal to the past; it opens the doors of my mind and transports me to other times in my life that are more often than not – happy times.

This morning’s commute brought me back to being 14 years old. I was in my girlfriend Karen’s bedroom, and she was lighting matches to melt her eyeliner so that she could put it on under her eyes. Corey Hart’s “Never Surrender” came on the radio, and she turned the volume up so it was really loud -- because she was of course obsessed with him. Every time I hear that song, without fail -- I’m back in her bedroom and can smell the sulphur from the match blowing out...I can see her using her curling iron to get her hair “just right”, because Karen was a perfectionist about her hair. It could take hours before she would leave her room feeling like it was a good hair day for her. Which is funny, because her and I couldn’t have been any more opposite about that kind of stuff. I always have been a minimalist with my hair and makeup.

“Never Surrender” this morning opened the door to a flood of related memories with music. The endless hours of watching MTV, especially when a “World Premiere Video” debuted. How many times can two girls watch “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue? Clearly, never enough – because we videotaped it so we could watch it over and over and over again. The fun of going to this little mall in Harvard Square where the store “Allston Beat” was (there was also one in Fenway), and admiring the “rock girl” type clothes that we were too young to wear. The excitement of buying the Tesla’s debut cassette, and listening to it over slices of pizza. Taking the train to Fenway, to listen to some of our favorite local bands either play or rehearse. Listening to bands like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith and The Doors over and over again, so we could write the lyrics down and analyze the meanings.

These were the ways that I spent my teenage years – engrossed in music. It was how I expressed my affections and my angst.

Funny how some things truly never change.