A couple weeks ago as I was flying north from Anchorage, over the rugged and majestic Alaskan wilderness, I was mindlessly scrolling through my mp3 player. In a strange way that probably only oilfield hands can relate to, on crew-change day we seem to find ourselves in some sort of far-away mentally melancholy place. We dream of home. We think of family. We plan the task ahead. We fantasize about the day we retire. Music has always taken me to another place in my ever-active mind. On my crew-change day it seems to amplify, if I may use that pun.
For every major event in my life, there is song that triggers the memories; and often the raw emotion from that time period. As I was shuffling tunes and listening, my mind was reeling like a movie theater. All the while I was gazing out the window of the 737 at some of the most beautiful country ever created.
Edwin McCain sings "I'll Be" and I think of my wife and girls. When he starts into "I Could Not Ask for More" I listen for while then switch to Sarah Evans' version...much better I think. I laugh as Billy Curington sells turnips on the back of his truck and I envy that "honk" the dobro player is getting from his instrument. Even with a factory-installed Quartermain cone, I cannot get the same sound from mine. Van Halen's "Jump" takes me immediately back to Richton High School, 1984...the name of the album the song came from. Good Lord what a mess we were...harmless by today's standards, but bad enough for back then. Tom Petty takes me "Free Fallin'" and for a little while I imagine a hot summer in California and what he was thinking he wrote the song.
About the time we flew over Mt. McKinley, or Denali, Enya's "Braveheart Theme" comes on. Although it is Celtic music, it seems to fit with the silent scenery I am lost in. I walk those mountains in peace and harmony and solve the problems of the world. I dream of a rustic cabin in some far away place. Far away from health care reform, lying politicians and ever-increasing electricity bills. "Maggie May" reminds me of how you can get away with mixing a Hammond Organ and Mandolin on the same song...Rod Stewart pulled it off so I had no fear of trying it on one of my albums.
The Bee Gee's take me back to when I was a kid, no matter what they are singing. I am standing in front of my sister Diane's record player and hoping she doesn't catch me messing with her records. When Melanie sings about a "Brand New Key" I am five again and cutting up with my sister Debbie. The song "Le Freak" puts me in junior high, having a hamburger at (Bertha) "Rae's Cafe" and hoping my Daddy doesn't find out I have that stuff on the juke box. When "Come on Eileen" or "Break my Stride" plays, my sister Denise and I are going out to the "Wade place" south of town to feed the cows. It is cold. We are in my old 72 step-side.
When the Beatles start "Paperback Writer" I remember hearing that song while half asleep, waking up and phoning SL-100 to ask what that song was. They were playing the "quarter-till classic" I think they called it. I was going to JCJC. The Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Merle Haggard, Brad Paisley, Brent Mason...they keep reminding my why I picked up a guitar for the first time. Jewel and Sara McLachlan, Colbie Callait...while I probably butchered the spelling of their names, I thoroughly enjoy their work. It makes me think...and it makes me want to write my own music in a different direction than the norm.
There are songs I won't mention because of the personal heartache that they conjure up. The kind of heartache that we think will kill us at the time, but is actually serving to mold us into the people we need to be. Everyone has a breakup song. Some of us have more than others.
There are other songs that remind me of people that I have loved and lost. When Naked Eyes "Always Something There to Remind Me" starts to play I remember JoAnne McCoy and her pretty blue eyes and disarming smile..."Der Kommisar" does that to me also; so does "She Blinded me With Science". That song was on the radio when I came home from her funeral. I cannot listen to it without being in ninth grade all over again. For some strange reason, as Johnny Cash sings "Sunday Morning Coming Down" I feel a tear roll down my cheek and I think of my Daddy. When Night Ranger comes on, there's Rodger Freeman in his old green Dodge pickup.
Bruce Hornsby starts into "That's Just the Way it Is" and I am in my second year at JCJC. Lynyrd Skynrd's "Mississippi Kid" takes me to my first hitch offshore. Guns-N-Roses has the first band I was ever a part of, jamming out at the RHS Auditorium to "Sweet Child o Mine". The Temptations sing "My Girl" and I remember when that was my ringer for my Momma on my cell phone. "Mustang Sally" puts me a couple of summers ago at the rig picnic, when I sat in with the band and brought my harps. When Michael Buble' starts singing "Home" I have to switch to another tune...it's far too early for that one.
If anyone is wondering why a Bible thumping gospel singer has such a playlist, don't. When you start thinking that way you are about to start judging. We are products of our past and for those of us who write music, our influences can be seen in what we produce. I love good music from Sam Cooke to Kenny Hinson; and it shows when I play, sing, and write. I guess I should say I don't get into gangster rap, punk or goth metal, lol...just never tickled my ears quite right.
Someday I will write about my gospel music playlist and tell you about the battles and victories that I am reminded of with each song. I would love to talk about how a song like "When He Spoke To Me" takes me to that landmark in my life when Jesus called me out of the mess I was in. I will give you all the details of how Mike Bowling singing "The Call" kept me from quitting soon after I started travelling and singing. A nice cup of coffee next to the computer, crack my knuckles, and I will start typing about how I used to listen to The Hinsons on The Gospel Singing Jubilee and dream of doing that someday.
I can hardly wait for that one...
As I sadly watched my battery power dwindle, wishing I had charged it the night before, I leaned against the window and smiled. I am blessed. I really am.
Bruce Hornsby starts into "That's Just the Way it Is" and I am in my second year at JCJC. Lynyrd Skynrd's "Mississippi Kid" takes me to my first hitch offshore. Guns-N-Roses has the first band I was ever a part of, jamming out at the RHS Auditorium to "Sweet Child o Mine". The Temptations sing "My Girl" and I remember when that was my ringer for my Momma on my cell phone. "Mustang Sally" puts me a couple of summers ago at the rig picnic, when I sat in with the band and brought my harps. When Michael Buble' starts singing "Home" I have to switch to another tune...it's far too early for that one.
If anyone is wondering why a Bible thumping gospel singer has such a playlist, don't. When you start thinking that way you are about to start judging. We are products of our past and for those of us who write music, our influences can be seen in what we produce. I love good music from Sam Cooke to Kenny Hinson; and it shows when I play, sing, and write. I guess I should say I don't get into gangster rap, punk or goth metal, lol...just never tickled my ears quite right.
Someday I will write about my gospel music playlist and tell you about the battles and victories that I am reminded of with each song. I would love to talk about how a song like "When He Spoke To Me" takes me to that landmark in my life when Jesus called me out of the mess I was in. I will give you all the details of how Mike Bowling singing "The Call" kept me from quitting soon after I started travelling and singing. A nice cup of coffee next to the computer, crack my knuckles, and I will start typing about how I used to listen to The Hinsons on The Gospel Singing Jubilee and dream of doing that someday.
I can hardly wait for that one...
As I sadly watched my battery power dwindle, wishing I had charged it the night before, I leaned against the window and smiled. I am blessed. I really am.
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