Evocations

As I was driving around today, I heard a song that brought back memories. I started thinking about how certain epochs of my life are marked by a song which I played endlessly on repeat, which captured my emotions perfectly at the time. As an ode to the power of music to reflect the existential dilemmas of life, here are my top 5:

1) Age 14. I had just started high school and was no longer good at things. I failed in my various sports and music ventures for the first time in my life. And obviously, as a cheesy Christian goody-goody with frizzy hair and no clue about make-up, I was failing socially. I would literally turn out the lights, climb under my covers, and listen to this song:
this is your invitation. come just the way you are. come find what your soul has been longing for. come find your peace, come join the feast.
come in, this is your invitation.
-Steven Curtis Chapman, "The Invitation" (disclaimer: I can't say this is good music...but give me a break I was 14!)

2) Age 18. Deciding on colleges, majors, career paths. It felt like destiny would be decided in 2004. Little did I know a BA doesn't get you anywhere anyway....Jammed out to this as I drove home from school:
this is your life, are you who you wanna be?
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger, and you had everything to lose.
-Switchfoot, "This is Your Life"

3) Dealing with my first real breakup, tears running down, sitting at the computer screen:
in summer i can taste the salt in the sea,
there's a kite blowing out of control on a breeze
i wonder what's gonna happen to you, you wonder what has happened to mei want you to know that you don't need me anymore
i want you to know you don't need anyone or anything at all
who's to say where the wind will take you, who's to say what it is will break you
i don't know where the wind will blow
who's to know when the time has come around, i don't wanna see you cry
i know that this is not goodbye
-U2, "Kite"

4) After John's return from volunteering in Palestine. We were elated to finally date in person rather than long-distance, but found we were human, and there was a lot to work through:
when it was over and they could talk about it and they were sitting on the couch,
she said what on earth made you stay
when you finally figured out what i was all about
he said i knew you'd do the right thing even though it might take some time
she said yeah i felt that and it's probably what saved my life
love wash over a multitude of things
love wash over a multitude of things
love wash over a multitude of things, make us whole
-Sara Groves, "When It Was Over"


5) When Grandma died, late one November:
what a time it was, was befriended and was a friend for the longest while
you were here and i never knew you from the sun
snow is on the ground, this is not my landscape now where i find myself without you
oh i never knew you from the sun
deep into my sleeves, deep in my sleeves, pockets down where i always reach
you are there, oh i never knew you from the sun
-The Innocence Mission, "I Never Knew You From the Sun"


What about you?Feel free to leave comments about a song or two that represent a period of your life.