Wednesday, 7 August 2013

Five songs that bring back memories

Me being psychedelic
I'm enjoying this challenge and even surprised at myself that I can be so creative with writing again. There is life in the old girl yet!

I've heard it said that if you remember the sixties then you weren't there. Well I remember with a smile on my face and Oh! the joy and freedom of youth, Lets go to San Francisco , conjures up all the excitement, the change and the rebellious breaking down of social barriers of that era... I'll never forget!

Isao Tomito with his album 'Snowflakes are Dancing', introduced me to Debussy in the late 70s. I remember being enraptured by the sound, almost like being transported to another place and time. I bought the album as a Christmas present for my parents and funnily enough, they had bought me the same. Probably one of the rare times we were on the same page!

Its easy to place the blame at someone else's door but Billy Joel eloquently turned things around with the Innocent Man in 1983, with really deep lyrics, ouch! The eighties started well with the birth of my third child, a beautiful son, but then became probably both the worst and best decade of my life. My parents divorced about this time and my mother became suicidal. Domestic issues were at their lowest and we were broke. We had to sell our home and we barely made even. My family was breaking up and my lovely family ended up with no home of our own and I lost my precious mother. Then along came Labi Siffre in 1987 with Something inside so strong . I could so relate to that song. It was if it had been written for me. Not just my life but my whole family's life had to be built back up again and I did it! I returned to my faith, we got our own place, I went back into education and then got a job I managed to stay at for nearly twenty years. Wow! that was some achievement I can tell you. 

Life can be a fairground with its ups and downs but hope is eternal and what better way to ignore the downs than to break out into song when your favourite song comes on the radio. In 1995 it seemed this song was never off the radio and I loved it. Especially when I was in the car and I could pretend I was really at the fairground singing along with Simply Red. It made my husband and I laugh so much and laughing can be so good for the heart and soul.

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Day 7 August Blog Challenge


  1. Wow Carolyn. You are a powerful writer with a real story to tell. Love reading your blog!

  2. Wow Carolyn. You are a powerful writer with a real story to tell! Love reading your blog! Barbara H