The other day I was hanging out with Teddy in our living room, and I put on a CD for him. I was a bit tired of our usual fare, so I picked out an old goodie, Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits.
As the music played, I realized this was the soundtrack to my childhood. I knew every word of the album, and each song made me feel nostalgic and happy. It wasn’t kid music. It was the music my parents listened to, and more powerful to me than any kids tape I had. The same thing happens when I hear Paul Simon’s “Graceland” or Don McLean’s “American Pie.” My older sister had a serious Beatles phase, so any Fab Four song, particularly from “Magical Mystery Tour” or “Rubber Soul,” makes me shrink back to about 3 feet tall.
It made me wonder: What music will Teddy hear when he’s my age that will transport him back to being a kid? Will I pass on a Simon and Garfunkel gene to the next generation, or will he inherit my love for movie musicals, or something else that I’m not even aware of?
The night before, Jeff and I had found a record in the back of our storage space — Horst Jankowski and his orchestra. My sister had found it at a thrift store ages ago, long before we had a record player. She got it for me because it was the music I loved as a baby, the songs that would quiet me down, no matter how upset I was. I put it on, expecting to enjoy what I heard and possibly be taken back to a magical pre-verbal time of mobiles and crib bumpers.
Instead, I was horrified. My poor family. They had to listen to this over and over? Here’s a sample for you.
It made my husband and me laugh; it was like the worst, cheesiest music you hear on Mad Men times 1,000. I was not transported anywhere but to the record player to shut it off. Anyway, it made me wonder: What was the soundtrack to your childhood? What music still makes you feel like a kid whenever you hear it? And what music will make your kid wax nostalgic someday?
Leave a comment for me, and the best one wins the Horst Jankowski record, FedExed to your home.
No, just kidding. I wouldn’t do that to you.