Red Rubber Ball

Does anyone other than me remember this song?

Until today, I had no idea what it was really about. I rarely listened to lyrics. It's the melody that captures me. Particularly when I was a youngster. I heard catch phrases, refrains, but never the complexity of the song. Never the real depth of the words. Red Rubber Ball is just such a song. I love the song. It takes me back to being 13 years old, with nothing better to do all summer but hang at the pool and play cards. I used to play lots of War and Gin Rummy and 500. But finally, I learned to play Euchre and never turned back. I played Euchre all summer, every day, many hours.

That's where I meant to start this Blog. The power of Song. It can take you instantly back to a moment in life, it can transport you to an era. It can evoke emotions, rekindle love, trigger deep sadness. It's almost as powerful as Scent. Sometimes, it is more powerful.

The beauty of Song is that you can use it yourself to go whenever you want to go. Not whereever, Whenever. For example, I think of Stairway to Heaven, hum a few chords and I am dancing at the Fairgrounds to the music of SMD (Suck My Dick - I'm not kidding), the local garage band. They used to practice in the garage down the street on Briar Avenue. Or some of the harder Led Zeppelin takes me back to the parking lot of our highschool, where before school started, or after it was over, we'd crank up someone's 8 track player or cassette player and play Led Zeppelin as loud as possible or Allman Brothers or the Blues. Or better, the sound of David Bowie transports me to college. Instantly. I'm there. Or the same for Spirit (Who?), who my Freshman roommate loved, Edgar Winter, Doobie Brothers, Chicago, Pink Floyd and many others. Or the Temptations. the Four Tops and Santana and the Detroit Motown acts take me back to Senior year of highschool. We drove to South Carolina where I promptly got my front teeth knocked out after wearing braces for four years. But we rocked all the way down there to the sounds of Motown on Marc's 8 Track player as we sped along at 80-90 MPH. Especially Santana. "You've got to change your evil ways, Baby. I come home and the pots are cold." How cruel is that?

And today, forming new memories. It's interesting, I seem to have a major gap where music played little in my life. No great memories, no real standouts that transport me. Until the past year or two. Why is that? Perhaps because I've started to take more walks, I now own two MP3 players and use them to work out, drive and walk. So I've begun to search for music. As I listen music gets tied to memories. Jacqui Naylor is one of my recent favorites. So I'll likely remember her songs for the period when I was laid off and working out lots. I listened to her a lot while working out and really enjoy her sound. "Celebrate Early and Often", "City by the Bay", "Ain't No Sunshine When He's Gone." All remakes, I think, but she makes them very cool.

So perhaps MP3 has revived my memory stream. Hopefully, it will create a new set of memories to transport me back when I'm 70 or 80 or 90. Not sure I want to be 100. So if I'm ever in a coma, PLEASE, Rock my world. And add a little Jacqui Naylor so I can recall a few more recent memories as well. Be sure to play Crazy by Aerosmith too. I love that song. Talk about memories....