10 Songs that take me to a place in time

Of all of them I share a Rhinestone Cowboy memory. When I hear this song I am transported to 6th grade music class. I see all of the rows and chairs and the beige floor tiles as clear as 30 years ago. I don't know why this happens but it does. Also thanks for a new Ben Folds album to listen to. I had never checked that one out.

Other than that:

Ballad of the Alamo - Marty Robbins : Reminds me of my Mom she sang/sings it all the time.

Whiskey Before Breakfast - A instrumental that takes me back to the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield KS, specifically to the first time I heard it in a Jam there. It transformed my experience there and made me a lifer.

That's Life - Sinatra - The first song I actually "listened" to Sinatra sing. It was during the movie "License to Drive' starring the Coreys - that horrible movie is why I worship at the altar of Frank to this day.

Well Alright - Along with Sinatra, I discovered Buddy Holly during college. One of the first CDs I had was a greatest hits CD. I used to sleep with it on repeat. One night I woke up in the middle of the night from a dream. I was arguing with someone, and I just kept repeating "Well Alright, well alright..." I woke up and the cd was skipping with Buddy faithfully singing the phrase over and over.

Horse with no name - America - Takes me back to the bedroom I grew up in. 3 siblings in one room with one radio. This was a song we all liked.

Peace!

Bob,
Those are good ones! "Horse with No Name"..........big yes......or "Wildfire"!!!!!??!? Kevin

To my last breath I'll remember driving into Manhattan late at night in a Checker cab, hot from a flight from the UK, while Sleepwalk by Santo & Johnny provided the perfect soundtrack on the radio.

One of life's moments...

Cameron,
Thanks for the mentions of "Red-Blooded American Boy" and "Fear Nothing"-wish the internet had been around when I was on A&M; Records!
I say that because if i'd gotten feedback like this from friends and fans back then............I might have had more strength to negotiate the major label waters.
I think I let LA beat me in alot of ways.
Thank you............Kevin

So many songs come to mind.

1. No One Is To Blame- Howard Jones

My first trip to the beach (Ft. Walton beach FL). We wnt to the water park and this song was playing over the spekers while I waited to ride on the scariest ride in the park.

2. Brand New Mister Me- Mel Tillis

My family is a LARGE musical family. Our reunions consist of everyone singing and playing for HOURS. This was one song I asked my dad to sing everytime. Now I sing it at the reunions.

3. Red Blooded American Boy- Kevin Montgomery

I remember the first time I saw the video in my living room. I was blown away. Not only by the song, but the girl in the video. I had a VCR set up so that when the video came on,I recorded it. I still have that video tape.

4. Rose Colored Glasses- John Conlee

After my parents divorced my mother dated a man that lived about an hour away. When we would go to his place, we would listen to the local station there and they played this song a lot.

5. Go Rest High On That Mountain- VInce Gill

My grandmother had not been in good health for quite some time and my thoughts were that she just needed to pass on. I hated to see her suffer and couldn't understand why everyone was so upset when she passed because she was hurting so bad, I thought is was better that she wasn't suffering anymore. I sang this at her funeral and it hit me why everyone was so upset. I barely made it through the song then broke down.

6. Do You Call My Name- RA

I was working on the road and one of my co workers brought me this cd and told me to listen to it. This song blew me away. The album (From One) was amazing.If you like the harder stuff this album and the other two (Duality and Black Sun) are amazing.

7. Fear Nothing- Kevin Montgomery

I was dating a girl in high school when I ordered Kevin's cd. It came in and we started listening to it on the way home. This song came on and the girl I was with loved it. She kept the cd at her house for the longest time. When we broke up I pretty much had to steal the cd back from her.

8. A Good Man- Emerson Drive

My dad, sister and I were putting together a demo cd to try out for a talent show and a spot to open up a local festival. My oldest son was watching us and during a break I was playing the new Emerson Drive cd for my dad. This song came on and my son was singing the song into the mic. I pushed the record button on the recorder and I still have him singing it. Very cute.

9. Achy Breaky Heart- Billy Ray Cyrus

My friend and I were at the beach and this song was the hottest song at the time. No one really seemed to like it but we LOVED it (for some reason). We walked up and down the beach singing it for 6 days straight.

10. A Place In The Line- Jude Cole

I loved the song Start the Car by Jude Cole and went and bought the cassette single. I had just got my car and would blast this song with the windows down. I flipped the tape over one day, wondering what the b-side sounded like and this song started playing. I hardly ever listened to Start The Car after that.

There are tons more, but these came to mind first.

Sandy,
Auld Lang Syne is incredible. That is a song that has always blown me away.....incredible. Kevin

Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springstein

All I Need Is a Miracle

If I Could Just Hold You Again - Simply Red

Thes Eyes - The Guess Who

1. "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high,There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby." Judy Garland. Ther year was 1979, I was 8. I fell in love in Judy Garland and was amazed by her beauty and her voice and loved the Wizard of OZ, Every time I hear that song i remember myself sitting there in my little Panda-chair with my yellow dress and white sandals, swinging my legs to Judy Garlands "Over The Rainbow"

2. "Blue Suede Shoes" Elvis Presley. I was 11 and got all my moms old vinyl records and her old Phillips lp-record player. The first song on the first record I picked was this song, and it totally blew me away. I fell in love with Elvis. I mean all my classmates liked the Danish pop or disco music, but not me. Every time I hear that song i remember my moms exciting face when she "introduced" me to music for the very time with giving me her old vinyls and the record player. Thanks mom, and thanks, Mr Presley in Heaven, for giving me so many amazing music moments in my life.

3. 1985. Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen. Dancing in the dark. I was in a restaurent with my grandparents and there was a Jukebox playing old and new tunes. My grandpa picked that one, and came back to eat his steak. I couldn't eat anything. I was just listening. My grandma got worried about me: Are you okay, sweetie? You are so quit"..lol..I was just enjoying the music. Bruce Springsteen was an important part of my musiccal influenze in my childhood. He was a "REAL MAN"...wauw"" Dancing in The dark puts me back in time to that restaurent and my grandma's worring face..hahah.

4. Why Worry- Dire Straits. I was 17 in 1988 and totally in love with this guy, Per. We kissed the very first time to this song, so it's "our song". The guy is still my guy, well actually he's my husband ..haha..

5. And Justice For All- Metallica. Man, these was the years. I was young, only 17 and hooked by Heavy Metal. It was my "heavy-teen fase".Oct 13th 88 I was among the huge crowd in K.B.Hallen in Copenhagen to hear Metallica, for second row!! I was SO close. And close enought to slap Lars Ulrics hands. MAN!! I didn't washed my left hand for THREE days. Actually each and one of the old Metallica songs puts me back to that concert in 88. But in 1991, I stopped enjoying Heavy metal, it suddenly became a pain in my ears. I guess I just grew up..lol.

6. Nothing compares to you- Sinead O'connor. My friends mom got killed by the moms new husband. He stapped her over 20 times and left her bleeding to death. I was with my friend at the funeral and they played that song. We cried so hard. It was SO sad. I'll never forget that. When I hear that song I think about my friend and her loss.

7 .Still got The blues. Gary Moore.The year was 1990. I saw that damn guy in a live concert in tv. Gary Moore blew me away with that song.

8. Rebecca Lynn, it was when Denmark still had the CMT music channel. I ust stopped listening to Heavy metal a couple of years ago and was just curious. Then I saw that guy winning an Horizont Award at the CMA award festival. He played Rebecca Lynn, and I was shocked!! I didn't knew that country could sound like that. WOW!!! I was like a "wake-up" and I got curios about what this country music was all about. Two weeks later I saw a cd from the same guy Bryan white. I bought it and it was my very first country album. I've been a fan of Bryan White and of country since then. It was in 1995.

9. 1996. A friend sent me a mail with a link: "Dear Mal, listen to this please. It's not a new song, but this guy are so talented. Give it a chance. Lisa"
The song was "Code of Honor" and the guys name was Kevin Montgomery. Who was this guy with that amazing voice, with so much dept? How was he? I can still remember myself sitting there in front of my comp, shocked and spellbounded at same time. I realized, what I already knew, that you can't put all music in boxes with labels and call it rock, pop, country or whatever it is. Kevin Montgomery got and still have a speciel place in my heart.

10. More Kevin. "Fear Nothing" is one of the most important songs in my life. I know it's a song about love, but it's also a song about believing in yourself and not let anybody let you down. I always plays that song when I'm having a hard time, and the chorus always makes me feel better and more strong. First time I heard it was right before an very important difficult exam in College. I didn't believe I could make it but I listening to Fear Nothing on my MP3 and it made me cry, but gave me strengt to go in and just do the exam the best I could. "Yea, yes, you are something, fear nothing"..i made it and got the hightest rate, and that rate got me into the University. Every time I hear that song it puts me back in time to that difficult exam..well, that's my story. I surely do have more songs putting me back in time, but immidiately thought of this one. Thanks for the music, Kevin ((Hugs))

There's also a couple of Danish songs that puts me back in time, but I won't post them here, because you wouldn't know what I was talking about..lol..

Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogleberg

Piano Man - Billy Joel

Hot Hot Hot - Buster Poindexter

No Next Time - Allison Moorer

Only one's to jump out at me at this moment.

Yes, you are probably right about the songs vs. movies...........we are living our songs........and feeling what is going on around us.
Kevin

As I read these it occurs to me that maybe the time-machine factor of movies has something to do with the longevity of songs, versus, say, films. I don't know about you, but music I can listen to over and over whereas there are very few films I feel compelled to re-experience. Maybe it's because music is the soundtrack for our experiences while film is often vicarious experience? I don't know, but I wonder about such things now and then. Kevin, nice to know you did your bit for the Fourth Estate, and got something out of it, to boot.

Andy, who said growing up was in the script?

Unless it's a Springsteen gig!

Life's too short to be boring.

Sorry for the double post but more are coming to mind, at 25 my list will probably be different to most

One Week by Barenaked Ladies

Back to High School and the first song that got me interested in a band with nobody elses influence, 9 years later after buying all the albums i finally see them live in Manchester and they met every expectation i had of them

Any song at all by Buddy Holly

Listening to the cassettes in my Dads car as a kid, it formed my taste in music and appreciation of classic rock n roll

Halfway to Paradise by Billy Fury

Secretly borrowing my Dad's old vinyl and trying my best to learn the words, no matter how long it is between hearing songs like this the words always come flowing back to memory whenever it's played

Dry County by Bon Jovi

Such a long album track will never be played live, dream on. Oh shit, they're playing it, THEY'RE PLAYING IT!!! I was in a trance singing along when i glanced around me and saw the most stunning girl i have ever seen singing along with every word. I never spoke to her but that she knew every word was so cool and i fell in love a little bit

I’m On My Way by Dean Parrish

I used to work as a glass collector in a local club where they had a soul night every month. It was a run down old club but the soul still drew in the dedicated crowds who used to dance the whole night away at Wigan Casino. It fascinated back then how these grown men would dance in a way i'd never seen before without even a drop of alcohol. It took me to times long before i was born and gave me the feel of the whole Northern Soul movement. Keep the faith.

This is the one by The Stone Roses

Played before every Man Utd game, this gets me geared up as though i'm ready to play the game rather than watch it. Whenever i hear it i can feel the stadium and hear the sounds

Echoing Stevie's last comments, i've also been fortunate in my chance meetings with strangers and am still living that life for a few more years yet. I expect i'll have many more songs to add by the time i 'grow up' (if i ever decide to grow up that is)

China Grove - The doobs
This was one of the first songs I truly wore out. My brother had the 45 and I'd play that song over and over and over sitting on my bed. Had to be about 6-7 yrs. old...man that was great

Hard to Handle - Black Crowes version
I remember the video and trying to record it on VHS when it came on so I could record and watch it whenever I wanted

Walk Away - Dude Mowry
One of those tunes that stick with you and I wore it out. Of course it was during a break up and conveyed everything I was thinking

Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson (austin city limits) I think I own 1/3 of all youtube hits of that song

The Fireman - George Straight - I grew up in a musical family, Dad played every weekend in South Dakota in a group call The Trailsmen, this is the song that I got to play drums with them starting when I was about 8-9, nothing like barely being able to see over a kit and having little old white hairs dancing and smiling at the little kid on stage

Old enough - Raconteurs(ashley monroe/skaggs) I'm a dork but I play this when I clean my house, puts a little hop in my step

In a day dream - Freddy Jones Band(live)
This one we played the bejesus out of In college. First roadtrip in college with new buddies to the Deadwood Jam to see them and listened to this song the whole way...I'm lucky to remember the trip

Walking among the living - Jon Randall
This song helped me deal with many demons that I had to deal with. Makes me remember that shit like that can happen to the best of them, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel...nice cliche I know

House at Pooh corner - NGDB
another one of those songs as a kid that I couldn't get enough of. I'd make my dad play that song until he hated it...oh well, he knew it made me happy

This is a bad one...
Some stoopid En Vogue song, involved a club in Minneapolis, dancers, bachelor party, and total tomfoolery, I giggle everytime I hear that song...if my wife only knew...

Sit Down by James (a manchester band)

It takes me back to the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona in May '99 when Manchester United clinched the treble with a last minute European Cup win over Bayern Munich. 20 rows from the front with my heroes lining the edge of the pitch all singing along to this Madchester classic. Bliss

John, Stevie, Phil.......all i can say is "wow"......what cool lists..........i'm cooking dinner right now, but cannot wait to get back and check out your posts later............thanks, Kevin

Waiting on a Sunny Day (Bruce Springsteen)

Stadio San Siro, Milan, Italy 28th June 2003

The short version of this story as the long one involves lost bags and missed flights.

Shortly into the show a thunderstorm passes over and within minutes it's like being in the shower with your clothes on. I have never been wetter fully clothed. But to be standing in one of the great stadiums in the world singing this song with 65,000 very wet Italians will live with me forever.

No Surrender - Kevin sang this song in Glasgow on 9/15/01 with a story about busking in the subway in NYC. Whenever I hear it now it is that night I think of with tears rolling down my cheeks at the end of that terrible week. Not a defiant No Surrender for me but that evil can never triumph over good. For the few who did wrong that week, many countless thousands stood up to do the right thing and help.

Clare Island - The Saw Doctors

Somehow this became a lullaby for my eldest daughter. She's 13 now and taller than her Mum but I'm still taken back to that time when I struggled to get a baby to sleep.

My Life - Billy Joel

This is the first song I remember hearing on the radio that made sense. The lights went on in 12 year old boy and I've never really cared since what anybody thought.

Chance - Big Country

Takes me back to a night in The Barrowlands in Glasgow. Stuart Adamson taught the crowd about timing so they counted through the song. An amazing performer who's untimely death still saddens me.

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues & Kirsty Maccoll

I was in a record store in NYC jsut before Christmas and this came on. I couldn't help but sing but it did get me weird looks. But see My Life above.

Parlami D'Amore - Negramaro

Another Milan trip and by chance there was a massive free concert in the main square. This band came on a blew me away. An amazing night in a city I've fallen in love with. Mainly because amazing things happen.

Keith Urban - Days Go By

I've been incredibly fortunate to go to some great gigs in amazing places. A few years back we went to Frontier Days in Cheyenne for the rodeo. I can recommend it. Not least for the free pancake breakfast for 9,000 people. We went to see Keith Urban whilst we were there. Second back row of the main stand but there were people dancing all around. My kids loved it.

Later the song began to mean more for itself. You can't wait for things. Do them now and enjoy it all.

All These Things I've Done - The Killers

This song stalked my family around the shops for a while before I knew what it was. Strange how you go through spells of hearing the same song everywhere you go.

Follow On - Paul Brady

This song takes me back to when my wife and I first met, a tiny student flat and a great line that set us up I guess "all I ask is that you want me for a friend"

23 years later we still are.

Thanks for encouraging us all to share memories. I've been very fortunate in the place I've been and the chance meetings with random strangers.

1. Leaving on a Jet Plane- Our 8-Track choices on long trips were slim as a kid. John Denver's Greatest Hits, an Oktoberfest tape, and another I can't remember. So it's only natural that a song about travel sticks out in my mind.

2. Master of Puppets-I listened to this song as much as any on the bus ride to football games in high school. There was some TSOL and Agent Orange mixed in, but nothing gets you fired up quite like Metallica in their prime.

3. It's a Shame About Ray-The CD by the same name by the Lemonheads was a gift from my mother because she wanted me to learn how to play the song. I hold that song close because it got me into playing acoustic guitar.

4. Body- Out of all the songs I have written this one sticks with me the most. I wrote it the night I found out my fiance had a problem with monogamy.

5. She Said by Hasil Adkins, performed by the Cramps. I played some shows with Hasil Adkins when I was in college, and thought it was cool that one of my favorite punk bands covered a song by him, this guy that lived in a shack in southern West Virginia.

6. Anymore-Travis Tritt. If I and any of my significant others ever had a song, this was it. Then again, see #4. Hehehe!

7. Message in a Bottle-Police. Everyone in my group of friends in high school knew this song and I think I played it in just about every band I've ever been in.

8. The Attitude Song-Steve Vai. I walked in to my guitar teachers room for my lesson and he was learning this song. I got to a point where I could play along for about the first two minutes of this song, but eventually decided that I would never be a guitar hero because of this song.

9. Big Fat City Heart Attack-Todd Burge. That song kind of represents my move to Parkersburg. Todd is a local songwriter that got me into performing again. So it's special in more than one way.

10. Skyway-Replacements. This song came out close to the time I was graduating high school and there are quite a few people that I can make cry by playing that song.

Phil,
Thanks for the mention. It was an incredible experience to sing that song in front of that crowd at The Surf.
I'm going to have to look at your list when i get back.......gotta run out now......kevin

Bro,

What an amazing list of songs and even more amazing stories associated with each song. Wow, is all I can say. Thanks for sharing all that. Makes me want to go download every song. (Actually, I think I will).

10 Songs..A Place In Time:

1. "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles. I was four in 1964, and would sit outside a closed bedbroom door and listen as my two oldest brothers spun Beatles records inside their bedroom. The Beatles became my heroes before I even started 1st grade. The first Halloween costume I remember was dressing up as John Lennon. No fireman or cop for me! My grandma bought me a Beatles wig and carved out a guitar from a big piece of cardboard.

2. "Get Off Of My Cloud" by The Rolling Stones. When this song was high in the charts, the "family band" would play air guitar and air drums to this 45-RPM in the living room every morning before hopping on the bus for school. The band was me (aged 6), my sis (8), and older brothers (9 and 12). The oldest always "got to be Charlie Watts" and the rest of us were jealous. No one wanted to be Mick! We wanted to hold those drum sticks!

3. "Tip Toe Through The Tulips" by Tiny Tim. This was one of the first 45-RPM singles I remember buying. Bought it the summer of 1967 while living with my Grandma, and I played it over and over on her phonograph in the back bedroom.

4. "Imagine" by John Lennon and "Tired Of Being Alone" by Al Green. For my 12th birthday in Sept. 1971, my parents gave me an AM Clock Radio. During the weeks to follow, I would sneak the radio under my covers each night after bedtime (so my parents would not hear it), and would stay awake until I heard these two songs.

5. "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" by John Prine. My brother came home from college one day in 1972 and had a new John Prine 8-track. He invited me to sit in the car and listen to it. Amazing songs! I became a life long Prine fan. 18 years later, John's cousin became a co-worker of mine and a dear friend, and he invited me to the Prine yearly family picnic in western KY in 1994. I'll never forget sitting in a circle of 10 folding chairs outside the community hall listening to John and his brother Billy and an uncle picking, strumming and singing.

6. "Tuesday Afternoon" by The Moody Blues. I heard this song one afternoon at my high school summer job, and when my next paycheck arrived, I purchased "This Is The Moody Blues" double LP of their greatest hits. I became a huge fan and began turning on all my friends to it. I've attended about 30 Moody Blues concerts over the years.

7. "Celluloid Heroes" by The Kinks. One of my first concerts as a teenager was The Kinks in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall, April 1977. Only had a few of their albums, so many of the songs at the concert I was hearing for the first time. This song blew me away and still today is one of my all time favorites. Every time I hear it I think of that magical night. Twenty years later, Ray Davies autographed my ticket stub from that show.

8. "Days' by The Kinks. A beautiful song written by Ray Davies. When my father was diagnosed with cancer (in a very late stage) in 1996, I flew back home to be with him. It turned out to be the last 27 days of his life. In the ten years prior, I would only see him a few times a year. Usually during summer vacation and Christmas week and one other time if he was passing through out east. And even though my Dad was dying those last 27 days, that time was a gift from God as I was with him every day. When I sat down to write a eulogy , the lyrics from "Days" came to mind: "Thank you for the days, those endless days, those sacred days you gave me..." So at his funeral, I read the lyrics of "Days."

9. "Gina's Garden" by Mark Laurens and Zydeco Fire. One of my best friends in Dayton is the front man for a local zydeco band. I've probably been to 150 of his shows over the past 10 years since meeting him. On Halloween night 1999, he debuted four new original songs at a show. This song tells the story of his six year old daughter who wanted a garden. He had Gina throw out some seeds on a plot of soil before going to bed. While she slept, he planted a few flats of flowers, and when Gina awoke the next morning, she thought her seeds had magically grown overnight.

10. "Wishing" by Kevin Montgomery and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Being a life long music fan, I did not want to miss the 50 Winters Later celebration, so I drove 800 miles and arrived late Friday night, just in time to catch Diamond Dave and The Shirelles at The Surf. Saturday's events were great, but it wasn't until Sunday afternoon at the Songwriters Symposium that I heard the song of the weekend. I had never heard of Kevin or his music, but he pulled out this black guitar, started tuning, then sang "Wishing." So beautiful!! I spent the rest of Sunday night and Monday wishing (no pun intended) Kevin would perform that song again for the Monday show. And he did! Since returning home, I have played that song every day for about 60 days. It has been a long time since I remember playing a song so often. Probably since high school. "Wishing" will always take me back to my memories of 50 Years Later, and discovering Kevin's music for the first time.

Mac McAnallly is amazing. Great songwriter. Well, it looks like you and i have more in common than we think! I worked for the Tennessean for two years. Actually won "best deliverer" in my district!!! Got box seats to see Garth Brooks!
Those were actually fun times.

It is amazing how songs can be little time machines, isn't? A few mine are:

Mac McAnally's "Opinion of Love" Played on Tullahoma TN's station while I was driving rt 50 below Tims Ford Dam. I was so blown away by it I had to pull over by a dumpster and listen without the road noise.

"Sultans of Swing" -- I was in the printing area of a tiny town newspaper where I was a reporter and that tune came on the radio. The honesty, competence and expression of the clean strat sound really stood out at the time.