Amanda Lamb: Magic carpet ride

Music is a time machine. It can immediately transport us back to a moment in our lives in a way that no other sensory experience has the power to do, evoking deep emotion in us as if no time has passed.

I think the music from our formative years is probably the most memorable because it marks significant milestones in our youth. As we get older, there are fewer, but still significant, moments that have the backdrop of a particular song. We can close our eyes and ride the melody like a magic carpet back to a memory.

When I started thinking about it, I was amazed at how much music really is the soundtrack of our lives.

First album – soundtrack to “Godspell."

First cassette tape – Captain and Tennille, “Muskrat Love.”

First concert – The Carpenters with my cousin (I was 11 and my dad made her take me.)

First concert as a teenager - The Hooters in the gym at Conestoga High School playing "And They Danced."

First stadium concert - The Who at JFK in Philadelphia playing "Baba O'Riley."

First song I knew all the words to - "The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers.

The second song I knew all the words to - "Honesty” by Billy Joel.

The first song I danced to at a junior high school dance - “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen.

First slow song I danced to - "Hello" by Lionel Ritchie.

First falling in love song - "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper.

First break up song –“Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler.

Meeting my husband song - "Strong Enough" by Sarah McLachlan.

Wedding song - "Somebody" by Depeche Mode.

Birthing song - "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor.

Baby song - "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder.

Remembering my mother song - "Mother and Child Reunion" by Paul Simon.

When I think back on all these moments, and the visceral reaction I have to these songs when I suddenly hear them on the radio, I wonder what our kids will have as the soundtrack to their youth.

I know we don't "get" their music, just like our parents didn't "get" ours, but as far as I can tell, their music requires so many "bleeps" to play in polite company that I'm not sure it is fit to be a life soundtrack.

I hope they will branch out and collect a wide variety of music, not just what they think is hip and trendy. Music that touches their souls, that takes them on that magic carpet ride. Because, if they don't do this, they will be missing out on one of life's greatest joys.

In the words of Steppenwolf: "Let the sound take you away..."