A Trip Down Memory Lane

For my first birthday, my uncle gave me a cassette tape he had made of some of his favorite rock songs. As soon as I was old enough to play it on my Fisher Price tape recorder, I listened to it every day. The songs on that tape bring back memories of being a preschooler, dressed up in my purple cape on a sunny Saturday morning as my sister and I danced along to the tape in our living room. Additionally, they bring back memories of the summer I was 10, where I pulled my hair back into a sloppy pony-tail, grabbed my tape recorder, and blasted the tape from the basket of my bike as I pedaled down the block. All through middle school, while my friends were listening to Shakira and Avril Lavigne, I was listening to my tape. (Of course, at one point I went through the Taylor Swift phase like most people, but the songs my uncle had given me were always my favorites.) I wore out that tape until I was 13, when it finally broke.

(Photo by Slave Unit)

Songs are so powerful. One of the reasons I have such a passion for music is because I love that songs have the ability to instantly take you back to a particular day, season, or year. When I listen to a song I loved when I was little, it triggers memories of smells, lighting, emotions, and precious moments.

Below is a list of some of the songs my uncle included on the tape he made me 17 years ago, as well as a few other songs I love from my childhood. (Follow/listen to my childhood playlist on Spotify here.)

Feel free to tweet me (@SophersC) or comment below: What were your favorite songs/albums as a kid?

Songs from my uncle’s rock tape:

We’re A Happy Family — The Ramones

Fire Brigade — The Liquor Giants

The Wooden Song — Butthole Surfers

(She’s) Sexy + 17 — Stray Cats

Three Little Birds — Bob Marley & The Wailers