My Mid-Stride Soundtrack Vol. 1

Music is such an incredibly huge part of my life....and of many other peoples lives, actually. I found myself thinking about songs that I used to listen to when I was a kid. Sometimes I didn't care much about the lyrics, I just thought (as the kids on American Bandstand used to say) 'It's got a good beat!'.
I listen to an eclectic mix of artists and genres depending on my mood of the day (or moment). Sometimes I need something a bit mellow, sometimes fluffy and upbeat, sometimes carefree and danceable, and sometimes truly psycho-needs-to-vent sort of music. There are many reasons...but all music moves me. And that is what I need. Especially now when I am being told I'm too old to listen to certain genres without appearing to be on a desperate course to regain my lost youth (oh puleeze!).
I don't want to limit what I like to the mullet-era of Classic Rock, nor am I stuck in the polyester, big shouldered jackets of my disco days. I do like a lot of what is now considered, 'Old School'...but there may be a song or two that remind me of what I liked about life when I was younger....that also makes me really appreciate my life now as a middle-aged woman.

I thought I'd bring a few of those crazy songs in here and let you listen and think about how different the song seems to me now, as opposed to then. Or I may just bring something I love in around for fun cause...well, because I really LIKE it!! Do I need another reason? Music makes me happy....and that's a good enough reason to share the songs I love here with you. You may not know any or all of the songs I post here. My musical tastes cross many boundaries...but as we know, 'Variety is the spice of life'.

So let's listen to a little music, shall we?

In November 1983, I was a big fan of The Pretenders song, "Middle of the Road". Chrissie Hynde was a female rock icon and an absolute bad ass! This song has a great driving beat and I loved it. Funny that even then, my favorite lyrics were 'Don't harass me! Can't you tell? I'm going home, I'm tired as hell! I'm not the cat I used to be. I got a kid, I'm 33, baby!' I can relate much more to the actual lyrics now, which speak of poverty in the world, as well as how your perspective changes once you get a few more years under your belt and some shit just looks different.... Chrissie Hynde just turned 62 on September 7 of this year and she's still rocking hard. How can you not love someone who can really bring it like that (unlike a certain British band I will not name here who should have left the stage some time ago!) I listen to 'Middle of the Road' now, and I sing along with the conviction that things have changed, but I'm not done yet....

Ah, yes...David Bowie. I adore my beloved Goblin King (some of you understand) and a little crush on the Thin, White Duke just a part of the attraction for this song. Written by Bowie and released in 1971, I was just a 6 year old girl when this song came out. But how could you not love lyrics that chide grown ups not to tell children to 'grow up and out of it'? Later, I've come to notice that when listening to this song, the chiding is clearly directed now at myself...by me. A reminder that we all thought we'd change the world, we all blamed the previous generation for the ills of the world, and we still haven't done much to improve all the things we complained about. The solution to the real ills of the world as we get older? Things ch-ch-change and they do when we take an honest look in the mirror.  Turn and face the strain, indeed...

Goddess Bless the Indigo Girls!! In 1989, 'Closer to Fine' was released and this song was to become a permanent part of my Feel Good soundtrack for my Life! This is a song I can listen to over and over again. It lifts me up as much now as it did when I first heard it. Now, I have more experience and relate a bit more to all of the different ways, places and people I tried to search for meaning from. But from any end of where you are, it's a song that can reach you, where ever you are. 'Darkness has a hunger that's insatiable, and lightness has a call that's hard to hear...' What glorious lyrics to describe the strange, lonely, and sometimes frightening places we find ourselves when we are searching the world for meaning in life. But no matter what, the advice given in 'Closer to Fine' is sound and let's us know we're not the only ones who felt this way on our own journeys. The Indigo Girls become friends who sing, 'Don't take yourself so seriously'....'It's only life after all....' and by the end, you just find yourself smiling. Just like in life, when you get further down the road, get okay with yourself...the 'less I seek my source for some definitive, the closer I am to fine'. Life sometimes does not have clear answers...relax...just get comfortable in your own skin. Hold the answers that feel right to you...Oh yeah....when I released my death grip on my need to know all the answers....and accepted that my life didn't have to look like everyone else's...life became fine and so did I.

That's all for this first edition of the Mid-Stride Soundtrack. If you have suggestions for songs you'd like me to cover in future volumes I'd love to hear them. Or if you have a particular song that moves you still as you journey down the road, please share!!! There's always  room for more inspiration on the Mid-Stride Soundtrack! Till next time, friends....Bright Blessings!