I'll Love you Forever, if I Ever Love at All...*

Music is a weird and wonderful thing.  It can lift you up, tear you down, jerk your mind and heart back in time.  It has power, chaos and beauty. Prompted by a radio program, Lisa took a walk down her Musical Memory Lane.  She then encouraged us to do the same, asking What songs trigger a memory of young love, lost love, first love?

I was sixteen; he was nineteen and home on leave.  I knew that he was The One, after a mere two nights together, hanging out and talking until all hours of the night.  He went back to Life as an Adult; I returned to my Junior year of high school.  He returned home less than a month later, married to his One and Only Love.    We never discussed it when he returned.  He was my first broken heart, and I felt like a fool.

Twenty odd years later, they live in my home town with their kids, and I (thankfully) live Far, Far Away.

David was my college love.  I knew, deep inside, that this was a love wrought of torture and pain.  He didn't want me, per se, but he didn't really want anyone else to have me, either. In the end, his addiction won all; David died of a drug overdose two years ago.  While cleaning out his apartment, his mother found a picture of  his high school sweetheart....and a letter from me.  Talk about a knock to the gut.




John was my College Platonic Love, and was David's Roommate.  He was my first Gay Friend, which I knew a full ten years before he had the courage to Come Out to me.  Back in college, I seriously considered proposing to help keep his secret.  I had no real interest in a serious relationship, and it would have benefited him at the time.  "Desperado" was one of our many songs (along with the entire sound track for "Annie Get Your Gun", "Grease", and miscellaneous other songs as the mood struck.)  I adore him to this day.




The Pirate was my Recovery Mode from David.  We met in Theatre class, and he happened to live across the hall from J & D.  We lasted (off and on) for about two years.  It was a dark and dreary time for me; the music of CSFH factored heavily into my life.  Truth be told, however, the song does not describe how The Pirate treated me.  He was a great date, a fun time and an incredibly thoughtful man. The Pirate was one of the best things to ever happen to me.  My time with him helped make me the person that I am today, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

He is a truly decent human being, and I wish him and his gorgeous family nothing but the best.  [Clarification:  His Family was a Post "us" creation!]



Another David...This one Platonic.  Irish David was my drinking buddy, my pal, my summertime study partner.  We would laze around drinking Jameson's and listening to The Pogues to pass the time.  We briefly considered being more than friends, but the subsequent laughter (from both parties) assured us that it was probably best to simply remain friends.  I think of him every time I hear this song.  Since it's still one of my favorites, I tend to think about Irish David a lot.  Last I knew, he owned a chain of ice cream stores somewhere in Amish Country.


That's the short list, people.  I'd hoped to include "Money for Nothing", but embedding isn't allowed.  Let's just say that song reminds me of a boy from high school.  He looked like one of the guys in the video.  I never had a relationship with him, but had a brief infatuation with him all the same.  For those who have been reading RR for a while, He was the Thigh Guy.

Now it's your turn.  What songs spur memories of your former loves?

[*from Blue Jeans and White T Shirts- The Gaslight Anthem]