I worked from a café recently, and as I sat there editing and sipping my drink, my attention drifted in and out of what song was being piped through the speakers. I paused for a moment when the theme song of Xanadu started playing. My mind flashed to the memory of a few months back, when I’d gone to see a rerun of the film with a friend. Several people had shown up to the theater in full costume, complete with roller skates. We’d gone for a slice of pizza after the show, chatting about the film and about life before I had to catch the last bus home.
The next song to grab my attention was “I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)” by Alicia Bridges. They used to play this song on a TV infomercial when I was in high school. The producers had paired song clips from the 1970s with cheesy commentary to lure nostalgic viewers to buy a box of CDs. With nothing else on—life without cable and this was pre-streaming—it was the default background noise for those lazy nights when it wasn’t quite time for bed. It was on often enough that my sister and I knew all the songs before long. I never bought the box set, but many of those songs transport me back to those nights hanging out with my sister.
It may have been the caffeine kicking in, but the familiarity of these songs stirred me up. I glanced around at the other people in the room and thought, We all know these songs; they are songs that have played on the radio longer than I’ve been alive. They connect us, yet they also just fade into the background. Maybe this song played at that woman’s first dance. Maybe it was blaring from the speakers at the start of the marathon that guy ran. Maybe it plays overhead every twentieth time that person goes to the grocery store. Innocuous, happy, bittersweet…any number of emotions or memories could be attached to different songs for different people. We’re all brimming with stories, and music can be the soundtrack to those stories.
As Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” started playing, I noticed the spaced-out stare of another diner sharing the same song but thinking her own thoughts and recalling her own memories. It felt fitting to sit there, wondering what she might be thinking, and to hear Chaka sing, “I can read your thoughts right now / Every one from A to Z.”
Music is a big part of my life, with certain moments and memories frozen in different songs. What songs are in your life’s soundtrack? Check out this list of novels that feature music. Or write your own! Learn more about how I can help by visiting my Services page.
Natalie Roth Editing Services 