Ray Ray- the soundtrack!

Ever wish that your life came with a soundtrack? In the classic movie, I'M GONNA GIT U SUCKA, a band followed the hero, playing "New Jack City."

In my life, I think I'd need an MP3 player with a huge memory and an eclectic collection. One song wouldn't be enough. Sometimes, fresh off a court victory, I imagine the eye of the tiger playing as I strut down the street- though it might look funny to see an overly healthy 6'2" man strutting to anything but maybe some circus clown music. Other times, the song would be Elmore Leonard's "The Sky is Crying" or Robert Cray’s “I think I showed her.” It’s weird, but blues songs about losing everything sometimes fit my mood, though I’ve never lost everything (I did lose a cell phone once) and am generally upbeat. I guess this would make me a blues “poser.” I do take my loses with a touch of humor, just like the narrator in Cray’s song who showed his woman what’s up, by ending up in the cheap motel room while she kept the house.

But the place where the music really plays a role in my life is in flashbacks. Music reminds me of yesterday’s moments like little else. I hear Gloria Gaynor sing and I remember every breakup that I ever had. I will survive! I play Marvin Gaye and suddenly I'm the suave undergraduate would be Romeo, with a jumbo bottle of Obsession cologne, a bad haircut and a hopeful smile. Certain songs hit the radio and I remember a flash of pain, like John Secada’s another day without you- a song that I heard for the first time in Spanish shortly before a breakup.

On a non-romantic level, there are songs that remind me of family. Leo Sayer’s sings “when I need you” and it reminds me of my parents, who went away for business, but would always come back when I needed them. Jose Jose, El Puma and a few other old singers make me think of my siblings, who are each a decade older than me and would play the music ad nauseum.

So, if music were to be a soundtrack to my life, I’d need a library full of tunes. I think we all would.