Soundtrack of My Life

Kenny Chesney: No Shoes No Shirt No Problem

Growing up my grandparents owned a resort four miles outside of Perham, Minnesota. It was called Whispering Pines Resort and was located on Big Pine Lake. Fishing, boating, hanging out on the beach, having barbecues, and relaxing is what most people did. No Shoes No Shirt No problem was my way of life during those many summers I spent at the resort. The warm beach and the sand squishing between my toes is conveyed through a line in this song: the sun and the sand and a drink in my hand (with the exception of the drink). The sand was always warm. Sticking my feet in, the sand always covered them like a blanket. The soft particles fell between the cracks in my fingers whenever I picked it up. The sand was our escape from chores and fishing. Sandcastles lined the beach; large sandcastles with moats. We always tried to fill up the moats with water but the sand always soaked it up. I remember how the sand would stick to me when I ran up on the beach after being in the lake. After awhile though, once the sand dried it could easily be brushed off. My favorite thing about the sand had to be when I would run down to the lake in my swimsuit and lay in it. The sand was like a silk blanket to me, it was so soft. I would want to stay there all day. Those days spent on the warm beach, feet dug in the sand, gazing out over the lake will never be forgotten.

Craig Morgan: Redneck Yacht Club

When my family and I spend summers in Minnesota we would go tubing down a river. The river we usually floated down was Ottertail River. The river water was cool and the sun hot. The inner tubes were tied together and one extra inner tube with a cooler in. That is why I picked the song Redneck Yacht Club by Craig Morgan. In the music video they tie their boats together and chill in the water for a few hours. Tying inner tubes together and hanging out with my family chilling in the water became a family tradition. It was funny to watch other groups of people doing the same. Especially when it was a hot summer day, people would float down the river drinking beer. They were hilarious. Family bonding time was good for our family and it was a nice break from fishing all the time. Redneck Yacht Club is a good anthem to go out on a lake and have a party, which I love to do.

Dashboard Confessional: Hands Down

Hands down this is the best day I can ever remember. I will always remember: green grass scattered with leaves. The fall air settled around the empty tree branches. Students passing by, backpacks on backs, looking like someone is fast-forwarding them. Leaves crunching, stepping one foot in front of the other; our palms sweating while holding hands. Looking in to bright, pale blue eyes and feeling so nervous on the inside. Walking and stopping in the same spot, same place as everyday. It was the parting of the ways. It was October 31, 2002, a block from our junior high school, hands down a day I will always remember. Stood in silence, time passing by slowly, scared as hell. Last chance, last opportunity; “byes” were exchanged but no wait. Breathe in for luck, breath in so deep. This air is blessed, you share with me. This day is wild, so calm and dull. These hearts they race, from self control. That is when I reached out and grabbed his arm to come back and gave him my very first kiss. I could never forget him. It was he who gave me my very first kiss but also my very first broken heart. My heart is yours to fill or burst, to break or bury, to wear as jewelry, which ever you prefer. This is why I chose Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional.

Saving Jane: Girl Next Door

Saving Jane’s Girl Next Door is an anthem to a lot of girls including myself. During my last year in high school I’d say I was basically invisible. I talked to people and hung out at school but never outside of school. I was always too busy slaving away at work.
Shy and quiet, shuffling from class to class I would ignore most things that I went on. I didn’t really care. Senior year, last year there; why does anyone really care anyway? No homecoming, no prom; just working my ass off to save for my graduation present to myself. Life will begin in college. I will care more about stuff later, but not here, not with these people.
I’m not going to lie; sometimes I wish I had a life in high school besides work. That is why this song relates with me so well. My best friend was a cheerleader and hung out with the all the other cheerleaders a lot. Hanging around with all of them was awkward. Feeling like I didn’t belong or fit in made me sometimes wish I could be like them.
Laughing and telling stories of their fun weekends were the girls I, deep down inside, wanted to hang out with; but it’s too hard to get in close with a group of people before college.
That is how this line: I spend time wishing I was someone else, related to me in high school, because sometimes I did wish that I was and that I wasn’t working all the time.

Lucky Boys Confusion: Hey Driver

Over the past summer I spent two weeks on a tour bus traveling around Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Hey Driver by Lucky Boys Confusion describes the feelings I had during the trip. Hey driver to the top of the world!
Mountains and rolling hills like I had never seen passed by. The bus seats were uncomfortable for sleeping but perfect at the same time. The window was cool and comfortable to lean against. Sunglasses pulled down to block the sun as many naps were taken.
Laughter rang through the back of the bus where our group sat. Shoes covered the floor and plastic bottles were stuck into the back of the seats. Cards spread out over the pull down tables, oreos used as chips in the game of poker.
Darkness periodically occurs. The bus winds under the Swiss Alps in the tunnels that goes between Austria and Switzerland. “Hands!” someone would scream so no one could make-out through the long tunnel rides.
Outside in foreign territory; there was shopping of all kinds everywhere we looked. Food and beer in the evenings; walking straight lines after too many. Many nights were spent in hotels with foreign beds that were so small and pornography on almost every channel.
Fabio the bus driver; he took us to the top of the world with his jokes. He was Italian and shy, although we never truly believed him. Sex is what he would yell when we posed for a picture.
Waterfalls and castles were my personal favorite.

Alan Jackson: It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

"I am getting paid by the hour and older by the minute." Alan Jackson's "It's Five O'clock Somewhere" is an anthem for my workdays. Since fourteen I have held a job. Each and every time I work, the work days seem to get much longer. Holding stacks of plates filled with food; walking back and forth between the back hallway and the tables. The sixteen white plates dug into my wrist, meanwhile the twice baked mashed potatoes mixed with the green beans were smashed into the bottom of the plate that was sitting on top of it. One at a time, scraping each individual plate. I wish I could go on a Jamaican Vacation. I don't need the alcohol, just the relaxing beach. Being on the water is where I belong. In the video, Allan Jackson is hanging out on a boat, which is where I spend most of my summer days in Minnesota. Having that vacation is a nice break from working every weekend. So "if the phone's for me you can tell them I just sailed away."

Natasha Bedingfield: Unwritten

Natasha Bedingfield’s song Unwritten was the perfect song for this summer before college. The lyrics matched perfect with the stage I was at in my life. I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined. I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned. Life has created a blank page. Go, do, be anything in the world. Change, grow, imagine who you want to be and do it. Summer before college was one of anxiety. Not know what was going to happen, whether or not I would like it. Who I was going to meet and will the classes I am going to have be hard.
Unwritten is also a bit of an anthem for how I want to live my life. Live your life with arms wide open. Today is where the book begins, the rest is still unwritten. College is a good time to live life with arms wide open. Expect and try anything. Never again will the chance come along to do whatever, whenever. This way of life though is hard to get used to but one that I have come to accept and love. I am sure once I am older I will be glad to have those days behind me; but for right now I am glad I am just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, and the rest is still unwritten.

Charlie Daniels Band: The Devil Went Down to Georgia

The Devil went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band plays while during the scene in Coyote Ugly where the girls are line dancing on the bar. Now my friends and I don’t go dancing on bars but we do try and go to Pla mor Ballroom every Sunday and line or swing dance to country music.

Sweat drips from a brow as feet stomp against the floor. Being as synchronized as possible everyone moves to the same steps. A band is playing country music, some slow songs and some fast songs. Right, left, right, left, now zigzag backwards and kick one, two, three, four and repeat. Some common words that are spoken to those standing in awe trying to learn. Everyone is in a line, feet still stomping against the floor, releasing stress and thoughts for the week to come. Silly dancing, people clapping; first hands, knees, then on the floor, getting on the stomach, rolling to one side, on their back, then the other side, then they get up in reverse; clapping the floor, knees, then hands and doing it all over again. After the really fast songs it’s hard to catch your breath, but you smiling and laughing because of how much fun it was. That’s why I chose the video with the dance from Coyote Ugly. I also thought I would put the whole song by the Charlie Daniels band in there to. But the bar/dancing scene will always remind me of my friends and our time out at Plamor dancing.