Sounds Like the First Time

Pairs well with: "Drift Away" by Dobie Gray and "Reminiscing" by Little River Band

Do you remember where you were when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded?

How about when you heard that Princess Diana had been in a car accident?  And when it was later announced that she had died?

How about that horrific morning of September 11, 2001?  You probably remember exactly where you were when you heard about the twin towers being struck, don't you?

It is with the same clarity that most folks have for remembering these noteworthy events in history that I remember the very first time I heard certain, impressive songs.  I barely remember what I wore to work yesterday or the name of the assistant teacher who greets my son & me every morning when we walk in to school; however, I can remember minute details about these experiences:

• I was in the 8th grade at Our Lady of the Lake school, sitting in Mrs. Delouise's science class (it was a portable classroom since our main school building was under construction at the time) at the back table (the same one I was sitting at when I dissected my first - and only - frog), when Benny Dominach handed me his cassette-playing Walkman and told me to listen to "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin.  "The flute is going to change your life," he said.  I remember putting those headphones on, anxious to hear this life-changing tune, and concentrating so hard to hear the flute.  To this day, every time I hear "...there's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold..." I think of that exact moment in time.  Thank you, Benny!  (BTW, these days you can usually catch the musician, Benny Dominach, performing live on Frenchmen St. in NOLA)
• It was just the year before when I was in the 7th grade at OLL that I almost heard "Darling Nikki" by Prince for the first time.  Purple Rain had recently been released at the theater, but since it was rated R the closest my friends & I could get to that.much.coolness was to buy the soundtrack (and come to think of it, I wasn't cool at all since I didn't buy it.  My friend Ashley Adams did & she thought up this magnificent fool-proof plan).  "When Doves Cry" & "Purple Rain" made it on to the mainstream airwaves, but the little ditty about a girl named Nikki that Prince met in a hotel lobby had NOT, so Ashley brought her bright red cassette player (loaded up with new size D batteries) to school one day.  Our plan was to meet on the school yard at recess  and we'd all listen  - for the first time - together!  I had absolutely no idea what the hell I was supposed to be listening to or why it was so scandalous, but who was I to buck the crowd?  Peer pressure?  Yes, please!  When the recess bell rang I rang as fast as my short little legs & penny loafers would take me to the back of the playground.  We girls gathered in a circle, Ashley popped in the cassette tape and was just about to press the play button when Mrs. Martin, our math teacher, showed up out of nowhere.  She immediately started yelling something about "...trashy....sneaky....filthy....demerits....sin (hey, it was a Catholic school so it was a requirement for them to yell that at us when we got in to trouble).  Can you believe that?  A stinking math teacher botched our fool-proof plan.  All the hype & build-up and I left school that day still not knowing what the hell the big deal was about "Darling Nikki."
• I was in high school (I think it was 11th grade) when my friends Darnell, Chris, Tom, John & I took a weekend road trip to Houston, TX, to go to AstroWorld.  I know Tom's mom went with us, too, but I only remember the 5 of us crammed in to Tom's little red Civic.  Did we make his mom drive herself?  Huh.  Anyway, it was on I-12, heading west towards Texas, when I first heard "Feel Like Making Love" by Bad Company.  Darnell instantly liked the song as much as I did, so we made a mad dash to the music store when we stopped at the next mall we passed on the highway.  We couldn't wait to buy the cassette.  We didn't know who the artist(s) was and we weren't sure of the exact name of the song, but we tried describing it to the sales associate anyway.  He, unbeknownst to us, was a real joker.  He acted like he had no idea what song we were describing, so he brought us to the front of the store (where more customers & other sales associates were) and asked us to sing a few lines of the song for him.  Now, ladies & gentlemen, I am a damn good singer - in the shower.  I'm even pretty good - by myself in my car.  But out loud, for all the world to hear?  That's a negative, ghost rider.  And the laughter and hysteria that erupted in that mall music store reinforced that belief.  Luckily, though, when the laughter subsided our comedian sales associate handed over a copy of Bad Company's Straight Shooter and we were on our way...still singing out loud..."Baby, when I think about you...I think about love..."  
• I was sipping a 32 oz Diet Coke fountain drink while sitting in my black Chevy Impala in the parking lot of a Quick Trip convenience store in Riverdale, GA, when I heard "Where I Stood" by Missy Higgins for the first time.  I had 92.9 Dave FM on the radio, as I always did during my lunch hour when I worked in Atlanta, and was listening to my favorite DJ, Mara Davis, when the 26 year old Australian angel started singing to me through my car stereo.  I couldn't move.  Her voice was pure and tender and by the end of the song I was screaming at Mara to TELL ME WHO THIS IS!  It shouldn't surprise you to know that I went home that evening and bought every album she had for sale on iTunes and started perusing her website for concert dates.  Fast forward about 6 months and you'll find me on the 2nd row of her show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, where she was performing along with Brett Dennen and Mason Jennings.  I nearly swooned when she started in on "Warm Whispers" (but that could have been because I was 3 months pregnant at the time).  The one additional tidbit about that near-perfect evening is: I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Emily Saliers, my favorite Indigo Girl, during Missy's entire set.  Double swoon.         

As much as I enjoy recalling all of these musical "first times" the honest truth is that they all pale in comparison to the first time I heard this astonishing song.  It was early one morning this summer as I was enjoying my cup of coffee while I drove south on Hwy 49 from Hattiesburg to Gulfport (for those of you unfamiliar it's a highway to hell where the speed limit is 65 mph & the police are brutal).  You swerve one inch too far to the left or right and your car's a tree ornament.  You've got to pay attention - to your speed & the road.  And, on this monumental morning, I was not and could not when this song came on the radio. It stopped me dead in my tracks.  I literally had to pull over at a turnaround so I could focus & concentrate on this little treasure coming across the radio waves.  Never before had I heard the absolute truth and perfection come through in one simple song.  A quintessential song about life in these here parts when somebody goes and breaks your heart....yeehaw!!!

                                                           "Redneck Crazy"

Gonna drive like hell through your neighborhood
Park this Silverado on your front lawn
Crank up a little Hank, sit on the hood and drink
I'm about to get my pissed off on

I'm gonna aim my headlights into your bedroom windows
Throw empty beer cans at both of your shadows
I didn't come here to start a fight, but I'm up for anything tonight
You know you broke the wrong heart baby, and drove me redneck crazy

Wish I knew how long it's been going on
How long you've been getting some on the side
Nah, he can't amount to much by the look of that little truck
Well he wont be getting any sleep tonight

I'm gonna aim my headlights into your bedroom windows
Throw empty beer cans at both of your shadows
I didn't come here to start a fight, but I'm up for anything tonight
You know you broke the wrong heart baby, and drove me redneck crazy
Redneck crazy

Did you think I'd wish you both the best, endless love and happiness
You know that's just not the kind of man I am
I'm the kind that shows up at your house at 3am

I'm gonna aim my headlights into your bedroom windows
Throw empty beer cans at both of your shadows
I didn't come here to start a fight, but I'm up for anything tonight
You gone and broke the wrong heart baby, and drove me redneck crazy
You drove me redneck crazy

So, class, your assignment this week: what song "first times" do you recall?  Was it a childhood experience?  The slow-skate song from the skating rink (can you say Journey's "Open Arms"?)  A favorite make-out song from high school?  Fill me in.  Come on...give me the goods!  

Also, redneck crazy is definitely the title of another blog post.  I need your input of the craziest things you've done (or "somebody you know" has done) because of a breakup.  Did you crank up a little Hank and sit on your hood and drink? (names will be changed in my blog post to protect the innocent, I promise!)