The Sound of Music

 When was the first time you ever heard a tune play? For me my mother used to play music throughout her pregnancy with me. Coming out of the womb I knew off by heart all the oldies tunes. My mom is the type of stay at home mom and wife who always had the radio on in the kitchen growing up. When I was little, she would always be singing, and she still does, as shes baking something in that kitchen. Which let me tell you does not help my diet I am on currently with my liver issues. But I still manage to resist, for the sake of my liver of course.

I grew up with much older parents. My brothers are twenty years older than me. When I was just a little girl they were dating. So I spent a lot of time alone by myself, playing on my own. I had an amazing imagination. But the one thing that I spent hours doing was listening to music in my room, and playing "Concert", which basically entailed me to dress in a sexy (or what I thought was sexy at 10 years old, relax it was just a t shirt showing midriff and jeans) costume and belt out every song that played from my tapes, then CDs that I owned, as the times advanced. 

I will never forget, my sister in law (at the time she was my brothers girlfriend) bought me my first set of tapes for my new tape recorder/machine. I was obsessed. She bought me the first Backstreet Boys album, the Spice Girls first album, and Ace of Base. I was thrilled. As time went on my collection of music grew, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child, Jennifer Lopez and so on. 

Every night I would spend hours in my room, performing for the wall, imagining the wall was an audience packed with tons of fans who came out just to see me. Singing and dancing was my escape to a lot of loneliness I felt as a kid. Being an Italian girl with old school parents I definitely could not do much of going to friends houses. And on the odd occasion I was allowed to go my neighbors house it was only for a half hour or an hour at most. 

Music really helped my soul from drowning in a strict controlled environment. I would get a new album from Britney Spears and know all the words with in three days, so that I could perform and look like I owned the song on the stage. Being 32 now, I don't perform like that any more but catch me in the car belting out a chorus and I feel like I am 10 years old again. 

It wasn't until my 13th birthday that my beloved cousin Robert (God rest his soul) introduced me to Euro and dance music. I fell in love with it. That music type also grew in my collection. I had a mix of every genre you could think of. Pop, Hip hop, R&B, Soul, Dance,Euro, Rock and Country. Who didn't love a little bit of Shania Twain?

A song had to speak to my soul in order for me to LOVE it. I can't describe the feeling I get in my stomach or heart when I end up falling in love with a song. If you are a music lover like me, you understand my language. As I got older my music taste still remained similar loving the same artists but also branching out to new and upcoming artists as well. Today, I also love Halsey, Camila Cabello and so many more.

Christina Aguilera's "Stripped" album was my album of choice for a lot of my late teen and early twenties years. She was a fighter, and rebel, and I was all that especially when I rebelled against my strict parents. Britney Spears' song "I'm not a girl, Not yet a woman" was the anthem through my 16th to 19th years of life. Those years are just so award in life, that song got me through the toughest of times. Britney's "Overprotected" song also hit home for me as a teenager. I think that songs title is self explanatory.

I always believed if I wasn't as sheltered as I was in my early teenage life, I would think that I would have more street smarts. Knowing things I didn't know before, I had to experience them the hard way through abusive relationships. What I do know, is that I will not parent my kids the way I was parented. Life now is just different compared to back then. 

Music saved me in so many ways. The anticipation of knowing an artist is releasing a new album, you love that particular artist so you are begging someone to bring you to the store to purchase their album and you listen for hours on repeat getting down the lyrics by heart. 

I will never forget when my parents bought me my first Walkman. The idea of me being able to carry my music with me anywhere I went was exciting. Before I was just confined to my room but now I could go to the living room or in the back yard, or even the garage. Then a few years went by and the newest and greatest gadget was the disk man , instead of a tape it was a portable CD player. Hook up your ear phones and your good to go. 

Fun fact, when I was 17 years old my mother sent me on a school trip to Europe, my dad wasn't thrilled but I went anyway because it was educational. I took all 100 CDs with me, and my disk man because I could not live without my music traveling for 10 days. Today I look back and think to myself, how in the hell did I nomad my way through Europe carrying all this stuff with me. I definitely did not pack light.

Technology has come along way. Now you can carry with your thousands of songs in your I-phone, connect your Bluetooth in your car and play what ever song your heart desires. When I first started to drive, we didn't have Bluetooth, so I had to pop in and pop CDs in my cars CD player all the time. I would run through one CD before getting to my destination and I had another CD waiting for me to switch it out with.Then of course we have the good old radio if you want to listen to that. But now a days I love my playlists on my phone. 

Lyrics in a song are so powerful for me. When I can relate to a song, my heart and soul vibe with it and I sing it like its mine to sing because I went through exactly that. Some people may call me crazy but I like to think I am passionate.I am an Aries you know. 

Music to me will always be that escape for me no matter where I am in life. Music has been my best friend since before I was born. Music continues to be my best friend to this day. 

When you are feeling lost, or confused, try playing your favorite artist. I know for me it helps me find clarity and builds my self confidence. What songs are you enjoying lately?

Love, peace, joy

Ant