“The Wedding Song” (There is Love) by Paul Stooky
This song was popular in the 70s and 80s.My husband and I were married in 1985 and it brings back good memories of the meaning of marriage.
—Julie Haapala
Crosby, Stills Nash & Young (or Crosby Stills & Nash) was the soundtrack of my senior year of high school. Singing “Our House” in the 2024 Spring Repertoire feels so evocative of being 18 years old and hearing it so very often when it made the top ten lists on Chicago radio in the early 70s (WLS and WFLD would have flyers around in record stores every week so you could see that week’s top ten). No one cared hearing our favorites on the radio over and over. In particular, CSN&Y, Creedence Clearwater Revival (“Bad Moon Rising”), and the Carpenters (“We’ve Only Just Begun”) will always transport me to that time of my life. It’s a nice feeling.
—Cathy Eisen
The song “Homeward Bound” by Simon and Garfunkle became an anthem for my college pals and me. Prior to any major holiday, when plans were being made to leave campus, this song rang out through the dorm halls. Hearing it now always reminds of that time in my life.
—Susan Barton
“Those Were the Days, My Friends.” This is a shared favorite song for both me (Joy Rosner) and my husband (Jon Rosner). We first heard it in Jaffa, Israel in 1969 in Hebrew. It actually was originally in Russian. It later became a hit sung in English. We were spending 1- 1/2 years in Israel working at Tel Aviv University—I in the Genetics Department and Jon in the Physics Department. The song becomes more and more relevant as the years go on. By the way, there is an excellent choral arrangement. We think it would a great song for Sounds Good Choir.
—Joy Rosner
“End of the World” by Skeeter Davis. I was 15 years old in a car on the way to the cemetery for my Mother’s burial and when I saw people just out in their yard going about their business, that song came in my head but I changed the words–how can the world go on living, don’t they know my mother just died?
—Rebecca Severson
One of my (our) favorite TV shows was Monk. At the end of the very last show, Randy Newman played a short little number that will forever be latched to my brain. “When I’m Gone” is one of my very favorites. If one of the choirs would decide to sing it, there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house. Guaranteed. On a lighter note, the Doobie Brothers “What a Fool Believes” is another that brings back many memories.
—Bill Finik
“It Had To Be You.” The name of the song and the 1947 movie in which the music is heard. One of the very early first-run adult films that I saw in a movie theater, of that day—and which its music and visuals continue to tickle my memory, even now. The film’s stars were Ginger Rogers and Cornel Wilde. But, as if on cue, the real coup de gras was that in one of my early concerts in the spring of 2019 with the HInsdale Sounds Good choir we performed “It Had To Be You.”
Yes it did!
—Ron Solberg
“We’ve Only Just Begun,” by The Carpenters
This song was played at our wedding almost 50 years ago!!
—Jill Levine
Back in 1992 my father learned that he had lung cancer (from a lifetime of smoking) and that it had spread through his body. I made a pledge that I would come visit every other weekend, and I mostly honored that pledge. So, these weekend trips involved a lot of driving, both to get from Chicago to Toledo and when I was there. Especially near the end, I was driving to/from our house to the in-patient hospice, and I remember listening to [U2’s] Joshua Tree album over and over. I considered Side A of that album one of the most perfect sides of music ever put together. So, today, when I hear any of the songs from that album, it brings back bittersweet memories.
I know very few piano pieces by heart these days, but one that I will never lose is “Solace” by Scott Joplin (only the second half of the piece; I’ve played it for decades, but I only learned a few years ago that there was more to the piece than what I was playing). I often play it when I am remembering someone who has died, and I have played it several times at memorial services. It is short and sweet.
—Robb Geiger
One of my favorites is from when I was dating my husband, Taylor, at the end of our senior year in high school. It was Nat King Cole’s “Ramblin’ Rose.” T. and I have known each other 61 1/2 yrs. and recently celebrated our 59th wedding anniversary!
—Betsy Bennett
And I Love You So, by Perry Como
—Diane DiVall
For me it’s the song “Getting to Know You” from the King and I. Sang it in high school in a girls choral group and it has stayed with me all these years.
—Jane Wickenkamp
At least since recording “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window” (my debut, and final, hit) in a Coney Island booth at the age of 5, most experiences in my life have been preserved in memory by a song.
“On the Street where you Live,” from My Fair Lady, gave voice to my first experience of being in love. I was probably only ten or eleven when I first sang it, I suppose to bolster my confidence, as I approached the building where my first untrue love lived. My Fair Lady was one of the first Broadway musicals I had ever seen, and it may have set the precedent of my singing during protracted showers, much to my neighbors’ dismay.
—Julian Breslow
I think at some point my brother and I must have come across a broadcast on television of a Boston Pops performance—maybe a Fourth of July event with some dazzling fireworks (in black and white)? Certainly there was the conductor. He was mesmerizing guiding all those musicians through every emotion of the music: imploring the brass to build their sound here, glancing and pointing at the strings to deliver a fuller sound, and all while keeping the tempo and demonstrating the emotion he wanted. He was in the center of a tornado of sound timed with the fireworks exploding; even in black and white it was a pretty compelling performance. It wasn’t long after that we discovered the same Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture in our own mostly unexplored collection of records our parents had—this version with actual canons going off and real bells ringing in victory. We had a blast taking turns as conductor with our pencil baton and standing in front of the speakers at a wild volume. My hands still move to cue the brass when it’s their turn.
—Mark Cornell
Whenever I hear “The Piña Colada song,” otherwise known as “Escape” (by no one except the guy who sang it), I’m suddenly 15 again, bouncing across rough access roads in someone’s dad’s old Chevy suburban. Seven or eight of us are driving from Ohio to Dolly Sods, a wilderness area in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest. The song comes on the radio and we’re all singing, almost shouting, “If you like piña coladas, and gettin’ caught in the rain…”. It’s late at night on a Friday because we left right after school and the scent of pine trees floods in the open windows.
—MET
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” from Meet the Beatles was the first album I ever bought. Also, got to see them at Met stadium in Minneapolis.
—Jane Cowen Schoen
“The Joker,” by the Steve Miller Band, instantly transports me to high school… my best friends and I are hanging out in Pizza King after the basketball game. (If you’re from Indiana, you understand the importance of both Pizza King and basketball!)
—Susie Parker Narkis
“Oh, Sharon!” Growing up in Nashville, Country music is dear to me. It has become so mainstream in these past years, and has such a wonderful basis.
—Betsy Bennett
‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” by The Carter Family with Mother Maybelle on the autoharp. I was part of a folksy/ country/ Bluegrass group in high school. We played guitars, banjos, mandolins, and sang sweet harmony in that high lonesome sound. As outsiders, we hung out with love and support. Yeah, music like that takes me back to our outliers teen group.
—Sharon Kotzin Frolick
The Heart Goes On — Titanic.
Song brings tears to my eyes!
– Ilene Heyman
Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” takes me back to my first summer of puppy love. I picture my puppy love boyfriend pretending to play the air saxophone every time I hear this song, even 50 years later.
—Sarah Shirk
“Paradise By The Dashboard Light” by Meatloaf takes me back to college with my best girlfriends.
—Mary Lewis
“On the street where you live”
and
“I want to hold your hand”
Both take me back to my youth!