What is the song of your life? The movie of your life?

When I was in college, I loved the movie St. Elmo’s Fire. It was about a group of kids who gradated from college and were unable to get jobs. They ran up credit card debt, they got their girlfriends pregnant and abandoned them, they fell in love with the wrong people, they screwed up their lives in all kinds of ways. I liked this movie; it made life look both messy and extremely fun at the same time. Plus I was deeply enamored with Andrew McCarthy.

The music I listened to was mostly Sting, Gloria Estefan and various pop/rock stars.
All that has changed now. I listen to jazz and Nina Simone. I like thinking movies mostly.

But, that question remains. What is the music of your life? What music feels like it explains your life? I used to babysit for this woman who watched The Big Chill over and over; she had some dream of being in a marriage where you could turn a corner and the marriage would change. Maybe she wanted a little wife swapping; I never asked. But I knew that movie explained it all for her.

I have another friend who watches Flashdance over and over. She wants to be a whore/Madonna. She wants to be a glorious mother and a sexy wench all at the same time, dance at night for the blue collar workers, and dance in the day for the dance experts. We all wanted to be Jennifer Beals back then. We wanted power and grace and sexiness and leg warmers.

When my son was in high school he liked Ali G, Dave Chappelle, and the movie Arthur. That movie and Half Baked played so many times at our house, they seemed to be on an endless loop. Half Baked seemed to explain a life where growing weed and selling it could be both funny and entertaining (and legal?) all at the same time. It made life seem like one big party. And that’s what you want as a teenager, life as one big magic dance party.

For my daughter, it’s all about the song “Born this Way,” she even put it on my Shuffle for me to listen to while I run. “Born this Way,” is the way she feels moving through her life. It’s a good song.

There is quite a bit of Ludacris and Lady Gaga floating on that Shuttle and getting me to run faster. Actually, I’m not sure the purpose of the music isn’t to distract one from running so you kind of forget you are running and start to think you are swimming, floating or flying.