Ok. Day two of things-that-are-awesome-despite-crummy-weather! And apparently scratch moving to Merry Olde England off the list of things to do. Months of this? Nope. No.Singing in the car is one of the most important things in my life, SERIOUSLY. If I could not do this, I would probably go Dexter and have human body parts hidden under my lawn. The best thing about learning to drive was not being able to get independently from point A to point B, but having unlimited time to sing in the car. Because, I love singing, but I do not do it in front of other people (with one exception, which will be discussed later,) and so having that precious time in the car when I can just go CRAZY is amazing. I do sometimes sing in the house when I am home alone, but as we've always been apartment dwellers, there is always the possibility of being HEARD, which is terrifying, because I GO ALL OUT. Knowing that you are singing completely for yourself frees you from caring about the fact that you cannot hit half the notes in the song, you are squeaking like a rabid mouse, and you're not saying all the words correctly. (You know the fast part of the song you mumble through. You know it.) So I sing in the car, and I sing loud, and I only stop at red lights, because, it is somewhat embarrassing to realize someone is watching you emote to the pavement in front of you. (One time I had my window open and didn't realize that two women in a convertible had pulled up next to me, and finally noticed them and stopped singing. They laughed, and said that they only wished they still enjoyed life that much. Which is sad, for both of us.)
So, anyway, this is a necessary thing for me, and the only thing better (well, there are several things better, but,) is having someone to sing in the car with you. THIS is not an easy thing. It requires an obscene amount of trust, and knowing someone who loves the same songs as you. It doesn't happen often in life, so if you have someone who you can unabashedly sing with, keep them on your Christmas list. Also, I am firmly of the mind that this is something we should teach children. At this point in my life, I can't imagine not loving to sing, but I know that this is probably in large part due to the fact that my mother is a car-singer, and so I grew up with it. People! Sing with your kids, and teach them the songs you love!
And so, on to the next thing I love, which is my iPod. Because, I have established that it does, in fact, have a soul, and that soul loves me and can read my mind. Unless I am really obsessed with one album (currently: Avett Brothers "Four Thieves Gone") I have it on shuffle mode all the time, and IT GETS ME! Like, yesterday, a song by X band came on, and I was like, oh, well, I like this song, but I wish it would play that other song I like, [press next arrow] and what plays? AGH!! And I have several HUNDRED songs just by that specific band on my iPod. It knows! It loves me! And then, not 30 minutes later, it did the same thing again. How? I do not know. Magic? Probably. It is a genius machine.
Music is powerful stuff, people. For me, there is really nothing else that can change my mindset faster. Songs can make my day, they can make my week or month. Just remembering a stupid lyric can get me through an unpleasant situation. I know that it doesn't take much to affect me emotionally, but I think it works this way for everyone. Sing in the car, people. Ask nice and I will send you a mix cd, too.
14 comments:
I, too, am a proud car singer. Although I'm not really religious, someone once told me that singing was the highest form of prayer. It feels that way!
Yes well.... singing in the car is a) the safest way for me to do it without risking public humiliation by being asked to shut up as I've frightened someone's baby, and b) a great way to stay wide awake when you're driving when tired and sleepy. Try it (old school assembly hymns are best for this! You don't need to remember all the words!)- you really can't sing loudly and fall asleep at the wheel!
Oh my...I am totally the person that you see singing in the car- at the top of my lungs, bad notes and all! I love it. It seriously makes me happy. I grew up with a mother who sang with us in the car. I remember so many trips with friends and family and we'd sing the whole way. Even my poor cousin who was super embarrassed to sing with us eventually cracked.
+1 for the Avett Bros. but my fav album is Emotionalism. As for car singing - it's one of those guilty secrets we all share. And being overheard is mortifying, but it probably shouldn't be. A few years ago my daughter and I were walking to the corner store on a summer evening - we passed a house where a man inside was singing "On the Street Where You Live" at high volume. It was charming. We stopped on the sidewalk outside his house and joined in the song. Of course, he stopped immediately, probably turning beet red, somewhere unseen in his house, but we didn't mean to embarrass him. Singing does convey an infectious joy that makes people want to share it.
ooh ooh ooh! i would LOVE a mix cd! and the only avett brothers album i've heard is emotionalism.
my singing in the car has diminished slightly with the addition of my husband and 4 boys, at least 1 of whom is usually in the car with me. And I almost always sing only to songs I absolutely LOVE. But there was a day when my siblings would boo and hiss at me on car trips when I'd sing the backups to every song on my walkman.
My mom is also a loud break out singer (anywhere), but she doesn't care who's listening. I also have 2 sisters who do it often - 1 who doesn't even know sometimes that she's singing out loud. (avett bros. is her favorite)
I don't drive and singing in the bike lane is a little too public for me ....and the passing public !
No , I sing in the kitchen and fondly remember someone who timed her boiled eggs by a verse or two of "Onward Christian Soldiers " .
i knew i wanted to marry my husband when we started singing in the car together. my grandparents sang in the car together so i thought it was a good sign..
I need to listen to some Avett Brothers. I think I may go to see them next week, yet I've never heard them.
And I'm super curious who the artist is that you have several hundred songs. I have one of those, too.
Thanks for the suggestion about the Avett Bros! I had not heard of them before and just listening to the clips on iTunes was great. I can't wait to hear more. Since I'm sure that you can't send everyone a mix cd (although it was an awfully sweet offer), could you maybe post what would be on your hypothetical mix cd? Cheers!
Okay, good to know that I'm not permently scarring my children when I force them to listen to my car singing :) There's just some songs that I have to turn up and belt it out.
I too am a car singer. It's the only place I sing and I stop singing at red lights too. The only person I'll let hear me singing in the car in my 12 year old son. I have a terrible voice (it runs in the family). One day my sweet, wonderful, adorable son said to me, "Mom, when you were younger did you want to be a singer because you have a really good voice." Just about melted my heart.
I too have an iPod with a soul. I love that it knows when to play mellow soothing music and when I need it to play a goofy song that will make me laugh. My iPod and I have a close relationship. I even knit mine a cover because it gets so cold walking in the Canadian winter that it freezes up and won't play. We can't have that, so it now has winter wear. Crazy? Perhaps. But my iPod works for my walk to and from work on the COLDEST of cold days. Plus the screen isn't scratched from stray pocket change. Glad to hear that there is another person out there who has a "relationship" with her iPod.
I'm a car singer, too. I never minded the hour drive between college and home because I just sang the whole way. My youngest has started shouting "No singing!" at me lately though. Also, "No dancing!"
I'm reaching a point where I don't care who I sing in front of, and it's SO LIBERATING!! My father claimed he sang in the key of H flat, and I'm proud to carry on his legacy. I think the iPod might be the greatest invention of the last hundred years. And I've never heard of the Avett Bros, but I will look them up! The song "Move your feet" by Junior Senior will cheer me up from the worst, worst mood.
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