What effect does music have on your life? Do you listen to it often? What does it make you think of? I know, I know—too many questions. But I suspect your brain is already ticking over and perhaps you are smiling at memories that have been tucked away for a while.
What is it about music that has the potential to quite literally touch the soul? Louis Armstrong once said, “Music is life itself.” Marilyn Manson described it as “the strongest form of magic.” Actor Johnny Depp offered his own perspective: “Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t.” And television icon Dick Clark summed it up best when he said, “Music is the soundtrack of your life.”
So, what is the soundtrack to your life—and why?
Here are a few tracks from mine.
Love Really Hurts Without You – Billy Ocean
Back in the 1990s, during my nursing days, I remember this playing in the minibus that collected us from Oldchurch Hospital and took us to Harold Wood Nursing College. It evokes strong memories of laughter and singing along at the top of our lungs. More than anything, it reminds me of friendship—many of those friendships still strong today, thirty-six years later.
Bat Out of Hell – Meat Loaf
This one brings back many memories, but especially of our wedding. That may sound odd but hear me out. The day after the wedding we drove back to Yorkshire to take my mother-in-law and brother-in-law home and visit family who couldn’t make it. This song blasted out of the car as we drove up the M1. I distinctly remember my husband and his brother singing along enthusiastically while my mother-in-law laughed at them both.
Hello again – Neil Diamond
One of the acts at the local pub—Gary Newton—sang at our wedding reception and used to perform this song. But the reason it became so special to us was simpler than that. We were shift workers and could go several days without seeing each other. “Hello again” were quite literally the words we said as one of us walked in the door while the other was leaving for work. Over time, it became our unofficial anthem—and eventually our first dance.
Come On Eileen – Dexys Midnight Runners
This was one of my late husband’s absolute favourites. As I typed this, I could almost hear his voice singing it. He was not a great singer—but that hardly mattered. The fact that I can still hear him in my mind when this song plays proves exactly what I mean about music. It keeps people close, long after they are gone.
Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel
I heard many stories about my husband’s time in the army—1PWO days—and this song featured heavily in those memories for him. When it played, stories followed. Tales of camaraderie, mischief, and long-ago days in uniform. They also carried a note of regret about leaving the army. I am glad he did leave though, because if he hadn’t, we might never have met.
Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – Jeff Wayne
This double album takes me straight back to childhood. I would sit on the record box that held all my dad’s vinyl records and wear his enormous headphones—they seemed gigantic on me at the time. I’d follow along with the illustrated booklet while listening and sing along to Forever Autumn. It was storytelling, music, and imagination all rolled into one magical experience.
The Moody Blues and Mike Oldfield
These artists remind me of the dinner parties hosted by Mum and Dad with their close friends Alan, Elaine, John, and Caroline—the “gang of six.” Latest music would inevitably appear during those evenings. If you liked what you heard, you went out and bought it. Over time, Mum and Dad, John and Caroline ended up with remarkably similar record collections—and I grew up absorbing those sounds without even realising it.
I could go on and on about music. There are countless songs that carry memories, emotions, and moments of life within them.
But perhaps that is the real magic of music. A song is never just a song. It is a doorway. A few familiar notes can transport you across decades in seconds—back to people, places, laughter, love, and sometimes loss. Long after moments have passed and people have gone, the music remains, quietly holding those memories for us until the next time we press play.
