Soundtracks of My Life free essay sample

As far back as I can remember, music has always had a big impact on me. I cannot imagine my life without music even for one day. If so, life must absolutely be dull and tasteless. One thing that I have found funny about my life is that whenever I am emotionally facing something, there is always a song that corresponds with my life at that moment. I sometimes wonder if the song writer could be someone close to me who knows what is going on with my life at that time and then he or she writes a song based upon my life story. Since I have been quite busy adjusting myself to new environment at University of Southern Indiana, I did not have time to properly listen to those songs until when I was assigned to write this paper for my English 101 class. Like other people, I have those tracks in my phone and I also give them a star, making them my favorite tracks on the playlist, so that I do not need to waste my time looking for them when needed. We will write a custom essay sample on Soundtracks of My Life or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As I was listening to each song, I was taken back to certain moments of life. The songs range from those which represent happy times to sad moments and also when I bounced back hard and became a stronger person. As the first song was playing, a big pile of good memories just came across my mind. But whenever thinking of the most distinctive one, a scene of my family having dinner together always pops up first. It was a foggy night in winter of the year 1999. We were interrupted by the commonly piercing sound of our home phone as we were having dinner. We all were quite upset to be interrupted by that sound since we were having a good time talking with each other. Mom went to answer that call and was on the phone for quite a long time. Once she came back to the table, she told us that her brother, who lives in Chiangmai, invited all of us to visit him. We all were so excited because it would be our first time going up North to see the beautiful nature and cold weather there together. On the way to the beautiful city of Chiangmai, it was so quiet in our car. No one was really talking because we all were still sleepy from getting up early for this long trip. Then I thought it might be a good idea to fresh everyone up with good music. I asked my father, who was driving the car, to tune into some radio channels and we came across the song with catchy chorus saying â€Å"My heart goes shalala lala, shalala in the morning. Oh oh oh shalala lala, shalala in the sunshine. Shalala lala, shalala lala in the evening. Shalala lala shalala lala just for you†(Praisang). Everyone somehow got up then danced along while wondering who the singer was. We found out later that the singer was Pookie Prisana Praisang, a Thai rising superstar at that time. I suddenly felt like I was put a spell on. I became in love with the song, even though I did not understand what the song was about as it was in English. Nobody in my family speaks English, but it was highly encouraged to be learned since I was a little kid. So, I felt like the curiosity inside me wanted me to discover more about the song. I wanted to know what it meant; I wanted to know how a Thai singer could sing that well in English. When we stopped by the gas station, I went into a convenient store to look for a tape cassette of the song. I begged my father to buy me the tape. He bought one for me, though he knew that I would only listen to that song because the rest of the albums were Thai songs. He was right. I only listened to that song over and over again. I could tell that everybody became annoyed as only one song was repeatedly played throughout the trip, but I did not care. My parents figured out that I would still be playing the only song on the way back home, so they bought me the Sony Walkman. From this moment, I realized that I had found my love for music and the English language. My love for English and music grew more and more every day. As songs on my favorite playlist were playing, I somehow went back to 2004 where my heart was first possessed by pop music and got my first job. There were so many good songs topping the chart this year. I still remember when I was on the way back home from my boy scouts camp. I was, as always, tuning into some radio channels and then found one song, which later became one of my all-time favorites. The song started with the unique sounds on the piano keyboard, together with beats of drums, and then followed with guitar riff. As a young kid trying to learn English by myself through songs, I still did not understand what the song was about. I could catch up only some parts of the songs, but the thing that I could remember very clearly was the nasal tone of the singer. The song was â€Å"This Love† by Maroon 5. After listening to this song, I thought my experience of listening to the English-language songs and my speaking skill over the years would be enough for me to work as a radio DJ. So, at the age of 13, I applied for a job as a radio DJ near my house and I got the position. My parents were so proud that their kid got to be talking on the radio. I thought they were more excited than I actually was. I was glad to get to introduce people good songs on the Billboard chart of America, but I did not get to do it. My hometown, Maha Sarakham, is a small city in Northeastern Thailand. People back then were not paying so much attention to the English-language songs, so I had to do the program of Thai songs. I was quite happy that I could be around music, but it could have been happier if I had gotten to play songs that I wanted to introduce to my audience. Even though I did not like it much, I kept doing it for several years. I really had a good time being a DJ because I got to meet and interview a lot of singers. But as I mentioned earlier that it was not the way I wanted it to be. Eventually at the point where I thought I could not continue doing it anymore, I realized that my love for music came together with my love for English. So, I stopped my 7 year-old job when I was a sophomore in university, but I still have been introducing people some good music and improving my English from those songs and will never stop doing it. As next song on my favorite playlist was coming up, I was taken back to my junior high school. At that time I had to decide on what kind of program I would be studying in high school. There were no language programs for me to study at the school I was going to at that time, so I decided to go to another school. I asked my parents if I could go to the new school because it was a private school and it cost a lot of money. They said they would not have problems with it, as long as I passed the admission test. So, I took the test and I got accepted. Here at this school, I got to study English and French every day. I did not have to worry much about math and sciences which I hate so much. I was so happy at first, and then I had a hard time adjusting myself to new environment since pretty much everyone in school was from a rich family. My life style changed. I felt like I did not fit in anywhere. Also at that time, I did not realize that my parents were struggling with maintaining our family business from collapsing because they never let me know. Our business was one of the businesses that got affected by the economic crisis in 2007. Finally, our business had to be closed down; otherwise we would be hurt even more. We lost our 2-story building, our beautiful car, our business and our pride to this crisis. We did not longer stay at the center of the city where everything was luxurious and convenient. We moved out and rented a little house to stay. I always cried at night in my room feeling guilty that because of my decision on going to this school, my family had to lose everything. But every morning, I would get up to have breakfast, acting like nothing happened the night before. My life in high school, so far, was the most horrible moment. I did not know what to tell people when they asked about my parents’ job. I was embarrassed that I was living in an old house, so I did not invite any of my friends over to my house during high school. I could not date anyone because I did not have that much money to spend on such a thing. Even though it was tough, I somehow made it through those moments and now I am writing an essay for my class in America. I think I made it through those horrible moments because of the Thai song with English titled called â€Å"Live and Learn† by Kamala Sukisol. The song basically talks about the fact that life has success, failure, laughter and fear. She says that what is important is how we learn, accept the truth and live it to the best in her song, â€Å"Live and Learn†. As the lyrics state â€Å"It’s up to learning, up to accepting. Stay alert to your thoughts and conscience. Live with what you have, not what your dreams and live it to the best of your abilities† (Sukosol). This song really helps me learn to accept the truth of failure in life. It also reminds me when I achieve something that I should always be humble and prepared because I do not know what the future holds for me ahead. After all, I knew that I could not do anything to better the situation rather than to be a good student and make my parents proud. So, I stopped crying and blaming myself for being a cause that worsened the situation. I started to work harder at school using English-language songs that I love to improve my English and overcome the hard time I was having. Without that song, I am not sure if I would have made it through that moment of life. As I was listening to my favorite tracks, I realized that music is actually based on real life which fits my own story in some moments. Human beings have those timelines almost the same no matter what language they speak or what country they live in. I also came up with the result of my own experiment that songs are like magic; with their melodies and lyrics, you will be taken back to certain moments that seem to be most memorable for you. Whether you are living a happy, sad or any moment of live, there are always songs that perfectly describe your life at that moment. Besides catchy phrases and melodies, there are incredibly powerful meanings hidden inside that you could ever know.