Music is a special thing in the way that it can trigger emotions or memories. For me, there are a handful of songs I associate distinctly with my mom and take me back to certain times with her. Some of those songs trigger happy memories and evoke feelings of lightness and warmth, while others trigger sadness and pain and when I hear them on the radio or elsewhere, I struggle to listen.

Today, I wanted to share a handful of the happy ones. The idea for this post came to me a few days ago, when Shaan and I were watching a movie and one of the characters started singing one of the songs I’m about to write about. It got me thinking about the other songs that make me think of my mom and I’ve spent some time listening to them again.

I’m including links to all of the music as taking a quick listen, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the songs, will add much more color to what I’m sharing. Clicking on each of the song names will take you to the corresponding song on YouTube.

It Wasn’t Me by Shaggy

This is a funny one because this song definitely isn’t appropriate for kids – any of you who remember this song know what I mean – yet growing up we and my mom loved listening to it together. The song, by Shaggy (remember him?) was released in 2000 and went to the top of the charts, so was on constant repeat on the radio.

I remember driving around with my mom and always getting excited when It Wasn’t Me would come on. We’d be chugging along in our minivan and she’d crank up the volume, and we’d all belt out “It wasn’t me… it wasn’t me” (those were about the only lyrics I knew at the time, which is a good thing given the song is all about a guy cheating on his girlfriend). I can still picture my mom bobbing her head and tapping her hand on the steering wheel to the beat.

I Try by Macy Gray

This is one of my mom’s favorite songs so long as I can remember. Similar to It Wasn’t Me, I have memories — probably from 20 years ago now — hearing this song when we were driving around with the radio on. I don’t have specific stories to share for this one, but listening to it I’m just reminded of her love for it.

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night) by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

My memories of this song? Singing and dancing like crazy to it on the dining table (yep, you read that right) in our resort hotel with my mom and Sanam while on a family vacation in the summer of 2006. (Nope, we had not been drinking). I don’t know why, I don’t know, but it happened, and all I remember was how much fun we had.

Sanam recently reminded me of what made it even funnier – again, I can’t remember how, but for some reason my mom started translating and singing in Hindi:

Vaah kya raat hai (Oh what a night)
Der se vaapas 63 mein (Late December back in ’63)
Mere lie bahut khaas samay hai (What a very special time for me)
Jaisa ki mujhe yaad hai ki ek raat kya hai (As I remember what a night)

For all you Hindi speakers following along, picture my mom singing these lyrics against the original tune. Perhaps you’ll get a glimpse of the totally ridiculous and hilarious time we had and why we laughed so much. Oh what a night.

(P.S. If the Hindi is wrong, blame Google Translate; you know there’s no way I could’ve recalled all those words myself!)

Tubthumping by Chumbawumba

Before you ask, I have no idea what the name of this song means – I’ve never understood and never tried to find out! But that’s beside the point. For me, this song conjures up memories of – seems to be a theme here – us blasting the song in the car with my mom in the driver’s seat and singing along together:

I get knocked down, but I get up again
You’re never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You’re never gonna keep me down

It was such a fun, high energy song to get behind, and hearing it will always take me back to our times belting it out together.

This is the Day

I’ve saved the most special for last. This is the song I referred to at the beginning of this post, the one that was in the movie I was watching. My mom and I (and the same goes for Sanam and Nikhil) would sing this together growing up. I have a terrible memory and can’t remember much from childhood, but I have a very vague recollection of us singing it together in the shower when I was really small. We’d sing:

This is the day, this is the day
That the Lord has made, that the Lord has made
We will rejoice, we will rejoice, and be glad in it, and be glad in it
This is the day that the Lord has made
We will rejoice and be glad in it
This is the day, this is the day
That the Lord has made

When I think about this song, I can still hear my mom singing it. I hear her sweet voice singing it even now as I write about it.

Sometimes I sing it to myself now when she’s especially on my mind and I want to feel like she’s there singing with me. It brings a warmth, a closeness, and serves as a reminder of the beginning of the faith journey she helped me get started on when I was just a few years old. I hear it and I feel her love.

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I won’t say much to conclude this post, as for me, the songs speak for themselves. In that, they’re so intimately connected with moments that I hold close to my heart and cherish. Even though some of the smaller details of those moments have faded in my memory over time, what’s ever present is the emotion – the indescribable sweetness – that each of these special songs conjures.