The Soundtrack of Childhood

Music has always been a big part of my life, for which I am most grateful.  I think the music we hear as a child plays a large part in shaping our music tastes for the rest of our lives.  As Jack’s enjoyment of music continues to grow, I’m thinking more and more about being deliberate about the music that becomes a part of the “soundtrack” of the boys’ childhood. Though some of the children’s music that is out there is great, I am choosing, for the most part, to play hymns and opera. There is just nothing sweeter than hearing Jack sing “Great is Thy Faithfulness” or “I Need Thee Every Hour”, and I hope both boys grow up loving the old hymns as much as Mark and I do.

I’ve been nostalgic this morning, thinking about the soundtrack of my childhood.  Hearing any part of Handel’s Messiah reminds me of Dad playing it, especially around the holiday season, and the big laugh we used to get out of turning the speed up on the 8-track a notch so it sounded like Alvin the Chipmunk singing “Thou Shalt Break Them”.  Dad played the guitar, and he and Mom were a big hit at church fellowships singing duets like “If That Isn’t Love” and “The Little Old Shack Out Back” (a lovely little ditty waxing nostalgic about outhouses).  Here’s one of my favorites they used to sing- a happy ballad called “Knoxville Girl”:

What about you?  What would we hear if we listened to the soundtrack of your childhood?