Soundtrack of Friendship

I love music. All kinds of music. To the point that I am sometimes teased for how inconsistent my musical tastes are. I’m happy to listen to many genres, as they are meaningful in different ways. I’ll listen to the Oppenheimer soundtrack in the car with my older son, then arrive home to hear my younger son playing a Cage the Elephant tune multiple times to get it right for his upcoming guitar performance. I have an affinity for country music, influenced by my years in Kentucky and a dad who admired Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. But I also can’t get the hits from the Barbie movie out of my mind and have a teen-like obsession with Ed Sheeran.

I came of age in the era of MTV and mixed tapes, which provided a soundtrack to many important relationships. Music videos fueled more than a few pop star crushes, with one high school friend going as far as naming her son after a popular Rick Springfield song from the 1980s.  And I still remember my first concert after our move to Kentucky when I was a young teen. I went to see Squeeze when my older sister’s friend backed out at the last minute.

Memories of that early concert experience came rushing back this week when I assembled with friends and loved ones to see Bruce Springsteen perform at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Over pre-concert beers, we reminisced about past concerts. One friend shared that she had seen Bruce more than 40 years ago at a venue on her college campus.

Anthropologists have found evidence that music has been part of human culture since our hunter-gatherer days, and recent research indicates how important it is to our well-being. The University of California Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine noting in 2015 that music, while “pleasurable,” is also believed to play “a significant role in strengthening social bonds.”   

Many people would agree that music provides anthems for friendships and the backdrop to many life experiences. Personally, I remember spending countless hours belting out the words to Bryan Adams ‘Summer of ’69’ with high school friends, changing the refrain to ‘summer of ‘85’ to memorialize the many experiences we had that summer. Decades later, I loved playing the Hamilton soundtrack with my boys as they’d take turns singing the parts of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. While they were a little young to grasp the significance of Hamilton’s story, they delighted in the opportunity to sing words that were otherwise forbidden to speak.

Music does not replace words, it gives tone to the words.

Elie Wiesel

Music also helps me and my siblings connect with our mom, who has suffered from dementia for years. Although she’s confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak clearly, her face lights up when she hears a familiar tune. If that song is one of her favorites–perhaps from a musical we’ve seen or especially the song Danny Boy, which inspired the name of her son–she can still sing every word. Earlier this year, journalist Marlene Cimons wrote in the Washington Post: “This ability of music to conjure up vivid memories is a phenomenon well known to brain researchers. It can trigger intense recollections from years past — for many, more strongly than other senses such as taste and smell — and provoke strong emotions from those earlier experiences.”

Watching Springsteen perform with his E Street Band last week was a great bonding experience for my group, and it was obvious how much Bruce and his bandmates enjoyed their time on stage.  As the band members entered the stage one by one, the crowd at Wrigley went wild for their favorites, particularly Jake Clemons, the talented young sax player who joined the band after his Uncle Clarence passed away in 2011.

The story I have told throughout my work life I could not have told as well without Clarence.

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons were legendary musical collaborators and true friends for decades. Springsteen reportedly brought his guitar to the hospital on his final visit to see Clemons before he passed away, playing the notes to the last song they worked on together. This inspirational friendship lived on in the incredible music played on a warm summer night in Chicago.