Music to my ears

I developed a deep love for country music my freshman year of college. Until then, I loathed country music. If I heard it on the radio, I'd simply change the station. I was all about hip-hop at the time (I was also living in Germany where techno and upbeat music was the trend... not so much country on the stations).

Going to college in Colorado exposed me to lots of country music, whether I liked it or not. At first, I admit, I tried to rebel against it. I had 3 roommates, one whom I shared a room with, and two of the three of them were die-hard country fans. It was constantly playing in our rooms and I tried to tune it out at first. Then, when I was cheering and joining my sorority, I had a close group of girls who were also big country listeners (several who were from Texas). At the time, I had no car and bummed rides from whatever friends would give me one. It was their car, and what do you know, they played country (aside from rockin' out to Britney every once in a while). I decided since I was being forced to listen to country so much, I needed to learn to like it!

I began to search and download popular country songs that were on the radio. At the time I didn't even know who Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, etc. were (such a shame, I know!). I made myself listen to it in my spare time and before I knew it, I could recognize the songs on the radio (until then, seriously all country songs sounded the same to me!) and even sing along to a few. Over the year, I developed a true passion for country music! I felt there were so many great songs, and many I could relate to.

I still love country, but I do listen to other music here and there, but country is still my all-time favorite. When we moved here to Okinawa, we have one (yes, ONE) radio station that AFN plays for the American's to listen to. They play a random assortment of music from "then" to "now" which gets old really fast. Our friend told us about an internet radio she uses and can tune in to all her favorite country stations from the states. We bought one several months ago and I am so in love with it! I was out of touch with the newest songs being played, and felt out of the loop with country music. But here I am, back in the groove and couldn't be happier.

I found a station that plays all the new country hits and even ones from several years ago. When I hear certain songs, they bring me back to my freshman year of college. Makes me rememeber how exciting and new everything was for me that year. I've been downloading a bunch of new albums from my favorite artists lately so I have some good music to listen to in the car... which sparked my idea for the blog entry.

People always say scent is the strongest sense we have. I have to disagree... but maybe it's because I haven't been able to smell hardly anything for the last several months due to my serious sinus problems. Music really brings me back in time. I hear a song and can instantly think of what year in school I was when it came out, and memories instantly start flooding my mind. Whether it be songs from the 90's that I would hear in the gym (I refer to them as "gym songs"... only former gymnasts really know what I'm talking about), the days of boy bands, Eminem, or country, they all represent different things to me. Sometimes I find myself hearing a song and just taking a few minutes to remember the good times. It mostly happens with country music and I'll be forever grateful for my friends in college introducing me to country! :)