5 songs that brings back memories

Inspired by my friend's blog over at Whimsical and Volatile Me, I decided to write about 5 songs that bring back memories for me. Not all these memories are good, not all these memories are significant, and not even all these songs are any good, but here they are. (By the way, if any of these videos don't want to work from your RSS reader, open the actual blog entry, and they should be okay.)

5. Guns N' Roses - November Rain

There was a time when I would come home from middle school, lie down on the floor, put in my Guns N' Roses "Use Your Illusion I" CD, and skip straight to track 10. The gentle pitter-patter of the rain, the soft piano chords, the violins, and off we go on a nine-minute spiral into the hopelessness of love, and how nothing lasts forever.
Hearing this song brings back memories of that house, the living room, and the strangely comforting fact that nothing lasts forever, for better or for worse.

4. U2 - Elevation

It's year 2000. U2's album "All That You Can't Leave Behind" has just been released, and I am about to meet my boyfriend for the first time. I've been given this disk as a present from my parents, probably as a birthday present, and it's playing in the car as we are driving from the airport to the hotel where he will be staying. My heart is in my throat, because I don't know what he's thinking or if he feels the same way about me now that he's finally met me after about a year of chatting online.
Bono is howling (and there are no inane Lara Croft references on the CD, only in the video), and my insides are in turmoil. The strange, violently shifting melody suits my mood, and I feel almost nauseous from tension. This song brings me right back to that car ride.

3. Quadrilha - Ai Caramba

Sorry, this one doesn't have a video. When I was 18, I made a trip to Portugal solo to meet 12 of my friends from the internet, all of them Portuguese guys. 2 of them took me on a road trip to northern Portugal, and we listened to this track very loudly in the car.
Hearing it evokes memories of the hot summer breeze against my face through the open car window as we speed through the beautiful hilly landscapes of Portugal towards our destination. I am young, happy, free, and on an adventure.

2. White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

I'm too young to be in this club, but here I am anyway with two of my best friends, and the place is jumping. We are in with the help of my friend, who sometimes DJ's in the place, and we get in as his VIP friends. My friends are traveling back home in the morning, and there isn't enough time to sleep, so we go out to party instead. The music is awesome, and Imatran Voimala is playing live, remixing awesomeness and playing strange songs I have never heard before. We dance until 3 am, until we get hungry and sore feet. We ask one of the enthusiastic patrons if there's anything to eat in the place, and he exclaims (very cheerfully) "No, man, just E!"
But we don't want Ecstasy, so we turn to leave, but then a familiar bass guitar and drumbeat starts up... and the bass is so deep I can feel it in my throat and in my body, and I have to run right back to the dance floor and jump around some more. It's a remix of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army", and though I scoured the internet some years later, I have never been able to find the same one again.

1. Günther & The Sunshine Girls - Ding Dong Song

Remember when I said not all the songs in this list are good? This would be that song. Günther's gentle moaning "Ohhh you touch my tra-la-la... mmm my ding ding dong" is not what I would consider the height of talent, but it's my wedding night, and I've been knocking back Jäger-shots with my friends, trying to get the shyest ones to dance.
Now here's when it gets blurry, and I'm not entirely sure who was dancing or if those atrocious neck-movements from the video were involved or not, but I do know that whenever I hear this song I remember my friends who came from far and wide to celebrate with me, and I can't help breaking into a smile.