All Rileyed Up

So, I belong to Crazy Hip Blog Mamas (because, hey, that’s how I roll), and they do a writing prompt every other Wednesday. The latest prompt, for which I am late (big shocker, I know) is what is the song/movie that describes your life?

Well, this was a fun question for me. I write fiction and when I write anything, I always designate a ‘theme song’ to my main characters. You know, the kind of song that would play in the movie when they first showed up on the screen, a la the Darth Vader theme song. Whenever I work on said piece of fiction, I listen to whatever song I’ve designated to said character and it helps me get into the mode of writing for/about them.

I never actually considered what my own theme song was. Things that make you go hmmm… (great phrase from a song, but not exactly my theme)

I know I was born past the years when the Beatles were actually the Beatles, but my dad loved them and raised me on them. There is no song that I could possibly imagine as describing my life besides a Beatles song. (I suppose there is “I’m Too Sexy.” Whatever, Right Said Fred, stealing my slogan. I should sue his ass.)

But which Beatles number to choose? “Yellow Submarine” was my childhood favorite. It’s the very first song I can pull from memory. “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”? “If I Fell”? The whole Help album, for that matter? I admit, there were times in my life when I wished they were my theme songs (that’d be high school; and a more accurate description would be I wished they were my imaginary boyfriend’s theme songs). Then there were the college years (uhhhhhh, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds).

Then, there’s Here Comes the Sun. The night I met my husband, he was playing his guitar and I asked if he knew anything by the Beatles. He started in with Here Comes the Sun. So, obviously, sentimentality is involved.
Two, isn’t it just a beautiful message:

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it’s all right

Now, more than ever, when I’m surrounded by a life of kids and preschool and reading aloud and encouraging fine motor skill development and whatever the f*ck people expect of parents these days, it’s nice to listen to this song and remember that a viable, new beginning is in sight – for me, my kids, my husband, everyone. And I say, it’s all right.

Ah, but Here Comes the Sun only stresses hope, and my life has less than hopeful moments too. That’s why, when it comes down to it, I have to go with the song I chose for my father and I to dance to when I got married, the song that gets me nearly teary eyed when it randomly plays on the radio, the song from my favorite Beatles album (Rubber Soul) and that is In My Life.

How true is this song? Who can deny that there are people you meet that affect your life irreparably? I admit, I came close to choosing The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” which is similar in theme, though ever less poetic. “In My Life” is a treatise on what it is to be human, to be alive, to live, to love. I for one am glad to have experienced all these moments, because these are the moments that make… me.
I could go on about all the feelings this song inspires within me, but read the lyrics and feel it for yourself:

There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends
I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more

Beautiful, aren’t they?