THE MUSIC OF MY LIFE

I was listening to a DIY mixed CD in my car the other day. Didn't know what songs were in it, since I had it for the longest time and was too lazy to put a label on it. So I just played it.

It was English ballad songs from Babyface, Mariah Carey, 98 Degrees and Celine Dion.
Yes, these are my favourite singers back then until now. Their songs, so far, have not been able to bore me.

In fact, as I grow, the way I listen to these songs are different from when I was 15 years old. I listen closely to the music arrangement, how beautiful the lyrics were written. Things like that.

But one thing remains the same. The memories.

Do you realize how music can bring you back to the exact place you heard it the first time?
How you felt, what you experienced. Yes, this is what I like the most about music.

The first song in the CD was "Invisible Man" by 98 Degrees.

Gosh, I can hear this song over and over and over again. In fact I'm listening to it now while writing this (nak amik feel lah) and keeping it on loop. I suggest you guys listen to the songs too while reading this :)

It brought me back to 1999. 98 Degrees were a big hit at that time, and they were coming to Malaysia. I was a teenager, with pimples all over my face, dreaming I was gonna be an architect and marry Jeff Timmons. I was so excited about them coming and planned to check them out at this mall which I can't remember the name. I think the mall no longer exist now. So I went there with my best friend. I remember I bought a teddy bear for Jeff Timmons. It was a blue teddy bear.

Oh.. don't you just love how innocent you used to be when you were a teenager and in love with a star? (If only I had a time machine, I'd go back and smack that teddy bear on my own 15 year-old head, saying "A teddy bear? You might as well get a pink one with ribbons all over it.")

Then the CD brought me further. "Someone To Love" by Babyface.

Oh yes.. the first love. The first time having a crush on a guy, sorry, a boy. And he liked me too! We declared ourselves as girlfriend and boyfriend. He used to give me love letters with nice-smelling powders sprinkled on it! I guess back then they didn't have that nice-smelling paper commercialized yet, so you had to DIY it. And plus, we were 12. Give us a break.

It was also the first and last time I ever received a mixed tape from a guy. Sorry again. A boy. (I hate how old I feel right now!)
"Someone To Love" was one of the songs in that mixed tape. And I've been in love with that song ever since.
But unfortunately, not the boy. I hope he's doing good now, though. I hope he has met his "someone to love" while I'm still searching for mine. (hint, hint!)

Then Mariah Carey came in with "When I Saw You".

Another love story. Well, not love, love. It wasn't love when the guy you fell in love with never spoke to you and looked at you maybe twice in his life, was it? Sorry, ACCIDENTALLY looked cause you dropped your papan Lukisan Kejuruteraan in the middle of the school canteen.

Uh-huh. I was in high school - Sekolah Menengah Teknik Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Penang. I had this HUGE crush on a guy named Khairil Fedzal Kamal. Ok, instead of feeling like a loser that I can still remember his full name, I'm gonna opt for the fact that I have good memory.

Ok back to the story. I fell in love with him the first time I saw him. From then, I observed *cough - stalked* his interests cause I wanted to get his attention. I had a plan. I wasn't just a random observer *cough - stalker*.
I managed to track his interest - football. He loved it. I could still remember seeing him practice almost every day after school. He looked so handsome in his jersey.. sigh.

Oh, one more thing. You must also know that I used to draw a lot at that time. Mostly potraits of celebrities. So I thought, if I gave him my drawings, maybe he'd come and say thanks. And then we'll get to know each other, and he'll fall in love with me effortlessly. So I started drawing football stars in action! FYI I had never drew whole-body potraits before because for me it was very difficult. My first try turned David Beckham into David Arumugam. (no offense, David Arumugam. I love your songs!) After a few trials, I managed to get it right. The question was, how was I gonna hand it to him? I couldn't do it myself! I REFUSED to hand it to him myself. I didn't wanna end up saying "HiI'minlovewithyousoIthoughtyouwouldlovethisdrawingcauseyoulovefootballandIhopeyouwilllovemetooandwe'dmakebeautifulkidstogether."

To avoid him filing a police report on me, I found myself a middle person. His name was Azril. He was kinda cute though. But I was so focusing on Khairil that nobody was cute to me back then. Sorry guys.
Azril used to help me hand all my drawings to Khairil. And the upah was, since he was a fan of my drawings, I had to give HIM a drawing too. So I was drawing double.

So yeah... I love music and its ability to make me remember all these memories and bring a huge smile to my face.
Music brings me back to the place when life was so much simpler and in this case, how easy it was to fall in love.

Now life is becoming harder to deal with. Worst of all, I find it so hard to fall in love.
Yes, you know what this means.

It's time to play "All by Myself" by Celine Dion.