Stereo Hearts (A 2000's Classic)
In retrospect, the tracks in this playlist proved to be instrumental in planting the seeds of my musical journey and realizing that music is a relationship-building tool.
Just like any other person (except for maybe Elon Musk), I was absolutely naive even though I may have thought I knew what was going on. One of the many songs frequently played on 102.7 KIIS FM during my childhood was “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine. When I was in the second grade, I had absolutely no idea that this song was about chasing love. I simply rocked my head back and forth, imitating artists on a stereotypical VEVO video from the 2000s, and sang the lyrics word for word with my mom. At the time, I didn’t really have any sentimental value attached to the song, because I didn’t understand what love was or any other emotion for that matter aside from happiness and sadness (from losing crayons). I didn’t have any experiences that I could relate that song back to. It just made me feel carefree (well even more carefree than I already was as a kid in grade school) and happy.
Reflecting back on this period of my childhood, I realized that this music from my early childhood does have sentiment. A lot of the songs in the playlist established a common ground for me and my mom to connect. Our relationship goes beyond the typical dichotomous relation of mother and son. We’re friends that can crack jokes and get boba together. Music showed me that my mom isn’t only someone who’s only someone always on my head about my academics, but that she is also someone I can have fun with.
Moreover, my childhood experience with music is what opened me up to listening to different genres of music. Even though I didn’t understand that music was a gateway to connecting to people, I knew that I enjoyed singing music with other people. As I came of age and began to meet new people that were accustomed to listening to different genres of music, I adapted my music tastes to connect with other people. There was just a shared feeling of happiness that brought me closer to my friends when we would sing or rap songs together (like my mom and I in the car). Essentially that shared feeling of happiness is what connected me to my peers.
