MODERN WOMEN’S APRIL PROMPT
Sing Out In The Age Of Worry
When music reminds you to get out of your own way
Last month I went to London to watch John Mayer at the O2 Arena for the second time. I’ve been listening to John since I was six, and my Filipino nanny would go around the house singing “Alice in Wonderland” to the sound of “Your Body Is a Wonderland”.
His music is engrained into the crevices of my childhood memories. Each album is like a time machine that transports me to a different stage of my life, and since I grew up as a third culture kid, to a different country.
I remember being huddled in the middle seat of our old Volvo, seatbelt under my armpit outstretched all the way, when I heard the four opening notes and clap of Clarity. We had taken a Saturday morning trip to our local record shop in the Hague, where my eager eight-year-old self had begged my dad to buy the new album. I had limited purchase power of my own at the time.
My dad came up with some excuse as to why we couldn’t take home the CD. I was disappointed, but vaguely patient, so I indulged while I could by listening to the tracks on one of the free headsets in the shop. The ones that you had to scan the barcode of the CD with to listen to.
