Of Sisters, Songs, and Strangers

a writing prompt for you + January writing hour

I’ve just returned from a quick trip to New York City with two sisters. From our far-flung towns and continents, we gathered for a brief reunion of food, music, and lots of walking and talking. The primary excuse (secondary to my birthday which is today!) was a concert—Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. We grew up on his music as did the majority of the crowd packed into the house—it holds 20,000 for a concert. Nearly all of us sang along to most of the songs and no one was annoyed by that.

The woman next to me in the fringy-feathered jacket leaned over when the opening notes to Just the Way You Are began and announced “this was our wedding song” before she and her husband stood up and swayed together. I instantly forgave her for the jacket strands brushing my arms and head at regular intervals. The song comes from Joel’s 1977 album The Stranger. His band has gotten bigger, and concerts flashier, but the piano man’s sound is the same.

Music connects us, doesn’t it?

In the 70s and 80s, we didn’t seem to have as many choices as today. All my sisters and friends listened to Billy Joel and sat by the radio with a finger on the cassette tape button to try and capture his songs for our mix tapes. We still know the words to the songs, or at least the choruses. We have specific sense memories of the albums and connect them to people, places, and periods of time. I still remember the opening to the choreographed dance a group of us did at summer camp to The Stranger.

In a giant venue, in a diverse city, music gathers actual strangers together. In the basement bathroom of our hotel, we met another family of sisters also going to the concert and got a little lost on the walk together. On both my planes to and from my small southern city, I noticed the same mother-son pair traveling together. I had wondered to myself on the way up what their plans were in the city—a show? a college visit? family? On the way home, along with the same green shirt I’d admired on her on the way up, the mother wore the tired travel expression I also wore. The lanky teen wore his brand new Billy Joel t-shirt.

a writing prompt

Who is on repeat in the soundtrack of your younger years? Listen to one of the songs, and pay attention to the specific sense memories it brings up in you. Write about a song, an album, a concert, or whatever else is tugging at you today.

January Writing Hour - Sunday at 4 pm Eastern

The next Zoom gathering for paid subscribers is coming up this Sunday, January 22nd from 4-5 pm eastern. If you want to write in company with others, join us! You can upgrade your subscription for a month ($7) just to try it. A separate email to paid subscribers will go out with the link later this week.

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