The List: Most Influential Albums

As I was perusing Elise's blog I came across a post about the most influential songs and albums in her life--the songs and albums that represented a rite of passage or a life change. That got me to thinking about how music has shaped my life. So, here's my list of influential songs:

--Jupiter, the bringer of Jollity by Gustav Holst. This song has been my favorite song for as long as I can remember. I don't know when I first heard it--all I really remember is being head over heels in love with it from the time I first discovered classical music in my early childhood. I'm still head over heels in love with it. It is exciting and rich and vibrant, and the chorale is heart-stoppingly beautiful. I love that the horns get to introduce every theme. This is the quintessential horn player's song, and probably one of the biggest reasons that I started playing French horn in the first place. If each person, each soul, had a song, this would be mine.

--You Are Loved by Josh Groban. I'd never heard this song until I got to college. Somehow--I don't remember how, but like most other things, it was probably spur of the moment--it became our apartment theme song. We would listen to it when we were down, when anyone was having boy problems or other troubles, at girl's night in and our 1 AM dance parties in Marci and Christie's room, and whenever else we felt like it. There was one Sunday where we piled on our little loveseat (there were at least 4 of us on there), opened the windows, turned the song on, and serenaded everyone walking home from church at the top of our lungs. I would never have done something like that in high school--I was just too shy and self conscious. Freshman year changed that. My roommates changed that. You Are Loved embodies the friendships forged that year and how six very different girls became each other's family, support group, and best friends.

--The 2008 Nauvoo Brass Band Music. These songs pervaded every waking moment of this last summer. That summer changed my life forever, in too many ways to count. I learned so much about myself and the gospel, I made lifelong friends, I changed my major, and I fell in love with with that city and that beautiful temple shining like a jewel nestled in a bend of the Mississippi.

This isn't an exhaustive list by any means. My life is a continuation of songs, and to define them all and everything they represent would take a long, long time. Perhaps I'll add to this list if something really special comes to mind. What are your songs, and what do they mean to you?