Theme Songs, 2

So, I was in Calaguas over the weekend, to lounge around in the sun and camp by the beach, and, to cap our Saturday evening, my girl friends and I had an iPod party. It was the second iPod party for me in two weeks—and the second beach as well! Maybe it's the universe's way of telling me to finally give in and get myself my own iPod. Or a beach house, maybe. In any case, the timing was great too, because theme songs—of movies and my own life—were still on my mind.

During that trip, I was thinking a lot of “MacArthur Park,” which isn't the theme song of the Chris O'Donnel and Robin Tunney starrer Vertical Limit, but is mentioned right before the film's shocker of a beginning. Survival films were on my mind a lot in Calaguas, because, well, there we were, five girls venturing forth towards a group of semi-untouched islands in a two-hour boat ride, while news about Supertyphoon Megi (codenamed “Juan” as it entered Philippine territory) was abuzz.

Funny that for survival films, I could only think of “MacArthur Park,” and that I had the following lines on my mind: “Someone left the cake out in the rain/I don't think that I can take it/'Cause it took so long to bake it/And I'll never have that recipe again.”

If I were to give that particular beach trip a theme song, however, it would be “Cool Change” by Australian pop group Little River Band. You know, that song that starts with, “If there's one thing in my life that's missing...”

Got you singing, didn't I?

When I was younger, whenever I hit the sea, I would instantly think of this song, which, for obvious reasons, had always been a water/beach/boat song for me. I'm pretty sure this song has been played in a number of movies and TV shows, but I can't come up with any title as of the moment.

The song was again replayed in my mind last weekend because I'd been raring for a new adventure after a year of being home- and office-tied and Calaguas was it! An eight-hour bus ride, another one-hour bus ride, and then a two-hour boat ride to camp by the beach, sans cellphone signal and electricity, without any one else in sight, excepting three guys who'd had the same idea and with whom we had to share the camping ground, was a definite cool change for me.

When I'm looking at blue skies and aquamarine waters, I also can't help but think of the sunshiny and bright blue “Mamma Mia!” and its songs like, “I Have a Dream,” “Our Last Summer,” and “When All Is Said And Done.” Oh, it's forever summer in “Mamma Mia!” land and love always has a chance. As the lines of “Take a Chance on Me” go, “If you change your mind, I’m the first in line. Honey I’m still free, take a chance on me.”

If I associate songs with seasons, like the above, I also associate songs with places. It's a no-brainer. If my hearing the song in that particular place is anchored in my memory, then that song and that place will forever be associated for as long as I live. For example, on a drive up to Baguio a decade or more ago, my best friend only had one CD: Celine Dion's Falling into You. We played the power ballad “It's All Coming Back to Me Now” over and over again—when we couldn't get a decent radio signal, which was most of the zig-zag leg of the trip. Now, when I go to Baguio, I feel the urge to burst into song and sing, “There were nights when the wind was so cold!”

Another good example: The story of how I discovered Jason Mraz. I'd heard of him before, but I'd dismissed him as another John Mayer type. But one night, at the Bohol Beach Club, one of the singers at the restaurant gave a very interesting rendition of “I'm Yours.” I took note of the lyrics, googled it when I got home, and fell in love.

It seems like I've begun a belated affair with music—movie music, for starters, and, moving forward, the music of the movie in my mind.

Now, to get that iPod.

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