Music and Memories

Journey is a great American rock band with one of the most iconic songs ever written, "Don't Stop Believin'." Its message is simple: Believe in your dreams and believe in yourself. It's some of the greatest, yet simplest advice I could offer to anyone. Although this song is not tied to a specific memory or time period along my journey (no pun intended), it represents a simple overarching theme that has held true throughout my life. Shockingly only reaching #9 on the billboard charts in 1981, here is "Don't Stop Believin'."

Starting chronologically, when I was around 8 years old back in the early 1980s and the era of the bigger the speaker the better, my dad purchased speakers that were bigger than me. Like most 8 year old boys, I was not into classical music, but I was into the crescendo of the ending melody with cannons firing in Tchaikovsky's "Overture of 1812!" My dad and I would play it over and over, cranking the speakers as the cannons were about to fire. Here is "Overture of 1812."

Moving on to high school, my wrestling coach, and still mentor today, would play this song with 10 minutes left in our daily two hour practices. He brilliantly understood that after 110 minutes of grueling hard work and drills, while wearing three layers of clothes to lose weight, he could have us dig deeper to find a gear most can't tap into to finish up practice. Peaking only at #37 back in 1981 on the billboard charts, here is AC/DC's "Back in Black."

Continuing in high school, my first and remained favorite CD was U2's Joshua Tree. In order to fall asleep the night before big games or matches, I played this CD to focus my mind on relaxation. It worked like a charm, and I never made it past the third song on the album, "With Or Without You." Peaking at #6 for albums on the billboard charts, here is the first song on the album, "Where The Streets Have No Name."

As I entered college, I discovered the world of the psychedelic music movement. These songs don't pertain to any particular memory, rather a collection of memories of a pack of good friends moving on a journey together for the next four years.

After college, life became serious but still fun. This next song was connected to the time that my partner and I were at the beginning of our journey of building a hedge fund. People close to us used to call us two guys in a garage. One day during market hours, when the market was tanking over some exogenous event, this song came on. At the exact moment of the start of the song, the market bottomed and never looked back. From that point forward, we would jokingly play the song when I knew the technicals were pointing to a rally; and sure enough, the market would rally before the song ended. It will forever be known as our rally song! From Radiohead, here is "Fake Plastic Trees."

Finally, to round out the list, the most special person in my life. Here is my wife singing "Pick Me" by a faux band called the Pickles.

This is my story and the first half of my journey. As you have read, music is pivotal in my life, and I hope whoever reads this will share their journey playlist. It's a great way to express your life. And never forget... don't stop believing!