Music was such a huge part of my childhood it's hard to pick just one, so let's start from the beginning: the first album I bought for myself.
It was 1979 and I was at my babysitter's house. She put on an album of music I had never heard before, full of fun and bouncy music that immediately made my soul happy.
Yes, it's disco. No, I'm not ashamed of my unabashed love for it.
One song in particular captured my ear in a big way. I could have listened to it over and over and over again, just that one song. So naturally after I left my babysitter's, I had one option. I had to buy the album so I could do just that. I had plenty of records in that time, but they were mostly castoffs - except for my Monkees record which had been given to me by a friend who understood just how much I would love it. (#groupiegirl forever)
This one I bought with purpose, for a reason. I HAD to hear that song again.
"Angeleyes" is perhaps my favorite ABBA song, though I have many. Even when I was nine years old, something in my old soul must have felt a connection with the story told in the song, of a young girl who succumbed to a charming man with bewitching eyes. Ultimately she learns he's a player, because she gets to watch him turn those charms to other girls, and she has to get over her impossible crush, pick up the pieces and move on.
I've had a lot of experience with that since then, so maybe it was a harbinger of things to come. I'm all about the eyes as we know. Abs, asses, youth will change, but the eyes never do. And I'm (still) a sucker for a man who understands how to wield this power.
Recently I learned the backstory of ABBA, which is a #girlpower story if ever there was one. What these two women had to do and sacrifice for their fame, and just how much it cost them, is as heartbreaking as falling for that playah with the sexy eyes. It cast even more shadow on a sad tale told through ironically upbeat music.
This molded me as an artist, I feel. I can tell my tales through sex and humor, but I'm not afraid to rip some scars raw. It is this angst that I bring to my soulful-eyed book boyfriends who have a hard time committing themselves to just one gal.
Y'all know who I'm talking about.
We all have known and loved a guy like this, but when I was nine I was still buckling in for the ride. I knew he was coming, and I knew it would hurt, but I was ready to experience it anyway if it meant I could capture that crush for just one second.
In that way, Vanni was born in thought way back in 1979.
Have a listen and feel free to share a favorite or significant song through your childhood. :)
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