March 2018 SOLC–Day 14
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“Ok, Molly,” I told myself, “Snow day or not, it’s time to get your PJ-bottomed-butt moving. This house is a mess!”
Cleaning is not my jam, as they say. In fact, there are probably petrified streaks of jam on more than one surface in my kitchen. Through trial and error, though, I’ve discovered that playing loud music is an antidote to the cleaning blues. So to get things started, I typed “fun cleaning music” into YouTube. A selection of playlists appeared and I randomly chose one. Click! The music pumped out of the speakers. I raised the volume to borderline painful, and then, I started cleaning. Music almost makes cleaning fun!… Well, not really.
At any rate, a couple of songs into my cleaning frenzy, the distinctive opening trumpet notes of OMI’s song, “Cheerleader” filled the room. I froze, Pledge in hand, and was instantly transported back to the Summer of 2015. “Cheerleader” was one of the “songs of summer” that year (according to some program I heard on NPR). That was the year we traveled to Europe as a family, and my youngest daughter and I went early for a week together in Brittany, France (I just sliced about this briefly here). It was, hands down, one of the best experiences of my life.
So, with that summer’s soundtrack playing, I stopped cleaning (d&*!) and scrolled through my pictures on a trip down memory lane. As I looked through the photos, I slipped into a Breton reverie of tooling around in our rented Peugeot, listening to the radio (“Cheerleader” played a lot!), reading guide books together, planning our day’s adventures, exploring, cooking dinner together at night, chatting about the day, reviewing our photos, walking on the beach… The best of times.
The final notes of “Cheerleader” blasted out and with a jolt, I returned to the snowy reality of 2018 and my messy house. With no hesitation, I hit replay.
Three or four times.
Note: I was going to attach a link to the song. It’s fun and catchy but then I read the lyrics. Oops. Still, it takes me back.
Our rental in Lechiagat, France
Nix the comfort zone 
Don’t leave me hanging! R rated lyrics?
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lol I wouldn’t say that they’re R-rated, but they’re definitely provocative and not PC regarding gender roles. Feel free to check it out on YouTube. https://youtu.be/jGflUbPQfW8 I’d love to know what you think.
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Thanks for introducing me to Cheerleader. Catchy tune. Good looking gal and guy. Must have been a blast with your younger daughter!
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For me, it’s show tunes. Singing along at high volume helps me get through the cleaning blues. What a lovely place in Brittany and special memories.
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Margaret, we are truly kindred spirits. Show tunes are huge at my house! You just reminded me of several funny stories about my kids and their love of show tunes–with less than G lyrics. Hmmm…I feel a slice coming on!
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I love this and funny how we were just talking about this adventure! Coincidence? I think not.
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Great payoff.
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“Cleaning is not my jam.” But I love how you jammed your way through this piece – and stopped cleaning. Glad to know that someone else requires a soundtrack to clean – though I would never have thought of searching YouTube for fun cleaning music. Sounds like I have a plan for next weekend!
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I’ve discovered some fun songs that way. You remind me that the cleaning never really happened, so I suppose that I have weekend plans as well! Drat.
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Hahahaha – good luck!
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Great slice Molly. You’re so honest- “music almost makes cleaning fun. Well not really” It is another distraction that pushed you back into these memories! That’s what pictures are for, though! Taking time to relive that experience. The “petrified jam” will just have to wait.
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I love the lightheartedness of this slice and how you let yourself be distracted and go down memory lane – now that’s living in the moment – oh, and avoiding cleaning, too! I love when you hear an old song and all you want to do is listen to it again and again and again – recently, for me, it was, You Don’t Have to be a Star by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. It got me groovin, now that I think about it, I may have been cleaning the bathroom!?
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Music is powerful. Just think of some of the best movies without the soundtrack– a totally different experience! Now I’m off to check out your song 🙂
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So, 2 things: 1. I am so glad to know that I am not the only one who might have petrified jam somewhere in the kitchen (I’m pretty sure if I really investigated the cracks between the counter and stove or fridge, I’d have nightmares). 2. I love a good Spotify playlist for cleaning. I’ve been rocking out to Shovels and Rope, or the Hamilton! soundtrack. Great slice– I may need to write a cleaning slice sometime (I do hate to clean)!
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2 Things: 1. Don’t look. Just don’t. Trust me. and 2. I love your taste in music! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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I think it is so important to have a soundtrack of life. Each element can have its own genre or list. Thank you for making me smile with this post. Mark
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Now you have me pondering the soundtrack of my life. That would make a great slice! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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Great slice, Molly. Reading this was like being the proverbial fly on the wall. I laughed when you were so easily distracted from your cleaning. My husband refuses to help me clean (he will do it by himself) because he says there is no rhyme or reason to how I do it. LOL I know he is referring to how I handle distractions. You got me thinking about “soundtracks” I have for specific (not always special) times.
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Sadly, it doesn’t take much to distract me from cleaning! I laughed when I read that your husband doesn’t like your approach to cleaning. My husband is a dynamo when he cleans and then has absolutely no idea where he put anything when he’s done.
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Music has helped me clean plenty of messes! I’m not good at keeping up on current music now that my kids are grown. Your trip to France sounds amazing. I love your rental cottage!
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I’m not up to date on music either, especially now that I listen almost exclusively to audiobooks on my commute to school. Oh, well. There’s plenty of oldies but goodies that can pulse out some hip-hopping cleaning music!
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