Kenia's Wednesday Challenge

The Women from the South, Kerry and Kenia, have put their heads together and decided to mix things up a little by sharing the Wednesday Challenge slot and seasoning the Real Toads with South African and South American flavour every fortnight. Today, Kenia brings us a wonderful musical challenge.

You are the music while the music lasts. ~T.S. Eliot

The Green Violinist, 1923~24 Chagall

Here's a list to think of: a lullaby, the song playing when you first kissed a boy/girl, a break-up song, a movie soundtrack, a road tripping song, a song you hum now and then, a song from your teenage days, a song to sing in the shower, a mixed tape, a song to sing in a karaoke bar. Music has always been around.

If any of us took some time to write a memoir, we'd certainly discover a song playing in the background to each and every bittersweet memory of ours. I used to listen to Duran Duran when I was 11; at 15 I was a fan of Simon and Garfunkel; at 16 I fell in love with Haendel; The Smashing Pumpkins stole my heart a few years later; Cat Stevens bewitched me when I was 22; I had an affair with Bob Dylan some years later and it took me some time to actually understand my real love was music which would take my feet off the ground and make me want to fly, like the little man in the background in Chagall's painting above, no matter who was playing it.

There is an African tale told by Tolba Phanem which speaks of songs being born with children and following them all through their lives, bringing them the memory of their own identities and purpose in life whenever they feel confused or lost, and that's what today's challenge is about.

CHALLENGE

Go to This Day In Music and discover what was number 1 on the charts in the United States, England or Australia the day you were born, or any other special day in your life, if you prefer. Listen to the song(s) while going through your personal history, revisit pictures and memories and write a poem which will be your own chant.

Link your poem (we'd love to hear about the song too!), leave a comment and provide a link in your blog to Real Toads. Have fun!

(P.S.: If your birth year is not listed, I'll personally search Google for your song.)