Your Own Personal Life Soundtrack!

Movies can be magical and emotional experiences—especially when they feature a great soundtrack. We hear a low, ominous chord from a cello, and we know the bad guy is about to jump out from behind the corner; we hear the sweet tones of swelling violins, coupled with the jubilant blasts of a trumpet, and we know that the hero is about to be reunited with his or her love interest.

If you could have a life soundtrack, would you? Let’s consider the pros and cons:

Pro: No need to take your iPod to the gym. Just as you’re starting to drag on the elliptical—BOOM!—your Life Soundtrack kicks in with an upbeat training music montage perfect to get your body moving again. If it worked for Rocky in Rocky I through Rocky VI, stands to reason it will work for you!

Con: Impossible to keep your secret crush secret. It is hard to act calm, cool, and collected when forced to interact with the person you have a crush on. Just saying “Hey” without drooling on your cardigan, tripping on your own backpack, and/or otherwise making a fool of yourself can be a challenge. So imagine how much more embarrassing these interactions would be if every time you set eyes on your crush, your Life Soundtrack started playing cheesy romantic music. Not only would your crush know your secret, but the rest of the school would, too. And while hopefully one day you will summon the courage to tell your crush how you feel, wouldn't it be better to do it on your own terms, rather than having Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” break the news?

Pro: You would be a one-person dance party! Any time you and your friends feel like dancing, no need to put another dime in the jukebox, baby! Just let your own personal Life Soundtrack pump the jams…baby.

Con: You would be a one-person dance party. You know how annoying it is when the person next to you in class is singing a song quietly to himself, and you’re just trying to read, and even though he's singing it quietly, you can still hear it, and you can’t focus on your reading because that stupid song of his is drilling its way into your cranium, straight through your temple, one annoying off-key syllable at a time????!?!? Yeah, well, you’d be like that person only ten times worse. It is not a crime to have Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” stuck in your head; it would be a crime to have your Life Soundtrack playing it for your entire English class to hear.

Pro: Your own personal Spidey-sense. Spiderman can tell when an explosive is rocketing towards his head because of the urgent music playing; Lassie can tell when little Timmy is trapped in the well because of the surging violins. In the same way, your Life Soundtrack would let you know whenever danger was about to show its unwelcome face: What’s that ominous music, Life Soundtrack? Oh yes, I forgot I had a Spanish test this afternoon! I should use my lunch break to study! Hmm, why do I hear that foreboding tinkling of piano keys? Ah, I was about to step in a freshly-chewed, freshly-spat-out piece of gum. What’s that, Life Soundtrack, the theme song from Jaws? Even though this is a swimming pool and not the Atlantic Ocean, maybe I’ll just go ahead and sit on the side for a bit. Thank you, Life Soundtrack!

Con: Playing hide and go seek. You would not be a very good hider. Unless of course your Life Soundtrack happened to include John Cage’s “Four minutes, thirty-three seconds of silence.”

Would you want to have your own personal Life Soundtrack?

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