Periodic Nonfiction Memoir

Alicia Figueroa

"All My Life" -K-Ci and JoJo

My mother was obsessed with this song when I was in preschool, in Crete, Nebraska. She would always turn it up when it came on the radio, and sometimes would sing it to me. On a spur of the moment decision, she decided to take me and runaway with her mormon boyfriend to California. I still remember the day he dropped me off at a babysitter's house and walked away, it was the last time I seen him. That night, my mom sang it to me to cover up her tears.

"Complicated" -Avril Lavigne

By the time I discovered the works of Avril Lavigne's album "Let Go", my mother and I made our way to Beatrice, Nebraska. I was in kindergarten at Paddock Lane. I was obsessed with the video, and wanted to be the punk rock girl that she was. I tried kool-aid dying my too dark hair, and crying at the end result. By this time I realized music was a great escape for me, as my mom wasn't giving me my attention as she rathered to spend all her time with her inconsistent boyfriends.

"Beverly Hills" -Weezer

Still living in Beatrice at the time of my first grade year, I noticed the "Top 20 Countdown" on VHS. I'm rather embarrassed to say Weezer's "Make Believe" album was something I liked to listen to, especially the song about being a celebrity. It's almost as embarrassing as me admitting to being a fan of Nickelback, but I'll spare you the gruesome details of that phase.

"Seven Days" -Craig David

By the time I hit second grade, my mom decided to hit it off with her boyfriend she met through my uncle in Louisiana, by moving in with him in Enid, Oklahoma. She had a few CD mixes, and on one of them, a song I still listen to today, Craig David's "Seven Days" was always stuck in my head. I started to listen to R&B and became more interested in singers like Usher, Craig David, and Pharrell. Around August 23rd of 2005, Hurricane Katrina had decided to invite herself to the Crescent City, and my mom felt obligated to send me back to Nebraska with my aunt and her abusive husband while she traveled to the damage to help out.

"Too Little, Too Late" -JoJo

In the third grade, I had made it out of my aunt's house and moved back in with my mom, as she had came back up to Nebraska and we moved to Wymore, Nebraska. I was invested in listening to pop music, and after watching "Aquamarine", a movie about mermaids that JoJo had starred in, I became with obsessed with the pop diva's song "Too Little, Too Late". I would sing it all the time at my house, until my mom yelled at me to stop. Not only that, but I was naive enough to think that I could become big and famous like her when I grew up, not realizing that my voice was bad enough to break windows.

"Aye Bay Bay" -Hurricane Chris

I had moved to Louisiana with my mom in the summer of 2007, so my mom could live with her previous boyfriend who decided to stay there when Katrina hit. The culture change was amazing. I went from listening to pop music to hip-hop and R&B, because after seeing the movies about the south and how it glamorized rap music, I felt the need to "fit in". One day, my uncle took me to a po' boy shop in New Orleans, and as these girls left, the chef bid them adieu with an, "Aye bay bay". I had no idea where the saying came from, so I asked my uncle who was somewhat of a Nawlins native, he lived there for 10 years. He used an analogy by saying that it was like saying "Aloha" in Hawaii. I was one day on Youtube looking at suggestion for what to listen to when "Aye Bay Bay" by Hurricane Chris popped up on my feed. Freaking out, I listened to the song and had it on replay till the hype about it piped down.

"Soulja Boy" -Soulja Boy Tellem

I had made friends with about every kid in the neighborhood by the time I was in the fifth grade, and listening to dance music every Friday at the sock hop was a tradition. Hearing the song come on caused a roar of dance-offs and it made the atmosphere exciting. Life was good in Louisiana, the food, weather, and overall environment was something I wish to go back to everyday.

"I Love College" -Asher Roth

By the sixth grade I had moved back up to Nebraska with my mom in Lincoln, and back into my aunt's controlling hands. My only freedom was music, if that. I wasn't allowed to listen to anything with curse words. Little did she know that at my mom's house I was able to listen to whatever. Asher Roth came out with a song about getting wasted and I thought it was amusing and funny. It made me excited to go to college, not because of the drugs or alcohol, but because of the all around fact that no one cared about anything, or so it seemed that way.

"Louisiana Blues" -Muddy Waters

In spring break of seventh grade, my mom and I took a road trip to Louisiana to hang out with my uncle for a few days. Going back to my voluntary home was great, and though your average seventh grader wouldn't like it, I had to get up every morning at six o'clock so me and my uncle could go to work. But on the last day of my stay he took the day off so we could go to the zoo in New Orleans and what not. As we were cruising from Baton Rouge to the Crescent City, he put on some blues music. I didn't really have a broad taste in music at the time, I mainly focused on the modern stuff. But then I heard the raspy voice of Muddy Waters and instantly fell in love. The beat was something I could listen to for days, and the harmonica gave an aura of a good time. Getting exposed to something that I would never get tired of and had a stable place in my life was great.

"Pumped Up Kicks" -Foster The People

I had been hanging out with a close friend, Sophia, and her brothers had an indie rock band, they were obsessed with the alternative rock movement. I wasn't very into it at first, but then getting introduced to this song made me notice it in a way that I can't explain. Maybe it was the meaning of it, or the different instruments in the background that made me feel exposed to a whole new world. In the meanwhile, my mom had decided to stop coming home and to this day won't tell me what she was up to. That summer, CPS had made their way to my door.

"Home, Home" -Phillip Phillips

After moving from my aunt's, to a group home, to a friend's house, my freshman year was going on it's way to being good. I was on the way to being adopted. This song, was the song that my "soon-to-be" foster mom dedicated to me. That summer, I had snuck out one time, and they put up their ten day notice. I still have a hard time listening to that song today.

"Karma Police" -Radiohead

During my sophomore year, I moved in with a new family that was more than good to me. They were really into music, which is why I chose this topic for this paper. They were very accepting of the music I listened to, but in the mean time gave me suggestions. From there on, I began my obsession with the 90's. With what seemed like a good time, I began a habit of "pushing the ganja"-as what my hippie grandpa would call it- and began sneaking out habitually, and my placement at the Novak's had came to an end.

Anything.

Junior year has come and has yet to end, but I'm sure my different interests in music won't seize to exist. I love anything, except pop and country. From gangster rap, to trap music, to modern and 90's alt rock, the list goes on. I am now living in a group home once again, and my behavior is my main focus, but I always need music to help get through things. People always say that there's that one person that will always be there for you throughout life, but my person doesn't exist. Instead, I have music.