There were some interesting prompts this weekend, and I was deciding between writing a wacky entry about having earthworms as pets versus a more sentimental post about memorable songs. And I decided to opt for the latter.
Name two songs or pieces of music that have meant a great deal to you, defined moments in your life, made you feel great happiness or great sorrow when you hear them or take you back to a special moment. Explain why in each case. You can link the YouTube videos if you like.
Tanya Chua - Where I Belong
In Singapore, we would celebrate our birthday on 9 August every year and there would almost always be a National Day Parade (NDP) theme song every year. The song will be performed and sung during the celebrations and the parade for that year.
"Where I Belong" by Tanya Chua was the theme song for 2001's National Day and this is my favourite NDP theme song even after all these years. There's something magical about Tanya's voice, the upbeat tune, and the meaningful lyrics, that evoke nostalgic memories about my younger days, where days were so carefree. Over the years, we have had many different theme songs but none of them resonated more with me compared to this one.
As the final part of the song goes,
I want the whole world to know, I want to shout it out loud
That this is where I know I belong
As a small country, we have come a long way to punch above our weight and have a lot to celebrate. At the same time, we ought to be thankful of the peace and stability we have on this little island where we belong.
Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle
Switching over to pop music now! I am not sure how many readers actually know who she is, or heard of this song, but this was one of the first English pop songs that I heard when I was growing up.
I have always been a fan of Christina Aguilera because her vocals are so powerful and she is able to dance as well as belt out ballads. So this song was released in 1999 (I am old I know hehe) and back then I was still studying. I think it was those days where my friends were all "obsessed" about mp3 music and I soon found myself listening to all those popular hits online from artistes like Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and the list goes on.
These days I still listen to pop music from the likes of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Charlie Puth, but there are days where I would go to Youtube and search for those songs from 2000s to play and I will sing along to the lyrics in my room. Hahaha!
Have embedded the Youtube links of the songs and you could have a listen if you are interested! Thanks for reading and wishing all a pleasant week ahead! :)