A Sparkplug for the Brain in Five Songs

If someday my mind succumbs to the debilitating fog of dementia that robs my father and so many others of their familiarity and wit, put noise-cancelling headphones over my ears, turn up the volume and play the electric guitar anthems of my youth. I don’t know nearly enough about reversing the downward slide of dementia, but I do know that music seems to help. My Dad might not remember my name, but he knows the words to his favorite country music. There’s magic in music, and it seems to remain a gift for us to the end of our days.

I don’t know what my own future will bring, but I eat my blueberries and leafy greens and stay hydrated in hopes of keeping the pipes clean. They say a heart-healthy diet and a brain-healthy diet are the same, which seems to offer a clear path for proactive nutrition. But we never know, do we?

I do know that nothing drew me out of my awkward teenage shell like the guitar work of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s rock music. And, just maybe, that might work again should I someday need a sparkplug for the brain. May it never be needed but as a nice throwback jolt of energy and a reminder of a time when my dad knew my name and would yell it to have me turn down the music:

Surrender – Cheap Trick
I can still remember listening to this song in a friend’s basement, along with, funny enough, his Kiss records.

Unchained – Van Halen
This performance is big, brash Van Halen at their raunchiest, and rocking the house.

Rock You Like a Hurricane – The Scorpions
German rock and roll that must be turned up extra loud.

Roll With The Changes – REO Speedwagon
One of those songs you can’t help but turn up and speed up to.

Gloria – U2
The band, and the performance, that stirred my Celtic soul and changed my perspective on music forever. U2 became and remains to this day my virtual house band.