In hindsight, prom can feel like one long set-up for a punchline — about what you wore, who accompanied you, how your hair was styled, and so on. Whether you shared your first kiss with the love of your life or spent prom night slow-dancing with your stuffed animals at home, prom takes universal snapshots of youthful vulnerability, vitality and acne-scarred intensity. Prom is eternal; a story you tell when you're summarizing who you were as a teenager.
And, of course, no story of teen angst is complete without a soundtrack. Which is funnier: A story about your cummerbund falling in the toilet, or a story about your cummerbund falling in the toilet as Robin Zander and Ann Wilson wail the love theme from Tequila Sunrise over a loudspeaker?
Whether or not your prom had an official musical theme, there was probably a prom moment that burned itself into your memory. Chances are, that moment was soundtracked by a song you'll never again hear without all the emotions of that glorious (or terrible) night flooding back.
So here's what we want you to do: Share with us the song that makes you think of your prom, and tell us your story on our Soundcloud page:
Joy, pain, excitement, humiliation, riding around in a borrowed car listening to thrash-metal tapes because nobody wearing taffeta or a tux could possibly understand you — it's all fair game.
Submit your memories via Soundcloud or in the comments, and try to keep your responses under 150 words. As for content, we only ask you to keep things as family-friendly as possible. Think of us as your chaperone, minus the harsh glare of judgment.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
