Remember the Love

I used to jokingly say that the soundtrack to the musical RENT was my favorite Christmas album. Even though it takes place of the course of a whole year between two Christmases, the bulk of the action occurs on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, so I associate it with this in-between time. 

I first saw RENT in the summer of 1996 on a family vacation to New York City. We very were lucky to get tickets to see the original Broadway cast, and even though my parents didn't care much for the 90's rock style of singing and amplification in the theatre (why are they screaming at me?), we all knew that we were experiencing something special.

I bonded with my high school friends over the RENT soundtrack, even singing a duet from the show with my friend Jackie at one of our chorus concerts junior year.

I bonded with my college friends over the RENT soundtrack, sometimes having sing-alongs at parties and/or beach week.

Over the years, I have bonded with many, many friends over the soundtrack to this show (and the show in general). 

One of my best friends and I text each other every year on New Years, exchanging some lyrics: "Let's make a resolution --" /  "I'll drink to that!" /  "Let's always stay friends"

In a previous post, I mentioned that at this point of adulthood and motherhood, I've started noticing different things and relating to different characters when I listen to familiar soundtracks. RENT being no exception, this year, during my annual listen, I noticed this lyric from "Seasons of Love" that I don't remember noticing before:

"Remember the love"

As a teenager, New Years was just another holiday. Time passed so much slower then, and we had so much more of it ahead of us that it didn't carry the same weight it seems to now. As an adult in 2023, my social media feeds are full of other adults sharing what they've accomplished in the past 12 months or what they plan to do in the next 12 months because we know we don't have as much time ahead of us anymore. But, maybe, instead of vigorously patting ourselves on the back or setting ambitious new goals, maybe we should take a moment to just remember the love.

I've had a weird year. Parts of it were very challenging and difficult. Yes, I could list out the things I've accomplished, and of course just getting through the challenges is an accomplishment on its own. And everything else aside, the holidays are always stressful on their own. But I hope that when I'm even older and the previous generation has passed and the next generation is grown and more of my own generation are gone, I hope I look back on this time (and my whole life tbh) and remember the love. I hope we all do. 

"You've got to remember the love."

"Measure your life in love."