I’ve mentioned before how certain songs invoke emotions and memories, and I’ve posted about some of them. The 1972 song “Ventura Highway” by the group America, is different in a special way.
It’s different (and special) because it brings back a memory and place, neither of which actually exists. Maybe it’s just a conglomeration of my past – my travels, friends I’ve known, emotions I’ve felt. Maybe it’s a wistful thoughtfulness of being somewhere else – somewhere warm and breezy and open and beautiful; a place that hearkens to my youth in some way. I’m almost there. It’s on the tip of my thoughts.
Perhaps part of it is the mystique of the Pacific Coast Highway, which is the highway that actually does run through Ventura, California. If I close my eyes, I can see it. I can feel it. And all of those memories flood back. Memories of a place I’ve never been – that never existed – but is still right there in my mind. It haunts me, but it’s a beautiful thing…