Getting personal for a moment, Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer," one of my favourites of his, reminds me of the sweetest young girl I knew for two days in the Summer of 2012. I was at an Adult Education facility for my GED tests when I met her. We started talking and hit it off immediately, and it seemed we could, at the very least, become fast friends.

Of course, circumstance and fate intervened, and members of her family picked her up right as I was about to initiate some sort of exchange of contact information in the hopes of staying in touch. I never saw or spoke to her again, and never again did I feel the same kind of hopefulness for my future that I did on those two days.

A couple of years after I met her, I discovered her Facebook profile and saw the lecherous men with whom she was associating, one of whom she was married to. It was all so sad and dismaying to see her in such an obviously sorry state of affairs. I would try to send her a friend request later in the year, but by this point she'd long ago forgotten about me.

I always felt that, when all the users, abusers, and Sunshine Patriots("Boys of Summer," if you will) were gone, I would still adore and care about her. To this day, when I think about her, I always have the fondest and warmest feelings. I know full well it is all for naught, though.

That one more than occasionally stirs me up. Also think of her when I hear "Rio" by Duran Duran, though that one brings happier memories to the forefront.

Other emotionally stirring songs, to varying degrees, are "Desperado," "I Wish You Peace," "My Man,"(reminds me of my late friend) and "The Sad Cafe" by the Eagles, "The Crystal Ship" and "Wishful Sinful" by the Doors, "Darling, Be Home Soon" by the Lovin' Spoonful, “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones, “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles, “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Time For Me to Fly” by REO Speedwagon(especially with Gary Richrath's passing last year), and "Your Wildest Dreams" by the Moody Blues(the last song ever played on my favourite radio station from youth).