In the beginning of the summer of 2001, my family began a journey, moving from from St. Louis, Missouri to Richmond, Virginia. Seven years old, I slumped in the back seat of the family minivan, personal CD player in hand and oversized headphones on. I had just received the funky blue and silver CD player for my birthday, and the only appeal the 13 hour drive offered was the time to listen to “Drops of Jupiter” on repeat.
As a child, the piano moved me and the lyrics perplexed me. When I listened to the song, I became the protagonist — the dreamer, the traveler, the free spirit. I imagined an exhilarating and breathtaking journey.
After the move, with no lessons or experience reading music, I learned how to play “Drops of Jupiter” on the piano. The melody intrigued me, but the lyrics were even more magical. Seven years old, I thought the song was the best thing I had ever heard — I deemed it poetry in motion.
The lyrics describe a girl the singer is infatuated with stream-of-consciousness style. She is coming back from a “soul vacation” — a wondrous journey she embarked on to find herself. There are both surreal and real aspects of the journey. The girl explores a different atmosphere, drifting along the Milky Way, visiting the moon and sun, and retreating back to Earth with “drops of Jupiter in her hair.” The singer also recounts mundane details, including a “first dance” and a “five hour phone conversation.”
The girl is a blissful, open-minded and ambitious creature, while the singer describes himself as grounded and stationary. But her luminous disposition reminds the singer “that there’s time to change” and “room to grow.”
To this day, “Drops of Jupiter” remains the most meaningful song in my life. It’s the first song I play when I come home from college to a dusty piano. I still relate to the girl’s wanderlust, as it’s difficult for me to stay in one place for too long and I yearn to see the world, and to experience every avenue of life.
This desire fueled my decision to go abroad next fall — I will be participating in Semester at Sea, visiting 11 different countries around the world. This has been my dream for years — the fantasy of my seven-year old self — and I’m eager to see what adventures lie ahead. I may even return with drops of Jupiter in my hair.
Madison’s column runs biweekly Wednesdays. She can be reached at m.ruddy@cavalierdaily.com.
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