Sunday afternoon, 1996.
I'm laying on my bedroom floor staring blankly at my ceiling. Led Zeppelin's 'The Battle of Evermore' is playing on my turntable. Led Zeppelin IV is my favourite Zeppelin album. I remember the first time I listened to it I cried.
My mum called me that day when she was at the store.
"Guess what I've just spied", she says down the phone with a mischievous tone in her voice. I could literally hear her smiling through the phone.
"I don't know, what did you spy?", I ask. I hate playing the guessing game when I know I'm about to get a massive surprise.
"A Led Zeppelin vinyl".
"Wait, what?" I say in disbelief.
I've never owned a vinyl before and that was my first one. Well, apart from all of my dad's old vinyls that he gave to me that were collecting dust in the attic for goodness knows how long, but this was my own, very first vinyl and it's Led fucking Zeppelin.
"Where are you? Are you in a record store?" I ask.
"I'm getting some groceries and they have some vinyls. Looks like this is the only Zeppelin album they have left" she says, as she flicks through them.
"Ooooh they have Rod Stewart".
"Ew mom, no" I say, as I laugh.
She knows how critical I am of any other genre that's not classic rock. It's the only thing I listen to, almost like it's my religion.
After coming home from shopping, she slowly peeks her head around the side of my door and raises her hand from behind her back holding the album up in front of me as if it was something sacred.
"Oh my gosh!" I say, as my eyes fill up with tears.
I know I was so dramatic when I got that album but that is how much I love music. I've always struggled with self-discovery and I could never get along with many people because classic rock isn't as mainstream as it used to be. But music, as cliche as it sounds, was able to do that for me. Music is the one thing I feel so sure of myself about. I grew up around music my whole life and it is a big part of who I am. But that day that I got Led Zeppelin IV, I listened to it on loop.
I worship rock n' roll.