When Deborah Wilkins, chief of staff and general counsel, turns up her iPod, it plays mainly classic rock that triggers memories and feelings from years ago.

Wilkins, who acts as WKU’s in-house attorney and helps prepare President Gary Ransdell for meetings by doing research, also admits to enjoying newer music from artists such as P!nk and Black Eyed Peas.

“I think people ought to listen to a lot of different music,” Wilkins said.

But here are some of the songs Wilkins said she would listen to if she couldn’t listen to anything else:

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” (1974)

“I was fourteen, and that’s probably my first favorite rock ‘n’ roll song,” Wilkins said. “It brings back memories of summer – swimming in the creek and hiking.”

Robert Plant’s “Tall Cool One” (1988)

“It came out a couple of years after I got out of law school – it’s a loud rockin’ song,” she said. “We were partying pretty hard then. I had my first real job, and things were lookin’ up.”

Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” (1988)

“Another one of those songs that takes you back to summer,” she said. “Steve Earle was an activist – antiwar.”

This one reminds her of the 1970s and the Vietnam War, though the song was released post-war, she said.

Don Henley’s “New York Minute” (1989)

“My husband and I had just been married not long at all, because we got married that January,” she said. “We were at a bar outside on the beach – you know how they do in Florida – and we were slow dancing to it,” she said. “It’s a powerful song. It reminds me to hold on to those moments.”

Michael Kamen’s “Main Title Theme from ‘Band of Brothers'” (2001)

“Just a beautiful moving orchestral piece,” she said. “I come from a family where a lot of men have served in armed forces: Vietnam, Korea and World War II. It makes me think of the huge sacrifice that went on, particularly World War II.”