On Tuesday, former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic wrote on the New York Review of Books' web site about the pleasures of reliving his youthful experiences through the music and movies he could find on YouTube. When Gawker editor John Cook wrote to compliment him on the piece, Simic responded with the email reproduced (with YouTube links added) below. It is published with Simic's permission.

Dear John:

There was so much else that I could have mentioned in that blog, for example, how I found the songs that were popular when I went on my first date with a certain Edna in the fall of 1955 in Oak Park, Ill, and we drank cherry cokes and played the jukebox in some joint.

I enjoy reading The Gawker.

P.S. Here they are.

1. "Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)"

Eunice Levy/Jake "Vernon" Porter/Forest Wilson, performed by Perry Como

2. "Whatever Lola Wants"

Richard Adler/Jerry Ross, performed by Sarah Vaughan

3. "Wake the Town and Tell the People"

Sammy Gallop/Jerry Livingston, performed by Les Baxter

4. "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane"

Roy Bennett/Sid Tepper, performed by The Ames Brothers

5. "Let Me Go Lover"

Jenny Carson/Al Hill, performed by Joan Weber

6. "The Shifting Whispering Sands"

Jack Gilbert/Mary Hadler, performed by Rusty Draper

7. "Dance With Me Henry"

Hank Ballard/Etta James/Johnny Otis, performed by Georgia Gibbs

8. "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White"

Marcel Louiguy, performed by Pérez Prado

9. "That's All I Want from You"

(Fritz Rotter, performed by Jaye P. Morgan)

10. "Unchained Melody"

(Alex North/Hy Zaret, performed by Al Hibbler)

11. "Hard to Get"

Jack Segal, performed by Gisele MacKenzie

12. "Moments to Remember"

Robert Allen/Al Stillman, performed by The Four Lads

13. "Hearts Made of Stone"

Rudy Jackson/Eddy Ray, performed by The Fontane Sisters

14. "Only You (And You Alone)"

Buck Ram/Ande Rand, performed by The Platters

15. "Love and Marriage"

Sammy Cahn/James Van Heusen, performed by Dinah Shore

16. "Autumn Leaves"

Joseph Kosma/Johnny Mercer/Jacques Prévert, performed by Roger Williams

17. "A Blossom Fell"

Howard Barnes/Harold Cornelius/Dominic John, performed by Nat King Cole

18. "I'll Never Stop Loving You"

Nicholas Brodszky/Sammy Cahn, performed by Doris Day

19. "Sixteen Tons"

Merle Travis, performed by Tennessee Ernie Ford

20. "The Yellow Rose of Texas"

Don George, performed by Mitch Miller & His Orchestra

21. "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing"

Sammy Fain/Paul Francis Webster, The Four Aces

22. "Sincerely"

Alan Freed/Harvey Fuqua, performed by The McGuire Sisters

23. "Melody of Love"

Hans Engelmann, performed by Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra

24. "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"

Tom Blackburn/George Bruns, performed by Bill Hayes

[Image via Getty]