Music, who knew? Well, everyone, I suppose. Everyone but me, apparently, because this is one of those I was this many years old when I discovered it moments.
Memories are very slippery things; I know I have enormous trouble holding on to them. For the most part, my childhood is gone completely. I remember a couple of events, a birthday party at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor, though the salient details of the party escape me. I remember the Christmas I opened the Atari VCS, etc. Mostly, though, my childhood is lost to me. I can remember a bit more about high school, and more still about young adulthood, even though those memories are still pretty sparse.
That being said, there are songs which will instantly take me back to a particular time or event. Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton instantly take me back to high school, mostly lunches in the cafeteria where the school book store had record albums for sale. In fact, this is where I got most of my Zeppelin, Clapton, and many other bands' records at. I can vividly remember browsing the store and finding, for example, the Slowhand album, purchasing it, taking it back to the lunch table to show it off, and then hardly being able to wait until school ended to go home and listen to it.
Hearing Deep Purple, Richard Marx, and Sting take me back to the concerts I went to see (Deep Purple with my cousin, most of the others with my wife, back when we were dating, and later after we were married). When Clapton's Wonderful Tonight comes on the radio, I am instantly brought back to my wedding and our first dance together.
Radio stations (on Sirius XM) like 80s on 8 and 1st Wave are nonstop reminders of long forgotten times. Teen years, early 20s, early married life, etc. all come flowing back with amazing clarity, only to quickly fade away again after the songs end.
The 90s on 9 and Pop 2K take me back to my kids' childhoods, these being times far too long gone now to seem possible. Their favorite songs that we listened to over and over again can bring me back to those times instantly. Dirty Pop will still bring a smile to my face even though hearing it the better part of 1000 times made me sick to death of it. Remembering my son being so excited every time it came on is a really good memory for me. My kids' favorite songs when they were growing up mean as much or more to me than my own favorites do.
For someone whose memory is as bad as mine, these moments of remembering are an amazing gift, one I try to hold on to every time they happen, though I never can for more than a few minutes. It's one of the main reasons I subscribe to Sirius XM radio; there are so many songs that I do not remember at all until I hear them on the radio, and I wouldn't be able to purchase those songs or CDs because I have already forgotten they existed. When I hear them come on the radio, my first thought is: wow, I forgot that song completely. Then the memories it brings up come flooding in.
Smells and sights also do this, but for me not nearly as much as music. Occasionally, the smell of something will pop a memory (Orange Julius is one of the strongest) and seeing something familiar will also. Older Peanuts strips do this, as well as some movies like A Charlie Brown Christmas and the 1977 animated The Hobbit movie bring back the first time I saw them reliably. These are far fewer and farther in between than songs do, though.
I think this is one of the reasons I like soundtrack albums so much. When I listen to a soundtrack from a beloved movie or TV show, I can see the exact scene when the music was playing and all of the emotions those scenes engendered come flooding back. Knoc-Turn'al's Muzik (an amazing song in its own right), Missy Elliott's Scream AKA Itchin', and Nate Dogg's I Got Love bring me back to The Transporter within a beat or two of the song. The Transporter, coincidentally, is one of those movies that brings back good memories of my kids. The Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack plays the entire movie back in my head, causing me to smile and laugh as if I was watching the movie. The Cranberries' Dream and Harry Nilsson's I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City bring me right back to You've Got Mail.
I am sure everyone else already knew this, and I suppose I did too, but this past week has been one of overwhelming memories brought on by the perfect mix of songs on the radio and randomly from the shuffle playlist in CloudPlayer Pro. It just really stood out in my mind how much this helps me remember the long-forgotten.
Till next time,
-John
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