Song Memory and Nostalgia

Screen grab from Youtube ChilledCow

The other night, I was getting ready to do my job: wash the pile of dirty dinner dishes and I pulled out my Spotify in search of some upbeat music to help me get started on the boring task. A Spotify recommended playlist popped up, it read, "Happy Favourites: Put a smile on your face with these happy tunes from the 90's, 00's and 10's". I tapped into the list and browsed through the familiar song titles. A few seconds later, I decided that I was happy with it and after connecting it to my mini bluetooth speaker, I played the first song on the list. 

It was "It's a Beautiful Day" by Michael Buble. I hadn't heard that song before but I loved it at once. The 00's and 10's songs had a type of style, there was always a clear beat, that few chords and the happy upbeat melody with lyrics that kinda tells a story. I happily got started with the dishes with the cheerful music in the background. 

Just as the first few bass guitar tunes of the next song started, my sister exclaimed loudly, "Oh that's so old!" and it turned out to be Owl City and Carly Ray Jepson's "Good Time". I sang along while my mind traveled down the dusty memory lanes. 

When we were kids, my sister and I had a Samsung tablet and we were obsessed with it. We would download our favourite music videos from Youtube and watch it over and over again on it. "Good Time" was one of them, and I remember myself wanting the white boots that Carly wore in the video because it just looked so cool! People where having fun, driving in a truck to somewhere, camping out and having a bonfire. It truly looked like a good time. 

When the third song on the playlist started, I was pulled immediately into a different memory. One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" reminded me of sweat, grim and and teamwork. Back a couple of years ago, I joined a leadership camp during the holidays, which was a student-led activity. This camp was meant to put you through a lot of stress and physical work to "shape" you to become a "leader". (Now that I am writing this, it actually sounds quite funny.) It took place over 4 days and we were only allowed to have 3 minutes in the shower each day. There were a few physically demanding activities but in the mornings, there was always a warm-up workout, where we all danced to the song. Having heard the same song and danced to it for 4 days, whenever I hear "What Makes You Beautiful" now, I am immediately reminded of those few sweaty camp days in high school. 

Someone once said to me, "Did you know about song memory? It is when you listen to a song and you associate a memory to it". I have never realised it was a thing until I listened to the old songs, and I started getting nostalgic and reminiscing about the old times. Sometimes I can pin point the exact memory to a song, but other times I just couldn't seem to put my finger on what exactly it is that the song reminds me of. 

Maybe being nostalgic is one of the signs that we actually have been living for quite a few years. In two words, getting older.