Elsa, Week 14 - Music and Memory
Whenever I hear the song “Ditto” by NewJeans, I’m reminded of the winter of my freshman year, where I can clearly recall memories of myself chatting with an old group of friends in Ms. Leo’s classroom during 2nd period Living Earth, or walking back to the Brookvale parking lot with my friend Michelle under a cloudy sky. The songs “Super Shy” and “Cool With You,” (also released by NewJeans) makes me think back to the summer of 2023—I remember my time spent competing in numerous skating competitions, traveling to places such as Kansas, Texas, and Los Angeles, where I was able to make so many new friends and eat so much good food.
Initially, I was confused as to why my memories were specifically linked to NewJeans album releases; yet after thinking back on it, there are so many more songs that reflect different moments in my life: In a similar way, “August” by Taylor Swift represents fall of 2023 for me, “Perfect Night” by LE SSERAFIM brings back memories of my sophomore year winter, and more recently, “Good Luck, Babe” by Chappell Roan and “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter remind me of my 2024 summer, where I distinctly remember spending countless hours playing Dress to Impress with my friends on call. I feel like the reason for this is probably because I listened to these songs way too much (both intentionally and because I was forced to) over the span of a few specific months, causing me to unconsciously associate them with my impression of that time period.
Yet even so, I find it so fascinating to see how so many of my memories can be captured by music, where even just listening to the first few notes of some songs brings back such nostalgic memories and vivid emotions that are perfectly representative of certain periods of my life. It kind of feels like I’m able to re-experience so much of life whenever these songs play, especially since I’m able to remember specific moments and details that I would’ve never thought of if I were to just try to imagine that period of time. And obviously for me, most of these songs just happen to be K-pop or pop songs, so I’m curious: What are some specific songs that are connected to your personal memories?
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Hi Elsa! I love how relatable you made your blog! I also like how, by explaining your memories, you also helped illustrate how vivid recollections from songs can be. You did an excellent job of tying together different memories and music which made me reflect on my own even before reading your last question!
ReplyDeletePersonally, whenever I listen to Sabrina Carpenter’s older albums and songs like “The Middle of Starting Over” and “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying,” I think back to playing Roblox on my old laptop in elementary school! Similarly, whenever I listen to “Yofukashi no Uta” by Creepy Nuts, I think back to how I binge read the manga Yofukashi no Uta over the summer of 2022. I always think it's interesting when we are even able to notice the cause of these flashbacks, so if we ever feel nostalgic, we know what can help us remember such detailed memories that, like you mentioned, are almost impossible to recall in such detail otherwise.
Your blog this week was really interesting; I enjoyed hearing about your own memories from freshman and sophomore year, so thank you for sharing!
Hi Elsa, first of all, I love your music taste! Your correlation towards memories with musics is honestly very relatable and I also have very similar correlations with songs. For example, I have the song “Summer of ‘69” forever correlated with the summer of when I was 14 years old and forever obsessed with Bryan Adams. I also went through a lot of genres and music in COVID, and now I correlate the album Semicolon by Seventeen to this period of time where I spent every waking hour in my bedroom.These different songs have come to symbolize different things, and even extremely popular songs might have different meanings and correlations for different people. Therefore, I think it’s not that unique that you have this correlation with these types of music and genres.
ReplyDeleteAnother one that I feel is a collective memory for all of us is “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals which changed the summer of 2022 where all of us were listening to it with the beautiful California sunsets. Although I didn’t realize it back then, but now it’s a soundtrack for those moments. Similar to what you said, it’s like it being overplayed a song, becoming an emotional bookmark in all of our lives.
Another interesting thing about your blog is about why some songs hold the certain memory that they do and how they spark unconsciously. Overall, it’s really cool that you thought about the songs as memories since I never really considered them.
Hi, Elsa. I related a lot to your blog today. The way you describe your memories as “linked” to music is very much something I’ve noticed. As my music taste started slightly broadening towards the end of Freshman year, I still can recall moments or “eras” as I’ve dubbed them. These memories often come back to me when I find their “linked” music in my recommendations on youtube or on my “Watch Later” playlist.
ReplyDeleteThere was a point in time where I thought these eras were unbreakable. That the passions and ideals which influenced my choices or moods wouldn’t ever fade on their own. But soon I realized they were fragile and could fade given the introduction of a new passion or a new schedule (APENG...). I can think back to Sophomore year where “Let it Happen” by Tame Impala related to my mindset change during my mental health struggles. Another track like “Anti-Depressants” by BBNO$ has fueled me this year with its explosive production and BBNO$’s complimenting performance in both the music video and his vocals. I’m going to listen to these in order to “relive” them too. Thanks for your perspective, Elsa! - Rafael Montes Barrera
Hi Elsa! I really loved your blog this week and can completely relate to how you unconsciously associate different songs you listen to with different periods of your life. I notice the same thing with perfumes and candles that I own: each one is linked to a particular part of my life and when I smell them I am immediately taken back. I think it is amazing how something this simple can almost transport us back to that time. It’s not the same as reminiscing about memories; instead of a snapshot it feels like we are reliving those memories. It is surprising sometimes when it catches me off guard and I really hope that that connection will not fade in the future. I think it is so crazy that we can be conditioned so easily by music and it makes me think about how music can probably elicit specific emotions from people if they are played during happy or sad times in their lives. Even happy songs could create a sad response if constantly played during times of despair. I would love to hear your opinion on that. This was a really interesting blog post and you really captured the connection between music and our memories. Thanks for sharing!
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