Saturday, November 10, 2018

Song Association.


This morning I was listening to an interview with a lead singer of a Canadian band. He was asked how he feels when a fan talks about playing his songs at a special life event, like at a wedding or an anniversary date to a moment of great importance to that person. He said that he completely understands and is greatly flattered. He gave his own personal experience of sitting with his father as he died. He said when he walked out to his car, he thought hard about what the first song he heard should be.

 I understood because I'm the same way, whenever something happens to me, if a song plays on the radio I will forever associate that song with that moment. This can be a negative for me however and I try to be careful not to hear a song that I really like after something dark has happened to me. In fact I try to listen to a station that plays rap or country music since I will eventually forget those associations. If I hear something I like, depending on the event, I may never be able to enjoy that song again no matter how much I like it.

 There are a few songs that I used to really enjoy, however now when I hear them, I am instantly transported back in time to that sad moment and I have to turn off or jump to another tune. Unlike the band member, I try never to associate a song with a negative moment.





6 comments:

Harry Hamid said...

I do that, too. In fact, many time I can figure out when certain events happened to me because I know what I was listening to, which means it had to be X year. My life has had a definite and determinable soundtrack.

anne marie in philly said...

mine too; my life is wrapped up in many many songs.

Deedles said...

I don't associate songs with that kind of thing. I can't remember any of the songs at my reception except for The Hustle. That's the only dance I could do because it had steps :) Music has always been a comfort for me, no matter what was going on in my life.

Old Lurker said...

They have bands in Canada?

The two songs that resonate with me emotionally are cliches: "Everybody Hurts" by REM and "Break Your Heart" by the Barenaked Ladies.

FYI: Both Anne Marie and Travel Penguin used your "Two truths and a lie" meme, but as far as I know neither of them told you about it.

Ur-spo said...

I have lots of songs that are associated with sad/negative times. I sometimes turn them off; sometimes I listen to them to remember I have 'made it'

Sixpence Notthewiser said...

OMG same!