Music and Memories

“Personal memories are embedded to some extent in things like music . . . as if in amber” (1:36).—Oliver Sacks

I have a Spotify playlist I turn on when I'm driving my car and don't feel like consciously selecting songs—when I just want to hear something familiar. This particular list consists of songs I’ve added at random over the years.

The other day I was listening and realized each song rekindled a very specific memory and mood. I glanced at the titles on the screen and noticed that over time I'd inadvertently created a list that replays my formative years. A list of events that helped make me me and the range of emotions I’ve felt along my journey. Each memory as vivid as the day I first experienced it.

I was intrigued by this connection between the songs and my memories, so I borrowed a library book titled Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, written by neurologist Oliver Sacks.

In his book, Sacks details the power music has on one's recall of experienced events—what he terms music memory—including for those with diminished memory: “Much of what is heard during one’s early years may be ‘engraved’ on the brain for the rest of one’s life” (page xi). I found the examples he studied fascinating.

In the following interview, Sacks further explains that “the parts of the brain which respond to music are very close to the parts of the brain concerned with memory, and with emotion and mood” (2:44).

Below is a snippet of my playlist and the memory each song recalls. Should you care to listen along, click on this Spotify link. To anyone else listening, these songs will likely have very little impact; they are an unusual compilation others would never curate. For me, they capture a portion of the story of my youth.

1. “Sailing,” by Christopher Cross: When I was little my sister drove me around in her dark brown 1977 Chevy Camaro. It seemed like she was forever playing this song. One time her boyfriend was driving the car, she was in the passenger seat, and I was on her lap sucking on a rainbow swirl lollipop. Apparently seatbelts weren’t much of a thing yet!
2. “In the Mood,” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra: The high school stage band played this song every year, and I still remember how much my dad loved hearing it. I wonder what memories he was recalling as he listened?
3. “Maneater,” by Daryl Hall & John Oates: I owned this on vinyl and remember Hall & Oates being the first musical group I obsessed over. A good friend and I had sleepovers and we'd fantasize about dating them.🫣
4. “Papa Don’t Preach,” by Madonna: This was the first song on the very first compact disc I ever owned. I had just gotten a CD player, opened the crystal case of this CD, and was completely mesmorized by the colors reflecting from the disc. I had never owned anything like that.
5. “Here Comes My Girl,” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: In June of 1987, my brother took me along to the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh to see Tom Petty in concert. It was the summer before my junior year in high school. My brother walked into my bedroom, tucked the corner of the ticket into the mirror frame on my dresser, and said I could go along if I paid him back for my own ticket. Fifteen dollars was a lot of money then and I didn’t have a job. I’m guessing my parents raided the coin jar on my behalf. 😉
   
6. “I Got You Babe,” by Sonny & Cher: When my brother was away at college, I went to stay with him during his school’s annual carnival. He and I sat in the lobby where this song played at the karaoke booth. He tried to convince me to sing along, but no way was I going to humiliate myself in front of the cool college students.
7. “My Best Friend’s Girl,” by The Cars: My brother liked to play The Cars when he drove the two of us around. Pretty often he'd let go of the steering wheel and tell me I better take over if I didn't want to crash. I didn’t even know how to drive but quickly realized he was serious, so I reached over and grabbed the wheel. According to my brother: He taught me some good life lessons. 🤔
8. “I Melt with You,” by Modern English: This was my class’s senior song and the theme of our prom. I remember walking along the school hallways helping to drum up votes so this song was selected. Can't say I enjoyed the prom, but I still enjoy the song.
9. “Goodbye Girl,” by Squeeze, and
10. “Alison,” by Elvis Costello: My good friend through high school owned a little red Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. She drove us everywhere in that thing and we had the best times blasting these two songs with the windows down. I’ve often wished I had one of those cars of my own . . . despite the memories of rainy trips while I wiped water and fog from inside the windows so she could see out.

The impact music has on memory, even decades later, seems obvious now when I listen to these selections. I've no doubt you've felt something similar with your own curations.

Do you have a favorite song that transports you to an experience from yesteryear as clear as your first encounter?

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