Have you ever wondered why we like songs from a certain time period? Why we always gravitate towards the “Hits of the [insert decade here]” playlist or a specific genre? There is something familiar about songs we used to listen to when we were younger. There is something comforting, energetic, and mood boosting about enjoying a song we always used to enjoy. There is something nostalgic about it all.
The other day I was working out, and like most people when they exercise I decided to play music to pump me up (it was actually to distract myself from the pain of the workout, haha). I played one of my favorite playlists, “Summer Hits of the 2000s.” I wanted to listen to some songs I could sing along with and that would keep my energy afloat.
The workout has now begun…help me…
While working out, I noticed I was not as tired as I normally was, probably because of the playlist I chose. The playlist kept my mind off from the workout and would shoot me back to memories I had when I was younger. The music kept me out of my external mind (physical pain from the workout) and put focus on my internal mind (my thoughts and memories). I kept singing along to the songs I could recall the lyrics to and would skip the songs I disliked.
Something clicked in my brain.
When I would skip the songs I would ask myself, “Why am I skipping the song?” which would bring about the answers, “I do not like the beat/lyrics/memories it reminds me about.” There it is!–I do not like the memories that the song would remind me about. But…why and…how? Why did I not like the memory and how could a song bring me back to a time I enjoy or did not enjoy?
Similar to how any of our senses (sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing) brings us back to memories we have, songs can have an impact on our memories. I started realizing more connections. When I would hear a song I enjoyed, it usually meant that there was a positive memory associated with it. Same was true for the opposite, songs I disliked meant I had associated negative memories with them.
Something about the way we grew up has an impact on the way our brain perceives music, memories, and much more. Those who grew up listening to Caribbean music would most likely enjoy Caribbean music into their adulthood. Same goes for those who listened to pop, country, R&B, rock, and so on. The genres we grew up enjoying are ingrained into our mind and are posed as “I like” and “I dislike” just as memories are categorized as “good” or “bad.”
I am not saying that all songs have positive and negative memories, but I am saying that we should keep in mind how simple things, such as songs, can make us feel. Keep in mind that nostalgia has a strong affect on the mind, and can alter memories we have for better or worse. Also remember that we must learn to separate the “real” from the “non-real”–the true feelings on how we felt during a certain memory.
Memories are a bit of a grey area because we are not able to recall all of them accurately. This is not anyone’s fault, but simply a “design flaw” in our brains. Our brains remember what is important, but not always what is true. We are usually biased in our memories whether we want to believe it or not. Since nostalgic moments are (allegedly) a happy moment in our life, we will always gravitate towards what seemed to be familiar and comforting.
Nostalgia is tricky in the sense that it can act like a filter for our brain. It has the potential to change memories and make us recall a feeling that was never truly there from the start. In the case of songs, we may have enjoyed the song when we first heard it, but maybe something changed that feeling along our lifetime. Makes you think about what else is a true feeling and what is not, huh?
Cautiously Conscious,
E.
#nostalgia #memories #songs #happiness #music #comforting #familiar #psychology #philosophy
thEEsmilE 