Musical nostalgia

Madison

Sohngen,

Screen Editor, evaluates the connection between music and memory

MUSIC can be the greatest time capsule. Obsessively playing your favourite songs seems to unconsciously bind you and that song together. But even more special is that it connects the current you to that song. This means that while you may age and move on with your life, the version of you that was sitting there with your earphones on the bus ride back from school is forever preserved and frozen in time.

This shows music’s power to relentlessly cling to memories, as it forms quick routes to access this feeling again at any moment. It also prevents moments from being fleeting by immortalising them within a song. For me, an example of this is whenever a song by Arctic Monkeys or The Strokes is played. I always feel as though I’ve teleported back to a Cavern Saturday, as it reminds me of dancing together with my friends. This makes me romanticise and reminisce these memories, although they only occurred fairly recently.

Another example of this from an earlier stage in my life is how SZA’s album Ctrl perfectly encapsulates how I felt when I was 15. Although not every lyric was relatable at the time, the album’s themes of grappling with ideas of disillusionment and the continuous struggle of self-discovery really resonated with me at the time. SZA also has a unique rawness which makes it feel like her music is an articulation of your own emotions — the album encapsu- lates the feelings that you cannot put into your own words.

Now when I listen to this album, I am transported inside the brain of my 15-year-old self again. I can remember exactly what life was like when I listened to it for the first time. It was an integral part of my adolescence. It’s interesting how something so universal as a certified platinum album can feel so deeply personal.

Now, however, the album has taken on a new meaning for me. As I’ve just reached 20, the final song of the album, ‘20 Something’, has become more of a standout song. It discusses how we are all constantly growing and changing, but at our core we are still the same person. Although I may have matured (albeit slightly) since I first fell in love with Ctrl , having left my hometown, moved out and started a new life at university, I am reminded that I am still fundamentally the same person I was when I first heard it.

Of course, these strong associations are not always necessarily positive. Anyone who’s experienced any type of breakup will understand how this can also be a bittersweet experience. This is because memories can morph into some sort of ghost, haunting and taunting you with previous positive memories which only serve to juxtapose your current, less favourable situation. An example of this could be a song shared with someone who is no longer in your life.

Despite its pitfalls, one of the most powerful facets of music is its ability to create nostalgia. But it goes far beyond this. It creates an almost overbearing nostalgia, enshrining specific elements of yourself in one moment forever. It then preserves this, making it readily available for you to submerge yourself back into that moment at any time you wish.