Friday, May 8, 2015

Memory and Song

Music, they say, sticks in memory exceptionally well. Especially when we associate it with a milestone or something especially positive or negative. Language and rhythm and melody and emotion? So many brain spaces to tie into.

Some songs, however cheesy, will always be dear to me. Lovefool by The Cardigans played twenty times the weekend I moved into this house. The Doors songs my spouse crooned to our children when they refused to sleep. 

And then there are the songs I would love to never hear again. The lousy songs that are musically miserable but still get stuck in my head. And then there's Extreme's More Than Words, used by a pushy teen boyfriend... well, I'm not going to list all the oof songs.

Movies and books and yes, songs, express a longing to hold on to certain memories or to be done with others forever. Alas, the actual wiring of our brains is complicated, and stimulus comes whether we want it or not.

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