Song Memory
That last post got me thinking about Song Memory, or an Aural History. These are songs which trigger very deep recollections of points in your life. For instance:
Cecilia Ann by the Pixies – driving in my grandpa’s SLK320 convertible through Carlsbad on my way to get a bagel early in the morning after I got laid off from Freedom.
Wilco – She’s a Jar – weekends spent at work, during Santa Ana conditions, programming Java during the tail end of the last dot-com bust/boom.
R.E.M. – The Lifting – Falling asleep with my head against the window of a Metrolink train while commuting to and from work.
The Verve – Lucky Man – Driving home from the Oceanside train station after work.
Oingo Boingo – When the Lights Go Out – setting up my computers at my first house when I moved out at 18
Richard Hell and the Voidoids – Love Comes in Spurts – Moving out of my parents house
Pearl Jam – Animal – My sophomore year of high school, walking around with my Walkman on so I didn’t have to talk to anyone.
Radiohead – Let Down – sitting on the beach late at night when I lived in Oceanside
Architecture In Helskinki – Its 5 – the chaotic time when I was graduating from my MFA program, moving and starting a job within the same week.
Badly Drawn Boy – Once Around the Block – sleeping between dives in Aruba during New Years, 2001
Brian Eno – Music for Airports 1/1 – wondering what to do when my heart was broken, 1998
The Pixies – Debaser – figuring it out, 1998/1999
The Eels – PS. You Rock My World – finding HER – 2002
Sia – Breathe Me – my great grandpa Jim dying
Sigur Ros – Vaka – late nights, ocean in the distance, talking on AIM
R.E.M. – Orange Crush – when I first heard this song, I was 9 years old. I at that point thought there was nothing more sublime on the planet than stipe/buck/mills/berry. I still believe this.
Metallica – The Unforgiven – summer camp when I was 12 or so
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Subway to Venus – Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama when I was 13 with my friend Michael
Patti Smith – People Have the Power – November 12, 1994 – life changer.
Music is such an important part of my life. I have been privileged to meet a good majority of the artists above in person. Although I’ve talked with them, there is no way to express when the signifier of a portion of your material existence is tied to a piece of art/culture that they have created.
As Michael Stipe once said (in a book): words are stupid. Look into my eyes.
Please comment or trackback with your song/memory list
The nothing song on untitled has to be the most moving song sigur ros have ever written. Every time I hear it it brings back so many memories – not necessarily good but still. I understand what you mean though songs seem to capture the essence of a place and a time in your life more than words ever will. I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and I guess the point of this comment is just to say thanks and you know keep going and all that stuff people say….
Tim
This is great! I’ve actually thought about doing a set of posts on this very topic, but since I never got around to it, I’ll share one here.
Sonic Youth – “The Wonder”
Blasting in my Dad’s 89 Dodge Dakota driving home from high school on highway 92 in Jefferson City, TN. I got a speeding ticket.
Lynrd Skynrd – Sweet Home Alabama
A few summers ago this song was playing at a neighbor’s house. We could hear from nearly two miles away. Everyone was outside clearing the fallen trees in their yards; we’d just had a 3-mile-wide tornado come through.
Nice little meme going here…
I remember listening to “Saint Steven” on vinyl in my dorm room in 1984. When I say my first Dead show a year later, I kept calling for the song, not realizing the band rarely, if ever, played it live.