Sahana Narayan: Week 13 - Memory Through Music
Sahana Narayan - Week 13: Memory Through Music – 3/23 [9:08 PM]
Of the thousands of different emotions and feelings that are expressed through music, I would have to say nostalgia is my favorite one. As a child, music always surrounded me and every aspect of my life. Birthday parties, car rides, summer days all were so deeply entrenched with the notes of various songs. As I grew up, I started to shape my own taste, diving into all types of genres to find these perfect little moments in songs that make me go…sigh. I started to associate moments and memories in my life with music. If I ever want to experience another feeling again, go through another moment again, all I have to do is click that tiny little play button, and it’s as if I've been transported somewhere else. Here is a list of some of the long list of songs that have the power to transport me to some of my most significant memories and feelings.
All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar ft. SZA
It was dark. Smelled like popcorn and fountain soda. I watched as the Black Panther credits rolled out. One part of me was just trying to process the movie itself as, of course, it was a great movie. But the music kid in me was listening carefully to the song playing in the background of the credits. I had heard it before, but I had never felt it like this. Maybe it was just the movie sound speakers. But I had this gut feeling; I couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad feeling. Just a gut feeling. I remember walking out of that theater, and as my dad went on about the movie, all I could think about was the song. I listened to the full soundtrack as soon as I came home, and then proceeded to listen to All The Stars a good 100 times afterwards. I always thought I would get tired of it, but I never did. The production is just terrific, capturing the movie so well, and Kendrick and SZA obviously did a fantastic job on the track. It’s been four years, but whenever I hear the song, I can’t escape that gut feeling.
“Confrontation ain't nothin' new to me, you can bring a bullet, bring a sword, bring a morgue, but you can't bring the truth to me.”
This gut feeling that I talk about isn’t particular to a single song. The opening track to folklore, The 1, gives me the same kind of feeling, a nostalgia and longing for a different time. Those four piano chords will always pull me away from my work and make me smile. I don’t even know what I’m smiling about. But there is a sort of bittersweetness that surrounds the song, and Taylor obviously does such a fantastic job at conveying it because I feel that melancholy as well. The track reminds me of winter, of dark nights and cozy blankets, and a feeling I don’t think I’ll ever get back…until I listen to the song again.
“Resist the temptation to ask you if one thing had been different, would everything be different today?”
If I ever had to describe my summers through a song, this would be the song I would use. The multi-layered guitars in this track and piano are absolutely immaculate; it knows exactly how to bring in the listener to experience this feeling of distance and heaviness. While the lyrics convey a darker meaning of the song, the instrumentals play a key role in bringing that lighter feeling in. In the middle of the song, there’s the smallest of instrumental breaks with just the guitar, and it literally makes me want to scream because that singular moment transports me right back to summers of late nights, ice cream, movies, and everything that just makes up that summer feeling. (I hope I’m making sense here)
“One day I am gonna grow wings.”
I can clearly remember when I first heard this song. It played accidentally, on some auto-play Spotify feature, and I had never abandoned my work that fast. It was like falling in love at first sight, literally. I noticed it was short. But it had this feeling. And I knew I wanted to feel that feeling over and over again. As I listened to the song more and more, I became aware of everything. The bass. The cracks in George Harrison’s voice. The keyboard. The little imperfections in the guitar interlude. I fell in love each and every time I listened to the song, with a different aspect. It was first the bass. Barely heard, but I loved it so much that it inspired me to get a bass guitar for myself and start learning the instrument. I am now one year in(and extremely mediocre). It was then that guitar interlude that Harrison played. It has to be one of my favorite guitar interludes of all time because it fits so perfectly in the song. All I can say(so I don’t keep rambling) is that I am so grateful to have this song in my life because I can’t imagine being who I am without it and the memories it gave me.
“Somewhere in her smile she knows that I don’t need another lover.”
Hi Sahana! I also love the way songs give me a feeling of nostalgia, especially the ones back from eighth grade right before summer. That was probably the "peak" time of my life and whenever I listen to certain songs, it brings me back and I feel really happy. In fact, while reading your blog, I felt inclined to listen to All The Stars, since I loved the Black Panther movie. I watched that movie in the front rows of the theater because it was so packed and at the beginning of the movie I felt disgruntled that I couldn't see, but I left the theater just absolutely in awe. As I am writing this comment, I feel the nostalgia described throughout your blog and its a nice feeling, so thanks.
ReplyDeleteSome songs just hold a special place in my heart. "We Are Young" by fun. featuring Janelle Monae is one of most influential songs in my life, but I cannot remember why. Now it just holds the position as "that song," but I cannot even remember why. The song Titanium by David Guetta - ft. Sia holds the "nostalgic" place in my heart. It is a song from a easier time, when both my brother and I were young and had little to worry about. Now we struggle with class (college and high school respectively), but the song is just a throwback to a more innocent age, where life was simple. Songs do bring up memories like nothing else.
ReplyDeleteHi Sahana, I 100% agree with you about the power of songs to evoke powerful feelings of nostalgia, and remind you about different times in your life. In fact, last year while I was trying to get some homework done, I accidently came across Sara Bareille’s song “Brave” because of autoplay. I immediately felt like the chords in that song but I could not immediately place it, but then I started singing along with the song, and I realized that I knew the lines even before she sang them. I suddenly recalled that this song was actually what my third grade class sang in our winter concert, and this song brought back so many memories of elementary school. I remembered so many fun and innocent instances that I had somehow forgotten over the years, and even now when I listen to this song, I am reminded of those times. Similarly “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars and “Hope Ur Okay” by Olivia Rodrigo both immediately remind me of a close friend I had growing up, who I have since lost touch with. Katy Perry's song “Roar” also takes me back to a different time, back when I was naive and did not even really understand the meaning of those words, but still sang along. Overall, I think songs are immensely powerful, and I agree with you that songs have the power to transport us to different times and capture and recreate our memories.
ReplyDeleteMusic and movies have tended to elicit this kind of emotion from me on a regular basis, as I'll randomly hear a song or see clips of a movie from years past and feel a certain flood of nostalgia and emotion. For example, Mirrors by Justin Timberlake reminds me of times with my sister years ago as we would spend hours a day doing essentially nothing since we weren't tied down by hours of schoolwork and other commitments. Movies like Pacific Rim and How to Train Your Dragon are also movies that remind me of my younger years, as I was completely invested in giant mechs and flying dragons. The feeling of nostalgia reminds me of how good times were before and how little I had to worry about things, but reminds me that I'll likely reminisce about my current days sometime in the future as well.
ReplyDeleteHi Sahana! Before I talk further about your blog, I must say I simply love the musical touch you give to most of your pieces of writing because it greatly surrounds a large portion of my life through Carnatic music. Similar to your experiences with music, the moment I place my headphones in my ear and hover over to the play button on a YouTube video, I could just sense the recollection of thousands of memories come to my mind. The control music has on my emotions and the thoughts that pass through my mind at the time is quite unbelievable. For instance, if I start listening to a few cultural songs of the Gods I pray to everyday, I deeply connect all of these specific times I have gone to the temple to certain songs that I have listened to at that time. Some songs by Taylor Swift have also transformed my mind to placing me in a certain threshold of a mindset placed within a different setting each time, such as placing me in a cozy bed in the middle of the night. Thank you so much for your blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Sahana! I found your point about memories bringing up nostalgia to be extremely relatable. For me, listening to certain albums brings me back to different phases of my life, if that makes sense. I used to be super into some indie rock albums when I was in around in 7th and 8th grade and that definitely reminds of me of a time before we had to experience all the stresses of high school. I actually ended searching up the Radiohead song because I've rarely listened to their music, and for some strange reason I personally thought the song reminded me of fall. I suppose that may just be a result of my own experiences and the memories that I associated those notes with.
ReplyDeleteHi Sahana, I relate to your blog post. Sometimes, if I listen to a popular song from the past years, I start to feel nostalgic. For example, if I listen to a popular song from 2016, I start to get reminded of the summer somehow. Music never really played a big role in my life in the past, but this year I am almost always listening to music. I am sure that 5 years into the future I am going to play a song from The Life of Pablo or My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album and remember this moment.
ReplyDeleteHi Sahana! First off I loved the way you formatted this blog. I liked how you made individual chunks for each of the songs and made use of the font tools Blogger provides. Songs all hold deep connections to me, some a lot more personal than others. We have somewhat similar music tastes. "All The Stars" still reminds me of 2018 especially 7th grade when I first began to watch Marvel movies. Music has an amazing way of triggering nostalgia. I've even made playlists for each year since 2015 just to listen to every once in a while and feel something. Usually I end up sad but at least it's something. A song that I hold dear is "Never Grow Up" by Taylor Swift because it reminds me of my mom and my childhood and always makes me cry. "Memory" (ironic) from the musical Cats is another song that brings back memories of my first vocal recital! Very fun. I love music.
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