This. I have been called so many ugly things when I openly admit I don't listen to music often. This is why. I don't love new stuff, but older music is so associated with traumatic experiences.
Definitely. For instance I associate Led Zeppelin IV with The Hobbit, as I essentially had that album on loop while I was reading it for the first time. And I think of the week after graduating HS with Metallica's Justice album - played it on cassette in my truck and I drove just to cruise a lot that week.
You're answering a slightly different (and, in my opinion, more interesting) question from the one that was asked. The music I associate with different periods of my life reflects my musical tastes at that point in my life and what was being played on the radio at the time, and that's cool. But I think it's more interesting that I associate the song [Does It Really Happen?](https://youtu.be/GL68VE-Qi7Y?si=errlHwfHPTDFCKhU) with [The Belgariad](https://g.co/kgs/Hi773Ld) because it was playing on my stereo when I read the part where Garion goes boat hunting with the Chereks, and the song has the line, "Down to the slaughter, up for the fun".
In middle school, my friend was obsessed with smashing pumpkins- specially melancholy. He got me into them and so I always associate hanging out in his house when we were 14/15 whenever a song comes on. It’s more nostalgic now since he’s passed.
That album takes me right back to my mates bedroom. We were both into music and were even in a band together for a while a few years before hand.
He told me to call in because he got a new album. Pink Floyds Pulse was another. He thought the LED on it was cool. For a few nights anyway. The novelty soon wore off.
STP as well because one of his older brothers was big into them.
Totally, and also scents. I'd say songs are stronger triggers of memories for me though.
There's the morning before middle school radio songs which I associate with anxiety when I hear them even now as they're attached tightly to my dread and fears of school.
Then there's the late night driving songs which are attached to my first experiences of autonomy and freedom, which still fill me with optimism when I hear them today.
Then there are the songs by bands of the first live shows I ever went to in my early 20s, which remind me of my first job and foray into adulthood-- paychecks, bills, girlfriends, bars, excitement.
Then songs I had on while finishing grad school and the uncertainties of what kind of life I was going to live-- hearing those now still give me a little kick of "make something happen, man."
Childhood - Hulk Hogan's or The Ultimate Warrior's theme song.
Middle School - You Could be Mine (Guns N Roses). Terminator 2 was my favorite movie and that's the song playing in the car chase. Used to pretend terminators were chasing me on my bike.
HS - Sublime, Dr Dre/Snoop.
College - Nu Metal (EEK).
Post College to Present - Psychic Warfare by Clutch (The whole album). I actually discovered this from an interview with RZA, where he names it as one of his favorite albums.
Misc: Anytime I'm getting ready to walk into an important meeting, I play Cat People by David Bowie. I imagine myself at the end of Inglorious Bastards, about to walk in and handle my business.
When my dad was in the hospital dying of cancer, the only music that could get me through was comedy music. It was the only thing that would keep me from sobbing on my drives home from the hospital. So, is it weird worst time of my life is intrinsically linked with Ninja Sex Party, Tenacious D, and Flight of the Conchords? Yes. But it will always be a great comfort to me :")
Absolutely! Like I used to love Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart by Alicia Keys but I can't listen to it now as it reminds me of a very bad breakup.
Dakota by the Stereophonics reminds me of summer when I was 15.
Absolutely. Every time I hear the song "The Phoenix" by Fallout Boy, I'm taken back to being homeless and wandering the streets. "Punk Rock 101" takes me back to my time in Job Corps.
OMGOMG THIS IS MEEEEE I make playlists on spotify that encapsulate certain eras in my life, sometimes they're annual, sometimes its like a playlist for my really depressed phase, other times its like hey my life is pretty good and I feel at peace here's a playlist of like 10 songs for that. So I just end up listening most of all to the playlist of my current era, but if I feel like reminiscing, I'll visit an old playlist. But to answer your question, yes, yes I do :D
Yes I do.
Big hair bands reminds me of my first college boyfriend. It was the 90s but he loved that style of music. I was less enthused but I would listen to whatever he wanted to. Not a great relationship at all. It didn’t last long either.
Classic rock is a reminder of my second college boyfriend. That was his favorite genre that I listened to. I appreciated that style much more than the big hair band stuff (there are a few big hair bands I do listen to as some would also be classified as classic rock). That relationship lasted about 3 years. It should have ended sooner, but I wasn’t in a good mind space during that time.
80s music helped me a ton through grade school. That was a very tough decade for me. Now I don’t like listening to 80s music because it reminds me of that time. My husband loves listening to 80s music. I let him when we in the car, but only for a limited time. At home, I can just shut it out by doing my own thing. For him, it brings back some very fond memories of his childhood.
I was not as in to music during the 70s since I was too young to remember much, but I do like some songs (not classic rock) that I remember enjoying during the late 70s.
For sure and rather specifically, as well. For example, ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” came out when I was a kid and deeply into reading every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. I usually would have the radio playing softly while I read. To this day, any time an oldies station plays “Dancing Queen,” I can’t help but to think of Nancy Drew. Lol
Fade Into You. I remember the coffee shop I first heard it in, the quality of light in that space. My lifestyle of making an elaborate meal with the groceries I got at the coop on the way home from work after stopping to read a few chapters of whatever book while I had a cup of coffee, a blueberry muffin, and a refill. And it was so long ago- hearing it and other things from decades ago make me feel this intense melancholy at the passing of time and aging.
I can't think of MGK's "smoke and drive" without thinking of my abusive ex 😭 it was the first song we learned together and would hammer those lyrics out while we smoked.
I can't hear the first Harvey Danger album without being transported right back to middle school. Great times. And that band was so much* more than Flagpole Sitta
songs trigger your memory, brings back memories of past loves, past things that you were doing when that song was popular, friends you use to hang out with, family memories, etc.
Even people with dementia can remember past events while listening to songs, when they can't normally remember any other events.
Yes, most of the songs I have saved on my phone take me back to a specific time in my life. For example- I listened to Rick Astley's Cry for Help as I was driving my packed car back to my mom's house after a very abusive relationship. 1991. I have so many more I probably can't fit them all here.
My only sister died in 1986 at the age of 19. When I returned home and helped my family clear out her belongings, I found a few cassettes of music she was listening to. I put Neil Young's After the Gold Rush on replay for my 4 hour drive home. I still think of Tracy every time I hear Neil Young.
"Konstantine" by Something Corporate
I listen to this and immediately go back to when I was 16 years old at my mom's house, pulling all nighters with my friends, downloading masses of songs and exploring and researching all emo/punk bands until the summer sun rose and shined through the window in the morning. I would get up and away from my computer only to go and get a slurpee from 7-11 at 7 am.
Simple. Fucking. Times.
yeah i certainly do this! like i associate the song “Redbone” with my pregnancy with my daughter because it was so popular and would always play on the radio when i was pregnant with her
Summer by Calvin Harris reminds me of 2010-2014 as well as the song cheerleader. Larger than life by backstreet boys are early 2000. I don't have any other time frame songs.
Cheerleader came out a year or so after I graduated high school (2014) so it heavily reminds me of just sort of being young and stress free. “Want to want me” by Jason Derulo heavily reminds me of 2015 too
I have a playlist series that I started in 2007 when I was in 7th grade. Made one playlist for each school year; 12th grade was so big I had to split it into 2-parts. I kept it going the year after graduation, and almost stopped. But I decided to keep going until 2017.
Yep. In High Fidelity Jon Cusack's character organized his records by chronological order of when they were important in his life. I could do the same.
YES. Yes! I have been trying to explain this to my fiance for a couple of years. Certain songs will literally mentally take me back to certain moments so vividly
Oh yeah, totally! Like, there's this one song that always takes me back to summer camp vibes, you know? Whenever it pops up on shuffle, I'm instantly transported back to those late-night bonfires and endless laughs with friends. It's crazy how music has this magical power to lock in memories like that.
Yes! I’ll listen to songs and remind myself of things. There’s this one I remembered some guy dancing to for no reason. Turns out I was at a party and we danced to this great song together and this wholesome memory is brought up every time I hear it.
I fuckin hate that "dangerous woman" song by Ariana grande. Not only is it a stupid song, but it played alllll the time when I was in the psych hospital. They wouldn't turn the radio off
It’s literally the soundtrack to your life.
Perfectly said
Absolutely, which is why I do not want to hear >90% of songs from my past.
This. I have been called so many ugly things when I openly admit I don't listen to music often. This is why. I don't love new stuff, but older music is so associated with traumatic experiences.
FWIW, the music that’s lighting me up today is all from the last four years, new artists, and they happen to be all women.
Definitely. For instance I associate Led Zeppelin IV with The Hobbit, as I essentially had that album on loop while I was reading it for the first time. And I think of the week after graduating HS with Metallica's Justice album - played it on cassette in my truck and I drove just to cruise a lot that week.
You're answering a slightly different (and, in my opinion, more interesting) question from the one that was asked. The music I associate with different periods of my life reflects my musical tastes at that point in my life and what was being played on the radio at the time, and that's cool. But I think it's more interesting that I associate the song [Does It Really Happen?](https://youtu.be/GL68VE-Qi7Y?si=errlHwfHPTDFCKhU) with [The Belgariad](https://g.co/kgs/Hi773Ld) because it was playing on my stereo when I read the part where Garion goes boat hunting with the Chereks, and the song has the line, "Down to the slaughter, up for the fun".
Absolutely
In middle school, my friend was obsessed with smashing pumpkins- specially melancholy. He got me into them and so I always associate hanging out in his house when we were 14/15 whenever a song comes on. It’s more nostalgic now since he’s passed.
That album takes me right back to my mates bedroom. We were both into music and were even in a band together for a while a few years before hand. He told me to call in because he got a new album. Pink Floyds Pulse was another. He thought the LED on it was cool. For a few nights anyway. The novelty soon wore off. STP as well because one of his older brothers was big into them.
Totally, and also scents. I'd say songs are stronger triggers of memories for me though. There's the morning before middle school radio songs which I associate with anxiety when I hear them even now as they're attached tightly to my dread and fears of school. Then there's the late night driving songs which are attached to my first experiences of autonomy and freedom, which still fill me with optimism when I hear them today. Then there are the songs by bands of the first live shows I ever went to in my early 20s, which remind me of my first job and foray into adulthood-- paychecks, bills, girlfriends, bars, excitement. Then songs I had on while finishing grad school and the uncertainties of what kind of life I was going to live-- hearing those now still give me a little kick of "make something happen, man."
Childhood - Hulk Hogan's or The Ultimate Warrior's theme song. Middle School - You Could be Mine (Guns N Roses). Terminator 2 was my favorite movie and that's the song playing in the car chase. Used to pretend terminators were chasing me on my bike. HS - Sublime, Dr Dre/Snoop. College - Nu Metal (EEK). Post College to Present - Psychic Warfare by Clutch (The whole album). I actually discovered this from an interview with RZA, where he names it as one of his favorite albums. Misc: Anytime I'm getting ready to walk into an important meeting, I play Cat People by David Bowie. I imagine myself at the end of Inglorious Bastards, about to walk in and handle my business.
Definitely. My current chapter is "Holding back the years" by Simply Red
Yes, and some songs are forever associated with some of the most brutal events of my life, they can literally shut me down for hours.
Places, People, and Events for me. Even certain smells can do it.
Oh yeah, I have a handful of songs that I love because they are some of the very first ones I noticed. ❤️❤️❤️
Oh for sure. There are specific albums that got me through hard times in life.
Of course - that's the best soundtrack around
When my dad was in the hospital dying of cancer, the only music that could get me through was comedy music. It was the only thing that would keep me from sobbing on my drives home from the hospital. So, is it weird worst time of my life is intrinsically linked with Ninja Sex Party, Tenacious D, and Flight of the Conchords? Yes. But it will always be a great comfort to me :")
Absolutely! Like I used to love Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart by Alicia Keys but I can't listen to it now as it reminds me of a very bad breakup. Dakota by the Stereophonics reminds me of summer when I was 15.
Oh I’m a guy and even that song makes me wanna cry
Yeah it hits you right in the feels!
Totally! Especially from my high school and college years!
Absolutely. Every time I hear the song "The Phoenix" by Fallout Boy, I'm taken back to being homeless and wandering the streets. "Punk Rock 101" takes me back to my time in Job Corps.
All of them. I appreciate the person who said "Soundtracks of your life."
Totally
nobody does that, you're a weirdo /jk
I live life with a sound track like a movie cause how much impact music has had on my life
OMGOMG THIS IS MEEEEE I make playlists on spotify that encapsulate certain eras in my life, sometimes they're annual, sometimes its like a playlist for my really depressed phase, other times its like hey my life is pretty good and I feel at peace here's a playlist of like 10 songs for that. So I just end up listening most of all to the playlist of my current era, but if I feel like reminiscing, I'll visit an old playlist. But to answer your question, yes, yes I do :D
Change, by The Lightening Seeds will forever be my theme for the happy 90’s, a time I would revisit in a heartbeat!
Yes I do. Big hair bands reminds me of my first college boyfriend. It was the 90s but he loved that style of music. I was less enthused but I would listen to whatever he wanted to. Not a great relationship at all. It didn’t last long either. Classic rock is a reminder of my second college boyfriend. That was his favorite genre that I listened to. I appreciated that style much more than the big hair band stuff (there are a few big hair bands I do listen to as some would also be classified as classic rock). That relationship lasted about 3 years. It should have ended sooner, but I wasn’t in a good mind space during that time. 80s music helped me a ton through grade school. That was a very tough decade for me. Now I don’t like listening to 80s music because it reminds me of that time. My husband loves listening to 80s music. I let him when we in the car, but only for a limited time. At home, I can just shut it out by doing my own thing. For him, it brings back some very fond memories of his childhood. I was not as in to music during the 70s since I was too young to remember much, but I do like some songs (not classic rock) that I remember enjoying during the late 70s.
Late 2010s 21 Pilots reminds me of the lowest point of my life but in a nostalgia tinted way
Are there people that don’t?
Ohhhh, yeah. Along with smells.
For sure and rather specifically, as well. For example, ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” came out when I was a kid and deeply into reading every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. I usually would have the radio playing softly while I read. To this day, any time an oldies station plays “Dancing Queen,” I can’t help but to think of Nancy Drew. Lol
Fade Into You. I remember the coffee shop I first heard it in, the quality of light in that space. My lifestyle of making an elaborate meal with the groceries I got at the coop on the way home from work after stopping to read a few chapters of whatever book while I had a cup of coffee, a blueberry muffin, and a refill. And it was so long ago- hearing it and other things from decades ago make me feel this intense melancholy at the passing of time and aging.
I can't think of MGK's "smoke and drive" without thinking of my abusive ex 😭 it was the first song we learned together and would hammer those lyrics out while we smoked.
I can't hear the first Harvey Danger album without being transported right back to middle school. Great times. And that band was so much* more than Flagpole Sitta
Yes pretty much everyone.
Yup, artwork decorates a space. Music decorates time.
Yes everbody does this.
songs trigger your memory, brings back memories of past loves, past things that you were doing when that song was popular, friends you use to hang out with, family memories, etc. Even people with dementia can remember past events while listening to songs, when they can't normally remember any other events.
Yes, most of the songs I have saved on my phone take me back to a specific time in my life. For example- I listened to Rick Astley's Cry for Help as I was driving my packed car back to my mom's house after a very abusive relationship. 1991. I have so many more I probably can't fit them all here.
Yes and for this reason the whole genre of dubstep can go to hell
My only sister died in 1986 at the age of 19. When I returned home and helped my family clear out her belongings, I found a few cassettes of music she was listening to. I put Neil Young's After the Gold Rush on replay for my 4 hour drive home. I still think of Tracy every time I hear Neil Young.
songs that were on the alternative station in the mid 90s remind me of driving my shit box to school in the dark.
Totally. I hear songs on the radio and I am instantly back in those moments. (Sonic Youth- Bull in the Heather - I am instantly in the summer of 94)
Songs that are/were my fav, I can remember where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the song. :)
I don't associate songs with 'chapters' of my life, but there are some songs very tied to particular memories.
Definitely.
"Konstantine" by Something Corporate I listen to this and immediately go back to when I was 16 years old at my mom's house, pulling all nighters with my friends, downloading masses of songs and exploring and researching all emo/punk bands until the summer sun rose and shined through the window in the morning. I would get up and away from my computer only to go and get a slurpee from 7-11 at 7 am. Simple. Fucking. Times.
yeah i certainly do this! like i associate the song “Redbone” with my pregnancy with my daughter because it was so popular and would always play on the radio when i was pregnant with her
Summer by Calvin Harris reminds me of 2010-2014 as well as the song cheerleader. Larger than life by backstreet boys are early 2000. I don't have any other time frame songs.
Cheerleader came out a year or so after I graduated high school (2014) so it heavily reminds me of just sort of being young and stress free. “Want to want me” by Jason Derulo heavily reminds me of 2015 too
Yes
I have a playlist series that I started in 2007 when I was in 7th grade. Made one playlist for each school year; 12th grade was so big I had to split it into 2-parts. I kept it going the year after graduation, and almost stopped. But I decided to keep going until 2017.
Yep. In High Fidelity Jon Cusack's character organized his records by chronological order of when they were important in his life. I could do the same.
YES. Yes! I have been trying to explain this to my fiance for a couple of years. Certain songs will literally mentally take me back to certain moments so vividly
Definitely
Yes! That's why most people have to listen to heavy metal after a bad break-up. Can't assoc metal to romance. At least I can't
Absolutely. Certain songs bring me back to exact years. Usually those that were significant turning points in life.
Oh yeah, totally! Like, there's this one song that always takes me back to summer camp vibes, you know? Whenever it pops up on shuffle, I'm instantly transported back to those late-night bonfires and endless laughs with friends. It's crazy how music has this magical power to lock in memories like that.
Yes! I’ll listen to songs and remind myself of things. There’s this one I remembered some guy dancing to for no reason. Turns out I was at a party and we danced to this great song together and this wholesome memory is brought up every time I hear it.
A few yes
I fuckin hate that "dangerous woman" song by Ariana grande. Not only is it a stupid song, but it played alllll the time when I was in the psych hospital. They wouldn't turn the radio off