About a year ago, a friend of mine mentioned the theme music to The Onedin Line; much like my radio station experience, I couldn’t recognize it by title, but once I heard it, I was thrown back to the days of snuggling under a quilt in the overstuffed chair to watch the show. The music retains the power to give me goosebumps and bring tears to my eyes.
Television has often ruined some favorite songs for me by using excerpts, or worse, new words to the original music, to hawk everything imaginable. So far, my favorite older themes have escaped, perhaps since they are based on, or use, classical music.
Marcel Proust wrote that the scent of a madeleine brought memories, but I have the strongest memories with music. Have you found music that you had forgotten, entwined in your memory?
Have you had a favorite song or television theme used for the dark side, forever tarnishing your enjoyment of it?
I am the youngest of four children, raised in the old-fashioned Irish-American way. I suspect my mother encouraged me to write from an early age to keep me out of her hair, although she may have regretted the decision when my teachers began to call about the controversial stories I was writing. Thus I began my career of butting heads with the good sisters at my Catholic elementary school, and ended it by leaving high school for college with no diploma. I wear my high-school dropout badge rebelliously and proudly.
In college, I became fascinated with the Middle Ages, which was described as a “starry night” by one of my professors. So began a trek through languages and legends that informs my narrative non-fiction and historical fiction, as well as my blogs.
I love feedback and enjoy discussing ideas. I have an accountability blog for the Round of Words in Eighty Days entitled Leavekeeping; I write a blog on literary history, intellectual history, and the history of words entitled Lapidary Prose. I'm on Twitter and Facebook; my email is lapidaryprose@gmail.com.
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7 thoughts on “Music as Trigger of Memories”
Memory for me is a tricky B@#*! Some memories are connected to music but others have visual or tactile triggers. Other memories are hidden in a fog of half remembered. I’m glad you found music that sings to your soul and blossoms memories.
LOL, Lynette. I can relate to the half-remembered fog. I have a handful of tactile or visual memories, but the proponderance are musical. I’m sure it explains something about my brain, although I’m afraid what that might be! Thanks for coming by.
If I’ve loved a movie, I find I can listen to the soundtrack and remember some of the scenes that I liked. My favorites are the tracks for Princess Bride and Notting Hill.
Karla, I fo the same thing for movies. I own a lot of soundtracks, and depending on my mood, will play them, sometimes incessantly (according to my family). Thanks for coming by!
Music is definitely a trigger for me. I have some songs I listened to as a teenager that still remind me of specific times and places, both good and bad. I definitely create “soundtracks” for what I’m writing.
Your experience sounds so much like mine, Marcy. I haven’t created “soundtracks,” but that sounds like a very good way for me to access my characters and theme. Thank you for commenting!
I’ve definitely found that music is major conduit to memory. Listening to my iPod is basically a walk down memory lane, one that is sometimes bittersweet, especially when songs remind me of people who are no longer in my life. Like Marcy, I’m big on soundtracks for writing–always good for inspiration!
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell 
Memory for me is a tricky B@#*! Some memories are connected to music but others have visual or tactile triggers. Other memories are hidden in a fog of half remembered. I’m glad you found music that sings to your soul and blossoms memories.
LOL, Lynette. I can relate to the half-remembered fog. I have a handful of tactile or visual memories, but the proponderance are musical. I’m sure it explains something about my brain, although I’m afraid what that might be! Thanks for coming by.
If I’ve loved a movie, I find I can listen to the soundtrack and remember some of the scenes that I liked. My favorites are the tracks for Princess Bride and Notting Hill.
Karla, I fo the same thing for movies. I own a lot of soundtracks, and depending on my mood, will play them, sometimes incessantly (according to my family). Thanks for coming by!
Music is definitely a trigger for me. I have some songs I listened to as a teenager that still remind me of specific times and places, both good and bad. I definitely create “soundtracks” for what I’m writing.
Your experience sounds so much like mine, Marcy. I haven’t created “soundtracks,” but that sounds like a very good way for me to access my characters and theme. Thank you for commenting!
I’ve definitely found that music is major conduit to memory. Listening to my iPod is basically a walk down memory lane, one that is sometimes bittersweet, especially when songs remind me of people who are no longer in my life. Like Marcy, I’m big on soundtracks for writing–always good for inspiration!