Music and Memory

Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 03:07 pm

In January of this year, I decided to go through my entire CD collection. I thought it was a good idea to try to take a musical trip down memory lane so to speak. Well, I did pretty well. I will admit I did opt to not listen to some albums I own because I had lost interest in the artist or I just wasn’t in the mood for that artist on that day.

That being said I’ve had the thought of music and memory on my mind over the past few days. 

I don’t know about anyone else but I have photographic memory and A.D.D. So I might not remember what I had for lunch yesterday. But I can hear a 20-year-old song I love and start singing along.

I listen to a lot of music throughout my day. It helps keep me focused and to be honest I dislike being in a quiet room. Even after all these years, there are songs that still catch my attention where I need to stop and listen. 

For example, I’m currently listening to @nineinchnails With Teeth track. That song always catches my attention from start to finish. The tempo is what I love along with the lyrics of course. 

I think we all have times where we hear a song and it takes us to another time or place. Be it good or bad it still has that effect on us. I find this fascinating in a way. Like I mentioned before with my photographic memory at times a song can have both those effects on me. 

When I hear songs from the 90’s I remember happier times. I remember singing along with my brother to Pearl Jam and other bands he loved. Then again I have moments where I hear a certain song and I might start to cry. But again it may just be me and how I feel on that particular day. When I hear songs from the early 2000’s I think of being a recent high school grad and how exciting life was. 

But the effect on music on memory is amazing. I’ve met people who dislike entire albums due to a bad breakup or other changes in their life at the time.  All in all, i think we all have our favorite bands or songs that we connect with. 

Some of us feel the music more on an emotional level than others I suppose. Other times I think what grabs us is the beat or even the lyrics. I know for me songs are just ingrained in my memory due to life events or people I love. But I can say this much music has an astounding effect on my memory. 

I put together a playlist and added the link below. You should also be able to find it under the #music tag. 

 spotify:user:vanessa6297:playlist:4PC65HxS7IcISl9rhMwA3s

How does music affect you?