Music is a leading factor in my everyday life. I always have headphones in or music playing. There are songs I automatically connect to a moment or memory in my life; when a certain song comes on I am immediately taken back to that one summer night four years ago, or being on a plane when I was 12. However, there are also a lot of songs that I have no memory attached to, but still get an overwhelming sense of nostalgia when they come on. It's so cool that one guitar riff or one line in a song can transport us back to a different time in our lives or even to a memory that isn’t ours! Here are some songs that make me nostalgic for old times, and times I’m not sure ever really happened.
“Tears of a Clown,” Smokey Robinson and The Miracles.
Every single time this song comes on I immediately imagine being seven or eight and sitting on a big hotel bed with my dad and the earliest version of an iPod with my little sister jumping around us. For whatever reason, this is one of my most prominent memories of my childhood. Now, whenever I hear the intro of this song I feel like a little kid again, in the best way possible.
“Don’t Dream it’s Over,” Crowded House.
This is one of the songs I was talking about there not being a memory attached to. I was not alive (or even a thought) when this song came out and I have no idea why but this song just makes me feel like I have a broken heart and some boy from the '80s wearing a Keith Haring T-shirt and an acid-wash jean jacket is the culprit. I just imagine sitting at my (nonexistent) window seat crying over a (nonexistent) boy named Johnny with too much gel in his hair.
“Tiny Dancer,” Elton John.
I have so many memories that stem from this song, but one of my most favorite is singing along at the top of my lungs and dancing around with my all my friends from home. We were just hanging and having a girls night in our friend Sam’s living room and we just danced and sang to every song and I remember putting this on and being so happy in that moment. I had a rough patch with those girls but never ever forgot how happy I was to belt this song and silly dance around the room with them, and I don't think I ever will.
“Thirteen,” Big Star.
Similar to the feeling of “Don’t Dream it's Over” this song tears me apart. I really do think this is one of the best love songs of all time. I have this weird and completely fabricated memory of growing up in the '70s and sitting on a school bus listening to this with the sweet neighbor boy who was my best friend from birth. We go to different schools and lose touch, but we end up getting married and this is our wedding song 15 years later.
“Wings for Wheels,” Bruce Springsteen.
No, not "Thunder Road." "Wings for Wheels!" No song has ever reminded me of a person more than this reminds me of my mama. I used to hate this song, because this was the only song she played in the car from when I was like 6 to 13 years old. I had to sit through her horrendous voice (sorry Mom, but keep your day job) sing this every day. But now not seeing her (or hearing her sing this) every day, I cherish this song more than anything. Whenever I hear the first piano notes and the low roll of the crowd I am instantly back in my mom’s Toyota mini van on the way to soccer practice while her and my sister proudly sing along and I have to pretend I hate it but really I love it and I’m fighting the urge to not join in.
“Cigarette Daydreams,” Cage the Elephant
This song was my summer anthem a few years ago, and this is one of my favorite examples of songs bringing you to a different time. A little bit of a backstory comes with this song, so I have like THE raddest car ever -- it’s a little blue convertible that can go really fast and is the perfect summer car. However, me being the silly little girl I am, I got a CD stuck in the CD player and since my car is on the older side there was no way to have an aux cord or anything so I was stuck listening to the radio. Where I am from the radio was literally only pop songs from Billboard Top 40. However, one day when I was coming home from my job at the beach with the top down going about 40 miles over the speed limit, and something magical happened and this song came on. The sun was setting, my favorite song came on the radio, I had just gotten off an eight-hour shift and I was just so happy. Now whenever I hear this song it's 85 degrees and I’m cruising down Ocean Avenue with a stupid grin on my face.
“Bertha,” Grateful Dead
A list of songs is never complete without a little Dead. I grew up surrounded by Grateful Dead songs. This was the first song I knew all the words to, and it probably has to do with my dad walking around the house with his guitar playing it like 24/7. But whenever I hear, “Bertha don’tcha come around here anymore,” I am immediately transported to some stranger's backyard sitting in a fold-up chair in the middle of August watching my dad and his buddies play this on their homemade stage while I eat a Good Humor bar.
It is so cool that a song that is only a few minutes long can take us back to a memory that will last a lifetime. It's also so incredibly weird that we can have memories that aren’t our own attached to these songs as well. Music and nostalgia go hand in hand and it’s so cool to hear what songs make people nostalgic!
