Music Is a Vehicle to Past Memories
The bittersweet experience of returning to somewhere or someone with a song.
By Bianca Llerena
The sounds of childhood innocence.
Abandoned in the cluttered shelf of my closet, my Tinkerbell jewelry-music box sat tucked away for years. In the midst of moving houses a few years ago, I rediscovered it, and, somehow, I felt like a kid again. The delicate, twinkling sound immediately took me back to when I was young, watching Tinkerbell twirl while sitting on a carpet littered with beaded bracelets. After listening again years later, I realized that the song was the classic “Clair de Lune” all along; but to me, that song was special and mine; hearing it again years later, it still is.
People are memories too.
Abandoned friendships, first loves, and the beginnings of relationships — all memories that now feel like forever ago, return to us after just a few simple chords. People with fading fingerprints on our past never fully disappear if music has found a way to keep them. The songs my mom would sing to me at bedtime remind me of her when I’m away from home. Fingers twitch after hearing the one song that reminds you of what it felt like to hold someone’s hand that you can no longer hold. Returning to someone, even if they are far away or gone in the past, can be soothing to our souls, even if it is a brief return through music.
Emotions are forever changing.
The idea of “feeling like I did back then, but now” is one way to grasp how much we change as people over time. Submitting to the sometimes-painful memories that certain songs revive can let you reassess past relationships and events with today’s understanding. Or simply let go. Healing takes time; and realizing that you are a collection of these people, places, and songs is enlightening. The potential of visiting past memories with a simple melody is so vast; allow yourself to make new memories without fear, and listen to whatever brings you peace.