Another beautiful thing about music is all the nostalgia that it can build. There's something about growing up listening to an album, then not hearing it for a good five to ten years, and then listening to it again. Memories and emotions from when I was a child all come rushing back in an experience that's hard to describe. It's almost as if I can recapture the moments from my youth I had while listening to the music getting to and relive them as I play the music again now.
There are a few albums like this that trigger a sort of transcendent listening experience for me. I'll stick to two right now. The first would be Greatest Hits by Bruce Springsteen, a compilation album that I can easily say is the album that defined my childhood. While I was too young to either discover or appreciate his studio albums, this album was a constant fixture growing up. I knew the track listing forwards and backwards and for the longest time the only Springsteen songs I knew were the ones on that CD, played in that specific order.
Now when I listen to the album, I'm brought back to all the times it was played while I was a kid. I remember my old apartment, long car rides while listening to it on tape, hating "The River" because it was slow and boring (except the "Daddy Don" line because it sounded like "Daddy John," and my father's name is John), loving "Brilliant Disguise" and about a billion other things. Also, I just can't explain the feeling I get when one song ends and the next one begins. The transition feels "right," as in that's the way things are supposed to be, all things are supposed to be.
Another album is With The Beatles. Surely one of my mother's favorites, when I listen to it now I'm brought back to an earlier time in my life. But there is a slight difference between this album and the one mentioned above. With The Beatles has a bit less of a hold on my past. It's not a slight against the album, it just was not as influential. I still get strong feelings of nostalgia when I play it, but the memories and emotions are a little fuzzier and harder to pinpoint specifics. But there is still that almost instinctive sense that the music is "right" in a way that words can't describe.
Fast forward a few years to high school and I've discovered the rest of Bruce Springsteen's repertoire, Warren Zevon, U2 and Metallica. Most of my high school musical timeline would be chunks of these four, shifting every so often between them. Maybe one month I was in a very Metallica-minded mood and the next month I had a craving for some Zevon. It was only after graduating high school did I start to expand my musical library.
The first few months of my freshman year in college were made up of a lot of metal: Metallica, Dragonforce, Rob Zombie, Disturbed and Motorhead. I was having a little trouble adjusting to college life so I guess leaning towards loud and aggressive music was a way to let my frustrations come out. By the time winter break rolled around I was so worn out with metal I reversed course and focus elsewhere.
It was also during spring that I started to listen to Led Zeppelin with earnest and discovered proto-punk bands MC5, The Stooges and the New York Dolls. I consider Led Zeppelin one of the greatest bands ever and I consider the proto-punk movement of the late '60s/early '70s one of the pinnacle movements in rock history. These bands would inevitably lead to discovering acts such as the Velvet Underground and Big Star. It was these classic rock bands from the late '60s and early '70s that have come to define my current taste in music.
I remember listening to 10,000 Maniacs and Rage Against The Machine a lot over spring break, and as I had visited a friend via Greyhound bus over break, they still remind me a bit of the feelings one associates with traveling. Music and traveling have a unique connection with me. I don't know if it's the same with other people, but for me there are certain artists that I can't help but associate with the road. It's something with their music that connects it with long road trips and are meant to be played while traveling.
This past fall could be summed up with a handful of albums, as I have had a much better sophomore year. But I would have to go with A Good Day by Priscilla Ahn as the album to describe the past fall. It's a soft and quiet acoustic album that has elements of folk and singer/songwriter that I've come to enjoy for its calming effect it has on me. It's a nice, relaxing break from all the rock I listen to. A Good Day reminds me of walking through the Student Building after a long day of classes and walking outside knowing that the day was over and I managed to survive. That's the memory I get when I listen to it now, surviving the daily grind of life.
And this semester? Well this semester has been a lot of The Beatles, some Pink Floyd, Van Morrison, Styx and the Tron: Legacy soundtrack courtesy of Daft Punk. It'll be interesting to see what kind of mark all this music will make. Will one of these have the same hold on me that Springsteen's Greatest Hits album does? Will I still be able to pinpoint exactly what I was listening to, when, and why?
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
No comments:
Post a Comment