Music is so powerful. I could hear a few chords, and instantly transported to a particular time and place, whether because that is where I was when I first heard the song, or the circumstances in my life at the time I was listening to the song. Sometimes something will play on the radio and an overpowering emotion will overcome me, without even the memory to go along with it. Yesterday “Kiss from a Rose” was played from my friend’s music collection, and the effect it had on me was immediate as I relived past pain. Smell can have the same effect.
I smelled lavender on my way to work
And I was once more a child
Skipping through the garden
Where the lavender bushes grew wild
What songs are powerful memory portals for you?
I so agree! Music makes powerful memories. I have many of my own. Particularly from a time in my teens and twenties where I loved and lost and had to make difficult choices. A few come to mind such as Heaven (Bryan Adams), November Rain (Guns n Roses), anything by Def Leppard and Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes) to name a few. I don’t think you choose the music you remember, more that the music and moment chooses you. 🙂