In her book Yes Please, the hilarious genius Amy Poehler said: “I believe you can time-travel three different ways: with people, places, and things.”
I’d like to add one more item to that list: songs.
Hearing certain songs transports us back to the time and memories associated with them.
For example, whenever I hear the song Just Once, I always remember my college days. We had made that song our block’s theme song because some of its lyrics were applicable to how we felt after we had exams in our Accounting subjects, specifically these lines:
I did my best, but I guess my best wasn’t good enough
‘Cause here we are back where we were beforeJust once, can we figure out what we keep doing wrong
Why the good times never last for long, what are we doing wrong?
Meanwhile, the songs Sad Movies and Paper Roses always bring me back to my childhood because my mom used to sing them, along with her Bisaya folk songs, to lull me to sleep.
But the song that captures how songs bring back memories goes:
Today I heard them play the song again
An old familiar strain from way back when
Every note and every line
It’s always been a favorite song of mineIt used to haunt me so some years ago
Reminds me of a boy I used to know
And although the melody lives on
The memories and the boy are all but goneAnd while the song still brings that certain glow
And the words still sing of love I know
It isn’t quite the way it was before
I remember the boy
But I don’t remember the feeling anymore
The song is called I Remember the Boy by Lea Salonga, and I can relate.
A song that reminds me of a guy can make me happy while I’m still happily in love with him. Then when he breaks my heart, the once happy song becomes painful to hear, and it serves as an indicator that I’m over him when I can bear to listen to the song again, and not feel anything anymore.
I have a lot of those songs. I almost always have a song for every boy I ever loved and liked, and for most moments in my life, because as all my closest friends know, my life is like a TV show… I always have a soundtrack playing in the background, or at least in my head (which I sometimes sing out loud, which is why they know this).
So on karaoke nights, I always time travel.
But while I remember the boys, I don’t remember the feelings anymore.
This post was my entry for Write or Die Wednesdays, whose prompt for this week is the photo on top of this post. Join in!
“A song that reminds me of a guy can make me happy while I’m still happily in love with him. Then when he breaks my heart, the once happy song becomes painful to hear, and it serves as an indicator that I’m over him when I can bear to listen to the song again, and not feel anything anymore.”
Yes! Yes! Yes! Music sure does serve as an indicator of things. There are many songs that have hurt at some point, and being able to hear them without feeling a damn thing is the best feeling ever. 🙂
I love your writing and perspective, Dee!
Glad you like it! Thanks!
You are so right about when we can listen to the song again and be OK we are so over them, love it! #WODW
Thanks! 🙂
Amazing how a single song can flood you with a thousand memories, right? Sigh.
Yes, it is pretty amazing! Magic.
Amazing how a single song can flood you with a thousand memories, right? Sigh.
Yes, it is pretty amazing! Magic.
“A song that reminds me of a guy can make me happy while I’m still happily in love with him. Then when he breaks my heart, the once happy song becomes painful to hear, and it serves as an indicator that I’m over him when I can bear to listen to the song again, and not feel anything anymore.”
Yes! Yes! Yes! Music sure does serve as an indicator of things. There are many songs that have hurt at some point, and being able to hear them without feeling a damn thing is the best feeling ever. 🙂
I love your writing and perspective, Dee!
Glad you like it! Thanks!
You are so right about when we can listen to the song again and be OK we are so over them, love it! #WODW
Thanks! 🙂