At the risk of sounding indulgent, I want to follow up on my
(seemingly popular) post on the ‘Lost Art of Nostalgia’. This notion - on the
importance of remembering moments passed - seems to have struck a chord with
some of you. This makes me happy. See - I'm doing a happy face.
It also makes me think that, by proxy, you will be
interested in an extension of this concept. What's that? You are interested?
You're really, really, really
interested? Well that's just aces! And in that case, I'll carry on...
I want to talk about how we remember things. How we remember
times, people and places.
Memories are all around us. Anything can spark a memory - a
photo, a book, a sunset, a drink...anything...but you know what'll do the trick
more often than most anything? Music. And the memory of music is what has drawn
my attention of late, and it's what I want to talk about now. So I'll begin.
A serendipitous meeting while on my travels in Australia
some years ago now – wow, that’s sad to say – paired me up at random (if you
believe in such a thing) – with a now very good friend of mine, and I'm happy
to say that despite only meeting for 3 or 4 days, and despite now living on
separate continents, we're still keeping in touch today. She's Canadian, and
her name is Mish. She's awesome. You'd like her.
After a day or two of laid back how-do-you-do's and carefree
memory-trips through our present future and of times yet to pass, she shared
with me a personal project that was in progress...a way to keep track of what
memories music ignites within you. She called this, 'Time stamping'. An
all-encompassing catalogue of songs married up with a memory. Pretty cool, huh?
Yes, it is. But pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase don’t think of trying to turn this into a
selfish, soulless money-spinner – this is something that has to stay owned by
nostalgia and nostalgia alone. Or else karma will smite you.
Now just think about it - think about every song you've
heard while you've been out with friends or family... every summer-time road
trip you've taken with the window down and the radio on...every party playlist...or
the holiday with that one album that just so happened to keep popping
up...we've all got those songs that capture the mood and the feeling of a
specific time...and ain’t they but powerful? Ain’t they mightily, miraculously,
magically, marvellously, memorifically and musically powerful??
But where is this going? Well for one, I wanted to help
people find ways to re-ignite those lost memories; to encourage people to afford
themselves the indulgence of nostalgia. But also I wanted to use this as a
chance to create my own Time Stamp collection...to share my own memories, and
to revel in my own nostalgia...so here it is...
- ‘Girl’ by The Beatles; for Sarah, Eireann and Alex when we danced in the new 'front room' in Sudlow at 2am singing every word
- ‘All or Nothing’ by
O-Town; for
- ‘Some Like You’ by Adele; for Ching and every time we had to heard that damned 'oooooooo' sailing across the office
- ‘Return of the Mack’ by Mark Morrison; for Butters, Sophie and everyone else in on the DB/GKJ-mac joke
- ‘Always Where I need to be’ by Kooks; for everyone in 2008 3rd year uni
- ‘I Wish I was James Bond’ by Scouting For Girls; for Andy, Sam, Mattie, Matt, Ben, Steve and all the other heroes for the great Bond bonanza of 2008
- ‘Fidelity’ by Regina Spektor; for Sam and summer 2010
- ‘A Real Hero’ by College feat. Electric Youth; for Mark, who is exactly that
- ‘You Make My Dreams Come True’ by Hall and Oates; for the light of everyone’s life, Siobhan
- ‘All You Need is Love’
by The Beatles; for Stu and ‘Brad’ and for a chance meeting in
- ‘I’ll Follow The Sun’
by The Beatles; for everyone in
If you're featured, then cheers to the memories…if you're
not, then let's get together and make a memory. And in the meantime, why not
let me know some of your music memories…
Just a thought...
You Sir are a legend! Many a memory, deep thought and in joke makes me count you as more than a mere friend but a brother! x
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