I was having a conversation the other night with my manager at work while we were waiting for the last stragglers to leave. We were chatting about all sorts of random stuff when this song came over the Spotify.
“…I wasn’t expecting that…”
I groaned and laughed at the same time: this same manager had jokingly said it was “my” song with a guy I had been seeing. We had to laugh because it seems like this song is now haunting me. It appears on most of our work playlists and even more often in random ones I listen to at home. And then I took a step back. No longer do I associate this song with this guy, rather I associate it with this particular manager. So I said so.
“Wendy, I’m always going to think of you when I hear this song,” I said, “I have such good memories of work – when this song always seems to come on at the best moment.” She agreed, it seems that this song comes on just as we start to talk about something important.
I have some other songs like this too. Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” will have me in tears of laughter from another manager referring to it as my wedding song as he planned my wedding one night sans groom. Tom Petty’s “American Girl” reminds me of rocking out behind the bar. Don Mclean’s “American Pie” of me and chefs bantering verses back and forth.
Music has always been a part of my life. The first song I can remember listening to on my own radio in my own room was Alanis Morrisette’s “Ironic” and to this day I love that song. I once told someone that I don’t usually listen to the lyrics. It’s true, I don’t. But when I do, I find meaning and memories in every line.
As a traveller, sometimes I am confined to the music that I keep on my phone, sometimes for weeks on end. There is only so many times that you can listen to the same song over and over without wanting to throw your phone off a cliff. But those songs take on more and more meaning as I go on. Mumford and Sons “Wilder Mind” album will always be a reminder of my road trip with Aussie Chris. Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” will always remind me of driving with Taylor through the mountains. Also of dancing the nights away in Paihia with Dan and the rest of the Paihia crew. Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” brings back memories of shipyard in California with Weesh and Leah – but also of my ten day first date in Italy because that song became a symbol of that adventure.
Sometimes, music is just background noise to a more important event. Other times, its the backbone. By linking music to my travel, I will always have good memories to remember when I hear a certain song.
(Randomly, when I first started blogging on a now long defunct website, all of my post titles were song lyrics. Those posts actually appear on this this blog now as journal entries; you can find them here if you are so inclined.)
What songs do you associate with a particular travel moment? Do you find that hearing a song brings the memories flooding back?