Thursday, February 05, 2009

On music that brings back memories...



I walked in the door the other day, having just dropped Elliot off at pre-school to the sound of the radio. In my mad rush to get out the door, I'd forgotten to switch it off. The song playing was 'What's Love Got To Do With It' by Tina Turner. That song for me is one that brings back an intense feeling.

I'm not so great with actual memories. Sounds and smells and all of that bring back feelings for me rather than a specific memory of actual events, and What's Love Got To Do With It reminds me of my mother, and in a good way. I can picture us laughing and dancing in the kitchen to this song. I'm not sure if we ever did laugh and dance to this song, but I like to think so. Maybe my mom just always turned up the radio when this song was playing. Either way, it reminds me of being happy as a child.

It reminds me of a time when I was maybe 6 or 7. During the summer my brother and I would run off and collect wild blackberries and my mom would bake them into a pie for us. It was back when we still did things together as a family and ate dinner at the dining table. My mom would make us dinners of lasagna with spinach or whole stuffed fish with the heads still attached and I'd complain about the bones in the fish or how the spinach ruined the taste of the lasagna.

On the weekends, she'd take me and my brother to a rec center nearby and we'd do Native American arts and crafts. She'd make these pretty little triangle-beaded earrings and let me choose the colours and she was trying to show me how to loom myself a belt and take me to Pow-wows and I always had elephant ears and loved to listen to the drumming and watch the dancers.

I think back on it now and I'm amazed at my mother. When I was 6 or 7, she was the same age that I am now. How would I have coped with a 7 year old and a 9 year old, in a loveless relationship away from any friends or family? She was so young to have so much going on. I see her in a different light now that I have children of my own. That different perspective makes things a little better and a little worse all at the same time. But I can respect that things were hard for her.

It's so easy now, after everything that has happened between us, to look back and only remember the bad times, the nasty things we said to each other, the things that we did. But there were good times as well. And I need to hold on to the good times more than anything.

Everytime I hear this song, everytime Tina Turner belts out in her amazing voice the chorus to this song, I think of happy times.

What songs do you attach particular feelings or memories to?

8 comments:

  1. Oh I *totally* hear you!! There are so many...

    Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis reminds me of dancing with the gang and singing VERY loudly at about 4am at the Summer Ball...

    Most of the Shrek soundtrack reminds me of driving around with Beccy after she got her permit...

    Greenday's Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) reminds me of leaving school...

    So so so so many music memories...
    x

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  2. It's good to hear you have turned around your memories of your mum. It only hurts to dwell on bad memories.

    The song I remember the most is 'When you say nothing at all' Ronan Keating from the film Notting Hill. It reminds of my girls when they were born prematurely and had to stay in hospital for two weeks. The song just fits the memory.

    Also 'Dancing Queen' Abba - remembered vividly from my wedding - dancing on the video in my lovely wedding dress.

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  3. I have lots of memories for lots of songs... Avril's second album reminds me of when I was living in Iowa and I had just broken up with a guy and got my very first place on my own and had to leave because he was stalking me. I listened to that cd a lot back then.

    I have many more..

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  4. Michelle, I hope you don't mind,but I have added a link from my post today to this one, as I enjoyed it so much yesterday and it made me think about other things.

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  5. This was a great post! I also have times when I find myself only focusing on negative aspects of particular family members and it is always nice when some memory creeps up on me and reminds me that there is an underlying love and there were good times!!

    My son is Fast Cars by Tracy Chapman. I was a fairly new single mom at age 22 and moving six hours from my family and friends to attend university for the first time ever. And as I was making the first trip across state to go find housing and register for classes, this song came on just before the spot where you lose radio contact for about an hour. Alone in my car, for one hour, no radio (tape deck broken), I sang this song over and over again).
    And then---as if by magic....a month later, when I was actually moving and had my 4.5 yr old son and our two cats and TONS of stuff packed into the car, as I drove up onto that same spot in the journey---the song came on AGAIN.

    It will always always always spark that memory of really heading off on my own and starting a new phase in life!

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  6. Music is a great way to bring up memories or even day dreams :) Boney M reminds me of my mum. She always use to listen to songs like rasputin full blast at home. x

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  7. Emmie - I've never heard of Boney M! Or Rasputin..

    Kaylen - what a great memory to have shared. Thank you.

    Scrap girl - my pleasure.

    Becca - Breaking up is hard to do.

    Beautiful Intellectual - music is evocative, I love hearing other people's music memories.

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  8. What a great post & you have given me more ideas *damn* LOL

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