Music and Memory

For me music and memory have always gone hand and hand. I'll randomly hear songs like "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt or "Tonight, Tonight" by the Smashing Pumpkins and I'll instantly be transported back to my neighbor's bedroom sitting at the edge of the bed playing video games and listening to the music blaring out of the stereo that was much larger than his small bedroom needed. The really interesting thing about it is that there are certain memories that I don't even know that I've saved, that will be suddenly knocked free by a song.
There are also certain albums that will always remind me of particular times in my life, specifically vacations. I associate every vacation I've been on in the last six years with an album, or at least a particular song. In 2004 when I went to Florida it was the album "So Long, Astoria" by The Ataris. In 2005 when I went to England with my Grandpa I listened to the album "Almost Here" by The Academy Is..., In 2006 when I went to Hawaii I listened to a compilation of unreleased demos by a band called Brand New. At first I didn't try to create such a close association between vacations and music, but after a while I began to notice that if I listened to the same album the whole vacation it helped me remember my vacation better, especially when I listened to the music. Now I'm glad that I have these close associations. It is nice because occasionally I'll get sick of the Minnesota cold and will miss Hawaii, or I'll get nostalgic and miss the time I spent with my Grandpa in England, if I'm ever feeling down, or in one of these bad moods, I can simply throw on Brand New's demos or "Almost Here", and it is easy for me to remember happier times and shake my bad mood quickly.
I've got to admit that my memory through music has tempted me to pull a John Cusack from "High Fidelity" and sort my music collection autobiographically, but haven't had the courage to attempt it yet.