Why do certain songs trigger strong memories?

[Snowden]

Why do certain songs trigger strong memories?
By Jeff Elder

Q: How come I can remember, word for word, complete lyrics to songs I haven't listened to since the 1940s? — Evelyn Tanner, Kaysville, Utah

A: "The music of our youth is hard-wired into our brains because we have such a personal connection with it," says Concetta Tomaino. She's director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at Beth Abraham Family of Health Services in the Bronx, N.Y. "The melodies reinforce the words to act as a double stimuli in our brains. If we've listened to these songs over and over, we've told ourselves that these lyrics are important."

Tomaino, who has worked with famed neurologist and author Oliver Sacks ("Awakenings"), is internationally known for her research in the clinical applications of music and neurologic rehabilitation. She's currently investigating how music therapy can help stroke victims, and how rhythm can help Parkinson's patients walk.

"The music we remember the best tends to be what we listened to in our teens and early 20s, what defined us as a generation. That's why easy-listening radio stations, the stuff they play in the workforce, is from the `80s and `90s. These songs take us back to when we were dating, and going to college."

GET READY FOR JEFF'S HEART-WRENCHING MEMORY:

It's May of 1981. A Saturday night. I'm with my buddies. I'm in the backseat of a car. We wait at a red light. Of course, the radio is on. A car pulls up next to us. Sitting in the dark of that car's backseat is the beautiful red-headed girl I'm infatuated with, but can never seem to really talk to. Her wide blue eyes flash at me in the dark. On the radio, Steve Winwood sings:

"While you see a chance take it.

"Find romance."

The light changes, she pulls away. I never see her again.

(TOLD ya it was heart-wrenching.)

Songs and memories was the subject of a story about Tomaino's institute on TV's "48 Hours." You can watch it at the institute's Web site. Go to Music Has Power, then Music Institute, then under Mission, click on About the Institute. The links to the "48 Hours" story are at the bottom of that page.

One reason music is such a powerful tool in neurology, Tomaino says, is "there's not just one music center in the brain." So the emotional connections, melodies, lyrics, memories and rhythm are all being processed in different areas.

Playing nostalgic music in an effort to reach an Alzheimer's patient is an exploratory process, Tomaino says. "They can't tell you what songs they liked. And once you do find that connection, it's playing with fire. You just don't know what you'll trigger. They might smile, or cry. Music is a gateway to other behaviors."

In the past, memorable music often came through the radio, and in a certain time and place. Today, iPods are a musical phenomenon. We each listen to our favorite songs alone, and as often as we want. How will this affect musical memories?

"We don't know yet," says Tomaino. "There hasn't been much research done, as far as I know."

But some of the power of music does come from poignancye, from circumstances, from surprise and social context. Being able to control music so completely means it loses some of its power over us, Tomaino says.
These kids today, with their music. They don't know what heart-wrenching is.

Glad You Asked by Jeff Elder

[drywall]

Certain songs instantly bring back memories of exactly where I was and what I was doing when I was in the army. But hardly any songs do that since then.

[Snowden]

That's what I was thinking about too, John. I remember things from WWII with song. I wonder if it was the era or our ages?

I do remember my babies when I hear lullabys, of course; but that could be because I was singing them to my grandbabies. Not too surprising, is it.

But the old love songs, and the war songs -- those live in our memories and bring back our youth. Unfortunately it's not a cure for arthritis!

[BloodThirstyWench]

I have 5 CDs of songs that Rohr either sent me or remind me of him...I can hardly listen to the radio without a song that reminds me of him.

One song that always hits me is "Fortunate Son." I had it on repeat on my way to work on September 11th...so of course I didn't listen to the radio and know what was going on...when I got in my car that afternoon to drive home, I clicked it off and drove in silence. I can't listen to that song now.

[Snowden]

Yes, I wouldn't be able to either. I didn't know what was going on either. Slept late, read something -- I don't remember what, and went into the site where I posted then and couldn't figure out what they were talking about.

The WWII songs were mostly Big Band music, so that has a special place in my heart. I was young enough to enjoy it without tears, so it is all enjoyable to me. We were still dancing to it in the late 1940's when I was dating and dancing until all hours to it. The memories are good.

[katerina]

I have heard a lot of different styles and from different language, and they all sounded like it had the strongest story to tell about their life or their country like war again during WWII...and more other once.If I recall, the each music has a trigger of the strongest memories of their past-hood (life struggle, sorrow, romance, or whatever else...(depends on their experiences in life)). Kinda interesting.

[Betty Boop]

If it is true that the eyes are the windows to the soul, then I believe that music must be the soul's truest expression. We both celebrate and mourn with it. We both dance and pray with it. We express our greatest love and hurt with it. It allows us to express the innermost thoughts of our being and thus it touches us and burns a snapshot of a moment in time that would otherwise be lost.