Musical Memories

When I listen to the radio, it’s almost like playing musical chairs. I don’t know what tune I’ll dial into or what song will be playing when I exit the car. I don’t know why, but often the lyrics or just the music or a song can snatch my thoughts from the present back to the time I first heard it or when it connected to a special event in my life. I have little control over the transporting of my soul or my mind to relive that nostalgic moment. Some of the moments are magical, lifting me and extending the ecstatic feeling into the present. At times, a certain song plucks at the strings of my heart stirring grief and sadness to return me to the sorrows of some past event.

Etta James, when she sings At Last stirs emotions in me that are not connected to any specific event, while the song Ain’t No Sunshine When She’d gone makes me feel sad, because I connect it with the death of my wife 15 years ago. Hymns can bring hope and joy or they can open doors of sadness. It depends to which event in my life they cling. Bagpipes deepen the emotion when they’re played. Amazing Grace on the bagpipes squeezes my heart tightly. My wife’s best friend’s husband was a piper. That tune echoed across the hillsides and flooded the cemetery. Many times I am unable to listen to the pipes.

There are few other things that can stir the heart and mind more than music. Operas can cause people to weep or to laugh as the story line unfolds in the singing. Polkas, old Rock and Roll music, and other lively tunes cause my feet to want to dance. Sometimes the lyrics seem to be especially made for me to sing in the shower, in the car, or even on karaoke night. There are certain instruments that almost seem spiritual when played: pipe organs, bagpipes, flutes, the didgeridoo, and sometimes the rhythm of drums. Their notes reach deep into my soul.

The very rhythm of a dirge elicits feelings of sorrow and sympathy for the friends and loved ones for whom the piece is being played. It conveys a solemn somberness that is lacking in other music.

Embers of sadness, happiness, joy, and an entire range of emotions are stirred of memories both harsh and pleasant when music is played.