What if I told you that time travel is a real thing?
Turning Music Into Memories
If you’re anything like me, you hyperfixate on things you love: shows, movies, music, or books, or all at the same time. Music, in particular, has a unique ability to seep into our lives and create a soundtrack for our lives. Like when you hear the song of the summer from 2012, and you are immediately transported to that summer. I will play a song or album I love on repeat until it starts to annoy me, which I’ve come to realize, creates something really profound and personal: unlocking feelings and memories we may have forgotten. Being reminded of who we used to be can be uncomfortable and feel unnatural; however, it’s a beautiful reminder of who we’ve become.
The other day, I was driving around Providence and had my Favorites Mix on shuffle, and a song came on that I hadn’t heard in years, called “Blue in My Eyes” by NLSN, featuring Lisa Rowe, a song that was released in 2018 and was my favorite song in 7th grade. My immediate reaction was turning it up full blast, and in doing so, my mind was flooded with all of the feelings I felt when I listened to it in 2018; as I brushed my teeth in the morning, as my mom dropped me off at school, or to squash practice. I even started to remember having my first ever boyfriend, whom I was always scared to see and would avoid in the school halls.Â
The song wasn’t even a love song, nor anything twelve-year-old me could’ve related to, yet it really defined that chapter of my life and brought back memories and visceral feelings I forgot I ever had. Every middle school nerve and anxiety of having your first crush at school, of hanging with the cool kids, wearing the trendiest clothes, and having the coolest backpack.Â
It was such a strange, vivid feeling that I had to laugh. I started scrolling through my old playlists, unlocking memory after memory. I found the song my middle school best friend showed me at her house after school, the song I choreographed a dance to in 2011, the song I made a music video for in 2014 at recess, and then the first song I dedicated to a boy, or the song I played after my first break-up. While some songs made me smile, some brought me back to a vulnerable time, and I almost turned them off.Â
Tracking Growth Through Old Playlists
Although the more I sat with them, I came to recognize how powerful and profound it is that these three-minute tracks tell a story of my life that nobody could access in quite the same way; I could retell the stories, I could play people the songs, yet nobody can see the things I saw nor feel the things I felt. I embraced the feelings these songs reminded me of, and I now feel thankful for having felt them at all. The most beautiful part is that a single song can hold countless stories we will never know about; someone can have a completely different memory or feeling tied to it, and I think that is the coolest thing.Â
I have always been a nostalgic person, and I used to look back in time to reminisce about how things used to be; however, in recent years, with busy schedules, clubs, and coursework, it feels like I can never find the time for myself. So, I am grateful for music for reminding me to take the time and be proud of myself for how much I have grown and for all I’ve accomplished.
Ultimately, I argue that time travel is real. And it is a phenomenal thing. Music brings back the moments we thought we’d outgrown, the emotions we didn’t have words for yet. So the next time an old favorite starts to play, don’t skip it. Let it take you back. Because in those few minutes, you might just go back in time to remind yourself how far you’ve come.