Throughout my life, music has been something that has helped me remember how I felt during key events in my life. Over the course of the many years I’ve had Spotify, I’ve made a total of 56 playlists. Whether it’s playlists dedicated to people I love, books I’ve read, or concert set lists, I have a playlist for everything. While I like to say that I love all of my playlists equally, there’s one that I specifically hold very closely to my heart.
Music to Memories
Music to Memories is a playlist that I started my freshman year here at the University of Connecticut. Since then, I’ve added songs from my senior year of high school that I associate with memories that I cherish. I love talking about the memories that I’ve made that are attached to these songs but I’ll be sticking to ones that I made here at UConn starting with…
“Dancing in the Moonlight“
This comes from when I was in my freshman year roommate’s boyfriend’s car driving from a frat after an unfortunate night. There was a song playing in the background as I was dizzily looking around just ready to get into my bed and end the night, grimacing at the potential hangover that I’d have the next day. Did I remember most of the night when I woke up? Not really, but what I did remember was “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest playing on the car ride back to our dorm. Why do I deem this a crucial memory? I don’t, but it was my first time at a frat so it’s just a funny memory with a great song attached to it.
“She’s Mine Pt. 1“
My first college romance! How exciting and tragic all at the same time. This was someone whom I met my freshman year and who truly meant a lot to me. They helped me get over an old situationship (who broke things off because “long distance is too much” which is totally valid but I digress) and really helped me explore who I was as a person outside of my old hometown. They made me a playlist of songs that reminded them of me and I did the same. I guess we really liked each other at the time because they ended their playlist for me with “She’s Mine Pt. 1” by J. Cole and that really sold me. Now I can’t listen to the song anymore and I learned that I’d rather step on hot coals than ever dedicate a song to anyone ever again, but it’s still a great one.
“Tennessee Whiskey“
In my sophomore year, I was invited to go to a conference that was held at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas for my job. It was my first time in Texas so a part of me was excited about it. Now, the only country song that I knew of at the time was “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton. All the other ones I didn’t really bother listening to. We landed and we were immediately welcomed by warmth, both literally and figuratively. We met everyone on the student staff, got to talk to some people from other universities, ate lunch, and had a great time. I honestly didn’t think it could get any better until “Tennessee Whiskey” started playing over the loudspeakers outside of the school’s stadium and it was just a cute moment of everyone singing along.
“Edge of Desire“
Okay, let me preface this by saying I understand that this is controversial. But I love John Mayer. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I can’t get over his musical talent or find anyone else who plays the guitar like he does. He has a certain sound that just scratches my brain the right way. My friend got tickets to Sound on Sound and we spent hours waiting for that man (and we got to see Hozier before him which was really cool). When he actually came on stage it felt so surreal. I was praying he’d play “Edge of Desire” as it was my favorite song of his. Just as I was about to lose hope, he started playing an alternate intro that I didn’t recognize. Once I realized what he was playing, the tears flowed out of my eyes. I was sobbing. It was the first time I’d ever cried at a show, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the last.
“Freakin’ Out on the Interstate (Acoustic Version)“
Remember when I said I’d rather step on hot coals than ever dedicate a song to someone again? That doesn’t mean that I regret ever doing it. I’ve been listening to Briston Maroney since I was a freshman in high school, specifically “Freakin’ Out on the Interstate” heavily in my senior year. I’d leave my job that was 30 minutes away from my house around midnight blasting this on an empty highway and through having it on repeat, I’ve grown fond of the lyrics. I didn’t realize how much they’d mean to me until freshman year when I dedicated it to that one person who dedicated “She’s Mine Pt. 1” to me. In an interview, Briston told Rockamagazine:
“I wasn’t on good terms with my parents. I was sneaking out of school to see a girl and I called my friends when I was in the car. I don’t know. I just started freaking out”
– Briston Maroney
At the time, I had related so heavily to the meaning of the song and gave it to that person I was seeing at the time. So two years later when I heard it at his concert after I’d parted ways with that person, I saw how far I’ve come, how close I am with my parents again, and the love that surrounds me every day. At that moment, “Freakin’ Out on the Interstate” became the most important song to me.
Overall, music has always been very important to me, I hope that this inspires you to make your own memory vault using music as a way to remember them. I have a terrible memory so this is easily the best way that I can keep them close, besides pictures which just take up the very limited storage that I have left in my phone.