Grace Crilly
Music can get you nostalgic from a certain memory from any emotion you have joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust. I want to write about a song that gives me disgust, that gives me a cringe feeling. I'd rather write about something that can get me out of my comfort zone, about the type of song I don't like. Music has always allowed me to feel safe and comfortable, but being in the same environment for too long gets you nowhere. Getting nostalgia from music reminds any individual from previous experiences as a kid growing up. Music can improve the environment you are in. In this essay I'll be discussing how music impact Indiviual's lives, using Ira Hyman and John Tienrey's articles on how music impacts nostalgia. Also, I will write about the song I chose that impacts my nostalgia. Music impacts any individual about how they grow up, until they are adults and until the moment when we pass away. I'll be discussing the song, "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra.
Growing up, I remembered the most is singing during art class, music always impacted my mood. Music has always been so important to me, and the music I listened to that I've been interested in at that age impacted my social life with others. I was embarrassed to like the boyband One Direction as a kid, but when I noticed that I wasn't the only one who loved them I felt less alone. Thinking back at my elementary school memories, makes me immediately think of what music I liked as a kid. The memories at that time were very careless at that age, but at that age that's when you learn the most. During that time for myself as an individual was frustrating, because I did get bullied as a kid. Usually whenever you meet someone new the first thing to ask is, "What's your favorite color?', "What is your favorite food?", "What is your favorite song?" and how you answer that could impact who your friends are with. I've always been insecure since I was a kid and it's not fun. Back in those days, music was important about an own Individual's life and how they interact with others. Music recalls a memory that brings you back from a period of time or certain events.
The feeling of getting nostalgia from music can come from any perspective of emotion when it comes to certain memories. To Hyman, nostalgia seems to be a powerful memory for people. He felt like he was falling through memories going back in time after hearing a song in his high school days. That one song made him feel like he was eighteen again, reminding him that his age is older than how he felt in the moment. Feeling younger than you actually are that came from nostalgia, is powerful when they come from certain times in your life in the past. In Hyman's article he states, "They found that songs frequently evoked memories. Sometimes, as in my case, a song would evoke a general recollection - a memory for a life period such as high school, or college, or dating that certain someone from long ago. Other times, songs brought to mind specific recollections of particular events" (Hyman). The way music can get you nostalgic can be from one individual song about a specific day, or genres of music as groups can get you nostalgic. For example, back in grade school reminds me of when I would always listen to pop music, in middle school I would listen to more rock, and in high school I would listen to more folk music. It can also be songs that come from a relationship, or accomplishments you had in high school gives an individual's nostalgia from those memories. It could be anything really.
Looking back at those memories of my own in elementary school, makes me think of what would improve my mood when I was upset and songs that would be played at dances. Remembering those memories can improve your life in the present. However, it's not beneficial to compare the present to a previous memory that you think is better. Going back now and then to memories that gave you such joy can improve your mood. This also impacts individuals who suffer from depression. Illnesses like depression, can make it hard for an individual's life everyday and have no motivation to do anything, however music does improve motivation for those individuals especially when they came from a happy memory. According to Tierney he quoted Dr Sedikides,"I told him I did live my life forward, but sometimes I couldn't help thinking about the past, and it was rewarding. Nostalgia made me feel that my life had roots and continuity. It made me feel good about myself and my relationships. It provided a texture to my life and gave me strength to move forward." Individuals would want to move forward in their life, because of the fact music allows them grow their emotion to a memory, especially from when they knew about what specific song that gave them that memory that was released. It can make you feel back when you were in middle school. For example, you could remember what song was playing back at that age when you were playing basketball and winded up hurting yourself. The song I will explain makes me feel like I'm eleven years old again, and now I'm eighteen. That just makes me think of how many years that time flew by quicker than I thought. Probably ten years from now, will make me feel the age I am listening to a song I've been addicted to currently in the present.
Getting Nostalgia from music, can make you feel younger than you actually are, that brings you memories from back when you were in middle or elementary school. Whenever I listen to the Beatles, it makes me feel I'm thirteen again back when I was middle school learning about them in music class. In Hyman's article he states, "The song evoked a sense of nostalgia for my lost adolescence. For me the song was 30 years old, but for my students an N*Sync song from the late 90s can bring feelings of middle school nostalgia (apparently some of my students have fond memories of middle school)." The song that brings back memories is when I was eleven years old in fourth/fifth grade is, "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra. I never liked that song, because of the music. Most individuals who think back at a song like this that gives you a cringe, disgust feeling usually would react like, "Oh my god, why?" Thinking back at those memories that give you that vibe. The genre of the song is alternative indie. I absolutely love alternative music, however I do not like indie music. The instruments played in this song are guitar, synthesizer, xylophone, flutes, percussion and samples from other music were also used. The elements of the song that I do not like are the flute and the xylophone. Hearing those two instruments blend together consistently is like listening to an old antique clock. It's annoying when two noisy instruments can easily hurt your ears, like hitting two symbols together. The music is like the sound of a soft tick in your ear, with someone plucking a string instrument to purposely annoy you.
The lyrics center around a breakup thinking that the relationship went well, but didn't turn out either one what they wanted for their relationship. Through the male's voice the lyrics that are sung, he reflects back on the relationship, expressing it was once love, but it's painful to remember. He also expresses that he's happy that it's over, but didn't have to make him feel that they were nothing and that she was making him feel like a stranger, that he's now somebody she used to know.
From the female's perspective, she first was the one to break up with him. In the female's voice she expresses the lyrics about when the guy messed up, but admits reflecting on herself it could've been her and doesn't want to live that way. For her to then to only listen to him and then expresses that he said he could've let it go, and would rather not want him to be hung up on her entitling herself as somebody he used to know. The music expresses what emotion it impacts in a song and the lyrics expresses what message the artist wants to deliver. The songs I listen to now impacts my behavior after listening to that one specific song. This song is important to me because it's in the genre of music I listened to growing up, thinking back at memories can improve my mood, but it can also stress me out at the same time. The music I listen to represents who I am and what I've been listening to as a kid. That's what is important to me. This song is generalized as a song I don't like, but I listen to it anyways because it reminds me of when I was younger. Most often some people would hear a song on the radio to something they don't like. Once they change it to a different station, nothing else is good on the radio, so they'd change it back and listen to the song they don't like. It's better than not listening to any music at all. I often found the music annoying, but didn't mind the music. Once I had read over the lyrics, I hated it more since it's a breakup songs. I do not like songs about love in general, so I especially hate breakup songs. Growing up was tough for me for the environment I was living in, but music always helped me. Music often felt like medicine to me.
Music influences an individual's life from the environment they live in, the people they interact with, how they react mentally and emotionally. Feeling nostalgic reminds us that old memories feel easier, but comparing the present moment to a memory back from what you think is better in the past isn't beneficial. Getting nostalgic from music improves an individual's behavior, especially to one who has a mental illness and can give them motivational thoughts as well as less thoughts of suicide. The feeling of nostalgia from music is powerful that it involves our emotions to describe each one individually for a specific song joy, anger, fear, disgust, and sadness. I bet ten years from now, the songs I'm obsessed with right now like "Adore you" by Harry Styles and "Bruises" by Lewis Capaldi will give me memories from this year. Each part in my life, the memories I get from music comes from each school year from when a specific song I'm into gets released. Our emotions connect how we behave from a song that brings us back to a memory when we felt the same emotion. Nostalgia can make our individual's lives better, motivating us for a better future.
Works Cited
Hyman, Ira. "Music-Evoked Nostalgia: Why Do Certain Songs Send Us Back?"
Psychology Today 6 May 2011. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-mishaps/201105/music-evoked-nostalgia. Accessed 5 February 2020.
Tierney, John. "What Is Nostalgia Good For? Quite a Bit, Research Shows." The New
York Times 8 July 2013. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/science/what-is-nostalgia-good-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.html. Accessed 21 January 2020.
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