Playlist of my Life

"What seems to happen is that

a piece of familiar music serves as a 

soundtrack for a mental movie 

that starts playing in our head. 

It calls back memories 

of a particular person or place, 

and you might all of a sudden 

see that person's face in your mind's eye,"

Petr Janata

Source: University of California-Davis

Music has always been a part of my life. I played the piano and sang throughout my childhood and listened to music on records, albums, 8-track cassettes, audio cassettes, CDs, and digitally on iPods, iTunes, iPhones and computers.

It's amazing to reflect at how much technology has changed over the years.

During my childhood-themed mini project, I took my 45's out of storage and was enjoying seeing my record box on display, however, I decided to go one step further.

Over 10 years ago, I had made a CD with my favourite childhood songs. I didn't find the CD but found the list of songs on it.

I made an Apple Music playlist with these songs and others that I found while looking through my records. There were a few songs that were not on iTunes however. I decided to look at record players to see how much they were. They averaged $75 on Amazon. I saw reviews on Amazon that were not that complimentary. I have never returned something to Amazon so in case I would want to return it, I checked Best Buy. The same record player offered in various colours at regular price was on sale in grey for $27. I figured that it was meant to be and ordered it.

I am not recommending this record player. The Amazon reviews are accurate and the table wobbles but I am keeping it anyway. I initially played my new U2 albums I received from being a U2 subscriber. I figured that once I started playing my old records that would wreck the needle, I wouldn't play new records. I quickly noticed though that I didn't really want to play my new records on it. It's good enough for what I wanted it though.

I have continued this music theme and made a playlist of my favourite songs from High School and University Days.

Listening to these songs has revived so many memories for me of the places and people in my life. It has also reminded me of songs I had forgotten.

Music is profoundly connected to our memories.

Dr. Petr Janata tested the hypothesis that music and personal memories are linked in the same region of the brain: the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). His study entitled Neural Architecture of Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories was published in Cerebral Cortex in November 2009. His results found that songs linked to strong memories had greater activity in the MPFC. This supported the idea of a "hub" linking music, emotions, and memories.

"What seems to happen is that a piece of familiar music serves as a soundtrack for a mental movie that starts playing in our head. It calls back memories of a particular person or place, and you might all of a sudden see that person's face in your mind's eye. Now we can see the association between those two things – the music and the memories."

It's therefore not surprising that listening to these songs, I can picture myself:

• in my childhood home
• in my bedroom, basement, living
• at a bonfire in the field behind our house
• on the dock at Ouellette Bay (Remi Lake)
• listening to the radio
• going to hilltop rendez-vous in Timmins where cars would line-up to request and dedicate a song live on radio
• at school for a gymnastics routine
• at friends' houses
• at the movie theatre
• at the piano
• singing/playing in front of the school
• in the gym
• at tournaments and meets
• warming up in the parking lot at OFSAA
• at dances
• at McDonald's (where I worked)
• in my university residence room
• at the Jack Pine and the Commercial (hometown bars)
• at Fed Hall and Bombshelter (university bars)
• walking to campus
• at CKMS where I DJ'd
• at concerts
• and more...

Although I may not like some of these songs anymore, it has been wonderful to think back about these wonderful memories that involved music in my life. It is also a great reminder to continue to enjoy music, especially in the context of making new memories that I will want to remember in the future.