I have a friend who has the remarkable ability to recall the song that she was hooked on during a specific time of her life, to the precise month even. It’s quirky and cool, but is it unique? Or is she just able to communicate what we all subconsciously feel? Previously I tried to identify the ‘soundtrack to my rollercoaster‘, but I want to explore deeper as to why my memories and mood are intrinsically linked to a wide spectrum of music.

The emotions I have when listening to songs that evoke memories are full of paradoxes. OBLIVIUS by The Strokes has a terrific guitar lick, is otherwise uninspiring, but is memorable for being played on the drive home from brunch with a girl I liked. Tupac’s How Do You Want It takes on a sombre mood after I had to sheepishly turn it down when it was still blasting through the speakers of my otherwise totalled car. Jocleyn Flores is a depressing song by the late XXXTENTACION but invokes happiness in me because it was in my head while I was exploring Singapore during a layover.

This is far from a fresh concept. Music therapy has been the subject of countless studies in the care of people with dementia, both for helping to unlock memory to a degree, as well as to provide a boost to overall wellbeing. I have experienced first-hand how important these small breakthroughs are, something that from the outside might seem to be an inconsequential interaction. We wind back to 2014, and I was visiting my Mum at hospital. By this stage the tumour in her brain had made her once bright mind sluggish, and words sparse. Our once flowing conversations were replaced by long periods of silence and nods where it was impossible to tell whether she was actually comprehending what I was saying. Out of the blue on that day however, came Clive Palmer’s booming voice through the bedside TV. Mum suddenly perked up and exclaimed “It’s Clive Palmer! Haha you voted for Palmer United!” There was more she tried to say but she couldn’t bring herself to string the sentence together. But she didn’t need to, the moment had been made. Less than 30 seconds, but priceless. How many days could be brightened by playing a mother/father/grandparent a song that conjures a similar burst of clarity? PS. Yes my first vote in a federal election was for Palmer United. Two reasons. One- I live in a safe Liberal seat anyway. Two- I hoped for him to shake things up in the Senate and help block bills like university fee deregulation (which he ended up doing).

The adult version of a bottle/plush toy/rattle for a baby, at least for me anyway, is music. I can confidently say that everyone has at least ten to fifteen songs that will instantly uplift them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be songs with a vibe suited for a ‘So Fresh Summer Hits’ mixtape. Like my linking of Singapore with the dark XXXTENTACION (I obviously condemn his abhorrent treatment of his girlfriend before his sorry end) anything can make up this collection. It just takes time to go back and explore the music you have enjoyed in the past to find them. Recently I have made a point of taking time out of every day to listen to music that fits into my ‘uplifting category’, and genuinely have felt a lot brighter and energetic as a result.

Unfortunately music can also be an accomplice in a mood ‘shut down’ as I’ll call it. In the aftermath of my aforementioned car accident, I blocked out the world through my headphones. It wasn’t depressing music per se, but more the mindset through which I was listening to even upbeat hip-hop. Whether a listening session uplifts or leaves you bed bound is dependent on your headspace as you plug in your headphones, speaker or *shudders* Airpods.

To finish I might as well sum up with a typically wacky Kanye lyric “I’m a superhero! I’m a superhero! ARGHHH!!” (Yikes). Because whatever is happening with my life, music really does makes me feel like a superhero that can face anything.