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If you have ever watched a B movie and wondered why it seems to miss the mark, listen to the music! You will probably find that there isn’t very much going on in the background. Their shoestring budgets don’t allow for it.
The higher budget movies only need a few bars of their theme tune to remind you of the franchise.
In our busy world how often do you listen to music?
Not podcasts, not videos, just simple, no brain power really required, music?
Music is such a powerful memory stimulator, I so often find myself listening to a song and drifting back in time?
Have you ever noticed that there are some songs which just seem to stick in the memory banks, because of the time and place they are associated with?
We used to have the radio playing while we carried out our DIY, or just on in the background while hanging out with friends. Now, not so much.
It’s a good idea to use music with youngsters; we used songs to help our children learn things like the colours of the rainbow, and letters of the alphabet. Kids lap it up and it can help them get used to the rhythm of the language. Nursery rhymes are effective because they are simple, and use music and rhythm to help everyone remember them. I do not have the best singing voice as you will be able to hear if you want to listen to my contribution to histories nursery rhymes in the form of a round, about Covid19 https://bit.ly/Covid19Round but I don’t let that stop me.
Disney has helped many fairy tales gain much more notoriety since they made them into mini musicals. Stories and music works, which is why storytellers and minstrels were welcomed into towns in the dark ages.
Even though I know I am not a singer as such, I still used to sing to my kids to help soothe them when they were younger. I didn’t really know what to say to try and calm them down, so singing songs made it easier. Both my girls say that they remember me singing to them, as I remember being sung to by my mum. I secretly hope that they choose to sing to their kids too.
When I first arrived in New Zealand my new workplace taught me some Waiata. With unusual words and a different type of melody I used to sing them to the girls to help me remember them. It worked, I can still remember them know, quite a few years later! I was impressed to find that my eldest was able to learn her periodic table by listening to a song!
The way we connect with each other and the world is changing. In some ways we are better connected than we have ever been; in others we are much more split and silent. When you have your own screen and are plugged into your own music, the rest of the family don’t get to make the same connections as you do. The piece of music which brings forth a memory in you may just pass others by, leaving you to try and explain the silly smile on your face.
I am very conscious of disturbing others with the sounds from what I am doing, but I now realise that living in silence is removing a great memory making opportunity. Without the association of sound, memories are flatter, with more of a B movie vibe.
Saying that even when we were are all listening to the same thing we don’t always take the same thing from the song. I have always said that my husband and I have a song. It’s called ‘Head over feet’ by Alanis Morissette, and came out around the time we were dating, this is the chorus
You've already won me over In spite of me And don't be alarmed if I fall Head over feet And don't be surprised if I love you For all that you are I couldn't help it It's all your fault
I thought it was kind of romantic, he didn’t. I asked him why and he said, “cause you are saying it’s all my fault!”
He had never stopped and listened to the rest of the lyrics!
Now it’s all playlists and pre-recorded favourites with new songs left to be aired on the car radio. Though some of the new stuff is not really music to my ears I let my kids choose anyway. Music and teenagers go hand in hand, and some of the lyrics leave nothing to the imagination. This is why I feel it is important to allow my kids to link into the car radio now and then, because otherwise I would have no idea what they are listening to! Even though the lyrics may be a little varied to say the least I expect that they don’t really get some of them, in my time there was ‘Relax’ by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, I just liked the tune, I was not at all interested in what the songs message really meant. This is their time to build some memories, and if I am honest some of the songs which take me back were pretty dire too.
When I was out driving with my sixteen year old the other day a song came on which she recognised. “I remember this song”, she said, “it was playing when we went to the lake and saw those boys; I remember we had the windows down and the song was blaring. I was so embarrassed!” It made me smile that she had just identified what I was about the write about!
What song/s sparks your best memory?
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All the very best
Ruth Taylor www.ruthtaylor.net