One of the best things about music is that no matter where you go, what you experience, or how much time has passed, some songs are truly ingrained and remain a part of who we are. There are songs that bring back a nostalgic feeling when you haven’t heard them in a while and there are others that pump you up to push through a particularly difficult workout. 

It’s scientifically proven that listening to music makes blood flow to brain regions that generate and control emotions. As we already know, emotions can enhance memory. That’s why songs we listen to during key moments in our lives (after a heartbreak, during adolescence, hearing extremely amazing news, etc.) usually stick with us forever. While that event might be long gone in the past, that one song can teleport us back to that very moment and remind us of exactly how we felt.

You can think of songs like tiny, personal time capsules that get released each time we press play. Every song that’s on repeat in your library is building a nostalgic feeling that you won’t experience until some years down the road. 

Solange’s song “Don’t You Wait” from her “A Seat At The Table” album always reminds me of freshman year of college. One night in particular, I had just washed my hair and I was in my door combing and twisting it up. It was early December, right before finals, and it was literally freezing in my dorm. This was before my parents bought me a portable heater. I remember my hands got so frozen that I had to walk down the hall to the community bathroom just to run some warm water over my hands and wake up my pruney fingers. While I was doing my hair, I had that album playing on my small speaker so everytime I hear it now, it always takes me back to that night. 

Music isn’t just for taking a snapshot of events or moments in our lives. When I was in college, I would always use music to help me study. Part of the reason is that I hate dead silence. I can’t sleep or focus when there isn’t any background noise. Even today, I write most of my blog posts listening to music. I find that I’m able to block out my surroundings more and hit a better stride in being productive. Evidence actually supports that theory and suggests that listening to music may help brain cells process information more efficiently. 

Some songs and genres are definitely more distracting than others, but for the vast majority of music, it helps soothe the brain and provides catchy rhythms that keep us entertained. When I write my blog posts (or even product descriptions), I listen to my LoFi playlist (click the link to check it out sometime). Most of the music is instrumental with strong beats lively enough to keep me awake, but mellow enough so it’s not competing for creative space in my brain. When I’m in the car, I can’t stand listening to instrumental music unless it’s ~really~ catchy. I prefer singing (or trying to) while dealing with the humdrum traffic of my daily commute. 

My Spotify account is a time capsule from my middle and high school years. I don’t currently use the platform (because I’m not paying for another music streaming service while I pay for Apple Music) so all the songs are literally 10 years old. Most of them are songs I don’t listen to currently since my music taste has morphed over the years. 

When I was younger, I preferred a lot more pop music than I do now. I loved dancing in my living room to the quick beats and learning the melodies. R&B had the classic bops that I’ve come to love now, but back then I couldn’t dance to the slower rhythms. And as for hip-hop, I had almost every Drake and Lil Wayne song illegally downloaded from LimeWire. It’s truly a blessing that viruses and ransomware weren't as big back then as they are now. 

I listened to a lot of classical and jazz music since I was actively taking piano lessons. I thought frequently listening to it would help me learn it quicker. Safe to say, I play music by reading it, and NOT hearing it (although I think it’s an amazing talent to hear music and be able to immediately play it back without reading any sheet music). 

I need to go through my Spotify account and rediscover the music I used to love. I bet there are plenty of bangers just waiting to be dusted off. 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie