Tonight, I attended a talk on neuroscience and brain research, and there were a lot of interesting links between memories, behavior, and mental health. So I’m doing my own little version of that in this thread. What song do you associate with happy memories, even if it’s just a general feeling of happiness? Can you recall one of your oldest ones?
Go your own way, by Fleetwood Mac makes me think of fun car trips with my parents, roughly around 6-8 years old. Nothing terribly specific, though I do associate it closely with one of the city highway on ramps used to go visit relatives, go skiing, or get to the airport. :)
Jesus, Nothing Else Matters, Metallica.
The song is indelibly linked to one of the best friends I ever had.
Me and him, arm in arm at a concert we had to drive hours to see. My first real concert, and the biggest one he’d been to.
So that song, every time I hear it, it takes me back to those two sweaty, goofy boys singing horribly along, and him leaning into my ear and saying “this is what it’s all about, brother, friendship, and nothing else matters.” And that opens up the doors to every other memory of him. All the silliness, all the tears, all the laughter and mutual support. And definitely the memory of him dying, and the funeral and all the chaos of that.
But it’s the happiness that wins out, every time. Images, thirty years old at this point, of him telling jokes and reading poetry and just being a fucking amazing guy. His rosy cheeks when we’d be fucking around in the southern heat, or headbanging, or lifting weights. He was such a rosy cheeked guy lol.
And all it takes is hearing the intro to that song for those memories to pour out.
What’s cool is that when I run across old pictures of him, or someone brings him up, the song plays in my head.
Gods, we were so fucking young lol.
That is sweet, and sorry for you loss. He sounds like a great friend!