Creativity Magazine

Music and Memory

Posted on the 14 August 2011 by Kristineduffey @GeminiWriter81

Music and Memory

Our First Dance© Distinct Photography


Ever notice how music can evoke memory and feeling like almost nothing else? If your love life is in the dumps the right song can plunge you deeper into despair. If you are flying on the highway and the right song plays on the radio you may find that your foot suddenly turns to lead and if you’re not careful you’ll end up with a speeding ticket. Songs can remind you of movies, experiences, people, feelings, and all sorts of other things.
Music can influence your current mood and I find this useful when I’m writing something particularly emotional. Try this: Pick a song or a group of songs with a similar mood. Play them on a loop while you write a scene. See how it influences your mood. I’ve done this a number of times when I just wasn’t feeling it and the songs made a difference.
David and I were married 2 wonderful months ago. Below is our wedding soundtrack. #1 is our song and we danced our first dance to it. #2 is one of my favorite songs and we danced our second dance to it. The rest are in no particular order. They are a mixture of our favorite songs. Some were my picks, some were David’s, and some we chose together. They were each selected for one reason or another. I took the song list pretty seriously. These were all songs that I would be happy to associate with specific moments of our wedding.
So what are some of your song/memory combinations?
Our Wedding Song List
1. It Had To Be You- Frank Sinatra
2. Into The Mystic- Van Morrison
3. As Time Goes By- Louis Armstrong
4. A Kiss to Build a Dream On- Louis Armstrong
5. Someone Like You- Van Morrison
6. Have I Told You Lately- Van Morrison
7. Crazy love -Van Morrison
8. Dream a little dream of me- Louis Armstrong
9. Beyond the Sea Lyrics- Bobby Darin
10. Three Little Birds- Bob Marley
11. Wouldn’t It Be Nice- Beach Boys
12. You Give Me Fever- Peggy Lee
13. Walk Like An Egyptian – The Bangles
14. More than Words- Extreme
15. I’ll Stand By You- The Pretenders
16. Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
17. Don’t Know Much- Aaron Nevil
18. Something- The Beatles
19. My Girl- The Temptations
20. When a Man Loves A Woman- Percy Sledge
21. Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison
22. These Foolish Things- Deinah Washington
23. The Very Thought of You- Tony Bennett

24. Sway- Rosemary Clooney
25. Forever Young- By Alphaville
26. I only have eyes for you- The Flamingos
27. 99 Luftballons- NENA
28. Kiss- Prince
29. Tainted Love- Soft Cell
30. Unforgettable- Nat King Cole
31. Let’s Get it on- Marvin Gaye
32. These Arms of Mine- Otis Redding
33. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long- Otis Redding
34. Signed, Sealed, Delivered- Stevie Wonder
35. Midnight Special- CCR
36. Layla- Derrick and the Dominos
37. Close To You- The Carpenters
38. Time in a bottle- Jim Croche
39. Swinging On A Star- Frank Sinatra
40. Dancing in the Moonlight- King Harvest
41. If Yesterday Could only Be Tomorrow- Tony Bennett
42. Afternoon Delight -Will Ferrell (Anchorman Soundtrack)
43. The Way You Look Tonight- Eric Clapton
44. Time after Time- Cindy Lauper
45. You Send Me- Sam Cooke
46. Let Me Call You Sweetheart- Patti Page
47. Danny’s Song- Kenny Loggins
48. Come Fly With Me- Sinatra
49. Memories Are Made Of This- Dean Martin
50. Ain’t That a Kick in the Head- Dean Martin

This post started with a Dare to Share writing prompt. Go check them out.
Music and Memory

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