Music has always been a part of my life and it is no wonder that selling music and music players is such a big business. There is so much that humans emotionally attach to music. Music can recall experiences with all the feelings that are tied to those experiences. I’ve had people tell me that they liked or hated a song based solely of the experience that was associated with it. Some even hate songs that they previously loved. Obviously, music can also evoke emotions on its own.

Music from the early 70’s reminds me of my childhood. Music from the summer of ’76 reminds of going to Disneyland. Music from the late 70’s (Pink Floyd, The Who, Yes, Van Halen, etc.) reminds me of high school. Afternoon Delight and Me and My Arrow remind me of girls that I met at camp. Babe by Styx reminds me of a girl friend from college. I’m Alright also reminds me of my brief college experience. Nightmares by A Flock of Seagulls reminds of traveling from San Francisco to Salt Lake City on a Greyhound bus.

When I was at a very low point in my life, I even created a “Wallow in My Sorrow” tape (how self-indulgent can one get). The tape had songs like Foreigner’s Waiting for a Girl Like You and I Want to Know What Love Is and U2’s With or Without You. At that time I also went to my parent’s place on the weekend and feeling sad I would sit on the deck outside and listen to the Tears For Fears album The Hurting. “Memories fade, but the scar still lingers.”

Other music just evokes emotion, like some of the music from U2’s albums The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree: The Drowning Man, Indian Blue Sky, Elvis Presley and America, A Sort of Homecoming, and Surrender. “So wind go through to my heart, So wind blow through my soul.” It is hard for me to believe that some of the music for The Unforgettable Fire was improvised, but maybe that is why it is so good and that ambient expert Brian Eno helped with the production of the album. Also female artists such as Sarah McLaughlin and Amiee Mann evoke emotion within me. And Amazing Grace makes me want to cry.

Music from the 70’s also reminds me of going to Yosemite because that is what we play in the car. Some songs remind me of friends and others remind me of my time in France. But Michelle by the Beatles will always remind me of my wedding day.