Songs like Scents
You know the feelings that flood in when you enter a space that smells like a memory from your past? When I was young I learned that the sense of smell offers the strongest memory recall. We cannot always put words to the scent, but our brains have this uncanny method of recall, and the reels of our past begin playing. I have recently had this same flood of memories, more strongly associated with songs than scents. Once in a while we will hear a song and it will take us back to a period of time, but sometimes it will transport us to a specific event. I can hear “Bye, Bye, Bye,” and instantly head back to high school (or the answering machine greeting that my college roommates and I used our freshman year-Haha). Sometimes a song comes on that my dad used to play on his guitar, and I see our family sitting in the living room singing along. “Let it be, let it be, let it be, Oh, let it be… Whispering words of wisdom, let it be.” I’m certain you can also relate to this, but it might not ...