Nostalgia in Music

I love how nostalgic music is, and how easy it is to connect songs to certain moments or people. Hearing a song I listened to when I rode the bus to high school brings the same feelings as smelling the perfume I used to wear, using the laundry detergent I used sophomore year of college, and using the same brand of hairspray as my grandma. Here are the songs that immediately change my mood and remind me of a specific moment. 

1. Fergalicious - Fergie

A month after I got my license, I was driving to school going 77 mph in a 55. I live in the country, so most roads don't have a single hill, dip, blind spot, or house nearby for a few miles straight, and this was true for the road I was on. 

I was for some reason listening to a 2000s playlist and Fergalicious was on. Unfortunately, at the first hill after a few miles, a cop was sitting on the other side. I got a ticket. It’s so funny to me because now I’ll be at a frat party or hanging out with friends and Fergalicious will come on, reminding me of 16-year-old Morgan, horrified at being pulled over for the first time (it was also the last). 

2. 30 Hours - Kanye 

I deliver pizzas in Dekalb whenever I’m home for breaks, and I have so many songs that I associate with that job because of how often I was in my car (I’m very excited for this winter to listen to even more music while delivering). 

Being able to listen to lots of music for long amounts of time is a bad combination for someone who obsesses over one or two songs. 30 Hours was one of these songs. I listened to it over 100 times in the five-week period that I delivered pizzas last winter. You would think that I’d be sick of it now, but I still enjoy it. I do feel bad for the people working in the kitchen who could hear my music while I was parked waiting for deliveries though because they had to hear it so many times. 

3.  Wesley’s Theory - Kendrick Lamar

I had an obsession with this song in April, but I associate it with the moment my friend was driving us to the Kendrick concert in August of this year. It was really warm outside, and I remember being so excited for the concert - but also incredibly carsick. We were in stop and go traffic in Chicago and the newest album finished playing, so we listened to this song while we talked about how we thought the concert was going to be, as I fought the feeling of throwing up. It's the happiest I've ever been while sick. It was such a fun day and I’ll always connect it to this song. 

4. Cold Heart PNAU Remix - Elton John, Dua Lipa 

I was reminded of this song when I was writing about working at the pizza place. My boss is absolutely wonderful but makes us listen to whatever his current favorite few songs are. Over winter - no exaggeration - he would play this song on repeat every single day. He did this for probably three weeks and then it eventually just made it into the shuffle of the three or four other songs that he enjoyed. One time the new kid begged him to change it to something else. What makes it funnier is that he told us “I can’t even understand what they’re saying, I just like how it feels”.