It’s happened often. I’m on a trip and I hear a popular song a few times. It’s not necessarily a song I like, but years later when I hear it, I’m instantly transported back to that location including the memories, tastes, and emotions I experienced while there.
Case One: Cuba
Back in 2002, we travelled to Cuba on our first hot holiday. It was also the first time we heard the mega hit “Aserejé” by the Spanish pop group Las Ketchup. We heard it several times during that week away and to this day when I hear it I can remember exactly how the sun felt on my shoulders, the taste of the rice and beans we ate, and the slight buzz I had from the minty mojitos I was drinking.
Case Two: Berlin
While strolling the shops on a trip in Berlin in 2011, we heard the song “That Man” by Dutch jazz signer Cara Emerald and loved it. Using the iPhone app Shazam, we found the album and listened to it quite a bit in our rented apartment in Prenzlauer Berg. Now when I hear it, I can vividly remember a meal we cooked while listening to it including the walk to the local grocery store to get the ingredients.
More than the travel photos or the souvenirs I bring home, the musical associations I have with a place I’ve visited engage all my senses and emotions. It’s incredibly powerful.
How music makes travel memories stronger
The more I read about how music affects our brains the more fascinated I am. This article on the BBC website explains how music aids our brains to retrieve memories:
“The hippocampus and the frontal cortex are two large areas in the brain associated with memory and they take in a great deal of information every minute. Retrieving it is not always easy. It doesn’t simply come when you ask it to. Music helps because it provides a rhythm and rhyme and sometimes alliteration which helps to unlock that information with cues. It is the structure of the song that helps us to remember it, as well as the melody and the images the words provoke.”
Neuroscience has recently revealed potential therapeutic uses of the music-memory link for conditions such as dementia and depression. Before a recent trip to Montreal, I used an app created by earworms to brush up on my French. The app uses a male and female voice exchanging French phrases in a language lesson alongside a musical backdrop. The repetition infused with the music is designed to reinforce learning. Pretty cool.
So, can you create a music-travel memory on purpose?
Case Three: Istanbul
On our last trip to Istanbul, I didn’t want to leave cementing a musical memory to chance so I aimed to orchestrate it. I had heard a compelling snippet of music on a podcast I was listening to just prior to our trip. It was RAC’s “Let Go.” I bought the album but didn’t listen to it until we were on our trip.
A few days in a row, when we got back to our rented apartment after a day of sightseeing, I listened to the album. The result? I don’t know, maybe it’s too soon after the trip. This has become a favourite album of mine and I listen to it a lot. I’m not getting any strong associative memories when I do. Maybe I need some time away from it for it to work.
If you’ve intentionally created a music memory while travelling, I’d love to hear about it. What do you think made your approach successful?
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I haven’t intentionally created a musical travel memory. Off hand I can’t think of a specific song that transports back to a place, but I know there are some and it will be a delightful memory when I hear the song. My husband and I just spent five weeks in Panama and loved the Latin music. He made a point of finding out the names of artists we heard.
I have not been able to do it intentionally either Donna, but I so love when it happens. Five weeks in Panama! That Latin music will for sure be a travel memory for you.
Great post, Deborah. I am a fan of music, but have to admit I haven’t been dedicating as much time as I would like to this passion. But I always bring my old iPod with a few songs to listen during the flight, when I am not too tired to do anything or trying to sleep or the flight companions are too noisy (if you know what I mean). Although I haven’t updated the collection of songs for a while, it’s interesting how in each trip one particular song catches my attention, and will be in my memory and recall that moment or period of time. And for some reason, I’ll be enticed to listen to that particular song several times during the trip. I agree that when it happens organically, the connection is much stronger. But I wouldn’t disregards the staged option. I believe they can help too. It will depend on the moment, the emotion and the words/melody. Sometimes they just fit together perfectly and … boom…. there you have your memory trigger.
Thanks Fabiano. I like it best when it happens organically. Even if I don’t like the music, I love the way I can instantly recall time and place.
For me, music needs to be found or discovered while traveling to make it relatable to that trip, I can’t just bring it along. It’s like discovering a new food or drink, the surroundings to me are part of what makes it memorable. If the singer/group is from that particular country, it’s great but it doesn’t always seem to happen that way. I’ve traveled on trains in Europe only to discover a new band from Saskatchewan. But I do love how it instantly brings you back!
Thanks for your thoughts on this Evan. So It sounds like you think the music-memory connection has to happen organically. You can’t make it happen. You might be right.