Song Associations

 In my younger days when the dark was dramatic and so richly felt there were two songs that for years afterward sparked memories of being on the road at night, particularly going to specific places. 

On my journey from Maine to Quincy, Massachusetts or home to college the song "Do you Remember When" by the J. Geils Band became strongly, and perhaps strangely, associated with it. Hearing it would evoke images of Rt 1 (the Northeast Expressway) through Saugus, Revere and Chelsea into the city of Boston on the Central Artery through the South Station Tunnel and out the other side onto the Southeast Expressway.

It was all very heady for a while. And "Do You Remember When" with its rolling beat and lyrics which reminded me of lost loves at school was perfect narration for the drive. I can't say that I actually heard the song on the radio while taking the trip, but it still connected me to that time period.

The other song was "Driver's Seat" by Sniff 'n the Tears which made me think of Savannah, Georgia and heading there after a day in the Army at Fort Stewart. We used to go down to River Street and hit Kevin Barry's Irish pub which was still there in 2016 when my wife and I traveled to that part of the country for our 30th anniversary. You see, we met at Stewart and I proposed to her on Tybee Island, so the area has special meaning.

Once again, I'm not sure why Driver's Seat took me back to those days. Maybe it played in the car on the way and created the association that way. Or it may just be my imagination.

But I always saw both songs as being dark. I don't necessarily mean in their messaging or music so much. But like some people experience synesthesia as a sensory crossover, I tend to see some songs as darker or lighter.

It's not surprising, really, as I believe that the composers of music have intention of projecting those sort of traits.

The connection those two songs had for a while has now vanished, and I can listen to them without bringing back the memories.

I suppose that's one of the erasing functions of time. Associations fade away with the passage of enough years. Maybe new ones are created, maybe not. 

But I can't forget those two particular songs and how they would bring up memories of two periods of my life back when the night was dramatic.

A more richly felt.