When Music Really Sinks In

[Broken Irishwoman]

We all have our favourite music, it can be anything! But sometimes you are listening to a song, and it aligns with everything around you, and it's like *BAM*, you fully understand the essence of it. When was this the case for you, and with what music?

I had an experience like this a couple of weeks ago, that's how I came up with the idea for this thread (a little late, but hey). One of my favourite artists in the whole wide world is Christy Moore, and when I had a long bus ride ahead, I packed my mp3-player with his songs. I don't know if any of you are familiar with his work, but if you are, you know that many of his songs are about The Great Famine and all the misery it caused. Many Irish people left for America, and got treated like crap.

So anyway, back to this alignment I experienced... I was on the bus (an overly familiar route for me), and we passed through the industrial area around five o'clock. We have a lot of Polish immigrants here in my region, and pretty much all of them work in the factories, doing soulless, heavy work. So the bus got more and more crowded as we went along, and soon the bus was for about 90% filled with Polish people. I saw them staring out the window, dog-tired. And these songs I was listening to told me their story; being lost in a strange country/culture in hope of finding a better life, getting treated like crap, away from everything you know and feel attached to... I was captured by a sudden fit of affection for these people, I must admit that I had to swallow a few tears at that point.

Please tell me your music stories too!

[SpacePinto]

For me it's Edguy's brilliant 2004 album "Hellfire Club", each and every track on it touches me to the core

[Broken Irishwoman]

No one else? Don't be shy!

(I obviously appreciate your reply, SpacePinto! )

[mlp4me]

For me just being able to clear my mind and take a long walk listening to music is a powerful experience in itself.

[Broken Irishwoman]

Definitely agree with that too!

[Taffeta]

Maybe this makes me a bit odd but this is my general relationship with a lot of music anyway. From whenever I can remember, a lot of music has that kind of effect on me. The tune, the voice pitch, the lyric, it isn't necessarily one thing but it gets me all the same. I even wrote a whole story once based on one line in a song lyric, so yeah. A lot of the time it's very hard to explain why but I know it's a really deep connection to something in the song. And there are a lot of songs that have that effect on me.

In particular notes/pitch/certain people's voices. And particular turns of phrase.

I'm not sure if it's that it aligns with everything around me, it's just a connection. For example, there are certain songs I associate with certain places. One Nightwish song that reminds me of travelling the buses in Kyoto, and another one from an anime series that makes me think of London. And so on. Is that a bit different from what you're describing, BrokenIrishwoman?

I'm always interested when other people talk about a musical experience, though. I'd kind of assumed this was one of my weird autistic twitches because usually when I mention to people it outside of my family I get the blank look and the "that's nice" kind of smile. But I guess not?

[Broken Irishwoman]

It is something different indeed, but it's definitely something I'm familiar with! And I think it does fit in this thread.

It was actually the same effect that got me into The Cranberries 26 years ago. As long as I can remember I've had this strange fascination with trains, it could be something from a previous life, or it could be because of an incident my father had with a train when I was 5 years old (it could even be a combination of the two, especially because the "setting" in my head doesn't match with the incident). And when I heard Zombie for the first time, it sounded just like that. It was perfect! It sounded like trains on a hot an clear summers day. Of course it didn't take long for me to appreciate and love the song for what it was, but that association always stuck.

I have more of these connections, most of them are related to strange "memories" that may or may not be "real" (there even was a time when I would only listen to music that triggered those feelings, because I like to wallow in it), but some are more down to earth. Like some Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, they just ARE the summer of 2006 for me. Not just because I listened to them back then, but because they just sound like it. The atmosphere of that summer is in every tone, every sound.
A less down to earth one is Graduation Song by Vitamin C. It's not even my kind of music, but when I heard that song for the first time it immediately triggered something. Like a memory, except not from this life (heck, I wasn't even in high school yet when that song came out). Especially the violin parts speak to me in a strange way, and again with that sunlight...

And of course there's also my good old synesthesia. The intro of Weather With You (Crowded House) sounds like apples. Period.

[Taffeta]

I love that. It sounds like apples.

<3.

I wish I had words for most of the things - colours/ideas/whatever - songs remind me of. It's awesome you can articulate it xD.

Zombie is much more gritty to me because I vividly remember the troubles as a kid growing up in the UK. But I definitely have those kind of secondary associations as well.

Crowded House is also nostalgic <3.