People often say that a particular song reminds them of a certain period in their life. My dad loves the song “Louie, Louie” by The Kingsmen, and says it reminds him of his college years.
For me, not only does music remind me of a certain time period in my life, but there’s a link between the time of year and the music. Let me explain.
Ever since I started listening to music of my own I have adopted a peculiar habit. Back in high school was when I really started to listen to music of my own, on my portable CD player (remember those?). I only ever really listened to music while in car, or just before warming up for a track meet or cross country race. All of my friends had giant folios of CDs. I chose a plastic box that lived in my car, coupled with a small wallet of a few choice discs for when I was away from my car.
Whenever I got a new CD, I would listen to incessantly. This ended up forever linking the feelings, emotions, and memories of that time of year (and time in life) with the music. Somehow in those early years, I got into a habit of coming back to a particular CD the following year at about the same time of year as the previous. This kind of snowballed, and now I just about only listen to certain groups or albums during a particular time of year.
311 is spring. The Beastie Boys are the fall, except Intergalactic – that’s summer. Jay-Z is summer. Sublime is spring/summer. Sloan is mostly fall. Van Halen is spring.
For my favorite band, Sloan, each of their albums has it’s own time of year. Between the Bridges is winter. Navy Blues is fall. Their latest album, 12, is spring.
As spring is finally here, I’m listening to a solid rotation of 311 with some Van Halen sprinkled in (especially this one), and some Sloan to top it all off.