Top Songs and Memories - A Journey of Recollection

I notice, from entry notifications, that many of you looked up the top songs for years you graduated and posted them. I've been enjoying reading through the lists and there are some great songs on there. I'll look in-depth when I read and respond to your posts, but thanks for taking the ball and rolling with it. 

I decided to look up the top songs for the 
year my parents were married - 1932. 
Of course, they were in Europe, not the 
USA, but in America, the top song was 
"Brother Can You Spare A Dime" by 
the immortal Bing Crosby. Curious about 
the song? Follow the link to a you-tube. 

The idea of songs and memory strikes my post today because memory is a funny thing, triggered by so many events. A scent can bring back a memory - cookies or bread baking, the sweet smell of a candy store, or even the exhaust from an old car. All of those things can spark a memory that had been long buried. 

One of my favorite songs while in High School was 
"Windy" by The Association. I remember listening 
to my radio until they announced the top song of the 
year, and this was the one. Want to listen? Follow the link. 

Sometimes a specific feel to a day can bring back a memory. Early, bright blue mornings in the cold of an 8:00 am mountain breeze brings back memories of my childhood, one particular summer day, when I was playing on the driveway in front of the plum trees that were leafed out but not bearing yet. The birds were singing and the day seemed so full of promise and excitement. I've never forgotten that small slice of time. I have no idea if the day fulfilled its' promise, but it inspires me now, almost 60 years later. 

I'm a big fan of Bette Midler, and another friend's 
list of songs had "The Rose" by the Fabulous Ms M. 
It was a song, it was a movie, it was wonderful. 
Can't remember the song? Just follow the link. 

A taste can bring back memories - the sharp tint of lemon in a tart, the first taste of a good coffee on the tongue, or the sweet burst of flavor in an early autumn apple, all of these things can spark memory. So if so many things can bring back memories - good or bad - why is it so difficult to understand and pin down memory for science? 

Memory can be a maze through which we wander. As 
long as we can escape the maze and rejoin the world 
at large, all is good. I suspect people with Alzheimer's 
have just gotten stuck in their maze and can't find 
their way back out again. 

I think that everyone thinks about memories differently. To some people memories are like leaves in a book, other people have film strips. I have corridors - bricked and comfortable, but behind some of the bricks are memories I don't want to think about, whereas others memories just lurk in spotlights on the walls, around the corner, or flashing onto the corridor flooring. I wander through different pathways, never worrying about where I'm going, only amazed by what I recall. 

Do you picture your memories in any special way? Are they points on a wooded pathway? Are they lights in an internal sky? Share with me, and find one excellent memory to share too because we all need positives these days and sharing virtually is what we do within our journals. Have an truly wonderful day and I'll be back tomorrow.