We all love listening to music on our way to work, at the gym, and while cleaning up the house, but why do songs by Lorde, Lana Del Rey & Tame Impala make us feel nostalgic? Today I would like to write about the connection between Music and Nostalgia.
There are however songs that make us feel a certain way. Songs that you can’t listen to at the gym, as you want to fully appreciate the song and the feeling that comes with it.
Before I start, let’s see what the definition of nostalgia is:
a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past. nostalgia[ no-stal-juh, -jee-uh, nuh– ]
A wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one’s life, to one’s home or homeland, or to one’s family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place
Cherry pies, the taste of Coca Cola. The smell of rain on the pavement. The feeling of the sun on your face for the first time in spring. The sound that the crunchy, amber-colored leaves make when you step on them in autumn. The scent of Pumpkin Bread in October. That 1940’s Americana way of life makes us wanna bake fresh pies, sit on our porch and listen to our favorite records. Flower crowns and turquoise VW vans.
Milan Kundera once said:
“The Greek word for “return” is nostos. Algos means “suffering.” So nostalgia is the suffering caused by an unappeased yearning to return.”
What Lorde, Lana Del Rey and Kevin Parker do best is to make us feel a certain way through the use of music, words and voice.
All three artists tend to paint a picture of a time long gone. of a youth that has passed and of a time that won’t come back and of a future that we already feel homesick for.
This bittersweet feeling occurs when we listen to songs such as “Ribs” by Lorde, “West Coast” by Lana Del Rey‘ and Tame Impala’s “Lost In Yesterday”. The songs paint a picture in front of our inner eye we may have never seen, but we are still hurting for.
Maybe we are not longing for the past, our youth, or a time where everything seemed easier but instead, we might be scared of the uncertain future and therefore, we are looking back, as if in a dream. A dream that once was real, but we haven’t seized fully back then. We couldn’t wait to grow up and now that we are old enough we realized that nothing is as it seemed to be back when we were younger. Colors were more vibrant, flowers smell sweeter, the grass looked greener and friendships seemed endless.
Hiraeth
Maybe we are all looking for ‚Hiraeth‘ – A homesickness for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.
Songs can transport us to a place in time that we want to visit again. Times that we want to experience again. Friends that we want to see again. Poetry that we want to read again. We tend to forget the bad parts of the past and tend to focus on the good times, the feelings of joy, and the friends that we have made. Music and nostalgia go hand in hand. Just like in Tame Impala’s “Lost in Yesterday”, where the bad memories are slowly turning into good ones. Literally. Go watch the video if you haven’t yet.
My Favorite Lyrics
Below you can find some of my favorite nostalgic lyrics and quotes by various artists:
“This dream isn’t feeling sweet. We’re reeling through the midnight streets. And I’ve never felt more alone. It feels so scary, getting old”
Lorde, Ribs
“Sun went down, sun went down over Pompeii. On both sides the vow was broken. As we slow dance, I became your statue frozen. Times I wonder, are we just a puff of smoke?”
Cage The Elephant, Ready To Let Go
“I’m feelin’ electric tonight. Cruisin’ down the coast, goin’ about 99.”
Lana Del Rey, Summertime Sadness
“Come on Superman, say your stupid line.”
Tame Impala, The Less I Know The Better (I am not quite sure why, but it makes me feel nostalgic. It just the feeling you get when you listen to the song)
“They say you bought a bunch of land somewhere. Chose the Rose Garden over Madison Square.”
Taylor Swift, The Lucky One
“There I go. Quite a show for a loner in L.A. Askin’ how I managed to end up in this place.”
Tame Impala, Borderline
“Blue jeans. White Shirt. Walked into the room you know you made my eyes burn. It was like James Dean, for sure.’”
Lana Del Rey, Blue Jeans
As John Green once said:
“Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we’re quoting.
John Green, The Fault In our Stars
