I was going to post this as a comment on Chris's blog, but after tapping it out for a while, I realized it was worthy (?) of my own blog (so I'll just post a link on his).
Hmmm… I'm now just getting around to actually read this post from Chris.
For those that don't know me, I consider music as just noise. It's good noise most of the time, but I don't have this drive to understand it like Chris and some of my other friends. Chris has this amazing talent of memorizing not only the words of songs, but many of the other details as well, like the year it was released, if it is a remake, etc. He also has this fine tuned ear that actually enables him to identify a song within the first few bars. I don't have that ability.
One of the things that I am sure frustrates Chris is when we are driving in the car, and he suggests I pick the music. I just pick something, anything. As to me, it's noise. I can often tune out music, or perhaps I blend it into my brain as just part of the background noise. I guess I can just turn that part of the noise I hear down, so I don't get distracted from other “noises”, like chatting with friends in the car, or whereever.
Now there are some artists that I really enjoy listening to, but even they get to sit on the side of the road from time to time. Many friends would remember how passionate I was about Shirley Bassey when I first came here. I still enjoy her, but I don't listen to her all that often. I can listen to Lighthouse Family all day, especially “High” (Postcards from Heaven) – and everytime I hear this, I think of driving along the Great Ocean Road, and having Lasik surgery.
There are certain songs which I tag as memorable, and normally these have a specific reason for being on “that” list. Like Chris, Indigo's “Perfect Day” has some good memories from New Orleans, in September 1998. It also is one of those bitter-sweet songs, because of the connection to that song with my ex, Daniel. Cher's “Believe” is another one of those songs (bitter-sweet). Both of these bring back floods of memories whenever I hear them.
Of course, some may think based on my reactions to some music that I don't enjoy certain songs, or artists. This isn't the case (in most cases). Most of the time, it's just noise.
As my SOCI professor says, “long story, short” – it's a good post, and worth reading.