I have tried putting these in order from earliest to more recent memories.
1: Atomic Kitten - Whole Again
Whole Again is probably my earliest memory of music and has stuck with me because my mum used to play it regularly when I was young. I remember singing it with - and to - her. I also recollect how I would pick up her old cassette tapes during this time (and probably before) to play with them. I wouldn’t be surprised if I broke a few by pulling out the tape or by twisting the spools or something. I certainly remember being interested in the reels in cassette tapes and VHS tapes.
2: Neil Young - Old Man
This song reminds me of my step-dad who introduced me to some great music back when I was younger. I don’t see him often now as he lives in another country and listening to this makes me miss him. I feel terrible about this because I have a tendency to forget about a lot of things that happened in my past. Therefore I seem to miss people less than I probably should, and I don't know how beneficial that is for me. The only time I seem to miss people is when I am dealing with a breakup or separation from a partner who I have been spending a lot of my time. I think it’s just something I have developed as a defensive mechanism or something. Nonetheless, this song makes me think about him every single time I listen to it which I guess leads me open to the emotions that come with opening up a little. It's certainly bittersweet.
3: Blood on the Dance Floor - Scream for My Ice Cream
So I wasn’t the most popular child in school, and I ended up hanging around with the counter-cool (I guess) groups to try fit in somewhere. We liked strange music like this. It’s pretty awful, to say the least, but it resonates with me by transporting me back to those days. I kind of wish I had acted differently in school, as I would have probably made more lifetime friends. I am not in contact with anyone from school, and I am only really friends with one person from my town. I made far more friends in university, though. Hopefully, some will stick around for life.
4: Bullet for my Valentine - Tears Don't Fall
Metal music was a huge part of my childhood, and the reasons relate to above. I did not like the music or at least listen to the music, that was popular and in the charts at the time. My choice in music provided to my unpopularity at school I guess.
5: Eminem - Mockingbird + Eminem - When I’m Gone
I want to keep these as one combined suggestion as they both evoke special feelings for me. They take me back to certain moments of my life, and the words do something for me that I can’t quite explain. Parts relate to parts of my life in some ways and enough to sympathise with Marshall. Powerful stuff.
6: Plan B (feat. Labrinth) - Playing with Fire
The music of Plan B takes me back, and I had honestly forgotten about some of the times I associate with him and his work. Before listening to Plan B, I had a little bit of a rocky time. I was a good kid in school until my last two years (and last year especially). I started getting into trouble, smoking in school, vandalising, stealing, smoking cigarettes and weed. I was a young kid, and I did these things so that I felt I fit into something - and I finally did fit in I think. It was affecting my school work, life back home, life in general. My mum helped me get out of this wrong place in my life, and not long after I got back on track.
Not too long after, some people from an organisation called 'Camps International' attended an assembly in school and offered students an experience that could change their lives. They said if we raised enough money we could get to Ecuador and help communities there. I was the only person from my school year who did it - in fact; I got the form in the very next day! I got a little bit bullied for this though when the next non-school uniform day came around because they had to pay £1 towards the funds of mine, and some pupils in the year below me's trip.
I never even got any of this money because I left school and went to college before the experience had started. Nevertheless, with the help of my mum, and a friend that I met along my fundraising adventures, I managed to raise the money I needed.
Much of this fundraising entailed posting envelopes and then going back for them to see if people would donate. When I was posting these envelopes, I remember being very fond of Plan B and his music. I listened to his albums on repeat (especially his first and third album). I then showed his music to other members of the other schools/colleges that went to Ecuador. I became known to love his music. Good times.
7: Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
I started listening to music of Skrillex in my final few years of school (maybe just my final year). I remember his music getting popular around the time I started listening to him, but I did not first hear it through school. I think that I used skrillex as a break-away from metal music. His music does only come with few memories, but I remember being very much into his stuff. I went to one of his gigs with a friend one day - one of my first gigs.
8: Die Antwoord - Baby’s on Fire
Although I know Die Antwoord are probably not that great, the memories that come with their music is fairly significant for my life. I would say it was around four years ago when I heard this song for the first time after their music was recommended to me by an online female friend. It didn’t take long for me to start listening to their music after this. The music takes me back to the days that I used to play a virtual pet game called Marapets (it’s similar to Neopets). When I first joined I would have just turned 11 (I checked my sign up date) and I was not yet old enough to talk on the forums/cubs so I just played the game. I must have left the game and returned to it at some point when I was old enough to use the forums and the clubs features. I continued playing off and on into college mainly just to talk to others who have played and used the website similarly to me. My friends on the forums and mainly the ones I made through the clubs features were kind of my replacement real life friends for a good time. I had two main phases (I suppose) of playing this with two groups that I was highly active in (you could only be part of one group at on time). I met one of the members after becoming friends with them (probably about five years ago) but I don’t talk to her anymore. I don’t talk to many of them anymore actually, but some will occasionally say hey in our old facebook group chat, or I will say hi to them.
However, I met the girl who introduced this song to me for the first time just this past summer when I went to Sziget Festival in Budapest. And guess who performed during the first day there - Die Antwoord! We waited in the rain together despite my friend and hers all going home due to the weather. It was pretty special.
9: Akala - Fire in the Booth
I am leaving my university over the next few months which means I am going to be entering the ‘real’ world soon. To be honest, I am quite worried about what lies ahead of me, and I am not racing towards it either. I want this to last. However, I feel this song started a new part of my music taste I think and leads on from the Plan B mention. I saw Akala in a special lecture during my first year at uni. Since then I have attended a second of his talks and two of his shows. Akala is a great guy in many ways, and I highly recommend his work.
10: Skepta - That’s not Me (feat. JME) + Looney - Horny Dizzle (feat. Traumatik)
I was not sure which grime song to use, but I will choose this one because it is one of the most memorable. I started listening to grime music in 2015 and have continued to listen to it until now - however perhaps not quite as much. Grime music has been the anthem to many of my university moments.
I am also currently quite a big fan of bassline music, and this has a lot to do with my social environments and current university lifestyle. Although I am setting down a lot more now to do my university work, I used to party a lot with people that shared a similar music taste to me. During my second year I moved from just drinking to other things, and although I primarily listened to house music in my second year at university, I still think bassline music reflects the memories I have had with partying. This music is not exactly all that ‘great’ regarding quality, but it still is very enjoyable for me. P.S - I do not condone the use of drugs. Even if you think they won't kill you, they are likely to produce other damaging - latent - side-effects which will affect most people. I was an idiot in my second year of university (especially), and I am considerably cutting them down now for my health.
So there it is.
I imagine over time this could have less generalisation.
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