I do not believe in time travel. In fact sometimes I get bored and upset with all the TV shows and movies that have anything to do with time travel. I disagree that anyone or anything can travel back in time and not change things. Although, if there were anything even remotely close to a time travel device I would say it is music. A certain song can transport us back in time to a point when we heard it playing. The memory could be an enjoyable one or even one that is painful, but sometimes that song can zap us right back. I recently read a post on a blog that got me thinking. You might want to pop over to Rachel’s blog to read it yourself because it is so much more entertaining than this one – she is funny. Her post had me looking into the memory project and I started thinking about what I would like my playlist to be.
Perhaps you’ve have seen that video with Henry in it. He is an elderly man in a wheel chair and he seems like he is asleep, but then once they turn the music on he wakes up and starts singing and moving. That video is a clip from a documentary called Alive Inside. It is about the Music and Memory project that helps get iPods into nursing homes / memory care facilities. The project’s website states:
“Persons with dementia, Parkinson’s and other diseases that damage brain chemistry also reconnect to the world and gain improved quality of life from listening to personal music favorites.”
As I first mentioned music is a powerful thing and it can feel like we have been moved through time when we hear certain songs. Music can wake up certain memories. Music can read our subconscious and get us moving. It is pretty amazing. So many people always have music playing. I find that when I need to concentrate I don’t like the music on because I get distracted by it. I want to sing or dance to it so it keeps me from being able to focus on the task I am trying to accomplish. Maybe people claim it helps them concentrate. Music is so different for everyone. Even so, the right type can help ignite that spark.
So let’s do a little project you and me. Let’s put together individual playlists. Just for the heck of it we will put some guidelines in place. First, remember this is a memory playlist. So the songs would be something that you would think would help ground you and bring you back to you. Songs that might allow you to sing or dance . . . . like Henry. Two, make your playlist around 90 minutes long. There are so many songs out there, just so much music so it would be possible for some of us to come up with playlists that are days long. So for the purpose of this little game, let’s keep it to 90 minutes. That could be roughly about 15 songs. It really depends on the length of each song, but 15 is a rough average.
At this point I only have one song on my list – American Pie by Don McLean, but I am going to think about it and get back to you. Leave your playlist in the comments!
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