Nostalgia: Why Do We Love or Hate It?

[misspoptart]

We all listen to tracks that evoke a deep sense of nostalgia.

Whether they are songs that you associate with ages past or simply songs that make you reflect on life, you feel affected, but often, can't put a finger on why.

I'm starting this thread hopefully to launch a discussion on the following few topics:

• Do you listen to "nostalgia" songs at specific times? Do you intentionally seek them out? If so, when?
• Do songs that stir nostalgia ever make you upset, or do they generally make you happy?
• Would you like those nostalgic tracks today if you heard them for the first time? Share some that you think are timeless, or others that you think only stuck with you because of your age, situation, or memory.

You don't have to answer or respond to everything, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I'm curious about MB's thoughts, too. The main thing I'm grappling is really, would I like song x or band z today if I heard them for the first time? Why do I still listen to it when today I can clearly identify it as crap? It usually makes me melancholy to listen to nostalgic tracks, but if I were to delete them, I would go completely crazy.

How about you guys?

Edit: I realize a similar topic has been started before, but this one is meant to go in a completely different direction. Hope the mods approve.

[Cuthbert]

Good thread Miss P. I was listening to the Spice Girls album earlier, obviously it's crap, but it reminded me of when I was a child and my sister would play the album and we would play on the Playstation together , just reminds me of being a child basically and so happy and carefree (plus I love my sister). I will always like it for that I guess.

A lot of nostalgic songs don't make me upset but they make me familiar with that time. Some remind me of bad times in my life but I still like the song.

R Kelly's Ignition remix, Busta Rhymes track with Mariah Carey, Wayne Wonder, so many tracks from 2003 remind me of a particular time in my life. All of the tracks are absolute dog shit and there's no way I'd like them if I heard them now.

Sometimes I listen to them just to remind myself of times when I was happy, and they remind me of people I like.

[Trollheart]

I agree, great idea for a thread.
Nostalgia, eh? You're asking the right person there, young lady!
I pesonally find that there were songs I would not listen to --- essentially would refuse to listen to --- when I was younger and more cocky, thinking I knew everything, like METAL ROOLZ! But as I grow older (what's that you say? Not possible for me to grow any older? Cheek...) I start to appreciate them more not for who the band are and whether I can like them or not, but for what the songs are.

ABBA are a perfect example. I used to jeer anyone who liked them, which was obviously both a sense of insecurity and a result of peer pressure. Without that, I can see the band were outstanding and had many great songs. When you're younger I think to some degree you decide what is cool and what is not, and even if you hear a track by a band not considered by you (or your mates) to be cool, you decide you don't like it. Now I tend to enjoy music for what it is, not what I think, or others think, I should like, hence my often boring and pedestrian music tastes. But that's ok: I'm never going to be into, for instance, Death Grips, no matter how many people tell me they're great. Just not my kind of music. But now I know that: it's not just a case of feelign like you have to like/not like it.

Memories can definitely be stirred by nostalgic songs, with comments like "Oh I haven't heard this for ages!" but generally I find that by and large the music I listened to as a youth is still in my collection today. There's nothing really that I don't listen to any more. I've just expanded my tastes a little. However, unlike Fluff, I wouldn't listen to some crap just to be reminded of better times: if I hated it then, I hate it now, and by hate I mean genuinely made that decision not had it made for me as above.

Christ, I do ramble don't I? Where's my cup of milky tea? Must nearly be time for my afternoon nap ....

[Janszoon]

I think a lot of my reason for listening to nostalgic tracks is that it's the closest thing I have time travel. I listen when I'm in a mood to reminisce and it's usually kind of bittersweet experience.

[FrigginParadox]

a lot of nostalgic songs bring back good memories of the past. even if i do hate the song. my best nostalgic songs are often ones from video games though.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by FrigginParadox

a lot of nostalgic songs bring back good memories of the past. even if i do hate the song.

It really is a friggin' paradox isn't it?

[djchameleon]

I don't intentionally go looking for nostalgic type songs but when they pop up on a shuffle or random commercial I usually get pissed off about it and just want it turned off. The ones that usually have a strong effect on me is songs that are associated with certain exes. Those songs are forever tainted for me and I can no longer enjoy them.

[Sequoioideae]

I generally don't place periods of time within whatever I listen to, because then I would be afraid to listen music from previous years in fear that it would bring back embarrassing/awful memories. I tend to use music as a method of escape, an escape completely separated from whatever my current situation is.

I've never been much of a nostalgic person anyway, I have problems with associating my present self with my past selves. If I think about something I did 10 years ago, I can't ever really see that person being the me I know. It's like looking at someone else's home videos from long ago.

[misspoptart]

Originally Posted by Janszoon

I think a lot of my reason for listening to nostalgic tracks is that it's the closest thing I have to time travel.

Wow, so true though. There are songs that when I have shuffle on and my whole collection is up for grabs that really transport me. At least for a few seconds, I am that person that listened to that song 5 or 10 years ago.

How long does nostalgia last in those instances? I tend to find it wears off after the first chorus or verse, or even the first 10-15 seconds of a nostalgic song. Do you have a similar experience, Jans?

Originally Posted by djchameleon

I don't intentionally go looking for nostalgic type songs but when they pop up on a shuffle or random commercial I usually get pissed off about it and just want it turned off. The ones that usually have a strong effect on me is songs that are associated with certain exes. Those songs are forever tainted for me and I can no longer enjoy them.

So you're the first one to truly get upset about nostalgia, huh! I mean, I get upset sometimes too, but definitely not angry. I often go into a very sad mood and start dreaming up imaginary regrets and wishing I could do things over. Music is a seriously powerful tool in that way.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by misspoptart

Wow, so true though. There are songs that when I have shuffle on and my whole collection is up for grabs that really transport me. At least for a few seconds, I am that person that listened to that song 5 or 10 years ago.

How long does nostalgia last in those instances? I tend to find it wears off after the first chorus or verse, or even the first 10-15 seconds of a nostalgic song. Do you have a similar experience, Jans?

For me it generally lasts for the duration of the song and even tends to linger when the song is over. There are also whole albums I have this experience with as well. For example Moby's album Play brings me right back to the apartment I had when I was 23 every single time I listen to it.