The Scent of a Song
Posted: October 9th, 2007 | Author: justin | Filed under: life, music | 6 Comments »
Above pic via loops3n
I’ve spent the last few weeks listening to a lot of music that I’m pretty familiar with. I haven’t been too inclined to listen to anything new, more or less focusing on albums that are comfortable and memorable. I’ve consciously made the decision to listen to some of the records or songs and others more or less just floated into my head.
That gets me to the point of this post, because most of the music I’ve been listening to recently literally drifted past me in the guise of various scents. I’ve always noticed this, but it’s never been so blatantly obvious as it’s been in the last couple of weeks. For example, you know those air fresheners shaped like little pine trees that you hang in your car to make it smell better? Well, the “new car” version of that freshener always reminds me of Fountain of Wayne’s 1996 self-titled debut, a record my girlfriend (at the time) introduced me to while said aroma lofted about.
[MP3]: Fountains of Wayne ”Sink To The Bottom”
Fountains of Wayne; Atlantic, 1996
Fast forward eleven years later to present day and I’m walking down the street, the aroma of eggs frying on the street vendors’ griddle mixes with the faint smell of sewage, exhaust, brake dust, and humid stagnant air. It smells like New York in the summer (but I’m in Philly and it’s October, but still feels like summer), reminding me of my first days of work in early June and bringing to mind an album I was semi-obsessed with at the time, Eyedazzler 1992-1996 by Alison’s Halo.
[MP3]: Alison’s Halo ”Slowbleed”
Eyedazzler 1992-1996; The Orchard, 1996
Even weirder, I took a trip to visit my parents in middle of nowhere Pennsylvania this weekend and went for a walk in the forest. The smell of freshly fallen leaves drifted up from the ground with every step and on the drive back to the city I have a strong desire to listen to Broadcast’s Tender Buttons. It’s a record that was on repeat two autumns ago and during trips to the country, songs from Tender Buttons were usually playing.
[MP3]: Broadcast ”Corporeal”
Tender Buttons; Warp, 2005
Two of my best friends used to constantly smoke clove cigarettes. I caught the scent of a clove two weeks ago, instantly reminding me of my friends and Arcade Fire’s Funeral. I actually mentioned this to them and they agreed that cloves brought back memories of the same time period, the fall of 2004.
[MP3]: Arcade Fire ”Neighborhood #2 (Laika)”
Funeral; Merge, 2004
While the associations I mentioned above were positive, I thought about what could spark a negative connection. If there’s “ruined music” (ie. music that brings back memories of pain and heartache), is it possible to have a ruined smell associated with that music? Possibly the perfume of a lost lover or smell of a lost loved one? Maybe I’m crazy and feeling nostalgic or something, but I don’t think so, there’s definitely something in the air.
sounds like you’ve got some stories to submit to Ruined Music, buddy.
I use to buy clove cigarettes imported from Indonesia (i live in Melbourne, Australia) for eight bucks a packet (of 20), the guy who sold them to me said that these cigarettes were popular with Indonesian construction workers because clover suppresses the appetite and they have 32mg of nicotine in them so you get a buzz every time you inhale (which i did), apparently smoking is cheaper then eating in Indonesia. I loved the debut self-titled Fountains Of Wayne album when it came out, but was disappointed with “Utopia Parkway” (1999) and “Welcome Interstate Managers” (2003), i wonder if their album “Traffic and Weather” released earlier this year is worth investigating. By the way, the Arcade Fire song is actually the Fountains Of Wayne song, so you’ve posted the same song twice, please don’t yell at me for pointing this out. Another music blog posted two Pink Floyd songs from their debut album, but the second song was the same as the first, i mentioned this in a post and the owner of the this music blog replied by telling me to “Eff Off” and suggesting i buy the album (i “inherited” this album from my Dad years ago), and i thought i was just helping this person out, silly me. I love your blog, keep up the good work there. (PS: i gave up smoking (after 25 years) three weeks ago and to my surprise it really hasn’t been that hard to stop, two days after i stopped i realised i was getting more oxygen into my lungs without even trying and now i do push-ups everyday and ride my bike around the neighbourhood in the evening for an hour or so).
Great post!
Burnt coffee and the smell of Entenmann’s coffee cake makes me think of going over to my grandparents house as a kid. Whenever I smell either of those things, I get kind of sad and I start to miss them.
Found this:
The connection between odor, memory and emotion has an anatomical basis. The primary olfactory cortex, which receives information about smells from nerves in the nose, links directly to the amygdala, which controls expression and experience of emotion, and the hippocampus, which controls the consolidation of memories.
thanks for the kind words buffer and thank you for letting me know that i had the same song up there twice. should be fixed now.
i was pretty disappointed with utopia parkway too and haven’t listened to much fountains of wayne after that record.
good luck with quitting smoking!
whenever i see or smell mac n’ cheese and franks (kids food), it reminds me of elementary school, van halen and the police.
the smell of lilac perfume or lotion reminds me of my ex. and strip clubs.
haha! your ex smells like a stripper. awesome.