Music triggered memory

Has anyone ever had that experience where you put on a song or album that you once listened to intensely for a small period of time. If you havent listened to it since then the memories of that era suddenly come rushing back in an amazingly vivid way. That just happened to me with Citizen Cope, whom I listened to quite a bit towards the end of the summer. Suddenly I was sitting in my room in Bromley again. The smell of dank clothing and mulch filled my nostrils as I visualized the clothes I wore in grounds crew strewn across the carpeted floor. Funny, I even visualized a specific time, right between the time I got off from work and went to dinner. The sunlight gave it away. Then, of course, all the friends I made this summer came bursting into my memory as well. Each of them with their gifts and glorious imperfections that make each one of them so unique. Strange, I think with all the bustle of departure from campus, and the insanity of settling down in Oxford, I had not really stopped and missed many people. I have certainly wished for people from time to time, but there was no heartache involved. This was the first time that I yearned for them. I turned off the music. I did not want to break the spell or waste the mnemonic power of the music. Such a powerful time machine must be saved for later.

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