A while ago I wrote a post about how songs can conjure up specific memories for us. Today, I bring you another installment of that. A very early-2000s memory.
In the fall of 2001, my cousin was getting married. In preparation for that, my parents and I took a weekend trip to The Mall of America. It was partially to get wedding outfits and also just to get out of town for a bit. My mom had always wanted to see the Mall.
At any rate, while we were there I wandered into the Sam Goody. (To any readers younger than about 25, Sam Goody was a chain of stores that sold CDs.) 98 Degrees new album Revelation had just been released. The Disney Channel had been showing the music video for “Una Noche” on repeat and I was dying to get ahold of the full album. So, I spent a good chunk of the money I’d saved for the trip on the CD.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and it’s time for the wedding. We had to drive about four hours north. And then we had a whole day before the wedding to explore the area. I listened to that one CD at every spare moment for all three days. In the car. In the hotel. Everywhere. I’m pretty sure my mom had to pry the cd player from my hands as we were sitting in the church.
Fast forward to about twenty minutes ago, I had my Spotify “Time Capsule” playlist on shuffle. What song should come on but “Una Noche”. In an instant, I was twelve years old lying on a hotel bed listening to that CD on repeat. And I can still sing along with the lyrics pretty well.
Now, I have other memories of my cousin’s wedding, though parts of the night have been lost to the sands of time. An uncle told an interesting story once about that night of which I have no memory. But none of them are quite as vivid or as visceral as that CD. I can remember how I felt, the scratch of the hotel blanket, the hormones coursing through my veins. I can feel the back of our Dodge Dynasty, the seatbelt cutting into my shoulder.
What song takes you back to your teenage years? Which artist gives you the most youthful nostalgia? Let me know in the comments!
KT Byrde Writes 