Nathan Exposed » How Music Shapes Our Lives

How Music Shapes Our Lives

Today was the fifth anniversary of Apple’s iTunes Store. I was browsing their year-by-year summary of the most popular songs sold from 2003-2008, when I unexpectedly got flooded with emotions from the past.

For most people, music is the soundtrack of our lives. It evokes feelings, moods, memories. Whether good or bad, we use songs to remind us of an old friend, a lost love, a parent or sibling. Something as simple as a melody can take us back years, even decades, to a different place in our lives.

The page about 2003 reminded me of the internship I started at an up and coming design firm in Raleigh, NC. I was weeks away from graduating college at the top of my class with a 4.0 GPA. What a great time. Life was good. I had music playing at my desk every day. Outkast and Black Eyed Peas played a lot.

2004 immediately makes me think of the time I met my friend’s Winston and John for the first time (I talked about them in this recent post). “The Reason” by Hoobastank always makes me a bit misty eyed when I hear it. Although the message has absolutely nothing to do with them, it was on the radio, and I just connect it with them.

2005 reminds me of a lot of changes. By then I had moved up to the Senior Designer at that same web firm, and my career was flourishing. But I made the decision that our family was more important, so we moved to Nashville, TN to be closer to our family in Illinois, 3 hours away. I quit my job and found a new one here. Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Fall Out Boy, Kelly Clarkson, The Killers… those are just a few of the names mentioned in iTunes that bring back memories of that time of transition in my life.

2006 is when Rodney and I bought our first house. It was a hectic time, but not too bad overall. I know a lot about real estate, so it was actually pretty smooth. I think The Fray pretty much defined that year, and Justin Timberlake brings back good memories too.

2007 - Daughtry, Daughtry, Daughtry. There wasn’t any station that didn’t play his songs on the hour, every hour. This was the year I quit my day job and started running my own design business full time. I had a lot of time alone to listen to whatever I wanted that year.

These memories are probably meaningless and insignificant to anyone else. But to me, they are bricks that build the foundation of my life. Every song, every artist, every cover image makes me think of someone or something pertaining to that particular time in my life.

So here we are in 2008. I’m left wondering what songs and which artists will define this year when I look back at it. I already have a few in mind.

Mon, Apr 28, 2008 @ 10:28 pm | Filed in Music, Life | Permalink

2 Comments

I agree that music plays a huge part in peoples lives whether they are audiophiles or not. Music surrounds us everyday.

I still remember the day I graduated college and had friends call me to leave me a voicemail singing “Time of Your Life” by Green Day. Or how I listened to “What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts over and over and over when my ex and I split up. And there is all the dance compilation CD’s that I downloaded when “G” and I were talking and hanging out.

There are times when music is therapy; whether good or bad. Music has a way of lifting you up or tearing you down.

Posted by Daniel on Mon, Apr 28, 2008 @ 11:06 pm

I was Hoobastank’s publicist for their first two albums, and I remember sitting in their tour bus when they were still writing “The Reason.” Doug (the singer) didn’t have the chorus down yet but he and Dan (guitarist) were working on it… and I kept saying, “Wow, what a corny song.” But they knew what they were doing and they kept at it. A month or so later when I heard how the song evolved, I was stunned. It became their second biggest hit (next to “Crawling in the Dark”) and the de facto prom song for the next few years. That song still gives me chills, thinking how it evolved from a cheesy, lame-ass song to a heart-tugging “make-up after a break-up” song.

I love hearing how music has shaped your life and anyone’s life. It bums me out when I hear people say that they don’t have a favorite band or a favorite song and that they only listen to the radio. Since my whole life and career is based on music, I understand the power of music and how it can shift, transform and evolve people’s lives… how it can transend musical notes and amplify emotions. It’s powerful… it really really is.

Posted by Rey Rey on Tue, Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:36 am