A friend posted a link on her facebook about a song she remembers from the past and the memories it holds for her. That got me thinking about songs that hold similar memories for me. Most of the songs from the late 70s and early 80s hold a lot of memories for me. They were the songs I heard while having breakfast in the morning at 6.50 or thereabouts before the 7 am news on the then Blue Network (which has since been renamed to Radio Four and now, 90.3 Traxx.Fm.)
One such song would be Xanadu by Olivia Newton John, from the 1980 movie of the same name. The title of the song and film are referenced to Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan which has the following opening line:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
The thing is every time I hear that song, even now, I picture myself at the dinner table in my grandmother’s fluorescent lite kitchen, in my dark blue pinafore, with neatly combed hair, smelling fresh and clean, eating passively at whatever mom had prepared for breakfast, with my dad sitting at the opposite end of the table looking clean and smart in his office outfit. Ten minutes later I would be making my way out the door, into the grey morning, walking to school which is just about 10-15 minutes away. The sun was just about to come up from behind the rooftops of the shop houses that will remain closed well until the school bell rang at 7.45am.
I love how some songs can open the flood gates of nostalgia and revive the memories held deep in the recesses of our minds. How does a song sit there, seemingly untouched, all these years with all the added memories of the sights and senses of one's childhood landscape despite all that has gone on in one's life. I find that amazing.
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