So I was going to post about twisted or sprained ankles

[conuly]

but then I found out that no, they really take a month or more to heal, and all those times I thought I was better within a week were anomalous (or, more likely, the ankle never healed which is why I keep having troubles with it).

So instead I'll post something else:

Today I happened to be thinking about The Maze in the Heart of the Castle, which is this awesome book that, sadly, is out of print. (Used copies go for an absurd price. I need a new copy. This displeases me greatly.)

Funny thing. I can't think about that book (and one particular chapter) without immediately hearing this movement from Rodeo. (And no, it's not the ground beef song.)

I know why, of course - this one time I read the book while listening to the whole thing on tape. I do adore Copland. But it's strange - I don't associate other movements with other parts of the book, and that's not the first nor definitive time I read that book either.

This is far from the only book/music combination I have. Scheherezade, for example, brings to mind A Wrinkle in Time AND (a different part) A Little Princess, and the Deep Space Nine theme song, aside from reminding me of Deep Space Nine, flashes me immediately back to reading the NY Times in my kitchen. (Boy, I haven't bought a copy of that in years, now that I can read it online!)

Now, aside from giving you all far too much insight into my childhood listening habits, I have to ask - is this normal? One of the problems of my life is that I'm never sure where normal is. (That probably is normal, sadly.)

So... is it normal to hear certain pieces of music and immediately and vividly recollect various types of reading material (and vice versa)? Or is it just me?

Comments

[steorra]

I don't think I've ever had that experience. Though I have had the experience of hearing (or coming across the lyrics to and singing/mentally singing) a piece of music and vividly experiencing an emotional landscape from the time in my life when I learnt the song.

[erisiansaint]

Certain pieces of music mean what I was reading at the time, because it all makes a gestalt of memory. For instance, in Madeleine L'engle's Meet The Austins, they mention a piece of music, (which I can't remember the title of, now, I think it's by Rimsky-Korsakov.) And that piece of music was playing, the first time I read it, so that piece of music always means that book, to me.

[jillianfish.livejournal.com]

When I hear Requiem For A Dream by Clint Mansell I think of Veronica Mars fanfiction. When I first got into VM fanfic I used to sit at my desk for hours and listen to that song on repeat while reading to drown out whatever sports show my boyfriend was watching at the time. It is still my go-to song when I need to drown something out while simultaneously not be distracted by lyrics.

[kynn.livejournal.com]

Short answer is, it's normal. :)

[conuly]

1. That's good to know!

2. What's the long answer?

[kynn.livejournal.com]

Long answer, our brains use a lot of extra information to store memories, and it's not uncommon for certain sounds, sights, smells, etc to trigger memories.

[conuly]

That's not long at all :P

[kynn.livejournal.com]

That's a short summary of the long answer!

[noodles-morgyn.livejournal.com]

There's a Panic! At the Disco song that always reminds me of Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses series. ABBA used to remind me of Lemony Snicket, too, but that seems to have worn off over the years (as I grew out of Lemony Snicket but continued to listen to ABBA...).