KAREN ANDERSON: My playlist has 1200 songs on it – and the enduring power of music means it's only going to get longer
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I have been trying to figure out why I have become so immersed in music again lately. Of course, some of it is giving myself permission to spend the time on it and to spend the money on a streaming subscription so I can enjoy good quality sound without ads.
But I feel it speaks to something more fundamental.
I tried to analyse what was getting through to me so powerfully. I have realised that to touch me, a track has to either have music that I want to move to, lyrics that I want to listen to, or perhaps an indescribable hook that just speaks to my soul. Then it will make my favourite playlist, which currently stands at over 1200 tracks. But then I have been around a while...
My foray into my past favourites has made me appreciate that this connection with music is very strong for me as it was a very big part of my teens and twenties. I can launch into singing so many of them without having to think about it as the lyrics are deeply embedded in my memory along with images of events that they were the backdrop to.
I have realised that to touch me, a track has to either have music that I want to move to, lyrics that I want to listen to, or perhaps an indescribable hook that just speaks to my soul.
Nights out, parties, sitting alone and listening while imagining how my life was going to go.
All of it soundtracked and now being relived on the streets of Dingwall as I march around bathed in the sunrise or sunset. Perhaps this explains why music therapy is so powerful for people with dementia? I know that the earlier a memory is made, the deeper its roots as we relive it and talk about it and enjoy it over and over creating a more vivid picture in our minds.
I play my favourites on shuffle and have been indulging myself lately with a daily Instagram post about the first track that comes out, sometimes with a wee note added about what it means to me, at other times just letting the lyrics themselves speak. It is fascinating how often that first track matches my feelings as I set out, or helps change things in my head to give me a better start to my day.
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I have added a warning to this game that my posts may contain poor music choices and that nobody should make life decisions based on a random track selection, but it is still amusing me. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up – likely until my tiny band of followers tell me ‘enough already’. But isn’t that what social media should be about – fun? But that takes a thick skin and discipline and that can be hard.
What is wonderful is that in only the last two months, I have reconnected with a family member that moved away, a friend that I lost contact with several years ago, made a new friend in a columnist in this very paper who lives in America, and kept in contact with other folk that I don’t see as often as I’d like or for whom distance is a barrier. So, the power to do good is there in the algorithms if we are prepared to take the chance and be brave.
What three tracks would you choose for your Desert Island Discs? Mine would be A Different Corner by George Michael, Blue Monday by New Order, and Need You Tonight by INXS. But that’s just for today and although George will always stay, the other two might change depending on the mood!
Karen is mum to an autistic son in his twenties and campaigns for the rights of unpaid carers to be supported in their caring role and involved in the decisions that affect their lives and the lives of the people they care for. You can find her on twitter @Karen4Carers.
