Why do you believe that so many of us are so drawn to the music from our youth?

Question

No matter how long we live, it seems we always gravitate back to the music that we loved during our adolescence, over and over again.

I have my own theories on this, but I would be interested in the thoughts of others.

Answer 1

Because adolescence is such a powerfully dramatic point in our lives. Leaves a lifelong impression on most of us. Thus, the music that was popular at the time is part of that 'engraining', if you will. The songs sort of crystalize forever that one period. Like 3-4 min. time machines.

Answer 2

I don't really know.

My musical tastes have never matched the generation I am in ~ my teenage years were the 1990's, and I like very little from then.

I have always loved Classic Rock, which I suppose I REALLY got into in my late teens, and I do come back to it a lot. But I still listen to a lot of the music I've discovered over the last 5 years.


I think that for some people, music is so associated with emotions, and adolescence is a time of many extreme emotions, that this may be why we have the strongest attachment for the music we listened to then.

Answer 3

i understand i'm courting myself, yet i've got have been given a sprint over 900 CDs and approximately 200 albums. very few are "Christian" in nature. Why? through fact the genres I desire are poorly represented by using artists of religion. My sequence spans Brit Pop, Jangle Rock, Alt u . s ., Paisley Undergound, Slowcore, Sadcore, human beings, college Rock, international, New Age, Ambient, Trance and so on. countless the mid 80's option (while "option" meant it) music replaced into crammed with requited love, political themes and how we've been doing this or that to the planet. many of the stuff replaced into purely flat-out goofy. frequently, nonetheless, it replaced into particularly harmless interior the extra delicate ethical concerns. the main eyebrow elevating probable being Morrissey wailing approximately no longer getting any lower back this evening. The music replaced into for sure non-Christian, yet, then, the ideas back then have been narrow, at ultimate. that may no longer an excuse. it extremely is a fact of fact. when I crank up, say, Son Volt interior the automobile, i might desire to confess that this is not any longer bringing me any closer to God, yet, then, i might argue that this is not any longer possibly pushing me away, the two.

Answer 4

Yes deke, I agree, but not always stuff we used to love. (eg I was a teenager in the 80's. I wasn't that keen on the music scene at that time, preferring 60's and 70's music, but NOW I love 80's music!) it is all to do with nostalgia - we like the stuff because it reminds us of our youth, what we were doing, who we were going out with etc etc. Pick a song from our youth and we could probably pinpoint the exact year, if not the month, that it was a hit. "Oh yes that was so and so, because it was when I was doing my exams/starting university etc". Modern music, we would be hard pressed to narrow down to a couple of years. I always prefer music after if has stood the test of time....

great question!

Answer 5

My primary theory is that so many important things happen to you when you are an adolescent or early adult, i.e. first kiss, prom, loss of virginity, first drink, smoke, etc. Often, there is music playing when those things happen, and the memory is etched in stone. So when you hear the songs, it makes you feel good and in a way you relive that moment.

Answer 6

For me it reminds me of happy, simple times. Our teen years are difficult and full of problems, there is no denying that but once you become an adult with career, spouse and children you start to realize that most of your time now is not your own. Those teen years were full of fun and freedom and the music of the time will always remind me of those fun days. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with my present life but those carefree teen days are long behind me and it's nice to listen to that music and be reminded of different places, people and crazy things you used to do. A friend of mine keeps saying that youth is wasted on the young, I find that very funny some days!
Hope this helps

Answer 7

Very true. I think it's because it reminds us of all the memories good and bad, and people like me like to reminisce. (I'll make a great old man one day.) Also, I think the music of our adolescence is usually the first music we fell in love with, and it defines a lot of what we listen to in the future. So it becomes our idea of what music SHOULD sound like.

Answer 8

Yea I started listening to Guns N Roses Queen AcDc and Aerosmith when I was very young and I still love them there my favorite bands!I think the reson why is there is a memory of those songs a time and place and everyone loves to remember good times when you were young and had all the fun you wanted.When I hear a song sometimes it will make me stop what I was doing and think wow I remember this song and I remember I use to sing it in the car with my friends on friday nights.

Answer 9

Because music is a zeitgeist. It reminds us of where we were, what we were doing, how we felt - the good and the bad.

I think that the music of our youth serves as a soundtrack of sorts to our "coming of age" (for lack of a better word), and reminds us of younger, happier times, youthful rebellion and even the less pretty places in our past - if only to serve as a reminder of where we DON'T want to be again.

Answer 10

Love this question!
Music was SUCH an important aspect of my teen years. It was all me and my friends cared about...What concert we were going to go to next? Driving around listening to it as loud as we could bear it.The freedom of expressing yourself through your music choices was one of the only ways you were allowed in our vulnerable states of adolescence...OMG rock t-shirts and jeans was all we wore!! My walls were covered with Judas Priest ..Motley Crue...Mettalica..posters and pages that were ripped out of Metal magazine. I am still drawn to the songs that remind me of those days where my only worry was making it home in time for dinner. Those were the days....*sigh*

Answer 11

Because you will always feel that the songs you used to listen to while growing up are more original than the songs at that day, plus it reminds you of good memories and some old friends.