Foer conducted a study that demonstrated a positive correlation of the MoL with the improvement of depression. I wonder, though, if there could be a positive correlation between poignant songs and the improvement of depression?
As you could see in yesterday's blog, I struggled to come up with the same 14 memorable events in my past. Music, however, has always been important to me. Perhaps, I'd have more success in selecting songs from the past 35 years and developing the rationale behind selecting those songs.
It appears I'm not the only one who has considered this possibility. Cohen (2013) writes of using music in adition to visualizing memories. Stull (2005) writes about familiar music with aging adults. McCabe (2011) argues that music can be a mnemonic technique. Also consider what Levitin and Sacks have said about the connection of music and cognition. Maybe, for those who are more musically inclined a form of MoL using songs would show an even more positive correlation with improvement in depression?
Having said that, here are my 14 songs - 14 songs matching the 14 events used in Foer's study. Oh, and I have a very eclectic taste!
- You Are my Sunshine - despite our dysfunctional relationship, I will always remember learning this song because it told me how important I was to my grandmother.
- You're My Little Girl by Go Fish - this song was the first that really showed me how God was my father.
- Call It What You Want by NKOTB - I remember this song because in junior high, my crush sang it to me. He was mocking me, but the fact that he obviously cared enough to know NKOTB was my favorite band at the time just stuck with me.
- Red Red Wine by UB40 - Surprise, another crush. This was one of his favorite songs. He played it on repeat when I was in fifth grade, and when he passed shortly before graduating from high school, I listened to the song over and over again.
- Angel by Shaggy - My roommate after I graduated from college was "shorty". You'll get that if you listen to the song.
- I Love You by Sarah McLachlan - I played the intro of the song at my wedding. "I have a smile / stretched from ear to ear / to see you walking down the road / we meet at the lights / I stare for a while / the world around us disappears / just you and me / on my island of hope / a breath between us could be miles / let me surround you / my sea to your shore / let me be the calm you seek"
- Perfect by Danny Wood from his OFD Unplugged - A reminder that everyone is imperfect, and if you expect perfection, you will be disappointed.
- Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo by Ricky Martin - the first song I ever heard by Ricky Martin before he became uberfamous in the US. At the time, I had no idea that he knew English.
- 5 Brother and a Million Sisters by Joey McIntyre - the real reunion song, and I was able to watch the first time that Joey McIntyre sang this song in Los Angeles. Confirmation for me that I wasn't a fool for loving them twenty years ago.
- Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard - In Junior High, I sang this karaoke style in San Francisco at Pier 39.
- Great is Thy Faithfulness by CeCe Winans - My all-time favorite worship song.
- Over the Rainbow covered by Gary Raffanelli and Sandy Selby - My aunt's version. I absolutely loved their cover, and I wish they had recorded it.
- Keeper of the Stars by Tracy Byrd - My sister's wedding song
- Pancho and Lefty covered by by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard - My Dad said Pancho was my sister and I was Lefty.
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