Nostalgia

nos·tal·gia

näˈstaljə,nəˈstaljə/

noun

noun: nostalgia; plural noun: nostalgias

a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

Nostalgia is an interesting thing to experience. It is a common emotion, and everyone can think of a time in which has given them a happy memory, or a warm feeling. An emotion you feel that hugs your heart, making you feel warm and content. Everyone has different ways of experiencing nostalgia, and sometimes nostalgia feels different for everyone. Sometimes it feels bittersweet, because they are past memories and the longing for wanting to go back to that time is strong, and leaves a sad impression in you. Or remembering something simply just makes you happy. Either way, nostalgia is an emotion of positivity and brings some sort of happiness. Nostalgia as well can be experience in different ways, such as seeing, touching, smelling, and hearing. Music is a large key tool to bring nostalgia upon oneself. Whether we relate to the lyrics or the song holds special meaning and one has become emotionally attached to that song. No matter, there is numerous ways that nostalgia can be found through music and other forms of senses (sight, smell, touch).

I had chosen three songs, Shiver by Lucy Rose, Insomnia by The Hiatus and Sleep Where You Fall by Nicknames  to represent different kinds of nostalgia. In Shiver, the singer experiences a bittersweet memory of a relationship that helped her learn to love more, and regret less. In Insomnia, the singer goes through a negative side of nostalgia. Despite reliving happy memories through his dreams, he feels remorse and wishes to run away from them. Then, lastly in Sleep Where You Fall by Nicknames, the singer shows aggression through the events of friends being stuck in a frozen time, and yet finds closure within moving on without them. This type of nostalgia is kind of like remembering the good times they had, but needing to move on- even if it is without them, to finally make progress in their future.

All these songs have a strong connection, and that is through strong emotions. Nostalgia is an emotion that is almost inescapable, because it is an emotion that is brought through memories of the past. I chose this theme because I know that a lot of people can either relate to the songs that I had chosen, or can relate through the idea of different ways nostalgia had effected us. Nostalgia is a deep emotion that we can all relate to and have some sort of memory that effects us greatly.