Name that tune

When I was in grad school one of my older classmates made a condescending, elitist remark about not knowing who Jay-Z was. This was when Jay-Z was fairly fresh on the scene but still…EVERYONE knew who Jay-Z was.

I remember saying to myself, I am never going to be one of these self-righteous old jagweeds who says all pop music sounds the same and who is completely out of touch with modern music.

Alas, some years later, I have become that jagweed. I am musically clueless. I know who Katy Perry is but probably wouldn’t know one of her songs if I heard it. I am not proud of this. It is pitiful.

But here is an article that makes me feel slightly better about it all. Neuroscientists now have evidence suggesting that the songs we knew as teenagers implant themselves in our brains more firmly than those we hear as we age. Our brains are growing when we are in our teens and early 20s and the songs we hear (like a lot of the things that happen to us during this time) become imbued with emotions.

And then there is this: “According to the reminiscence bump theory, we all have a culturally conditioned ‘life script’ that serves, in our memory, as the narrative of our lives. When we look back on our pasts, the memories that dominate this narrative have two things in common: They’re happy, and they cluster around our teens and early 20s.”

This broader insight about memory obviously has some interesting implications for marketing and how brands can capitalize on nostalgia.

Meanwhile, has anyone seen my 2 Live Crew cassette?