I have heard many times that the sense of smell is unique
among human senses in its ability to trigger memory at the most basic
neurological level. Maybe it is true –
anything is arguable. For instance, you
could argue that Belle and Sebastian is the best band in the world. Well, maybe that’s a poor example, because it
is a truth among all truths. I swear it,
or my name isn’t Kiki.
But if someone told me that her
Aunt Helga is arguably the world’s fastest harmonica player, I would want some
facts to back that up…or maybe I wouldn’t.
What do I care about your Aunt Helga?
Let’s get back to that sense of
smell, shall we? I believe it, to some
extent, as much as a person can believe anything based on his or her own
experience. The smell of books and
coffee will always remind me of my grandparents up from Alabama at Christmas
time. You know, in the way that Barnes
and Noble always smells like the time that Grandpa’s dog (Duke) peed all over
the tree and the presents. Ahh,
memories. On the other hand, just a
little hyssop whiff of Stephen’s soap makes my heart swell. And citrus past its prime will always make me
feel nauseous…just because of that winter full of morning sickness when I left
a holiday crate of oranges in a downstairs cabinet until there was nothing left
to find but a mass (once round, once orange) of grey mold in a wooden packing
crate.
Scent can be very specific in
that way, although there are surely cultural universals of smell as well. Most of humanity recognizes and reacts
accordingly to the fresh smell of the ocean, the sweetness of a baby’s soft
head, and bread rising in a warm kitchen.
Smelling smoke means that there is fire, and smelling dog shit on your
shoe means that you are in Paris (or on the grounds of my poorly-managed apartment complex).
There may be no doubt that sense
of smell can bring to mind memories and even dreams. It is probably a matter of degrees, of
nanoseconds, whether smell triggers memory faster than sight, or touch, or
taste, or sound. Surely memory is made
of all of these and stored in our hands and tongues as well as our minds and
hearts. And in our ears. Sound, music in
particular, is like scent in its ability to comfort or haunt you.
So much of life happens too
quickly, and passes out of mind before turning into a real memory, but music
has a way of arresting a moment, of serving as a marker to events of great, or
even of no, significance. Why does the
wedding march call up tears? Why does a
lullaby soothe in any language? Plants
and womb-bound babies respond and grow to the sounds of classical music, but
show distress at any loud or discordant sounds.
Music chronicles our past. What is cutting edge slowly moves into the
realm of nostalgia. Do you remember that
neo-goth teenage angst? It hardly seems
possible that songs that were once your anthem of being moody and misunderstood
have gradually turned into a bittersweet (and somewhat embarrassing) longing to
feel anything that strong, that pure, again.
Music can move you, and not just
physically. Indeed, there is music that
makes you need to dance, need to run, need to drive too fast on a deserted
country road. People make a career of
testing which music makes you more efficient on the job, buy more at the
supermarket, or relax at the dentist’s office.
Music can move us emotionally, even spiritually. A song, even the first time that you hear it,
can transport you.
Perhaps it doesn’t matter at all
whether the sound of music is the best, or fastest, or most reliable, path to
memories. All of these points are
generalities, and I cannot pretend to know why music affects the human body, or
to speak for anyone else. I can only say
with certainty that music is a vital part of a full life in our home, in our
family. Music inspires us and serves as
a constant companion (on the stereo right now?
Why, it’s Babel Gilberto’s “Jabuticaba”, of course). We sleep to it, wake to it, drive, cook, and
work to music. It is in the background,
in the foreground…music surrounds us as we create, read, knit, spin, and talk
to each other.
We select music according to
mood and to task at hand. With four
people and varying tastes (and tolerance, on my part), we also negotiate. I have a feeling that as the girls get older,
these “discussions” will become more frequent.
Like most people that I know,
Lucy and Lily have unique tastes in everything, including music. The girls have made up little tunes to
accompany their actions, almost from birth.
Ask Ms. Lu to “Do the Lucy”, or what “Willie up and do it, hmmmmm hmmm
hmmmm hmmm hmmm” means. Lily used to
sing “This World is Not My Home” at the top of her lungs when walking into
preschool (extra points if you know who sang that one). Both of the Luscious Gracious Offspring
learned much of their French with the aid of sweet, very repetitive, little
songs.
There are those who hear and
even “see” music in everything. Often
they are considered to be “born musicians,” and cannot help but to live a life
of music. Other artists feel the heart of
a song and express it in painting, in sculpture, even, I suppose, in
knitting. For instance, Stephen channels
the energy of live shows into his art, and nothing renews him like a good
concert. If I listen to the beauty in a
Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen song (I am nothing if not predictable), my mind
starts to play around the words until my own poetry bubbles to the surface in
phrases and stories inspired and fed by the genius of my favorite songwriters.
As a family, we decided to
dedicate our first LGStitched to the gods and goddesses of song. We hope that you enjoy this, the Music
Episode. Take some time to think of how
music fits into your life. Make some
memories. Put on your favorite record,
or call it up on the computer. If you
are lucky, it’s a Belle and Sebastian number.
It doesn’t have to be, though. I
understand that some people like, even love, show tunes, live jazz, or
“whatever’s on the radio”. That last one
makes me cringe, but there is beauty in diversity, wouldn’t you say?
Knit (and dance) on,
kikiluscious, june 06
Play Fair - Please, remember this
basic kindness. These patterns, as well as the images and other artworks,
are for non-commercial use only. If
you decide to make one of the Luscious Gracious projects, remember it is
not legal to sell the item. Our
patterns may not be reprinted or copied in any way without our express permission.