Music has an unrivaled ability to create associations in our minds. There are songs that I hear that bring me back to an exact time in my life in a flash, in a way that almost feels involuntary. This is often a magical feeling. In one moment you’re on the train headed to work, and in the next you’re back at your best friend’s house and he’s playing music that you can hardly comprehend. There is however a dark side to this wonderful power that music wields, and that is its lack of discrimination. Music can whisk you away to the most banal parts of your life just as easily as it can transport you back to the golden days. In my life this has manifested itself mostly as songs or even entire playlists bringing me back to different jobs that I’ve worked. What follows is a list of songs and the sensory memories that I have associated with them at the job that I heard them most.

“Sweet Serendipity” by Lee DeWyze

I have no idea who Lee DeWyze is but his song haunts me. From time to time I’ll find myself unconsciously whistling the tune or humming it to myself just to realize the incantation that Lee DeWyze put me under over six years ago hasn’t loosened its grip on me at all. I associate this song with blinking florescent lights and the acrid chemical smell of shampoo that hangs in the air of Harmon Face Value, the discount beauty supply store where I heard this song every twenty minutes for fifteen hours a week in high school.

“Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin

I’ve been going through a bit of a Dad rock phase recently, and I feel that my time at Fairway Market planted the seed for this phase. Fairway had about six different versions of “Stairway to Heaven” on their playlist and they would repeat constantly. I associate this song with the smell of rotten produce and the irritability of soccer moms who were told that their coupon was expired.

“Feel It Still” By Portugal. The Man

Until I googled the lyrics to this song I had no idea it was by Portugal. The Man, an artist that I actually sort of like. The first time I heard this song was at the restaurant I worked at in Sheepshead Bay. I mostly worked closing shifts and the night manager had an obsession with this song. Hearing it awakens in me the feeling of sore feet, the smell of overcooked pasta, and unfortunately the acidic taste of vomit.

“The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel

“The Sound of Silence” didn’t actually play that often during my time as a personal assistant. This song was instead chosen for its name. The woman I worked for liked to work in exact silence. No talking unless absolutely necessary, no interruptions, nothing. Her office felt like an isolation chamber that we were trapped in together. With the sound of actual silence I’m reminded of the pungent smell of wet cat food and the sound of my own heart beating.

Its amazing how music can transport us into different periods of our lives. I often feel like certain songs are emblematic of important progressions and changes that I’ve gone through. At the same time music’s ability to make me feel the anxiety of the different jobs that I’ve worked is uncanny, and something that I could honestly live without.

-Tim Caston

(P.S. Since most of the songs in this article are not very good I took the liberty of hiding a couple of songs that I actually like as hyperlinks. See how many you can find!)