Tuesday, August 08, 2006

What a song feels like…

I know of a few songs that have unusually associated themselves with the sounds, the smells and the surroundings that environed me when I heard them, maybe for the first time or maybe for the nth time. Now these aren’t those songs (mostly the romantic ones) that people tend to associate with their favorite or memorable times such as the first kiss, best date, engagement night etc because they were been played in the background when the event happened. No…no…not those. These are the songs, which for some unfathomable reason; unmistakably manage to bring back memories of a particular time that I had heard them, recreating the mood, the feel, and the emotions that I felt then, down to the last freakish detail. It is an intriguing phenomenon for I know that the songs aren’t all my favorites, or the settings in which I heard them, exceptional, but the recreation of the ambience is impeccable.

Now for example, there is this song ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams. Whenever I listen to that song, I am transported to this time when I used to work in Bangalore, left all alone at night time in the office, in the corner seat of one of the bays, working on the computer while listening to this song. Sometimes I can also hear the dull sound of the server in the background. I can see the entire office just like it used to be on those nights, absolutely quiet except for the occasional intrusion of the sweeper boy or the cleaning lady. Then I can see myself moving out of the office into the balcony. The night suffuses over me with the delicious aroma of the night queen and the gentle touch of the cool breeze. As I search the sky for the moon, it shyly peeks out from the clouds where it had been hiding and I smile at it. I feel like it smiles back at me. Then I decide to move in and take a steaming cup of Bournvita along for warmth.

It is unbelievable but I see this every time the crooner hits the ‘Angels’ note. And there’s more. I admit I have never seen what the video for this song looks like. But there are some images that come to me when I try and imagine what the video must be like. I see Robbie, walking down a lonely road, shadowed by enormous trees at its sides. It is autumn and the trees are resplendent in lovely hues of orange and red. As Robbie is walking along, a strong breeze is blowing by, showering him with beautiful leaves and as he raises his head to look to the sky, the shadows drift off for a moment to light his face with sunshine. Then he smiles, looks towards the ground and keeps walking ahead.

Why do I get these images when I hear the song? Still trying to figure out….

Find the lyrics for ‘Angels’ at http://www.lyrics007.com/Robbie%20Williams%20Lyrics/Angels%20Lyrics.html and by the way, it is nice, soothing song.

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