Fess Up: You Love Your Parents’ Music

I learned something interesting this weekend. My dogs, the famous Jake and Chloe, lovethe New Kids on the Block station I created on Pandora.  If I put this on, suddenly, Chloe stops barking at every person who passes by the house. Jake gets interested in all the toys on the floor. There is infinite jumping, twirling and tail wagging.

Seriously.

This makes for a happy mommy and doggies.

All this got me thinking about music and an article I came across recently on music and nostalgia. According to a recent study by Carol Lynne Krumhansl of Cornell University and Justin Adams Zupnick of the University of California, humans have “cascading reminiscence bumps.“

Not sure what that means? It’s OK, I didn’t get it at first either.

Reminiscence bumps are, to put it very simply, points in our lives when we remember a lot.

Krumhansl and Zupnick noted in their research that it’s always been known that people have lots of memories from their late teens and early adulthood, which translates to a huge affection for the music they listened to during that period. But what they found that was not known was this — the same affection or preference for music from their parents’ generation was also seen.

Which clearly explains why Jake and Chloe love New Kids on the Block. Mommy loved NKOTB as a teen. Therefore her furbabies love NKOTB. Because Mommy plays it in the house.

BAM! We have proved Krumhansl’s and Zupnick’s theory.

But in all seriousness, this does indeed prove the theory presented by Krumhansl and Zupnick. The researchers wrote:  “According to previous research, this would be the time when their parents’ preferences were established [late teens]. One assumes, therefore, that this music was played during parents’ child-rearing years, and made an imprint on our listeners when they were children.”

And, really, this is so true.

This is the reason why when we were flipping through the channels last night, I started tapping my toe and singing along with Dionne Warwick to “I Say A Little Prayer For You.” Because I heard that song over and over again while hanging out with my mother in the kitchen.

Think of the stuff heard in “Dirty Dancing” or the “Forrest Gump” soundtrack. All that stuff. Makes ya happy, doesn’t it? You probably heard it in your kitchen too!

What are some of your favorite songs that you heard, thanks to your parents? It’s OK to admit it. It’s like vintage chic to fess up to this now. Tell me in the comments!

This post also appeared on my personal blog: DanielleMastersonBooks.com.