Forging a Golden Heart in Vienna.

Some music will always be linked to a particular time or event in your life and this can be a good or bad thing depending on the circumstances. 

Mostly I think it is a good thing and like the connections made with the sense of smell, when you hear a piece of music it can conjure up a range of memories and emotions that would otherwise be lost to you.

One brief example of a bad connection for me is ‘Spanish Train’ by Chris de Burgh.  As a child I loved this song with a passion.  I revelled in the drama of the story being told in the lyrics and felt my young body being moved by the impact of the chorus.  Sadly this changed after it was playing at the same time we had a car crash (sadly a different crash to the one mentioned in ‘Changing my mood with music’) and although I still like this song, it will never feel quite the same way again.

But more importantly I have far more positive connections with music to draw upon than bad.  One key connection for me is with Mark Knopfler’s album ‘Golden Heart’.  This had just been released and I purchased my copy of it on the way to the airport for a weeks visit with some friends who lived in Vienna.  I played this album a lot during my stay and it has now become the soundtrack to the memories I created there.

When I hear the album now I can picture myself sat in that Vienna apartment's front room, with it’s high ceilings and Bavarian styling.  I used to sit with my host and play chess listening to this album and I can still picture the angle I looked out of the window at the world passing by.

Golden Heart album cover.

One particular track on this album immediately takes me back to a walking tour we took of the town and the stunning architecture and statues that abound in Vienna.  I saw a statue of a man called Rudiger and there is a song on the album of the same name.  They will be forever linked in my mind.  The fact that the track ‘Rudiger’ is a brooding, emotional song only emphasised the serious, artistic feel of this city.

That Vienna is a city suffused with music, all be it of a mostly classical nature, only further strengthens the links to music in my mind.  Now, when I play ‘Golden Heart’ I think of Vienna, which then leads onto the memory of a Mozart concert I saw there where the performers were all in period dress.  There’s not many people who can connect Mark Knopfler with Mozart in this way!

Belvedere Palace, Vienna.

I often listen to music as I read and may play a new album repeatedly at the same time as I work my way through a book.  In this way, for example, the Dalai Lama’s autobiography ‘Freedom in Exile’ will always be linked with Def Leppard’s album ‘Slang’ and if I read or play one, then I will immediately think of the other.

The brains capacity to make these connections is a wonderful thing and ensures that everyone’s interaction with music will be unique and individual.  Music doesn’t merely stand alone to move or influence us, but becomes part of the rich tapestry that is our very mindset and being and I love it’s impact in my life all the more for this reason.