Was music really better when you were younger? Or is your mind deceiving you?
If you like Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Fall Out Boy’s “Dance, Dance” and Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” as much as I do, chances are we were born around the same time.
When I listen to those songs now, I’m hit with waves of nostalgia — first crushes, the tribulations of high school, and the highs and lows of living with my parents.
While I’ve come to appreciate younger artists such as Doja Cat, Lil Nas X and Sabrina Carpenter in recent years, songs from the 2000s hold a special place in my head and heart.
But a younger colleague recently told me that “the music from 2008 through 2016 was top tier.” She said that she loved Meghan Trainor, One Direction and Kesha during that time — all artists who were the soundtrack of her crucial developmental years.
As I see other generations of music lovers say music was so much better when they were younger, I wondered why. We can’t all be right — or maybe we are? I talked to experts in how music influences our brains to find out.
“It’s not that music was better when (we) were younger; it’s that music elicits very, very strong emotions,” said Dr. Rita Aiello, a music psychologist at New York University who examines how people process music and how music and memories shape each other.
Aiello remembers the Beatles’ “Yesterday” and Barbra Streisand’s “People” as two of her favorite songs from her youth. “Music is an extremely powerful cue for remembering what has happened before in our lives,” she said.
But why does music hold such power? “Music is episodic,” said Dr. Robert Cutietta, a professor of music at the University of Southern California. “If you look at an artwork or something, you can look at it and leave. Music is over time. There’s a part of our brain called episodic memory — that’s where it goes.”
It makes sense. A person’s preference for popular music peaks around age 23, according to a 1989 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, with a 2013 follow-up in the journal Musicae Scientiae reporting age 19. A 2022 replication of the latter study in Marketing Letters: A Journal of Research in Marketing found that a person’s music preference peaks as young as 17.
“It’s part of your identity,” Cutietta said. “During those years, we are developing so much (of) who we are, (and) we get attached to the music.”
Cutietta, who was born in 1953, cited the work of the Beatles and conductor Leonard Bernstein as among his favorites. Those artists helped shape his musical tastes as a teenager.
This attachment to your identity may be why you feel less of a connection to contemporary music as you grow older.
The emotions tied to music at impressionable ages help form a lifelong bond, with happy and sad feelings intertwining — even complementing each other — when listening to a song.
“If we were sad (listening to a song) 20 years ago, we’re going to be sad today, but with a distance from that sadness … so there’s a different sense of enrichment in the experience,” Aiello said, noting that “sadness can be the opening of joy.”
It could also explain why listening to something you enjoyed from an earlier, tougher period in your life can bring a sense of catharsis when hearing it now, she said.
What if you think of the 1970s and 1980s as the holy grail of “real music,” even though all decades contain good and bad songs?
It may be because you’re remembering the artists, songs and albums that were meaningful to you and forgetting the ones that weren’t. “There are circumstances that made certain songs particularly meaningful to you and the memories of those circumstances will come back as you listen to the songs,” Aiello said.
Those meaningful songs still resonate with you, Cutietta said, eclipsing the forgettable ones.
“Every era has horrible songs that became huge hits,” Cutietta said. “They’re still there somewhere in our memory, but we choose not to pull those up. Naturally, we’re going to pull up the songs we like.”
I’m sure that today’s young people will hail the early 2020s as a great time in music, saying that the artists of 2038 have nothing on those from their day.
But most likely, they’ll be thinking about how the artists they loved shaped their younger selves and forgetting the songs that didn’t matter.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. carjacking suspect sped across U.S. border before arrest, police say
Authorities have arrested a suspect who allegedly carjacked a pickup truck in B.C.'s Lower Mainland then sped across the U.S. border, triggering a massive police response.
Alberta premier says federal border plan coming Monday
The much-anticipated federal plan to address issues at the Canada-U.S. border will be unveiled on Monday according to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Ottawa has sold its stake in Air Canada: sources
Two senior federal government sources have confirmed to CTV News that the federal government has sold its stake in Air Canada. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the government purchased a six per cent stake in the airline for $500 million as part of a bailout package.
Premiers disagree on whether Canada should cut off energy supply to U.S. if Trump moves ahead with tariffs
Some of Canada's premiers appeared to disagree with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on his approach to retaliatory measures, less than a day after he threatened to cut off the province's energy supply to the U.S. if president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat of punishing tariffs.
'Very concerned': Crews search B.C. ski resort for missing man
Police and rescue crews are searching for a man who was last seen boarding a ski lift at B.C.'s Sun Peaks Resort Tuesday.
Man who set fires inside Calgary's municipal building lost testicle during arrest: ASIRT
Two Calgary police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in an incident that saw a suspect lose a testicle after being shot with an anti-riot weapon.
Blizzard warning shuts down large parts of midwestern Ontario
It was a day to stay home, if you could, across much of midwestern Ontario due to weather.
Travis Vader, killer of Lyle and Marie McCann, denied day parole
The man who killed an Alberta couple in 2010 has been denied day parole.
She took a DNA test for fun. Police used it to charge her grandmother with murder in a cold case
According to court documents, detectives reopened the cold case in 2017 and then worked with a forensics company to extract DNA from Baby Garnet's partial femur, before sending the results to Identifinders International.
Local Spotlight
140-pound dog strolls solo into Giant Tiger store in Stratford, Ont.
A furry, four-legged shopper was spotted in the aisles of a Giant Tiger store in Stratford, Ont. on Sunday morning.
North Pole post: N.S. firefighters collect letters to Santa, return them by hand during postal strike
Fire departments across Nova Scotia are doing their part to ensure children’s letters to Santa make their way to the North Pole while Canada Post workers are on strike.
'Creatively incredible': Regina raised talent featured in 'Wicked' film
A professional dancer from Saskatchewan was featured in the movie adaptation of Wicked, which has seen significant success at the box office.
Montreal man retiring early after winning half of the $80 million Lotto-Max jackpot
Factor worker Jean Lamontagne, 63, will retire earlier than planned after he won $40 million on Dec. 3 in the Lotto-Max draw.
Man, 99, still at work 7 decades after opening eastern Ontario Christmas tree farm
This weekend is one of the busiest of the year for Christmas tree farms all over the region as the holidays approach and people start looking for a fresh smell of pine in their homes.
Saskatoon honours Bella Brave with birthday celebration
It has been five months since Bella Thompson, widely known as Bella Brave to her millions of TikTok followers, passed away after a long battle with Hirschsprung’s disease and an auto-immune disorder.
Major Manitoba fossil milestones highlight the potential for future discoveries in the province
A trio of fossil finds through the years helped put Manitoba on the mosasaur map, and the milestone of those finds have all been marked in 2024.
The 61st annual Christmas Daddies Telethon raises more than $559,000 for children in need
The 61st annual Christmas Daddies Telethon continued its proud Maritime tradition, raising more than $559,000 for children in need on Saturday.
Calgary company steps up to help grieving family with free furnace after fatal carbon monoxide poisoning
A Calgary furnace company stepped up big time Friday to help a Calgary family grieving the loss of a loved one.