The process of creating and reflection upon autobiographical memory is
an everyday practice that is typical within human experience. When music
becomes integrated into personal memories, an invitation to remember is
provided through both purposeful listening activities and incidental
engagement with music in the everyday. The result is a metaphorical
canon of music that accompanies life experiences.
The Lifetime Soundtrack investigates musically motivated
autobiographical memories as they relate to everyday life in order to
provide further understanding of their occurrence, nuance, emotionality,
and function for individuals. Drawing on in-depth discussions with
younger and older adults, each chapter reflects on a common theme or
aspect of musically motivated memory. People, places, and eras feature
frequently, with memories of childhood, family, past romantic
relationships, and the major and minor events occurring within them
acting as prime sites for memory and music interaction. The book also
considers the ways in which musically memory may manifest differently
for trained musicians, for whom music represents both leisure and work.
Forging a broad foundation in an overlooked area, this study brings
together sociological views on the personal use of music and existing
ideas on the workings of human memory. At the same time, it aims to
establish the lifetime soundtrack as a sociological concept with broad
application in future research. In so doing, the book highlights the
significance of music-enhanced reflection as a tool for the composition
of meaning within everyday life.
