The Formative Years: Music as an Illusion to Life

I know the feeling well, and so do you. That moment a song comes on you haven’t heard in years, but you know every lyric, every pause in beat, and every change in pitch. More so, you know exactly where you are being transported from your history. Music has a way of doing

that. Transporting us back, shaping us forward, identifying in that very intense moment the exact feeling you were simply trying to identify, let go of, or extend. Music doesn’t define us, but it mirrors us, and it’s not surprising that much of that mirroring happens in our teenage to early adult years.  

This imprint music has upon our lives is known as “reminiscence bumps.” Christopher Bergland explains that music we consumed during our teenage years creates nostalgia and a disproportionate link to memories from this earlier time in our lives (Bergland 2021). Much of this can be linked to a time in life with new experiences that were defining but also created heightened emotions. When considering the brain and emotional development of teenagers, this makes complete sense. Teenagers naturally experience life as emotionally charged. Their lows are incredibly low while their highs are incredibly high, and in all of this, they closely relate to music as it provides an illusion of life. While it may be providing them with a perspective on how to understand life, it more so is allowing them to connect with their experience on a deeper level. Whether they are looking for intensity or release or comic vs. tragic lyrics, it’s not necessarily what the song’s lyrics are conveying, but rather how the music itself represents the intensity of feelings they experience in any given moment. Interestingly enough, songs with the strongest reminiscence bump are popular songs between the ages of roughly 16 and 19. Yet, when considering development at this age, it makes sense; these years are of significant emotional development as well as the slow beginning to the shaping of identities. Music is not merely entertainment or shared messages, but instead it connects the audience to themselves. Dr. Burunat perfectly states, “Its rhythm, melody, and structure provide a kind of sequential framework, a timeline. And it’s this extraordinary combination that allows music to act as both a time machine and a storyteller, helping us to recall not just a feeling but the entire context of an event” (Perez and Toiviainen 2025). Music conveys emotions and attaches itself to profound memories. It’s just as Sellnow explains it as an illusion to life.  

If you want to understand what is going on with a teenager, pay close attention to the music that draws them. Each day in my classroom, as students walk in, a song is playing to set the mood for the day’s learning. Originally, these were songs I had chosen, yet recently I had students turn in notecards with their top songs. And now, there is nothing like a group of teenagers walking into a classroom and all breaking into song. It creates an emotion and mood of its own, as they tend to connect on a level that is in fact not an illusion but a mirroring of their own lives.   

Which brings us back to you. What songs take you back? What are the memories you most associate with those, and why do you think those specific songs have left the impact on you that they have?

Global study shows why the songs from our teens leave a lasting mark on US. University of Jyväskylä. (n.d.). https://www.jyu.fi/en/news/global-study-shows-why-the-songs-from-our-teens-leave-a-lasting-mark-on-us 

Sussex Publishers. (n.d.). Why the songs of our youth trigger such intense reminiscence. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/202102/why-the-songs-of-our-youth-trigger-such-intense-reminiscence?msockid=149d554f68236a512011460d69746b58