Deja Vu


When Benji is talking about how the song that he was listening to by WLNG evokes memories of a time that may or may not have happened, I totally relate. We talked about how “Tonight we Improvise” showed how nostalgic the book was in a way that shows the passage of time, but one thing that we neglected to mention was how the song evoked a sort of déjà vu feeling. 

When the song first comes on, he just gets this feeling like he has heard the song before and it really hits him, but he can’t remember where he heard it. Then, when he is talking to Melanie, he ends up “remembering” the party that was thrown when he was smaller. After that, the song reminds him of the house that his aunt owned, and then it reminds him of this perfect day he had over the summer. “Of course it never happened. But that was WLNG for you. Got you every time” (252). 

The song taking him down memory lane reminds me of moments where I would be in a certain situation or having a certain conversation and then I would get a strange feeling that I had this conversation before. I really cannot explain it, but there will be moments where I think something happened before, but I can’t remember how it happened, if it happened, or if it was just a dream. That is how I relate to the experience that Benji is having while listening to the song. Just like Benji says at the end of the book, “Isn’t if funny? The way the mind works” (273)?

Comments

  1. Smita NairMay 19, 2019 at 11:14 AM

    Good post! When I was maybe 3 or 4, my parents really loved this Gnarls Barkley cover of the song Gone Daddy Gone. The video for their cover features the whole band rendered as mites, and it scared me shitless every time they put it on. I'd completely forgotten about it until I remembered it last year, and when I looked it up and watched it again it was like I was transported right back. Really brought the feeling of fear back and everything, despite that the video was obviously not as terrifying as I'd remembered. Crazy how we can store emotions like that for so long.

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  2. ChristinaMay 19, 2019 at 11:26 AM

    I get that sense of daja vu so often! Just like Benji, sometimes I listen to a song I've never heard before but I can't help but feel it's part of my past. I don't really know how to describe it but there's always that one song which has a specific vibe that seems to resonate with an era of my chldhood. It's almost like there's an anthem for every portion of my life. It's really weird when you think about it. Maybe it just goes to show we're all alike.

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  3. NikaMay 19, 2019 at 11:30 AM

    There are definitely songs or moments that evoke specific memories in my life - but just like with Benji, sometimes they aren't even real. This used to especially happen to me when I was younger, which makes me wonder if this phenomena has to do with the child's brain not being as developed. I applaud Whitehead for capturing this feeling of deja vu so well.

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  4. Emi L.May 19, 2019 at 3:03 PM

    Sometimes I hear a song that I used to listen to a lot and I feel nostalgic. I don't even know why, because there wasn't anything special about the times I listened to it before, but maybe it's just me being aware of how time is passing and how I know so much more than I did then, now at my wisened old age.

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  5. AnonymousMay 19, 2019 at 4:23 PM

    Sometimes i hear songs and i can't remember the specific event but only a time period. For example the artist calvin harris i associate with the summer after my freshman year.

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  6. AkashMay 19, 2019 at 7:24 PM

    I can understand relating certain songs to certain timeframes. For me, this happens mostly when I listen to a song repeatedly for a short time and then get sick of it and stop. The association between music and time is strong for a lot of people and for that reason makes Sag Harbor unique for every reader.

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  7. Salma El-NaggarMay 19, 2019 at 9:36 PM

    I get deja vu so often!! For me though, it happens when I'm in the middle of a conversation with someone and I feel like I've already had this conversation before. It makes me feel like I'm physic or something

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  8. ZonaMay 20, 2019 at 7:56 AM

    Yeah memories like this are super weird. I have a lot of memories of things that I don't really remember, but I've piece together with stories, or I've inserted new songs or other cultural things into my memory. It's a tricky thing and not particularly accurate.

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