The Soundtrack of Memory: Nostalgia in Sag Harbor

 Before reading this essay, I encourage you to put on a song that brings back fond memories. It can be a song from a few weeks ago, months ago, or even something from your childhood, like a song from GoNoodle. If you cannot think of one, you can choose something from this playlist : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1gLGPa9Q02Ck5c2gEJYCac.

I don't always listen to it, but I love music. Whether I am studying, reading, walking, mowing the lawn, or simply doing something mundane, music is usually present. Old music, new music, instrumental tracks, jazz, hip hop, or even simple background noise can completely change the way a moment feels. Something so simple that can hold so much power. The notes are not just sounds; they become memories. A song can remind us of a specific time in our lives, an emotion or event we cannot fully explain in words, but one that you can feel. In Sag Harbor, Colson Whitehead uses music in this exact way. Though the novel is a coming of age novel, I believe nostalgia plays an equally important role because music constantly causes Benji to reflect on moments from the past and the emotions connected to them.

Throughout the novel, songs act almost like time machines for Benji. Music is not simply background entertainment; it shapes his memories and identity. One important example is Benji’s memory of the eighth grade roller disco party early in the novel. Looking back on the experience, he remembers songs like “Big Shot” and “Bette Davis Eyes” playing while he awkwardly experienced one of his first moments of romance. Whitehead writes that the songs’ “lyrics provided no commentary, honest or ironic, on the proceedings. They were merely there and always underfoot, the insistent gray musk that was pop culture. It stuck to our shoes and we tracked it through our lives.” (Whitehead 11).

Benji is reflecting here. The songs weren’t really connected to what was happening. The music was simply there in the background, part of everyday life. But because those songs were playing during important moments; awkward romance, growing up, and hanging out with friends, they became attracted to those memories.

I strongly relate to this idea because songs often create nostalgia in my own life. Sometimes I hear a song and immediately remember the exact moment I first listened to it. Certain songs remind me of long car rides, summer afternoons, or my childhood. The memories return almost instantly. That is exactly what happens to Benji throughout Sag Harbor. His memories are constantly connected to the soundtrack of his youth, and I believe those songs allow him to revisit and reflect earlier versions of himself.

Have a great summer!

Comments

  1. Emma 19 May 2026 at 07:51

    Hi Bincy! I really liked your blog, the link between music and nostalgia is a key part of Sag Harbor, and I think you expressed it really well by connecting it to both yourself and the book. Great blog! Have a great summer!

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  2. Ruijing20 May 2026 at 19:46

    Hi Bincy! You too have a great summer! I agree music we listen to can reflect values and emotions in different phases of our lives. I have a playlist that I gathered over the past year, and when I whenever I scroll through it, I can almost track my mood over different periods of junior year. I think this aspect of music being reflections of our moments (almost like photographs?) really help create strong sense of nostalgia in the future.

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  3. Katie Rasmussen21 May 2026 at 10:01

    Hi Bincy,
    I hope you have a great summer as well. It's bee really nice getting to know you. I agree with your assessment of music as important to the narrative. It seems like regardless of what's going on, the music is always there in the background, whether it's the kids rapping, trying to get to a UTFO concert, hearing upbeat music on labor day in contrast to the kind of downer ending, or goofy nostalgic cringe love songs playing in the background.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mitchell27 May 2026 at 10:34

    I love this blog post, and I completely agree that nothing taps into memory and nostalgia like music. And as Whitehead points out, when he remembers the songs that were the soundtrack to the roller-rink experience, it's not always a clear-cut connection between lyrics and setting that leads to these associations. Sometimes the words and mood of a song will indeed resonate with specific memories of time and place, but there's also something quite arbitrary about these connections--nothing links Gary Numan's new-wave classic "Cars" specifically to the setting of a dingy roller rink in Wall NJ, but when I hear that song now, I am transported to my own version of roller-rink infinity. The song is about driving in cars, not roller skating. But in my mind, it will always be associated with polyurethane wheels and a disco ball spinning while In struggle to maintain my balance and hopefully not look too lame in front of the girls.

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