Music has it’s very own ways of helping people recall certain events they relate to a song or type of music. I personally have songs that remind me of past experiences and even people that were involved in those experiences. Interestingly I find myself recalling events from my youth that are brought back to my memory thanks to new music. Old songs however, also do the trick for me and I think it’s more understandable if the event I’m remembering is from the same time frame as when the song came out. While listening to Rachel’s Yoder’s “I’m white and I’m Mennonite” I was able to feel the connection as of why she chose the music she did, to go with her story.

The way Rachel uses the instrumental music to go with her story, rather than songs, help her story sort of become of the lyrics itself. As Jonathan Mitchell from Using Music states, “The music is the driver of the scene, and the story becomes the lyrics of the song”. It does seem to me that the hippie kind of song, implemented in this audio essay, was perhaps spreading the story out for Rachel. Interesting move if you’re looking to fill in the time frame of how long the recording has to be. Even though sometimes there are lyrics at the same time as Rachel is talking, the music never competes with the story. Which is what you do not want according to Mitchell.

The type of music Rachel used when referring to the community she lived in, during 2:30 or so, went really well. It seems to me that she may have focused on the word ‘community’ in order to find a song that would fit the scene smoothly. On the other hand, while considering moves and appliances for my very own audio essay recording, I think that choosing music and songs that remind me of going out on the weekends after getting a haircut and washing my car, would really help express my experience and words.