A friend and I had a discussion over lunch the other day about books we have read and concerts we have attended. He told me about a recent concert where a woman next to him recognised him from another concert where she also stood next to him. The latter concert was a big event with at least 10.000 people while the first was a small venue with not more than 2-300 people. They had talked about different upcoming concerts during their first meeting. Mind you; during the concert! Who can have a meaningful conversation during a rock concert – and live to tell what they discussed!
That was a strange coincidence, I thought. To meet the same woman twice in two different concerts by chance. But that was not the strangest thing about the first concert. To my surprise he told me I had been to the first concert together with him. He told me what band played and where we met up before the concert. The only problem was that I had no recollection of being at that concert at all. I attend a lot of rock concerts, but this one I could not remember anything from. I could swear that I have never seen that band live.
As he recounted from the concert, I began to sense some moments I might remember vaguely, but I had a feeling that these were false memories. I honestly could not separate my real memories from what he told me.
We have all experienced it. Some more often than others, but the experience that a particular smell or taste will set you back to a particular time or incident. It can be a special ingredient in a chewing gum you have not tasted since you were 15 and fell in love for the first time. Or a special sweet smell you remember from your first rock festival. Or the smell of warm sand and sunscreen, the first time you were in southern latitudes. Or the smell of gasoline, hot asphalt and extreme air conditioning the first time you went to Bangkok. We can travel back in time when we experience a particular smell or taste.
I read somewhere that this could also be false memories. As Morpheus from The Matrix said, “How do you define ‘real’? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals ».
Anyways; I could not rely on neither my own memories nor electrical signals this time. This concert was an experience completely free of smells, anecdotes or other small things that enabled me to remember it.
I had to go through my t-shirt collection when I got home to see if I had a band t-shirt that could prove I had been there. Lack of t-shirt would not prove anything, but if I found one, I must have been there. And to my surprise I found one!
I sat for minutes just looking at the t-shirt as to recollect something from it, but nothing came to mind. I found it hard to square that circle. The only consolation I found was Rutger Hauer’s monologue from Bladerunner as he summarizes all his memories “All those moments will be lost in time – like tears in rain …”
Not much of a comfort, but the hard truth is that this will apply to all memories in the end. Let’s just hope this was a one-off experience and that the end is far-far-away!
Billy Bronco is telling you 